Question

What makes humans smarter than other animals? We’ve got a bigger brain, of course. But when it comes to brains, is bigger always better?

Traditionally, scientists have thought that humans’ better intelligence（智慧）came mostly from the fact that our brains are three times bigger than those of our nearest living relatives, chimpanzees. People even used to believe that men are smarter than women because men have a little larger brains.                                               

This, however, is not the truth. Scientists at University College London in the UK have found that brain organization, and not brain size, is the key to the advantage of human intelligence, reported Live Science.

Through millions of years of gradual development, our ancestors（祖先）were pushed to get smarter all the time so that they could meet the needs of new environments. However, holding this growing intelligence in increasingly large brains was not the best choice because bigger brains require more energy to power. “This is when reorganization may come into play,” said Christophe Soligo, a member of the London research team.

In the study, scientists looked at the brains of 17 kinds of primates（灵长目动物）, including monkeys, apes and humans. They found that in the process of gradual development, brains didn’t keep growing as a whole. Certain parts of the brain grew more than others as needed, and in this way they could make the best use of their limited brain space.

For example, when early humans were trying hard to live, the brain region（区域） which is in charge of using tools and finding food grew in size more than other regions. But in modern times, the prefrontal cortex（前额皮质）— the region in charge of social cognition (认知), moral judgments and goal-directed planning — grew more than the rest of the brain.

Think of the brain as a room. If a big room is poorly organized, it doesn’t necessarily store more things than a smaller one.

Paul Manger, a professor, explains this using the example of whales. He told Scientific American: “Whales have big brains. But if you look at the actual structure（结构）of the brain, it’s very simple. Brain size only matters if the rest of the brain is organized properly. ”

1.According to the passage, in recent human development, ________.

A.the prefrontal cortex grew most in the brain

B.human’s most regions of the brain didn’t change

C.brain became simple because the brain space is limited

D.brain kept growing in size to deal with new environments

2.The words “in charge of” in Paragraph 6 probably mean “________”.

A.similar to B.responsible for C.in need of D.with help of

3.The writer probably agrees that ________.

A.the difference between men and women has an effect on intelligence

B.the larger brains are usually organized better than the smaller ones

C.animals whose brains are organized properly can be smarter

D.the size of the brain has nothing to do with intelligence

4.Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

A.Is Human Brain the Biggest of All Animals’? B.Do Men have bigger Brains than Women?

C.Are Human Brains Growing as a Whole? D.Does a Bigger Brain Make you Smarter?

Answer

1.A

2.B

3.C

4.D

【解析】

短文大意：本文是新闻类阅读，报道了英国伦敦大学学院的科学发现：人类智力优势的关键在于大脑的组织，而不是大脑的大小。

1.题意：根据这篇文章，在最近的人类发展中，前额叶皮层在大脑中增长最多。考查细节理解。根据“But in modern times, the prefrontal cortex…grew more than the rest of the brain但在现代，前额叶皮层……比大脑的其他部分增长得更多”，可知the prefrontal cortex grew most in the brain（前额叶皮层在大脑中增长最多）符合题意，故选A。

2.题意：第6段中“in charge of”一词可能是“ ”的意思。考查词义理解。A. similar to与……类似；B. responsible for为……负责；C. in need of有……的必要；D. with help of借助于。根据下文对前额叶皮层的解释“the region in charge of social cognition, moral judgments and goal-directed planning负责社会认知、道德判断和目标导向计划的区域”，可知这里是负责使用工具和寻找食物的大脑区域，responsible for符合题意，故选B。

3.题意：作者可能也同意，大脑结构合理的动物可能更聪明。考查推理判断。A. 男人和女人的不同对智力有影响；根据“People even used to believe that men are smarter than women…This, however, is not the truth”可知说法错误。B. 大的大脑通常比小的组织得更好；根据“Think of the brain as a room. If a big room is poorly organized, it doesn’t necessarily store more things than a smaller one”可知说法错误。C. 大脑组织合理的动物可以更聪明；根据“Brain size only matters if the rest of the brain is organized properly”可知说法正确。D. 大脑的大小与智力无关；根据“brain organization, and not brain size, is the key to the advantage of human intelligence, reported Live Science”可知说法错误。综合以上分析，故选C。

4.题意：下面哪个是这篇文章的最佳标题？考查标题归纳。根据开头“But when it comes to brains, is bigger always better但说到大脑，是不是越大越好”，结合文中报道的关于大脑大小的科学研究，可知并非大脑越大，就越聪明；以一种合适的方式建构的相对复杂的大脑趋向于更聪明。全文是围绕“大脑是不是越大越好”展开的，Does a Bigger Brain Make you Smarter（更大的大脑会让你更聪明吗）符合文意，故选D。