When women sit together to watch a movie on TV, they usually talk simultaneously(同时地) about a variety of subjects, including children, men, careers and what’s happening in their lives. When groups of men and women watch a movie together, the men usually end up telling the women to shut up. Men can either talk or watch the screen—they can’t do both—and they don’t understand that women can. Besides, women consider that the point of all getting together is to have a good time and develop relationships—not just to sit there like couch potatoes staring at the screen.
During the ad breaks, a man often asks a woman to explain the plot and tell him where the relationship between the characters is going. He is unable, unlike women, to read the subtle body language signals that reveal how the characters are feeling emotionally. Since women originally spent their days with the other women and children in the group, they developed the ability to communicate successfully in order to maintain relationships. For a woman, speech continues to have such a clear purpose: to build relationships and make friends. For men, to talk is to relate the facts.
Men see the telephone as a communication tool for sending facts and information to other people, but a woman sees it as a means of bonding（连接). A woman can spend two weeks on vacation with her girlfriend and, when she returns home, telephone the same girlfriend and talk for another two hours.
There is no convincing evidence that social conditioning, the fact that girls’ mothers talked to them more, is the reason why girls talk more than boys. Psychiatrist Dr Michael Lewis, author of Social Behaviour and Language Acquisition, conducted experiments that found mothers talked to, and looked at, baby girls more often than baby boys. Scientific evidence shows parents respond to the brains of their children. Since a girl’s brain is better organized to send and receive speech, we therefore talk to them more. Consequently, mothers who try to talk to their sons are usually disappointed to receive only short grunts(哼哼声） in reply.
12. While watching TV with others, women usually talk a lot because they .
A. are afraid of awkward silence with their families and friends
B. can both talk and watch the screen at the same time
C. think they can have a good time and develop relationships
D. have to explain the plot and body language to their husbands
13. After a vacation with her girlfriend, a woman would talk to her again on the phone for hours in order to .
A. experience the happy time again B. keep a close tie with her
C. recommend her a new scenic spot D. remind her of something forgotten
14. What does the author want to tell us most?
A. Women’s brains are better organized for language and communication.
B. Women love to talk because they are more sociable than men.
C. Men do not like talking because they rely more on facts.
D. Social conditioning is not the reason why women love talking.
15. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
A. Women are Socially Trained to Talk
B. Talking Maintains Relationships
C. Women Love to Talk
D. Men Talk Differently from Women