Taking a Child Fishing There is nothing ...

    If you think English means endless new words, difficult grammars and sometimes strange pronunciations, you are wrong. Haven’t you noticed that you have become smarter since you started to learn a language?

According to a new study by a British university, learning a second language can lead to an increase in your brain power. Researchers found that learning other languages changes grey matter. This is the area of the brain which processes information.It is similar to the way that exercise builds muscles.

The study also found the effect is greater when the younger people learn a second language. A team led by Dr. Andrea Mecheli, from University College London, took a group of Britons who only spoke English.They were compared with a group of “early bilinguals” who had learnt a second language before the age of five, as well as a number of later learners.

Scans showed that grey matter density in the brain was greater in bilinguals than in people without a second language. But the longer a person waited before mastering a new language, the smaller the difference.

“Our findings suggest that the structure of the brain is changed by the experience of learning a second language, ”said the scientists. It means that the change itself increases the ability to learn.

Professor Dylan Vaughan Jones of the University of Wales, has researched the link between bilingualism and maths skills.“Having two languages gives you two windows on the world and makes the brain more flexible (灵活的), ”he said, “You are actually going beyond language and have a better understanding of different ideas.”

The findings were matched in a study of native Italian speakers who had learned English as a second language between the ages of 2 and 34. Reading, writing, and comprehension were all tested.The results showed that the younger they started to learn, the better. “Studying a language means you get an entrance to another world, ” explained the scientists.

1.The main subject talked about in this passage is ________.

A.science on learning a second language B.man’s ability of learning a second language

C.language study can help improve brain power D.language learning and maths study

2.In the second paragraph, the writer mentions “exercise” in order to ________.

A.say language is also a kind of physical labor

B.prove that one needs more practice when he (she) is learning a language

C.show the importance of using the language when you learn it

D.make people believe language learning helps grey matter work well

3.The word “bilinguals” (Paragraph 3) probably means ________.

A.researchers on language learning B.second language learners

C.persons who can speak two languages D.active language learners

    I arrived in the classroom，ready to share my knowledge and experience with 76 students who would be my English literature class.Having taught in the US for 17 years，I have no doubt about my ability to hold their attention and to impress on them my admiration for the literature of my mother tongue.

I was shocked when the monitor shouted，“stand up！”The entire class rose as I entered the room and I was somewhat confused about how to get them to sit down again，but once the embarrassment was over，I quickly regained my calmness and admiration.I went back to my office with the rosy glow which came from a strong sense of achievement.

My students kept diaries.However，as I read them，the rosy glow was gradually replaced by a strong sense of sadness.The first diary said，“Our literature teacher didn’t teach us anything today.Perhaps her next lecture will be better.”Greatly surprised，I read diary after diary，each expressing a similar theme.“Didn’t I teach them anything？I described the entire Western philosophy (哲学) and laid the historical background for all the works we will study in class，”I complained.“How should they say I didn’t teach them anything？”

It was a long term，and it gradually became clear that my ideas about education were not the same as those of my students.I thought a teacher’s job was to raise interesting questions and provide enough background so that students could draw their own conclusions.My students thought a teacher’s job was to provide exact information as directly and clearly as possible.What a difference!

However，I also learned a lot，and the experience with my Chinese students has made me a better American teacher，knowing how to teach in a different culture.

1.The writer wants to tell us through his experience that ________.

A.Chinese students are hard to teach

B.he has no experience in teaching Chinese students

C.Chinese students has made him a better American teacher

D.different countries have different cultures even in teaching

2.We can know that on the first day the writer ________.

A.was disappointed at her students’ performance B.felt very confident about herself at first

C.felt she didn’t teach them much D.was very confident about her students

3.At the beginning of the lesson，the writer got confused because of ________.

A.cultural differences B.her own embarrassment

C.students’ embarrassment D.students’ admiration

4.The writer learnt from their diaries that the students wanted to ________.

A.raise interesting questions B.know more about background

C.draw their own conclusions D.know more about exact facts

    As a child, I was really afraid of the dark and of getting lost. These fears were very real and caused me some uncomfortable moments. Maybe it was the strange way things looked and sounded in my own room at night that scared me so much. There was never complete darkness, but always a streetlight or passing car lights, which made clothes on the back of a chair take on the shape of a wild animal. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the curtains seem to move when there was no wind. A very low sound in the floor would seem a hundred times louder than in the day. My imagination would run wild, and my heart would beat fast. I would lie very still so that the “enemy” would not discover me.

Another of my childhood fears was that I would get lost, especially on the way home from school. Every morning I got on the school bus right near my home. That was no problem. After school, though, when all the buses were lined up along the street, I was afraid that I would get in the wrong one and be taken to some other strange places. On school or family trips to a park or a museum, I wouldn’t let the leaders out of my sight.

Perhaps one of the worst fears of all I had as a child was that of not being liked or accepted by others. Being popular was so important to me then, and the fear of not being liked was a serious one.

One of the processes growing up is being able to realize and overcome our fears. Understanding the things that scared us as children helps us achieve greater success later in life.

1.The author had _______ kind(s) of fears when she was a child.

A.One B.two C.three D.none

2._______ would scare the author at night.

A.Streetlight and car lights B.Wild animals and enemies

C.Moving curtains and wind D.Clothes and walls

3.When she went to some other places, she would _______.

A.walk away without others B.take a bus by herself

C.follow others closely D.make sure not to take a wrong bus

4.Which of the following would be possibly true when she was a child______.

A.She thought being popular among people was important.

B.She was always the leader of the others.

C.She always got poor grades.

D.She was not liked by others at all.

    “A child is dying out of breath!” I had just began my working day in the city, when these words came through the radio of the police car I was driving. I turned on the red lights and siren (警笛) and drove off as fast as I could, “Just my luck!” I thought. I did not know this city well and my first call of the day was a life­and­death sudden happening several kilometers away.

I got to the house. A mother, filled with fear, handed me her baby, her face already blue. Was I too late? Dear me!

I did what I had been taught to do in such a serious condition. A small thing flew out of the baby’s mouth onto the floor. It was a button. Thank heaven! The holes in it let a little air through.

A doctor rushed into the room with an oxygen bag.The baby began to cry at the top of his voice, burned red and started to look for his mother. He was angry but was saved.

1.The writer of the story is ________.

A.a policeman B.a driver C.a doctor D.the boy’s father

2.The writer turned on the red lights and siren in order to ________.

A.show that he was a police

B.have the people in the streets make way for him

C.warn the people in the streets of the danger ahead

D.tell the people in the streets that he did not know the way well

3.The baby was still living when the writer got to the house because________.

A.the writer arrived in time B.the writer had been taught what to do at that time

C.the button was not big enough D.the button happened to have holes in it

4.What did the writer mean when he said to himself “Just my luck!”？

A.It was a good chance for him to practice what he had learned before.

B.He was happy to have such a serious matter on his working day.

C.He was not at all happy to have so serious a matter on his working day.

D.He had been long waiting for the day to come.

假定你是李华，你的外国笔友Jack打算暑假期间来中国体验生活，发来邮件询问相关信息。请你回复邮件，内容包括:

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注意:1.词数100左右；  2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。

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