In the early 1950s, researchers found that people scored lower on intelligence tests if they spoke more than one language. Research in the sixties found the opposite. Bilingual people scored higher than monolinguals, people who speak only one language. So which is it?
Researchers presented their newest studies last month at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The latest evidence shows that being bilingual does not necessarily make people smarter. But researcher Ellen Bialystok says it probably does make you better at certain skills.
Ellen Bialystok said, “Imagine driving down the highway. There’re many things that could capture your attention and you really need to be able to monitor all of them. Why would bilingualism make you any better at that?”
And the answer, she says, is that bilingual people are often better at controlling their attention — a function called the executive control system.
Ms. Bialystok is a psychology professor at York University in Toronto, Canada. She says the best method to measure the executive control system is called the Stroop Test. A person is shown words in different colors. The person has to ignore the word but say the color. The problem is that the words are all names of colors.
Ellen Bialystok said, “So you would have the word blue written in red, but you have to say red. But blue is so salient(显著的), it’s just lighting up all these circuits(电路) in your brain, and you really want to say blue. So you need a mechanism(机制) to override that so that you can say red. That’s the executive control system.”
Her work shows that bilingual people continually practice this function. They have to, because both languages are active in their brain at the same time. They need to suppress(抑制) one to be able to speak in the other.
This mental exercise might help in other ways, too. Researchers say bilingual children are better able to separate a word from its meaning, and more likely to have friends from different cultures. Bilingual adults are often four to five years later than others in developing dementia or Alzheimer’s disease.
1.What’s the best title of the text?
A. Bilingual People, Smarter
B. Monolingual People, Smarter
C. Bilingual People, Longer Lives
D. Bilingual People, Better at Some Skills
2.The underlined word “override” in Paragraph 6 probably means ____.
A. pay attention to B. take no notice of
C. take an interest in D. take care of
3.In the Stroop Test, supposing you have the word yellow written in white, you will have to say ____.
A. white B. yellow C. blue D. red
4.Which group of people can most likely pass the Stroop Test?
A. People who can speak only Chinese.
B. People who can speak only Japanese.
C. People who can speak more than one language.
D. People who can speak only English.
5.Which of the following statements is FALSE according to the text?
A. A bilingual child is better at separating a word from its meaning.
B. A bilingual child can more easily make friends with a foreign child.
C. Bilingual people are more able to monitor several things at the same time.
D. It’s not possible for bilingual people to develop Alzheimer’s disease.
These days we are all conditioned to accept newness, whatever it costs. Very soon, there is no doubt that Apple's tablet (平板电脑) will seem as a vital tool of modern living to us as sewing machine did to our grandparents. At least, it will until someone produces an even smarter, thinner and more essential tablet, which, if recent history is any guide, will be in approximately six months' time. Turn your back for a moment and you find that every electronic item in your possession is as old as a tombstone. Why should you care if people laugh just because you use an old mobile phone? But try getting the thing repaired when it goes wrong. It's like walking into a pub and asking for an orange juice. You will be made to feel like some sort of time-traveler from the 1970s. "Why not buy a new one?" you will get asked.
And so the mountain of electrical rubbish grows. An average British person was believed to get rid of quite a number of electronic goods in a lifetime. They weighed three tons, stood 7 feet high, and included five fridges, six microwaves, seven PCs, six TVs, 12 kettles, 35 mobile phones and so on. Even then, the calculation seemed to be conservative. Only 35 mobiles in a lifetime? The huge number of electronic items now regularly thrown away by British families is clearly one big problem. But this has other consequences. It contributes greatly to the uneasy feeling that modem technology is going by faster than we can keep up. By the time I've learnt how to use a tool it's already broken or lost. I've lost count of the number of TV remote-controls that I've bought, mislaid and replaced without working out what most of the buttons did.
And the technology changes so unbelievably fast. It was less than years ago that I spotted an energetic businessman friend pulling what seemed to be either a large container or a small nuclear bomb on wheels through a railway station. I asked. "What have you got in there? Your money or your wife?" "Neither," he replied, with the satisfied look of a man who knew he was keeping pace with the latest technology, no matter how ridiculous he looked. "This is what everyone will have soon—even you. It's called a mobile telephone."
