If you think English means endless new words, difficult grammar and sometimes strange pronunciation, 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 earlier people learn a second language, the greater the effect is.
A team led by Dr. Andrea Mechelli, from University College London(UCL), took a group of Britons who only spoke English. They were compared with a group of “early bilinguals(通两种语言的人)”, 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 was.
“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,” 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 2and 34.Reading, writing and comprehension were all tested. The results showed that the earlier they started to learn, the better. “Studying a language means you get an entrance to another world,” explained the scientists.
1. What does the underlined part “grey matter” (in Paragraph 2) refer to?
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A．Grey hair. |
B．Material of the brain. |
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C．Intelligence. |
D．Difficult situations. |
2. The experience of learning a second language can ________.
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A．change one’s brain completely |
B．improve one’s maths skills |
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C．make one smarter than others |
D．increase the ability to learn |
3.We can learn from the passage that ________.
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A．the researchers from UCL did another study in Italy |
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B．a similar study was done on native Italian speakers who learn English as a second language |
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C．the research done on the Italians showed a totally different result |
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D．it will be easier for one to travel around the world by learning a second language |
4.What’s the main idea of the passage?
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A．Learning a second language can help improve your brain power. |
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B．You should learn a second language that is not your native language. |
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C．If you want to learn a second language, you should do it at a certain age. |
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D．The research done by the researchers from UCL is very successful. |
Ifhas anyone noticed how, with the passage of time, one’s relationship with one’s grown-up daughters and sons becomes changed? I’ve been aware of this for some time but I’m not quite sure how to deal with it.
Take the kitchen sink for example.
Following a family get-together at my place, I walked into the kitchen to find Kate, my daughter, carefully cleaning the sink.
“Don’t do that; what are you doing that for?” I said, unhappy about the hidden criticism.
“Mum,” she said, “you really ought to put your glasses on when you clean the sink. Behind the tap here was black!”
But it’s not just things like kitchen sinks. Another time Kate arrived to pick me up to lunch. She looked at me and then asked, “Mum, why do you use brown eyebrow pencil when your hair is grey?”
A sudden memory of her, aged 14, going to her first mixed party flooded back. She had come in to say goodbye. For a moment I thought she’d been an accident. Both eyes were black. I remember suggesting that perhaps a little less eye make-up might be more effective.
Now I told her, “My hair used to be brown.”
“It looks absurd.(荒唐)”
“Mrs. Menzies had dark eyebrows with grey hair.”
“Yes, but you’re not Mrs. Menzies, are you?” she said triumphantly, as if that proved her point.
But a recent event made me realize that something really must be done.
She had returned home for a few weeks before getting married. One evening I went out on a dinner date. By the time my companion left me at the front door, it was about 2am. As I stepped in, an angry figure in a white nightgown（睡衣）stopped me.
“Well, what time of night is this to be coming home?” she shouted. “Where have you been? I’ve been worried sick!”
Shades of the past come back to disturb me. But what should I do about all this? Nothing, probably. Maybe, after all, it’s only a stage young people are going through.
1.The daughter thought her mother didn’t clean the kitchen sink well because of her .
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A．laziness |
B．carelessness |
C．unhappiness |
D．poor-quality glasses |
2.From the passage we know the daughter .
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A．didn’t want to help with the sink |
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B．didn’t like brown eyebrow pencils |
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C．had an accident when she went to her first party |
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D．shouted at her mum because she came home late |
3.How does the mother feel after all these have happened?
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A．Shocked. |
B．Proud. |
C．Envious.（嫉妒） |
D．Confused. |
4.The author writes the stories to prove that .
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A．their relationship became stronger |
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B．their roles changed as time passed |
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C．her daughter very much cared about her |
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D．her daughter got upset as she grew up |
We can stay young forever. That is the message Dr. Shen Ziyin wants to give the world. And the Chinese doctor claims that he has found an answer to the problems of aging.
His solution is a herbal medicine to slow the process of aging.
Dr. Shen Ziyin has been trained in Western medicine. At the same time he studied traditional Chinese medicine. And, he has been working for the past forty years to put together the best of both and find a cure for aging. He has taken a hint from the ancient Chinese medicine system called “shen”.
According to Shen, it is the kidney（肾脏）which adjusts the functioning of the body as well as its aging process. It is responsible for the level of activity that the human bodies go through. Studies conducted by Dr. Shen show that herbal medicine based on the shen system slow the aging process, says a report in The Telegraph newspaper.
We notice that when people grow old, they have reduced strength, loss of hair, backache, weakness in general, and wrinkles, among others. This happens because when people grow old, their bodies produce T-cells. These T-cells contain a particular substance called Fas. Fas makes the cells in the body destruct themselves.
