Question

    You try to keep your eyes wide open while watching a basketball match or a marvelous firework show in case you might miss something exciting in just the blink of an eye. But in fact, humans blink about 15 times per minute on average. Have you ever missed anything because you blinked? Probably not. Why is that?

According to a new study published in journal Current Biology in September, our brain has the ability to “skip” the temporary darkness that we see when we blink. It can keep visual information for a short period of time and then put it together to form a conclusive image without interruption.

In order to understand how this works, a group of scientists at the German Primate Center and the University Medical Center Gottingen in Germany conducted an experiment.

In the study, the participants were asked to look at patterns on a screen whose orientation(方向)could be shown in different ways, such as horizontally( 水平的) or vertically( 垂直的).When one pattern was about to disappear and the next one was about to come, the participants had to indicate the direction that the next pattern would be oriented in.

The researchers found that when the orientations of two patterns didn’t match, the medial prefrontal cortex(内侧前额叶皮层)--- the area in our brain which is responsible for visual memory---was activated. This same area showed less activity when two patterns were in the same direction.

“The medial prefrontal cortex adjust current visual information with previously obtained information, and thus enables us to see the world with more stability, even when we briefly close our eyes to blink,” Caspar Schwiedrzik explained in Science Daily. He is the first author of the study and also a scientist at the German Primate Center.

1.What ‘s the author’s intention to write the first paragraph?

A.To bring out the topic.

B.To show the importance of blink.

C.To show some interesting event in his life.

D.To give suggestions on when we should blink.

2.Why can’t we miss anything when blinking?

A.Because the time of the blink of an eye is too short.

B.Because our brain has the ability to “skip” the darkness.

C.Because our eyes can keep information and put it together.

D.Because the medial prefrontal cortex has a special function.

3.The underlined word “activated” probably means   .

A.be injured B.be useless

C.start working D.start being noticed

Answer

1.A

2.D

3.C

【解析】

这是一篇说明文。文章主要讲述了当我们眨眼时，我们也不会错过相应的事情。因为大脑中有对应的视觉记忆能力，帮助我们把错过的记忆拼接在一起，形成一个完整的景象。

1.推理判断题。根据文章第一段中“You try to keep your eyes wide open while watching a basketball match or a marvelous firework show in case you might miss something exciting in just the blink of an eye. But in fact, humans blink about 15 times per minute on average. Have you ever missed anything because you blinked? Probably not. Why is that?”（ 你在看篮球赛或精彩的烟火表演时尽量睁大眼睛，以防眨眼之间错过什么精彩的东西。但事实上，人类平均每分钟眨眼15次。你有没有因为眨眼而错过什么?可能不会。这是为什么呢?）以及下文探究了为什么眨眼不会错过相应东西的原因。故作者写第一段的目的是引出下文。故选A。

2.细节理解题。根据文章最后一段中 “The medial prefrontal cortex adjust current visual information with previously obtained information, and thus enables us to see the world with more stability, even when we briefly close our eyes to blink,”（ 内侧前额叶皮层利用之前获得的信息来调节当前的视觉信息，从而使我们能够更稳定地看到这个世界，即使我们只是短暂地闭上眼睛眨一下眼睛。”）由此可知，当我们眨眼时我们也不会错过信息的原因是内侧前额叶皮层有特殊的功能。故选D。

3.词义猜测题。根据文章倒数第二段中“. This same area showed less activity when two patterns were in the same direction.”（ 当两种模式在同一方向上时，这一区域表现出较少的活动。）由此可知，当两个模式的方向不匹配, 在我们的大脑负责视觉记忆的内侧前额叶皮质会开始活动。前后两句话表示两种相反的情况。故划线词“activated”有可能是“活跃；激活或开始工作”的意思。结合选项，故选C。