I don't feel sorry for the pace of change. On the contrary, I'm amazed by those high-tech designers who can somehow fit a camera, music-player, computer and phone into a plastic box no bigger than a packet of cigarette. If those geniuses could also find a way to keep the underground trains running on the first snowy day of winter, they would be making real progress for human beings. What I do regret, however, is that so many household items fall behind so soon. My parents bought a wooden wireless radio in 1947, the year they were married. In 1973, the year I went to university, it was still working. It sat in the kitchen like an old friend—which, in a way, it was. It certainly spoke to us more than we spoke to each other on some mornings. When my mum replaced it with a new-style radio that could also play cassette-tapes, I felt a real sense of loss.
Such is the over-excited change of 21st-century technology that there's no time to satisfy our emotional needs. Even if Apple's new products turn out to be the most significant tablets I very much doubt if they will resist this trend.
1.When you try getting an old mobile phone repaired, ____.
A. you are travelling through time B. you are thought to be out of date
C. you will find everything wrong D. you have got to buy a new one
2.Throwing away so much electronic rubbish makes the writer feel quite _____.
A. lost and upset B. unbelievably fast
C. broken or lost D. regularly wasteful
3.The example of the businessman implies that____.
A. the businessman mastered the latest technology
B. mobile phones used to be quite big just years ago
C. the businessman was a very ridiculous person
D. the writer failed to follow modern technology
4.The passage is organized in the pattern of ____.
A. time and events B. comparison and contrast
C. cause and effect D. examples and analysis
5.Which of the following is conveyed in the passage?
A. The fast pace of change brings us no good.
B. We have to keep up with new technology.
C. Household items should be upgraded quickly.
D. We should hold on for new technology to last.
1 Day Fly-Fly Aboriginal Rock Tour
Tour Details
Operator: Adventure North Australia
Destination: Cooktown
Departs From: Cairns
Tour Description
Voted as one of Australia's Must-Do-Experiences. Treat yourself to an amazing day out with Aboriginal Elder Willie Gordon.
Depart Cairns Domestic Airport for the Skytrans Flight to Cooktown. Flight departs Cairns at 6:45 a.m.
Enjoy a 45-minute flight with wonderful views from Cairns to Cooktown as you fly along the coast between the World Heritage rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef. On arrival in Cooktown you will be met by Willie Gordon, the traditional storyteller of the Nugal-warra clan(部落).
Willie Gordon takes guests to his ancestral rock art sites, set high in the hills above Hope Vale, outside Cooktown. Here he shares the stories behind the art, and explains how the paintings speak of the most basic and important quality of life and the knowledge of his people.
The tour takes you through an impressive view of six rock art sites, including an ancestral Birth Cave and the Reconciliation Cave. This includes a 30-minute bush walk on generally easy terrian(地形). (Covered closed-on shoes must be worn.)
Return to Cooktown at 1:15 p.m. where Willie will take you to the Nature Power House Museum, Cooktown's Visitor Information Centre. Lunch is included at the Verhandah Cafe.
The rest of the afternoon is free to explore historical Cooktown before your transfer to Cooktown airport and return flight to Cairns. Flight arrives at Cairns Domestic Airport at 6:40 p.m. Own arrangements on arrival in Cairns.
Prices
Adults: $ 549.00
Children: $ 390.00
Families(2 adults and 2 children): $ 1,869.00
1.According to the passage, how will tourists arrive in Cooktown?
A. By ship. B. By car. C. By air. D. By train.
2.What do we learn about Willie Gordon?
A. He acts as the guide of the tour.
B. He is the owner of the Verhandah Cafe.
C. He works in the Nature Power House Museum.
D. He is the manager of Adventure North Australia.
3.After viewing rock art, tourists will go to__________.
A. the World Heritage rainforest B. the Great Barrier Reef
C. rock art sites outside the town D. the Nature Power House Museum
4.We learn from the passage that the whole trip lasts about__________.
