A team of US psychologists(心理学家) have found that talking to another person for ten minutes a day helps with memory.
“Socializing(交际) is just as effective as more traditional kinds of mental exercise in boosting memory and intellectual(智力的) performance,” Oscar Ybarra, a psychologist at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research, said in a statement.
In one investigation, they analyzed data on 3610 people, aged 24 to 96.
They found that the higher their level of social interaction(交流), the better their cognitive(认知的) functioning. Social interaction includes getting together or having phone chats with relatives, friends and neighbors.
In another experiment, the researchers conducted laboratory tests on 76 college students, aged 18 to 21, to evaluate(评估) how social interactions and intellectual exercises affected the results of memory and mental performance tests.
The students were divided into three groups: the social interaction group had a discussion of a social issue for 10 minutes before taking the tests; the intellectual activities group completed three tasks (including a reading comprehension exercise and a crossword puzzle) before the tests; and a control group(对照组) watched a 10-minute clip(电影片段) of the Seinfeld television show.
“We found that short-term social interaction lasting for just 10 minutes improved participants’ (参与者) intellectual performance as much as engaging in (从事) so-called ‘intellectual’ activities for the same amount of time,” Ybarra said.
The study was expected to be published in the February issue of the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.
1.What does the underlined word “boosting” in the second paragraph probably mean?
A. Improving. B. Reducing.
C. Preventing. D. Training.
2.Which is not included in social interaction?
A. Having a talk with a neighbor.
B. Attending a birthday party.
C. Watching TV at home alone.
D. Calling your classmates.
3.What’s the purpose of the experiment on 76 college students?
A. To judge the effect of social interaction on memory and intelligence.
B. To find out what is real social interaction.
C. To learn how much time is needed for social interaction.
D. To show the function of people's cognition.
4.What’s the main idea of the passage?
A. Intellectual exercises make your memory better.
B. Different people have different ways of communication.
C. Communicating with others keeps you healthy.
D. Social interaction makes you smart.
We see with our eyes and taste with our tongues. Ears are for hearing, skin is for feeling and noses are for smelling. Would anyone say that ears can smell, or that tongues can see? Actually, yes. Paul Bach-y-Rita, a scientist at the University of Wisconsin, believes that the senses can changeable. For example, a tongue can be used for seeing. The brain, as we know, is a complex organ(复杂的器官). Even when part of it is hurt, it will try to carry out the same function by sending the function to another area of the brain.
A college student was asked to take part in an experiment. In the experiment, his eyes were covered with a small video camera. The camera was connected to a long plastic line which went into his mouth. A computer would change the video’s picture. The picture would travel through the plastic line as an electric current(电流), reaching the electrodes(电极板) inside the student’s mouth. The scientist would roll a ball towards his right side, left side, or centre, and the student would have to catch it. When the scientist rolled the ball, pain passed over the student’s tongue. For the position of the pain on the tongue, the student reached out his hand and caught the ball.
If the brain can see a ball through a camera and a wet tongue, blindness and deafness can be overcame.
1.How many senses are talked about in the first paragraph?
A. 4. B. 5. C. 3. D. 2.
2.What is the right order according to the experiment?
①The scientist rolled a ball.
② The student caught the ball.
③ The student felt pain on his tongue.
④The scientist connected the camera to a long plastic line.
A. ①②③④ B. ②①④③ C. ④①③② D. ④③①②
3.What could be the best title for the passage?
A. Senses Are Important
B. An Interesting Experiment
C. A Famous Scientist
D. Senses Are Changeable
Beauty: for fans of the arts. Beauty is a necessary magazine in your spare time. It brings you academic (学术的) articles written by internationally famous scholars, yet with easy-to-understand examples, as well as information on exhibitions and sales all over the world.
World weekly: it gives you a global view with articles from four of the world’s most famous newspapers. Read the news from different views and draw you own conclusions on the stories influencing our world. Try it for six months for just $30. Besides, you can get a free copy of World Weekly 2012.
New View: full of excellent writing and photography, it covers one key subject each month, from human rights to poverty(贫困) to environment. Reports from around the world provide you with all-sided world view. Besides, you can be told lots of fresh reports and the latest stories on world events and activities.
