Ever walked to the shops only to find, once there, you’ve completely forgotten what you went for? Or struggled to remember the name of an old friend? For years we’ve accepted that a forgetful brain is as much a part of aging as wrinkles and gray hair. But now a new book suggests that we’ve got it all wrong.
According to The Secret Life of the Grown-up Brain, by science writer Barbara Strauch, when it comes to the important things, our brains actually get better with age. In fact, she argues that some studies have found that our brain hits its peak between our 40s and 60s — much later than previously thought.
Furthermore, rather than losing many brain cells as we age, we keep them, and even produce new ones well into middle age. For years it’s been assumed that brain, much like the body, declines with age. But the longest, largest study into what happens to people as they age suggests otherwise.
This continuing research has followed 6,000 people since 1956, testing them every seven years. It has found that on average, participants performed better on cognitive (认知的) tests in their 40s and 50s than they had done in their 20s. Specifically, older people did better on tests of vocabulary, verbal memory (how many words you can remember) and problem solving. Where they performed less well was number ability and perceptual speed — how fast you can push a button when ordered. However, with more complex tasks such as problem-solving and language, we are at our best at middle age and beyond. In short, researchers are now coming up with scientific proof that we do get wiser with age.
Neuroscientists are also finding that we are happier with aging. A recent US study found older people were much better at controlling and balancing their emotions. It is thought that when we’re younger we need to focus more on the negative aspects of life in order to learn about the possible dangers in the world, but as we get older we’ve learned our lessons and are aware that we have less time left in life: therefore, it becomes more important for us to be happy.
1.Barbara Strauch probably agrees that ______.
A.the young are better at handling important things
B.wrinkles and gray hair are the only symbols of aging
C.aging leads to the decline of the function of the brain
D.people’s brains work best between their 40s and 60s
2.The continuing research has found older people perform better on ______.
A.vocabulary tests B.number ability
C.perceptual speed D.body balance
3.People are happier with aging because ______.
A.they know how to share feelings B.they learn to value the time left
C.they cannot focus on negative aspects D.they do not realize the possible dangers
4.What is the main idea of the passage?
A.People get happier with age. B.People get more forgetful with age.
C.People get wiser with age. D.People get more self-aware with age.
Austin residents and businesses are making efforts to put their leftovers to good use. The city is among a handful of U.S.cities aiming for “zero waste”.
For Austin, there are plenty to go around: it annually wastes more than 190 million pounds of food, worth at least $200 million. Those numbers are big, but they're not out of line with national trends-some 40 percent of food in the nation goes to waste. Put in plain terms, that is enough to fill a 90,000-seat stadium each day.
For many, the answer lies in donation. Austin City Limits, one of the city’s influential festivals, gives all unwanted food to the Central Texas Food Bank. And there are volunteer-driven nonprofits that pick up donated food and deliver it to hungry people.
But the best practice, Austin believes, is to use less, and the city is calling on businesses and households to buy the right amount of food. Full Fridge, a new meal-delivery service, solves this problem. “Full Fridge came about because, basically, we were seeing a lot of people not knowing how to prepare food,” says co-founder Mokshika Sharma. They would buy groceries, but not know what to do with them, and end up throwing away a lot.
Her business hopes to end that problem by offering ready-made meals for only five dollars each. Full Fridge also minimizes waste by stopping sales two days before delivery, so the chef and shopper can plan precisely.
Another satisfactory solution is to compost(将......制成堆肥) it. Austin’s restaurants and grocery stores typically contract with composting companies to deal with much of their food waste, and then sell it as fertilizer. Meanwhile, Compost Pedallers, a company created by Dustin Fedako, is working on bicycle-powered compost collection.
“We play the dot-connecter,” says Fedako, “getting the material from those of us who are making it to the people in the community who use it as a resource to grow more food, and to grow better quality food.”
1.What do the figures in Paragraph 2 indicate?
A.The urgent need for donated food. B.The rapid growth in food donation.
C.The ambitious goal of “zero waste”. D.The serious problem of food waste.
2.Paragraph 3 mainly talks about Austin' s efforts to______.
A.feed the hungry. B.make use of leftovers.
C.build more volunteer-driven nonprofits. D.hold festivals to entertain its residents.
3.Who are Full Fridge's target customers?
A.Those with too little food. B.Those with poor cooking skills.
C.Those with unhealthy eating habits. D.Those with little time to buy groceries.
4.What does Fedako mean by saying “We play the dot-connecter”?
A.They find it rather easy to collect food waste.
B.They hope people will buy better quality food.
C.They link food waste producers to fertilizer users.
D.They are trying to connect with composting companies.
Two summers ago, Spencer Seabrooke stepped off the edge of a cliff and out into the air. He was held up by a narrow band of fabric, three centimetres wide. The slackline (扁带) went over a deep channel on the top of Stawamus Chief Mountain in Squamish, Canada. The plan was to walk across without safety equipment. The ground was 290 metres below Seabrook’s feet. A fall meant death. The walking distance of 64 metres would mark a world record in free solo slacklining.
