Question

    If you were like most kids, your mother must have told you there were three no-no’s when it came to your fingers: Don’t put them in an electrical outlet, don’t stick them up your nose (at least not in public), and don’t use them when you are counting. 1. But experts in education and cognition now believe that using your fingers to do math is not only a perfectly good idea but may even help children become superior students.

It certainly makes sense. When children count on their fingers, they take an abstract concept — mathematics — and translate it into the most basic and visual form 2.. Even when we aren’t actually counting on figures, they still can help us on math problems.

3. It activates when we respond to heat, pressure, pain, or the use of a given finger.

Studying brain scans, researchers discovered that when students aged 8 to 13 work on subtraction (减法 ) equations, this region “lights up” on the scans, even if the students aren’t using their fingers. The more complex the problem is, the more activities are detected.

The connection between finger use and math ability has been proved on old-fashioned math tests as well. With their eyes closed, first graders were asked to identify which of their fingers a researcher was touching. 4.. When college students were given the same quiz, the highest scores once again performed best on calculation tests.

So what does all this mean? For one thing, parents and teachers shouldn’t discourage children from counting on their fingers. 5.. Memorizing the multiplication tables may help, but it is not the best option. “I would like to see interesting and creative representations of ideas.” says Jo Boaler, a professor of math education.

Recently, a series of activities have been designed to strengthen students’ perception of their fingers. Maybe in the near future, there will be only two no-no’s regarding the use of fingers.

A.There is a section of the brain, called the somatosensory finger area.

B.Researchers also stress that students simply learn better using visual tools.

C.The first two laws of fingers are as true as ever.

D.That may sound simplistic, but the researchers offer an interesting explanation.

E.Researchers found those scoring highest on the finger-ID questions scored higher on a math test.

F.Researchers are unimpressed by those students who finish quickly as well.

G.In fact, experts believe the brain is built to “see” any process with our fingers.

Answer

1.C

2.G

3.A

4.E

5.B

【解析】

本文是一篇说明文。家长经常教育孩子不要用手指数数，但研究表明用手指数数对数学能力有促进作用。

1.上文讲母亲告诉我们的三个不要用手指的事项，再根据空后But experts in education and cognition now believe that using your fingers to do math is not only a perfectly good idea but may even help children become superior students.(但是教育和认知方面的专家现在认为，用你的手指做数学不仅是一个非常好的主意，甚至可以帮助孩子成为优秀的学生)可知，教育专家说数数时用手指是很好的方法。因此推断，C项The first two laws of fingers are as true as ever.(手指的前两个定律和以往一样正确)是对上文的总结，对下文的转折。故选C。

2.根据空前When children count on their fingers, they take an abstract concept — mathematics — and translate it into the most basic and visual form.可知，用手指数数能把抽象的数学概念变成最基本的视觉形式。因此推断，G项In fact, experts believe the brain is able to “see” a representation of our fingers.(事实上，专家认为大脑能够“看到”我们手指的图像)是对上句的进一步解释。故选G。

3.根据下文It activates when we respond to heat, pressure, pain, or the use of a given finger.可知，当我们对热、压力、疼痛或使用给定的手指作出反应时，它就会激活。下文内容接着讲大脑特定区域的具体工作程序，因此推断，A项There is a section of the brain,called the somatosensory finger area.(大脑有一个区域，叫做躯体感觉指区)讲得是大脑的一个区域，引出下文。下文it指代上文的the somatosensory finger area。故选A。

4.本段第一句The connection between finger use and math ability has been proved on old-fashioned math tests as well.可知，手指的使用和数学能力之间的联系在老式的数学测试中也得到了证明。此处在讲手指使用和数学能力之间的关系，根据空格上文With their eyes closed, first graders were asked to identify which of their fingers a researcher was touching.(当他们闭上眼睛时，一年级的学生被要求识别他们的手指中的哪一个是研究人员触摸的)可知，此处讲述研究过程，因此推断，E项Researchers found those scoring highest on the finger-ID questions scored higher on a math test.(研究人员发现，在手指识别问题上得分最高的人在数学测试中得分较高)说明了两者之间的关系，符合本段主题。故选E。

5.上文For one thing, parents and teachers shouldn’t discourage children from counting on their fingers.可知，首先，父母和老师不应该阻止孩子们用手指数数。B项Researchers also stress that students simply learn better using visual tools.(研究人员还强调，学生们只是通过视觉工具学习会更好)与上句并列，与下句的乘法表一致。故选B。