Question

    It has been discovered that after the age of sixteen, the number of our brain cells begins to decrease at a speed of several million a year. They simply die off. In certain types of activity, the human brain is at its highest point in the early twenties, when it has collected enough information to be able to use the vast number of cells freely in the most effective way. Pure mathematics is one of the fields in which this happens, and we know that Albert Einstein made all his world-shaking discoveries between the age of about 20 and 25, and spent the rest of his life tidying them up and arranging them.

But in certain other types of activity (of which being an author is perhaps one), experience is more important than sharpness of brain, and there one usually finds that a person reaches his or her peak much later in life.

Besides sharpness of brain and experience, here is another thing that is very important, and that is wisdom. One can have a very quick, inventive brain and plenty of experience, but if one uses these foolishly, one harms both oneself and others. Wisdom does not always come with age ——there are plenty of foolish middle-aged people about ——but the average person tends to learn wisdom as he gets older, usually by making painful of embarrassing mistakes. Leaning to be wise is basically learning what is not possible ； and what is possible but so difficult that it is not worth all the trouble one has to go through to get there. Mostly, it is learning about human nature ； how real people behave and react, as against how one would like them to behave and react. One can read and hear lot of idealistic stuff about how to make the world a better place, which would be found if it was based on an accurate observation of human nature, but which is basically a waste of time because it is not.

1.According to the writer, the great discoveries made by Albert Einstein were mainly a result in     .

A.years of hard work B.sharpness of the brain

C.rich experience D.his deep understanding of the nature

2.Some people achieve success much later in life because .

A.their work often requires much experience

B.they do not have a chance to show their talents

C.they have to learn lessons from failures

D.they fail to realize earlier the importance of hard work

3.The importance of wisdom lies in the fact that .

A.it helps to avoid various mistakes

B.it contributes to one's creativity

C.it encourages one to go forward in face of difficulty

D.it provides the right direction of efforts

4.The writer came to believe that .

A.it is always a waste of time to make plans about the future

B.it is human nature to make attempts on what looks impossible

C.one should always challenge the impossible to push the society forward

D.one has to use wisdom in deciding what is the best thing to do

Answer

1.B

2.A

3.D

4.D

【解析】

本文为说明文。本篇文章主要说明了人类的大脑在20岁左右于巅峰，在以后的成就多数是因为需要丰富的经验。除了头脑敏锐和经验丰富外，智慧也非常重要，因为智慧为人们提供了正确的努力方向。人们要用智慧来决定做什么才是最好的。

1.推理判断题。根据第一段“It has been discovered that after the age of sixteen, the number of our brain cells begins to decrease at a speed of several million a year. They simply die off. In certain types of activity, the human brain is at its highest point in the early twenties, ... and we know that Albert Einstein made all his world-shaking discoveries between the age of about 20 and 25, and spent the rest of his life tidying them up and arranging them.” 人们发现，16岁以后，我们的脑细胞数量开始以每年几百万的速度减少。在某些类型的活动中，人类的大脑在20岁早期处于巅峰状态,... 我们知道阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦在20到25岁之间做出了所有震惊世界的发现。用余生来整理和安排这些发现。根据对爱因斯坦所的发现可知，他的伟大的发现是在20-25岁之间，更是印证了人类大脑在20年代初达到了巅峰（the human brain is at its highest point），由此可推断出，本段主要研究人类大脑巅峰期（大脑的最敏锐）B项中的sharpness of the brain（大脑最敏锐）与（the human brain is at its highest point）是同义词的关系，故B。

2.推理判断题。根据第二段“But in certain other types of activity (of which being an author is perhaps one), experience is more important than sharpness of brain, and there one usually finds that a person reaches his or her peak much later in life.”但在某些其他类型的活动中(作家可能是其中一种)，经验比头脑的敏捷更重要，人们通常会发现一个人在他一生的晚期才达到顶峰。由此可推断出有些人在晚年取得成功是因为他们的工作中往往需要很多经验。分析选项可知A符合题意，故选A。

3.推理判断题。第三段“Besides sharpness of brain and experience, here is another thing that is very important, and that is wisdom.... Leaning to be wise is basically learning what is not possible； and what is possible but so difficult that it is not worth all the trouble one has to go through to get there. Mostly, it is learning about human nature；how real people behave and react, as against how one would like them to behave and react.”除了敏锐的头脑和丰富的经验外，还有一件事是非常重要的，那就是智慧。学习成为智者，要基本的了解什么是不可能的；学习有可能但又很困难的东西，以至于不值得一个人为了达到目的而付出所有的努力。最重要的是了解人性，了解真实的人是如何行为和反应的，以及人们希望他们如何行为和反应的。由此可推断出智慧的重要性在于智慧能让人知道什么可做，什么不能做，即为人提供正确的努力方向。分析选项可知D项符合题意，故选D。

4.推理判断题。根据最后一段“Leaning to be wise is basically learning what is not possible；and what is possible but so difficult that it is not worth all the trouble one has to go through to get there. Mostly, it is learning about human nature；how real people behave and react, as against how one would like them to behave and react. One can read and hear lot of idealistic stuff about how to make the world a better place, which would be found if it was based on an accurate observation of human nature,”成为智者，要大体上知道什么是不可能的。学习有可能但又如此困难的东西，以至于不值得一个人为了达到目的而付出所有的努力。最重要的是学习人性，了解真实的人是如何行为和反应的，以及人们希望他们如何行为和反应的。人们可以读到和听到很多关于如何使世界变得更美好的理想主义的东西.......由此可推断出聪明的人必须运用智慧来决定最好要做什么事。分析选项可知D项符合题意，故选D。