A. six hours B. eight hours C. ten hours D. twelve hours
5.From the passage, the tour is designed to let the tourists__________.
A. learn about the custom B. enjoy the ancient art
C. taste the delicious snacks D. experience the lifestyle
Oscar the cat seems to have an unnatural ability for predicting when nursing home patients are going to die, by curling up (蜷伏) next to them during their final hours. His accuracy, observed in 25 cases, has led the staff to call family members once he has chosen someone. It usually means the patient has less than four hours to live. "Many family members take some comfort from it. They appreciate the companionship that the cat provides for their dying loved one," said Dosa, a doctor and assistant professor of medicine at Brown University.
The 2-year-old cat was adopted as a kitten and grew up in a third-floor dementia (痴呆) unit at the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, where the facility treats people with Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease and other illnesses. After about six months, the staff noticed Oscar would make his own rounds, just like the doctors and nurses. He'd smell and observe patients, then sit beside people who would end up dying in a few hours. Dosa said Oscar seems to take his work seriously. "This is not a cat that's friendly to people," he said.
"Oscar is better at predicting death than the people who work here," said Dr. Joan Teno of Brown University, who treats patients at the nursing home and is an expert on care for the terminally ill. She was convinced of Oscar's talent when he made his 13th correct call. While observing one patient, Teno said she noticed the woman wasn't eating, was breathing with difficulty and that her legs had a bluish color, signs that often mean death is near. Oscar wouldn't stay inside the room, though, so Teno thought bis streak was broken. Instead, it turned out the doctor's prediction was roughly 10 hours too early. Sure enough, during the patient's final two hours, nurses told Teno that Oscar joined the woman at her bedside.
Doctors say most of the people who get a visit from the sweet-faced, gray-and-white cat are so ill that they probably don't know he's there, so patients aren't aware he's a predictor of death. Most families are grateful for the advance warning, although one wanted Oscar out of the room while a family member died. When Oscar is put outside, he paces and meows his displeasure.
No one's certain if Oscar's behavior is scientifically significant or points to a cause. Teno wonders if the cat senses mysterious scents or reads something into the behavior of the nurses who raised him. Nursing home staff aren't concerned with explaining Oscar, so long as he gives families a better chance at saying goodbye to the dying. The staff recently gave Oscar a wall sign publicly praising his "sympathetic care."
1.What makes Oscar the cat so special?
A. He observes the cases of dying patients.
B. He curls up next to the patients.
C. He calls family members to the hospital.
D. He senses when patients are to die.
2.The passage tells us Oscar_____.
A. would go round and observe patients
B. may sometimes fail to predict death
C. is friendly and liked by every nurse
D. was born and grew up in the hospital
3.The underlined words "his streak was broken" probably mean ____.
A. his bones were severely injured
B. his magic power stopped working
C. his devotion to work got changed
D. his friendship with patients ended
4.From the passage, we learn that_____.
A. Oscar's behavior is scientifically significant
B. Oscar can read something of the nurses' behavior
C. Oscar might like to stay with the dying patients
D. Oscar is sympathetic to the dying patients
5.The best title for this passage is "____".
A. Cats Can Be Used for Looking After Patients
B. Oscar, the Sweet-Faced, Gray-and-White Cat
C. As Death Comes Calling, So Does Oscar the Cat
D. Oscar the Cat, the Best Helper of Our Hospital
I lost my sight when I was four years old by falling off a car and landing on my head. Now I am thirty-two. I can vaguely remember the brightness of __36____ and what color red is. It would be ___37____ to see again, but a(n) __38____ can do strange things to people. I don’t mean I would __39___ to go without my eyes. I simply mean that the loss of them made me appreciate more what I had _40_____.
My parents and my teachers saw something in me ----- a __41____ to live ---- which I didn’t see, and they made me want to fight in out with _42____.
The __43___ lesson I had to learn was to believe in myself. I am not talking about simply the kind of __44____ that helps me down so unfamiliar staircase alone. I __45___ something bigger than that: a confidence that I am, despite being __46____, a real, positive person; that there is a special place where I can make myself fit.
