Motherhood may make women smarter and may help prevent dementia(痴呆) in old age by bathing the brain in protective hormones(荷尔蒙) , U.S. reseachers reported on Thursday.
Tests on rats show that those who raise two or more litters of pups do considerably better in tests of memory and skills than rats who have no babies, and their brains show changes that suggest they may be protected against diseases such as Alzheimer’s(早老痴呆症). University of Richmond psychology professor Craig Kinsley believes his findings will translate into humans.
“Our research shows that the hormones of pregnancy(怀孕) are protecting the brain, including estrogen(雌激素), which we know has many neuroprotective (保护神经的) effects,” Kinsley said.
“It’s rat data but humans are mammals just like these animals are mammals,” he added in a telephone interview. “They go through pregnancy and hormonal changes.”
Kinsley said he hoped public health officials and researchers will look to see if having had children protects a woman from Alzheimer’s and other forms of age-related brain decline.
“When people think about pregnancy, they think about what happens to babies and the mother from the neck down,” said Kinsley, who presented his findings to the annual meeting of the Society of Neuroscience in Orlando, Florida.
“They do not realize that hormones are washing on the brain. If you look at female animals who have never gone through pregnancy, they act differently toward young. But if she goes through pregnancy, she will sacrifice her life for her infant—that is a great change in her behavior that showed in genetic alterations(改变) to the brain.”
How do scientists know “Motherhood may make women smarter”?
| A．Some researchers have told them. |
| B．Many women say so. |
| C．They know it by experimenting on rats. |
| D．They know it through their own experience. |
What does the phrase “litters of pups” mean in the second paragraph?
| A．Baby rats. | B．Animals. | C．Old rats. | D．Grown-up rats. |
What can protect the brain of a woman according to the passage?
| A．Estrogen. | B．The hormones of pregnancy. |
| C．More exercise. | D．Taking care of children. |
“It’s rat data but humans are mammals just like these animals are mammals.” What does the sentence suggest?
| A．The experiments on the rats have nothing to do with humans. |
| B．The experiments on the rats are very important for animals. |
| C．The experiments on the rats are much the same on humans. |
| D．The experiments on the rats are much the same on other animals. |
Which title is the best for this passage?
| A．Do You Want to Be Smarter? | B．Motherhood Makes Women Smarter |
| C．Mysterious Hormones | D．An Important Study |
Laresce was born with a condition called hypermobility(运动过度)which meant her joints were“bend”．The condition can use severe joint pain and lead to dislocations(脱臼)．
But rather than feel sorry for herself, she used her misfortune to inspire her to become Britain's strongest schoolgirl．
Just two years ago，the condition left Laresce in so much pain that she couldn’t even take part in sports．But now she has six British and World Champion power lifting records．It’s an incredible achievement．
Laresce’s trainer Tania George said her condition is the secret to her success．“She has more flexibility in her back than most people，which gives her the technique of bending her back strongly and safely．Most power lifters would kill to try to bend their backs like Laresce．She has perfected the technique to lift incredibly heavy weights，”Tania said．
“I used to suffer a lot of pain from my hypermobility．I remember coming home from school with pains in my knees，joints and hips．It would stop me doing normal things at schoo1．The pain would be so much that some nights I couldn't sleep at all and I just couldn’t face going to school like that．And after each dislocation，I had to do six months of physiotherapy(理疗)to recover,”said Laresce．
However, since taking up the sport of power lifting 18 months ago she is now effectively cured．“really enjoyed the feeling of power I got and the excitement of people encouraging me to do my very best，”she said．
“I’ve made lots of friends a It’s an incredible feeling when everyone's cheering me on．It’s the support of other people that makes the difference to winning．Becoming a champion was a big surprise—I just started off for fun and wasn’t expecting anything．So to win six titles over just a few months was amazing．”We can learn from the passage that________．
| A．Laresce is suffering a lot from hypermobility |
| B．hypermobility is helpful to increase one’s strength |
| C．Laresce didn't go to school because of her illness |
| D．the flexibility in Laresce's back helps her to lift heavy weight |
Laresce had to do long-time physiotherapy to________．
| A．reduce the pains in knees and joints |
| B．recover from joint dislocations |
| C．fall asleep easily during nights |
| D．do normal things freely at school |
From Laresce's words in the last paragraph we know that________．
A．Laresce was determined to become a champion
B．Laresce trained for a long time to win the titles
C．Laresce didn’t expect to gain such a great success
D：Laresce’s friends contributed a lot to her successWhat could be the best title for this passage ?
| A．A schoolgirl who turns misfortune into an advantage |
| B．Bendy-jointed teen becomes Britain’s strongest schoolgirl |
| C．An inspiring girl who has made great achievements |
| D．A British girl with great spirit and determination |
Sitting at a desk in a classroom all day can be pretty boring.
