Catch yourself daydreaming while washing the dishes again? If this happens often you probably have a pretty capable working memory and a sharper brain, new research suggests.
This mind wandering, it seems, actually gives your working memory a workout. Working memory is the mental work space that allows the brain to juggle multiple thoughts at the same time. The more working memory a person has, the more daydreaming they can do without forgetting the task at hand.
Researchers studied groups of people from the University of Wisconsin－Madison community, ranging in age from 18 to 65. The volunteers were asked to perform simple tasks, like pressing a button every time they took a breath or clicking in response to a letter popping up on a computer screen; these tasks were so easy that their minds were likely to wander, the researchers figured.
The researchers checked in periodically, asking the participants if their minds were on task or wandering. When the task was over, they measured each participant's working memory capacity by having them remember letters while doing math questions. Though all participants performed well on the task, the researchers noticed that the individuals who indicated their minds had wandered more than others also scored higher on the working memory test.
“What this study seems to suggest is that, when circumstances for the task aren't very difficult, people who have additional working memory resources allocate them to think about things other than what they're doing，” said Jonathan Smallwood, a study researcher of the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitve and Brain Science.
When our minds run out of working memory, these off－topic thoughts can take the main stage without us consciously meaning them to; for instance, arriving at home with no memory of the actual trip, or suddenly realizing that they've turned several pages in a book without understanding any of the words.
“It's almost like your attention was so absorbed in the mind wandering that there wasn't any left over to remember your goal to read，” study researcher Daniel Levinson, said in a statement.
People with overall higher working memory were better able to stay focused when the task at hand required it. Those who had low working memory often had their thoughts drift away from the task, and did less well at it.
The findings add to past research suggesting these mind drifts can be positive moments. For instance, daydreaming has often been associated with creativity—researchers think that our most creative and inventive moments come when daydreaming. It's likely that the most intelligent among us also have high levels of working memory, Levinson noted.
1.The word “juggle” in the second paragraph can be replaced by “________”．
A. handle B. search C. understand D. distribute
2.What can be concluded from Jonathan Smallwood's words?
A. People who often have daydreams probably own a pretty capable working memory.
B. On the working memory test, people with wandering minds will get high score.
C. Absorbed in the mind wandering, your attention left no space for your goal.
D. Dealing with some easy jobs, people with higher working memory will daydream.
3.What is the best title of the passage?
A. Mind drifts are always positive.
B. Daydreaming is good for the mind.
C. Creative moments come with working memory.
D. The more daydreaming, the more effectively one works.
Penguins live together，but each pair has a little piece of ground of their own.When a penguin wants to walk through its neighbor’s ground，it must ask permission.If it does not do that，it will have to fight.Most of the time，penguins live on the water.They eat shell fish and look after their children carefully.
All penguins are good parents—the male penguins are perhaps the best parents in the world. They walk in the sea in the middle of the dark Antarctic water. They choose their wives in the dark.They can only hear them—not see them.Then the female penguins lay their eggs and go away for about two months.The males take care of the eggs.If the eggs get cold，there will be no chicks.There is no food.The snow falls heavily and the wind blows strongly—sometimes at 150 kilometers an hour.The penguins do not move.When the females return from the sea，they will not remember their husbands.It does not matter.Only one thing matters—the eggs.Male penguins never fight—unless a penguin leaves a chick for a minute.They then fight because they all want it.They are strange and wonderful birds.
1.It seems interesting and unusual that the male penguins choose their wives ______.
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A．when the female penguins return from the sea |
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B．just by hearing in the darkness |
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C．each time they see the lovely females |
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D．after they have had their own grounds |
2.Male penguins fight when ______.
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A．they choose their wives |
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B．they see a chick left alone |
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C．they want to get something to eat |
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D．they walk through their neighbors’ ground |
3.From the passage we know that ______.
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A．penguins live a hard life |
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B．penguins live in pairs |
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C．penguins will fight if one walks through others’ ground without permission |
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D．each penguin has a little piece of ground of its own |
4.The penguins choose their wives in the dark. We can infer that ______.
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A．penguins like nights very much |
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B．there is no daytime in that place at all |
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C．the weather is cloudy and rainy all the year around |
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D．the sun can’t shine there for nearly half a year every year |
5.Which of the following is NOT true?
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A．Female penguins take care of the eggs. |
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B．Female penguins often have their new husbands. |
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C．Male penguins use their ears to choose wives. |
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D．Male penguins don’t move when they take care of eggs，even though the wind often blows strongly. |
Some teenagers admire those excellent artists who gain their success through their great efforts while ___16___ envy those young actresses who are discovered by famous directors and start glittering careers ___17___ their early 20s. Like Gong Li and Zhang Ziyi who were discovered by Zhang Yimou, the new lucky girl is 19-year-old Zhang Yuqi from Shandong Province.