It took me years to discover and strengthen this confidence. It had to start with the easy and simple things. __47____ a man gave me an indoor baseball. I thought he was laughing at me and I was __48____. “I can’t use this,” I said. “Take with you,” he urged me, “and roll it around.” The words __49___ in my head. “Roll it around!” By rolling the ball I could _50_____ where it went. This gave me an idea how to achieve a goal I had thought _51____ before playing baseball. At Philadelphia’s Overbrook School for the Blind I _52___ a successful variation of baseball. We called it ground ball.
I have set ahead of me a series of goals and then tried to reach them, one at a time. I had to be clear about my _53____. It was no good crying for something that I knew at the start was __54___ out of reach because that only invited bitterness of failure. I would fail something anyway, __55___ on the average I made progress.
1.A. sky B. cloud C. sunshine D. mist
2.A. helpful B. wonderful C. hopeful D. successful
3.A. disaster B. environment C. incident D. wonder
4.A. manage B. try C. want D. prefer
5.A. lost B. left C. used D. cared
6.A. purpose B. potential C. pressure D. preparation
7.A. energy B. happiness C. luck D. blindness
8.A. hardest B. dullest C. simplest D. easiest
9.A. self-respect B. self-control C. self-confidence D. self-defence
10.A. think B. consider C. guess D. mean
11.A. imperfect B. perfect C. unfair D. fair
12.A. Later B. Soon C. Once D. Then
13.A. worried B. encouraged C. shocked D. hurt
14.A. stuck B. impressed C. occupied D. held
15.A. see B. hear C. notice D. observe
16.A. important B. unimportant C. possible D. impossible
17.A. invented B. discovered C. instructed D. directed
18.A. experience B. advantages C. knowledge D. limitation
19.A. hardly B. wildly C. highly D. deeply
20.A. so B. for C. but D. and
请阅读下面出现在英国报刊的有关课程招生的广告信息:
A. MATHEMATICS, English, Science & more. All ages. Ring Paul 9905-9995
B. MATHS tutoring in your home. All high school levels or above. Yr7--12, $50-60ph. Contact Andrew 041 8-4116-3 83, or email Andrew-bb@yahoo.com.au
C. MONA VALE Education Centre. All subjects, levels, abilities. Small groups/individual, esp. for young kids. Ph 9918-0011
D. NEWPORT Education Centre. Professional tutoring in Maths, English, Reading, Spelling. Years 1 to 12.Free assessment. Sharyn Whitton 9979 9421
E. Accelerated MIND BODY SOUL NATURAL HEALING. Private Courses/ Programs Heal Yourself / Help Others REIKI 1 2 3 ORION/THETAHEALING *HELEN WENHAN 5591-6677*
F. Acrylic Nail Courses and Waxing Courses (including Brazilian) Day Course. Begins FOR ACRYLIC NAILS Tuesday 31st Oct. Evening Course 6th November WAXING COURSE Starts every-Monday FULLY ACCREDITED Bookings Essential Limited Numbers! Ph.5596~7998
请阅读下面的学习者信息，然后匹配符合他们要求的学习课程:
1.John, a fourteen-year-old young boy, is poor at math and physics and has to improve them in order to pass the final exam at school.
2.Mr. Black Smith, a labor worker on dock who would like to change to some technological job since he is already 43 and a bit too old for hard labor work. He has to work from Monday to Saturday but is free after 5:00 in the afternoon.
3.Chen Hua, a Chinese middle school student who has just moved to the USA. She will have to finish the course all in English at school there but her English is not good enough.
4.Tim, a graduated college student who wanted to quit his job and go on his study for M. A. He planned to take the MBA courses and would have to improve his math because he majored in Art at college.
5.Mrs. Tumer, a working mother with two young kids. She thinks education is a race and it's better to prepare kids more and earlier. Her neighbors, several other families share the same opinion and they are all thinking about sending their young kids to some pre-school education program.