The Week: it is the only summary(摘要) giving you the best of British and foreign newspapers in just 35 pages. Designed to be read in just 1 hour. Try it now with 13 copies for just $25. if you decide it’s not for you, just tell us within 3 weeks and you can get your money back within 10 work days.
1.___________ will probably provide you with articles about music and paintings.
A. New View B. World Weekly
C. Beauty D. The Week
2.Which of the following is NOT probably included in New View?
A. A short statement of the main points of the latest news in China Daily.
B. A discussion on water pollution in India.
C. An article about hungry children in Africa.
D. A report on medical care in China.
3.Which of the following is TRUE according to the ads above?
A. Beauty is an English newspaper.
B. It takes an hour to read a copy of The Week.
C. There are not any pictures in New View.
D. You can get a free copy of World Weekly 2012 if you like it.
Robert had just moved into the street and he felt strange that he was not wanted. He knew that perhaps the other boys were trying to get an idea of what kind of boy he was. This did not help to make him less lonely. He was new and he had to be tested. Still, proving himself would not be all that easy. He did not want to run with bad boys or get into something against the law to prove that he was strong. No! He must show what he was made of in a more helpful way. That was when he got the idea. The next day was Saturday. He knew that most of the boys would be down on the playground and choose upsides for the Saturday game. Robert knew he could play well and what just might be enough to prove he was strong—and to make friends with them.
He arrived early and did his step exercises. He shot (投掷) the ball some times and did some other exercises—the most difficult and most wonderful in basketball. Then the boys came. Robert went through what he had done before the game and showed what he could do.
No one said a word. The boys just looked at each other, and thought about it. In the end, when it was all over, the biggest of the group just smiled and shook his head. Robert knew he had made it.
1.What does “This did not help to make him less lonely” mean?
A. Robert felt more lonely because the other boys wanted to test him.
B. Robert did not feel lonely in fact.
C. Robert felt as lonely as before when the other boys tried to find out what kind of boy he was.
D. The other boys did not want to make Robert feel less lonely.
2.When did Robert decide to prove himself by playing basketball?
A. After he had thought about the two wrong ways.
B. Long before he moved into the street.
C. When the other boys came down to the playground.
D. As soon as he showed what he was made of in front of the other boys.
3.What did the biggest of the group mean by shaking his head?
A. He did not want to say anything about what Robert had done.
B. He had not thought Robert could play so wonderfully.
C. He did want to make friends with Robert.
D. He did not think Robert played basketball well.
完形填空 先通读下面的短文，掌握其大意，然后在每小题所给的四个选项中选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。
Most parents, I suppose, have had the experience of reading a bedtime story their children. And they must have realized how difficult it is to write a good children’s book. Either the author has aimed too ________ , so that children can’t follow what is in his ( or more often, her ) story, ________ the story seems to be talking to the readers.
The best children’s books are ________ very difficult nor very simple, and satisfy the child who hears the story and the adult who reads it. Unfortunately, there are in fact few books like this, ________ the problem of finding the right bedtime story is not ________ to solve. This may be why many of the books regarded as works of children’s literature were in fact written for ________ . “Alice in Wonderland” is perhaps the most obvious（明显）of this.
Children, left for themselves, often ________ the worst possible interest in literature. Just leave a child in a bookshop or a library and he will more willingly choose the books written in an unimaginative way, or have a look at the most children’s comics, full of the stories and jokes which are the rejections of teachers and righting-thinking parents.
Perhaps we parents should stop ________ to brainwash（洗脑）children into accepting our taste in literature. After all, children and adults are so ________ that we parents should not expect that they will enjoy the same books. So I suppose we’ll just have to compromise over the bedtime story.
1.A. to B. in C. with D. around
2.A. easy B. short C. high D. difficult
3.A. and B. but C. or D. so
4.A. both B. neither C. either D. very
5.A. but B. however C. so D. because
6.A. hard B. easy C. enough D. fast
7.A. grown-ups B. girls C. boys D. children
8.A. are B. show C. find D. add
9.A. going B. liking C. trying D. preferring
10.A. same B. friendly C. different D. common
—I really want to give up my dream of being a singer.
—_________. You are so young that you still have more chances.
A. Don’t do it like that. B. It’s a good idea.
C. Why not start again. D. How lovely you are!