__18__ (choose) by Hong Kong comedy actor and director Stephen Chow, Zhang made her first film performance in Chow's new successful movie, CJ7 or A Hope. The movie___19__(bring ) to the screen on January 31, 2008.
In the sci-fi movie, Chow plays a poor father working very hard to support his 9-year-old son. One day, Chow discovers a strange "toy" in the garbage __20__gives it to his son as a birthday present. Soon the "toy" turns out to be a communication device lost by aliens, who__21__(desperate) want it back. Zhang stars as his son's beautiful teacher, with __22__ Chow falls in love, not knowing that she is a robot. Although Zhang feels ___23___(fortune), as A Hope has made her__24__ overnight star, the student at Shanghai Drama Academy has to learn to adapt to the competitive film world.
"It's a good start, a good opportunity and a stressful challenge as well for__25__ age," Zhang said.
In 1956 Phoenix, Arizona, was a city with boundless blue 1 . One day as I walked around the house with my sister Kathy’s new parakeet （小鹦鹉）on my finger, I wanted to show Perky what the sky looked like. I took him into the backyard, and then, to my horror , Perky flew off. The enormous, blue sky swallowed up my sister’s blue 2 and suddenly he had gone, clipped wings and all.
I told Kathy about Perky's disappearance and I was anxious that she would blame me. But , unexpectedly, Kathy managed to 3 me. With fake optimism, she even tried to convince me that Perky would find a new 4 . But I was far too clever to 5 that such a thing was possible.
Decades later, I watched my own 6 growing. We shared their activities, spending soccer Saturdays in folding chairs with the 7 of the kids’ friends, the Kissells. The two families went camping around Arizona together. We became the best of friends. One evening, the game was to tell Great Pet stories. One person claimed（宣称） to 8 the oldest living goldfish. Someone else had a psychic dog. Then Barry, the father of the other family, took the floor and ___9___that the Greatest Pet of All Time was his blue parakeet, Sweetie Pie.
"The best thing about Sweetie Pie," he said, "was the 10 we got him. One day, when I was about eight, out of the clear, blue sky, a little blue parakeet just 11 down and landed on my finger."
When I was finally able to 12 , we examined the amazing evidence. The dates and the locations and the pictures of the bird all 13 . It seems our two families had been 14 long before we ever met. Forty years later, I ran to my sister and said, "You were 15 ! Perky lived!"
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阅读下面的短文，然后按照要求写一篇150词左右的英语短文。
The arrival of World Book and Copyright Day always draws public attention to young people's reading, but mere temporary attention cannot increase the popularity of reading. The lack of reading books is becoming an increasingly severe problem in China.
According to a survey by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Shanghai residents read most in China, with only eight books read a year on average. About 1.3 billion Chinese people read less than one book every year, if textbooks are not taken into account.
Nowadays, children's spare time is occupied by attending various tutorial classes, taking exam preparation training, and learning piano, painting, dancing, weiqi, or other techniques.
"Childhood is a good period for reading literature. Reading can wake up the true nature of children, and good education should fit children's nature," said Zhou Yimin, who is also a teacher.
Scholars are also worried about another adverse impact of the lack of reading. "If a child had never read a book from beginning to end before the fourth grade, he or she may lack the ability to read an entire book," said Jiang Junjing, an experienced teacher. What is worse, it may result in a lack of the ability to grasp the whole situation. Children who lacked the ability to read an entire book in childhood may end up being unable to grasp the whole picture or manage the whole team when they grow up.
【写作内容】
1. 以约30个词概括短文的要点。
2. 以约120词表达你就 “阅读书籍”发表看法，并要包括下列要点：
（1）你认为阅读书籍重要吗？为什么？
（2）请举例说明你的观点。
【写作要求】
1. 作文中你可以使用自己的亲身经历或虚构的故事，也可以参照阅读材料的内容，但不能直接引用原文中的句子。
2. 作文中不能出现真实姓名和学校名称。
【评分标准】 概括准确，语言规范，内容合适，篇章连贯。
假如你是学校的校报记者。以下是南中国海的简介，请你根据以下内容，写一篇英文的简介，发表在校报上。
地理位置: 位居太平洋和印度洋之间的航运要冲，在经济上、国防上都具有重要的意义。面积350多万平方公里，其中属于我国管辖范围的有210万平方公里左右。
气候特征：终年高温、雨量充沛。
资源：中国南海海洋鱼类有1500多种，其中很多具有极高的经济价值。
由于气候适宜、雨量充沛，生长着200多种高等植物。
海底资源十分丰富，尤其是海底石油和天然气储量巨大。
【写作内容】
请根据以上简介，写一篇南中国海的英文简介，内容包括：
1.地理位置；
2.气候特征；
3.资源；
【参考词汇】
航运要冲 a major shipping juncture
【写作要求】
只能使用5个英语句子表达全部内容。
【评分标准】
句子结构准确，信息内容完整，篇章结构连贯。
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