If you struggle to get your child to go to school in the morning, don’t blame them—it could be your fault. Our willingness to learn—or lack thereof—is significantly influenced by our genes, according to a large study.  

  The researchers found that 40 to 50 per cent of the differences in children’s motivation to learn could be explained by their genetic inheritance from their parents. Psychologists from Goldsmiths University of London, and Ohio State University in the US studied more than 13,000 twins aged 9 to 16 from six countries, including the UK, Canada, Japan, Germany, Russia and the US. 

  The researchers said they were surprised by the results, believing that the twins’ shared environment—elements such as the teachers and the family that they had in common—would be a larger factor than genetic factors. Instead, the results showed that genetic and non-shared-environment factors had the largest effect on the children’s motivation to learn, whereas the shared environment had very little impact.

  Accordingly, we should not jump to conclusions that a poor teacher or the child themselves is to blame for a lack of motivation in the classroom, the researchers said. “We had pretty consistent findings across these different countries with their different educational systems and different cultures,” said Professor Stephen Petrill, of Ohio State University. “It was surprising. The knee-jerk reaction(下意识的反应) is to say someone is not properly motivating the student, or the child himself is responsible. We found that there are personality differences that people inherit that have a major impact on motivation. That doesn’t mean we don’t try to encourage and inspire students, but we have to deal with the reality of why they are different.”

  The results don’t mean there is a specific gene for how much children enjoy learning, he added, but they suggest a complex process, involving many genes and gene-environment interactions that help influence a child’s motivation to learn.

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1.Who should probably be responsible for a child unwilling to go to school?

A The teacher.

B The child.

C The school.

D The parents.

解析：选D。D 细节理解题。根据文章第一段的“don’t blame them—it could be your fault”以及第二段的“…by their genetic inheritance from their parents”可知， 孩子喜不喜欢上学与从父母那里继承的基因有 关。故选 D。

2.What made the researchers surprised?

A The twins share the same environment.

B Common elements influence the twins a lot.

C The teachers and family make the children learn.

D Genes have the biggest impact on motivation to learn.

解析：选D。D 细节理解题。根据文章第三段可知，研究人员 们本以为双胞胎共享的环境因素——比如他们 共同的老师和家庭——比基因的影响更大，但结 果是基因和非共享环境因素对他们的学习动机 影响最大，而这个结果让研究人员感到很吃惊。 故选 D。

3.What can we infer from the fourth paragraph?

A It’s unfair to blame the teacher for a child’s poor learning.

B Children generally lack motivation in learning at school.

C Children in different countries have different motivations.

D Teachers and parents don’t have to encourage children to learn.

解析：选A。A 推理判断题。根据文章第四段的“we should not jump to conclusions that a poor teacher or the child themselves is to blame for a lack of motivation in the classroom”得知，作者认为我们不能将学生在 课堂缺乏动力归咎于糟糕的老师或孩子自己，也 就是说当学生在学习方面缺乏积极性的时候，我 们不应该责备老师(或者责备学生本人)。故选 A。

4.What can be concluded from the study?

A A specific gene determines if one is motivated to learn.

B Genes have nothing to do with a child’s motivation to learn.

C Interactions between genes and environment motivate one to learn.

D A complex process makes children enjoy learning.

解析：选C。C 推理判断题。根据文章最后一段的“many genes and gene-environment interactions that help influence a child’s motivation to learn”可知，是基 因、基因与环境的相互作用影响了孩子们的学习 积极性。故选 C。