So the only way to slow down aging is to slow the production of T-cells in the body. This can happen if people eat low calorie food. Then the body is not active enough to produce extra T-cells. But, is going hungry all the time a good price to pay for staying young?
This is where Dr. Shen’s herbal medicine comes in. But how effective it will be, only time can tell.
1.How did Dr. Shen find the solution to the problem of aging?
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A．By studying Western medicine. |
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B．By learning traditional Chinese medicine. |
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C．By combining both Western and Chinese medicine. |
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D．By doing research on both Western and Chinese people. |
2.What plays the most important role in keeping people young according to Shen?
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A．Medical treatment. |
B．People’s good kidney. |
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C．Level of people’s activity. |
D．Positive life attitude. |
3.The reason why people become old is that _________.
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A．their bodies produce T-cells |
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B．their bodies are unable to fight diseases |
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C．they have reduced strength, loss of hair |
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D．they become weaker and weaker |
4.We can probably learn from the passage that _________.
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A．producing more low calorie food allows people to keep young |
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B．the more Chinese herbal medicine people drink, the better for health |
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C．people should try to quicken the production of T-cells in the body |
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D．it remains unknown how effective Dr. Shen’s herbal medicine is |
The interview had been going on for about 20 minutes and everything seems to be going well．Then, suddenly, the interviewer asks an unexpected question, "Which is more important, law or love?"
Job applicants in the west increasingly find themselves asked strange questions like this．And the signs are that this is beginning to happen in China．
Employers want people skilled, enthusiastic and devoted．So these are the qualities that any reasonably intelligent job applicants will try to show no matter what his or her actual feelings are．In response, employers are increasingly using questions which try and show the applicant's true personality．
The question in the first paragraph comes from a test called Kiersey Personality Sorter．It is an attempt to discover how people solve problems, rather than what they know．This is often called aptitude （能力） testing．
According to Mark Baldwin of Alliance many job applicants in China are finding this type of questions difficult. When a Chinese person fills out an aptitude test he or she will think there is a right answer and they may fail because they try to guess what the examiner wants to see．
This is sometimes called the prisoner's dilemma （窘境）．Applicants are trying to act cleverly in their own interest．But they fail because they don't understand what the interviewer is looking for．Remember that in an aptitude test, the correct answer is always the honest answer．
1.The writer wrote the passage to ____．
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A．give you a piece of advice on a job interview． |
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B．tell you how to meet a job interviewer |
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C．describe the aptitude test． |
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D．advice you how to find a job |
2.Why do the interviewers ask such questions?
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A．they want to discover what the interviewees know． |
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B．they are curious about the answers． |
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C．they try to discover the ability of the interviewees' solving problems． |
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D．they just ask questions without thinking much． |
3.According to the writer, in an aptitude testing, Chinese job applicants should___．
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A．not tell the truth |
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B．learn to tell what they really think |
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C．be more enthusiastic |
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D．try to find out what the examiner really want to know |
4.From the passage we know that____．
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A．job applicants are always asked such questions |
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B．more Chinese applicants fail to find a job |
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C．applicants should not act as reasonably as a prisoner |
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D．aptitude testing is becoming popular worldwide |
完形填空(共20小題；每小題I. 5分，满分30分)
阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出可以填入空内处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
When Dunstan Cass left the cottage, Silas Marner was only a hundred meters away. He was walking home from the village, where he had 21 to buy what he needed 22 his next day's work. His legs were tired, but he felt almost happy. He was looking forward to 23 ,when he would bring out his gold. Tonight he had an extra reason to hurry home. He was going to eat hot meat, which was 24 for him. And it would 25 him nothing, because someone had given him a piece of meat as a present. He left it 26 over the fire. The door key was needed to hold it safe in place, but Cass was not at all 27 about leaving his gold in the cottage with the door 28 . He could not imagine that a thief would 29 his way through the mist, rain and darkness to the little cottage by the quarry (釆石场).
When he reached his cottage and opened the door, he did not notice 30 anything was different. He 31 his wet coat, and pushed the meat 32 the fire. 33 he was warm again, he began to think about his gold. It seemed a long time to wait until after super, when he usually brought out coins to look at. 34 he decided to bring out his gold immediately, while the meat was still cooking.
But when he 35 the floorboards near the loom (织布机)，and saw the 36 hole ,he did not understand 37 . His heart beat violently as his trembling hands felt all round the hole. There was 38 ！ He put his hands to his head and tried to think. Had he put his gold in a different place, and forgotten about it? He 39 every corner of this small cottage, until he could not pretend to himself any more. He had to accept the truth 一 his gold had been 40 ！
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—It’s cloudy outside,please take an umbrella.—_________.
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A．Yes,take it easy. |
B．Well,it just depends |
C．Ok,just in case |
D．All right,you’re welcome |