“You’re standing on nothing,” Seabrooke said at the time. “Everything inside your body is telling you this is wrong.” Several steps into the crossing, Seabrooke looked down. He lowered his body to steady himself and reached with his hands to hold the slackline. He suddenly turned over but hung on. He righted himself, let out a few screams, and stood again. He had walked the same slackline-with assistance-many times before. Finally, he crossed in four minutes and made it.
Slacklining became known in the early 1980s, around the rock climbing scene at Yosemite National Park in California. Scott Balcom, in 1985, was the first to walk on a 17-metre highline on Lost Arrow Spire, the valley bottom some 880 metres below. Charles “Chongo” Tucker, who has been living in Yosemite for a long time, was there in slacklining’s earliest days. Later, in 1994, he was one of the next people to walk the Lost Arrow Spire highline. “As scared as I was, it was as cool as anything I’ve ever done in my life,” said Tucker.
Seabrooke grew up in Peterborough, Canada, in love with the outdoors. He saw a documentary in 2012 that was about Andy Lewis, a slackliner and free solo pioneer who performed at the Super Bowl. Seabrooke was attracted and devoted himself to the sport. Three years later, he walked his record free solo highline on the Stawamus Chief.
The attention Seabrooke won led to work, everything from commercials to paid appearances at slackline festivals from Poland to China. “When you step out into the air, there’s something so clean about it,” said Seabrooke. “Height makes it real.”
1.What do we know about Seabrooke’s slacklining experience two years ago?
A.It was record-breaking.
B.It was done in Yosemite.
C.It involved materials for security.
D.It presented no challenge to him.
2.What did Seabrooke’s words in Paragraph 2 imply?
A.He was very confident.
B.He made a wrong decision.
C.Slacklining was a dangerous sport.
D.Slacklining was done without any support.
3.What was Tucker’s attitude to slacklining?
A.Negative. B.Ambiguous.
C.Frustrated. D.Favorable.
4.What encouraged Seabrooke to start slacklining?
A.The Super Bowl.
B.A slackline festival.
C.Its commercial promise.
D.A slackliner’s performance.
In Asia, the best food is found not in fancy restaurants, but in the carts and stalls lining busy streets. These following snacks are not only local to their city or country, but also show the delicious range of structure and flavour.
Xiaolongbao-Shanghai, China
Shanghai’s Xiaolongbao is filled with pork and aspic, which makes it special. Aspic is a meat combination that melts into soup when heated. As a result, the tiny buns are tasty and salty. They are found throughout the city, so people enjoy standing up at street stalls and restaurant-fronts by Shanghai's business set.
Pho-Hanoi, Vietnam
Pho is noodle soup. Ingredients in the soup are simple: noodles, meat (chicken or beef), and garnishes (green onion, Thai basil, lime and chilis). But what really sets pho apart is its soup, made by simmering bones with onion and ginger, spices and seasonings, ideally for hours on end to get the flavour just right.
Penang AsamLaksa-Penang, Malaysia
Penang AsamLaksa is spicy noodle soup made with thick rice noodles. The dish is made more notable with the addition of lemongrass, spicy (辛辣的) chilis, sweet pineapple, cilantro, onions and fresh mint garnishes. Penangites have loved their asam laksas for some time and with their loving additions to their favorite recipe.
Som Tam-Bangkok, Thailand
This fruit salad is a mix of papaya, a local fruit,and the following ingredients:sugar, chilis, fish sauce, garlic, tomato, among others. This dish is not sweet like you might expect, but sour, salty or spicy in equal measure. Local variations add in everything from peanuts to crab, but in Bangkok you'll find the spiciest versions, which can be as challenging to eat as they are delicious.
1.What can you find Xiaolongbao special about?
A.You can find it filled with pork.
B.You can enjoy meat soup when it is heated.
C.You can enjoy it throughout the whole city.
D.You can find it filled with salty and delicious meat.
2.Which two snacks contain noodles?
A.Xiaolongbao and Pho.
B.Xiaolongbao and Som Tam.
C.Pho and Penang AsamLaksa.
D.Penang AsamLaksa and Som Tam.
3.What is the main characteristic of Som Tam in Bangkok?
A.Hot. B.Salty.
C.Sweet. D.Sour.
听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1.How long has the speaker been a history teacher?
A.Nearly 3 years. B.Almost 13 years. C.About 30 years.
2.What is the main point of the lecture?
A.The importance of history education.
B.A new method of history education.
C.The purpose of learning history.
3.What do teachers usually begin with in terms of the history of business?
A.The problem of present economy.
B.The history of the Industrial Revolution.
C.The government action in the past.
4.What does the speaker say about the traditional approach?
A.It makes students memorize facts mechanically.
B.It is the most effective way of learning history.
C.It helps students understand the importance of history.
听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1.Why does the woman need some special things?
A.To celebrate her wedding anniversary.
B.To make her pretty at the wedding.
C.To have a happy marriage.
2.What has the woman got from her grandmother?
A.A diamond ring. B.A wedding dress. C.Blue flowers.
3.What is the woman looking for?
A.Something borrowed. B.Something new. C.Something old.
4.Where does the man usually put the coin?
A.In his purse. B.In his shoe. C.In his pocket.
