Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 34 to 40.

You can usually tell when your friends are happy or angry by the looks on their faces or by their actions. This is useful because reading their emotional expressions helps you to know how to respond to them. Emotions have evolved to help us respond to important situations and to convey our intentions to others. But does raising the eyebrows and rounding the mouth say the same thing in Minneapolis as it does in Madagascar? Much research on emotional expression has centered on such questions.

According to Paul Ekman, the leading researcher in this area, people speak and understand substantially the same “facial language”. Studies by Ekman’s group have demonstrated that humans share a set of universal emotional expressions that testify to the common biological heritage of the human species. Smiles, for example, signal happiness and frowns indicate sadness on the faces of people in far-flung places as Argentina, Japan, Spain, Hungary, Poland, Sumatra, the United States, Vietnam, the jungles of New Guinea and the Eskimo villagers north of the Arctic Circle. Ekman and his colleagues claim that people everywhere can recognize at least seven basic emotions: sadness, fear, anger, disgust, contempt, happiness, and surprise. There are, however, huge differences across cultures in both the context and intensity of emotional displays – the so-called display rules. In many Asian cultures, for example, children are taught to control emotional responses – especially negative one – while many American children are encouraged to express their feelings more openly. Regardless of culture, however, emotions usually show themselves, to some degree, in people’s behaviour. From their first days of life, babies produce facial expressions that communicate their feelings.

The ability to read facial expressions develops early, too. Very young children pay close attention to facial expressions, and by age five they nearly equal adults in their skill at reading emotions on people’s faces. This evidence all points to a biological underpinning for our abilities to express and interpret a basic set of human emotions. Moreover, as Charles Darwin pointed out over a century ago, some emotional expressions seem to appear across species boundaries. Cross-cultural psychologists tell us that certain emotional responses carry different meanings in different cultures. For examples, what emotion, you suppose, might indicate disgust, while in China it can signify surprise. Likewise, a grin on an American face may indicate joy, while on a Japanese face it may, just as easily, mean embarrassment. Clearly, culture influences emotional expressions.

Question 34: The biggest difference lies in _____.

A. how often positive emotions are shown B. how emotional responses are controlled

C. how intensive emotions are expressed D. how long negative emotions are displayed

Question 35: The word “evolved” in paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to _____.

A. simplified B. increased C. developed D. reduced

Question 36: Which sentence best summarizes paragraph 2?

A. Paul Ekman’s research shows that all cultures express emotions in the same way without any differences.

B. Ekman’s studies reveal that humans share universal facial expressions for emotions, but cultural context influences how these emotions are displayed.

C. Emotional expressions are completely unique to each culture, with no shared understanding among different societies.

D. Children in all cultures are taught to express their emotions openly, leading to similar emotional behaviors worldwide.

Question 37: The phrase “this evidence” in paragraph 3 refers to _____.

A. the fact that children are good at recognizing others’ emotions

B. human facial expressions

C. a biological underpinning for humans to express emotions

D. the fact that children can control their feelings

Question 38: The best title of this passage is _____.

A. Cultural universals in emotional expressions

B. Human habit of display emotions

C. A review of researchers on emotional expressions

D. Ways to control emotional expressions

Question 39: Paul Ekman is mentioned in the passage as an example of _____.

A. researchers who can speak and understand many languages

B. investigators on universal emotional expressions

C. lacks of many main ingredients

D. researchers on universal language

Question 40: According to the passage, how we respond to others is partly based on _____.

A. watching their actions B. observing their look

C. looking at their face D. observing their emotional expressions