Cloze Are some people born clever and others born stupid? Or is intelligence developed by our environment and our experience? Strangely 1 , the answer to both these questions is yes. To some extent our intelligence is given us at birth, and no amount of special education can make a genius 2 a child born with low intelligence. On the other hand, a child who lives in a boring environment will develop his intelligence less than one who lives in rich and varied surroundings. Thus the 3 of a person's intelligence are fixed at birth, but whether or not he reaches those limits will depend on his 4 . This view, now held by most experts, can be supported in a number of ways. It is easy to show that intelligence is to some extent 5 we are born with. The closer the blood relationships between two people, the closer they are likely to be in intelligence. Thus if we take two unrelated people 6 from the population, it is likely that their degrees of intelligence will be completely different. If on the other hand we take two identical twins, they will very likely be as intelligent as each other. Relations like brothers and sisters, parents and children, usually have 7 intelligence, and this clearly suggests that intelligence depends on birth. 8 now that we take two identical twins and put them in different environments. We might send one, for example, to a university and the other to a factory where the work is boring. We would soon find differences in intelligence developing, and this indicates that environment 9 birth plays a part. This conclusion is also suggested by the 10 that people who live in close contact with each other, but who are not related at all, are likely to have similar degrees of intelligence.
A mother who is suffering from cancer can pass on the disease to her unborn child in extremely rare cases, 11 a new case report published in PNAS this week. According to researchers in Japan and at the Institute for Cancer Research in Sutton, UK, a Japanese mother had been diagnosed with leukemia a few weeks after giving birth, 12 tumors were discovered in her daughter's cheek and lung when she was 11 months old. Genetic analysis showed that the baby's cancer cells had the same mutation as the cancer cells of the mother. But the cancer cells contained no DNA whatsoever from the father, 13 would be expected if she had inherited the cancer from conception. That suggests the cancer cell made it into the unborn child's body across the placental barrier. The Guardian claimed this to be the first 14 case of cells crossing the placental barrier. But this is not the case—microchimerism, 15 cells are exchanged between a mother and her unborn child, is thought to be quite common, with some cells thought to pass from fetus to mother in about 50 to 75 per cent of cases and to go the other way about half 16 . As the BBC pointed out, the greater 17 in cancer transmission from mother to fetus had been how cancer cells that have slipped through the placental barrier could survive in the fetus without being killed by its immune system. The answer, in this case at least, lies in a second mutation of the cancer cells, which led to the 18 of the specific features that would have allowed the fetal immune system to detect the cells as foreign. As a result, no attack against the invaders was launched. 19 , according to the researchers there is little reason for concern of "cancer danger". Only 17 probable cases have been reported worldwide and the combined 20 of cancer cells both passing the placental barrier and having the fight mutation to evade the baby's immune system is extremely low.
For years, scientists have been warning us that the radiation from mobile phones is detrimental to our health, without actually having any evidence to back these 21 up. However research now suggests that mobile phone radiation has at least one positive side effect: it can help prevent Alzheimer's, 22 in the mice that acted as test subjects. It's been suspected, though never proven, that heavy use of mobile phone is bad for your health. It's thought that walking around with a cellphone permanently attached to the side of your head is almost sure to be 23 your brain. And that may well be true, but I'd rather wait until it's proven before giving up that part of my daily life. But what has now been proven, in a very perfunctory manner, is that mobile phone radiation can have an effect on your brain. 24 in this case it was a positive rather than negative effect. According to BBC News, the Florida Alzheimer Disease Research Center conducted a study on 96 mice to see if the radiation given off by mobile phone could affect the onset of Alzheimer's. Some of the mice were "genetically altered to develop beta-amyloid plagues in their brains" 25 they aged. These are a marker of Alzheimer's. All 96 mice were then "exposed to the lector-magnetic 26 generated by a standard phone for two one-hour periods each day for seven to nine months." The lucky things. 27 , the experiment showed that the mice altered to be predisposed to dementia were protected from the disease if exposed before the onset of the illness. Their cognitive abilities were so unimpaired as to be virtually 28 to the mice not genetically altered in any way. Unfortunately, although the results are positive, the scientists don't actually know why exposed to mobile phone radiation has this effect. But it's hoped that further study and testing could result in a non-invasive 29 for preventing and treating Alzheimer's disease. Autopsies carried out on the mice also concluded no ill-effects of their exposure to the radiation. However the fact that the radiation prevented Alzheimer's means mobile phones 30 out brains and bodies in ways not yet explored. And it's sure there are negatives as well as this one positive.
Whenever people go and live in another country they have new experiences and new feelings. They experience culture shock. Many people have a(n) 31 about culture shock they think that it's just a feeling of sadness and homesickness when a person is in a new country. But this isn't really true. Culture shock is a completely natural 32 , and everybody goes 33 it in a new culture. There are four stages, or steps, in culture shock. When people first arrive in a new country they're usually excited and 34 . Everything is interesting. They notice that a lot of things are 35 their own culture and this surprises them and makes them happy. This is Stage One. In Stage Two people notice how different the new culture is from their own culture. They become confused. It seems difficult to do even very simple things. They feel 36 . They spend a lot of time 37 or with other people from their own country. They think "My problems are all because I'm living in this country." Then in Stage Three they begin to understand the new culture better. They begin to like some new customs. They 38 some people in the new country. They're 39 comfortable and relaxed. In Stage Four they feel very comfortable. They have good friends in the new culture. They understand the new customs. Some customs are similar to their culture and some are different but that's OK. They can 40 it.