The teachers at Ward Elementary in Winston –Salem，North Carolina ，picked up on that and traded in their students’ desks for exercise bikes as a part of their Read and Ride program!
The Read and Ride program began five years ago．One classroom has enough bikes for every student in any given class，and throughout the day teachers bring in their students to the room to ride them and read their books．
Even regular classrooms have one bike in the back of each room for students who just can’t sit still to use to help them burn energy in a good way．
Students love being more active! Teachers enjoy seeing students eager to read．Parents appreciate stronger，smarter children．Headmasters value this effective and cost-free program．“Riding exercise bikes makes reading fun for many kids who get frustrated(挫败的)when they read．Thus，they have a way to release that frustration while they ride，”said Scott Ertl，who started the program．“As we can see，everyone wants to promote literacy and lose weight! But many students who are overweight struggle with sports and activities since they don’t want to always be the last or lose with others watching on the playground．On exercise bikes，however，students are able to exert(发挥)themselves at their own level—without anyone noticing when they slow down or take a break．”
As it turns out，not only are the bikes helping the students burn calories，they’re also helping them learn better and stay focused．At the end of the school year the school analyzed testing data and found that students that spent more time reading and riding did more than twice as well on reading tests than their fellow students who spent the least time in the program．Why did the teachers start the Read and Ride program?
| A．To get the students out of the classrooms． |
| B．To make the students more active in sports． |
| C．To read effectively in an active way． |
| D．To help the overweight students keep fit． |
According to Scott Ertl，riding exercise bikes___________．
| A．is the least expensive way for exercise |
| B．call benefit overweight students in both ways |
| C．is the best way to build up students’body |
| D．is a good way to avoid being watched by teachers |
The program helps the students in the following ways except________．
| A．help them learn better |
| B．reduce their reading difficulties |
| C．build up their bodies |
| D．improve their learning concentration |
Passwords are no safeguards
Typing your password or credit card number into a computer is a moment’s work. But if you think your personal details disappear as soon as you hit the Return key, think again: they can sit on the computer’s hard disk for years waiting for a hacker(黑客)to take them.
As people spend more time on the web and hackers become more experienced, the dangers of storing personal information on computers are growing by the day, security experts say. There are some safe-guards, such as never allowing your computer to store your passwords. But even that in no guarantee of security.
When you type in a password, it is stored in random access memory (RAM), where it is held temporarily until other data overwrites it or the computer is switched off.
But every so often , the computer copies the contents of its RAM onto hard disk, where it is easy to prey（捕获） for a hacker, who can read it directly or design a worm to e-mail it back. The longer sensitive data stays in RAM, the more likely it is to be copied onto the disk, where it stays until it is overwritten-which might not happen for years.
Tal Garfinkel and colleagues from Stanford University have created a software tool which simulates (模拟)the workings of a complete computer system. Within the simulation, sensitive data can be tagged and then tracked as it passes through the system. Next, Garfinkel and his team simulated computers running common software that regularly handles passwords or secret personal information, such as Internet Explorer, the Windows login script and Apache server software.
In a paper to be presented, they conclude that the programs took no measures to limit the length of time the information is kept. Some of the tested software even copied the sensitive information, obviously without restraint(阻拦).What does the passage mainly talk about?
| A．It’s important to set passwords to your computer. |
| B．Passwords help keep your personal information. |
| C．It’s unsafe to store personal information on computers. |
| D．There are some safeguards for your personal information. |
Hackers usually get others’ information from.
| A．RAM | B．the hard disk |
| C．a worm | D．the e-mail |
Garfinkel and his colleagues created a software tool to .
| A．find out how hackers steal personal information |
| B．protect personal information from being stolen |
| C．see how a complete computer system works |
| D．tag and track sensitive data on the computer |
Talking about computer safety, which of the following the writer would probably suggest?
| A．People should stop using computers. |
| B．Hackers should be heavily punished. |
| C．Better computer programs are needed. |
| D．Program developers are to blame. |
In front of a popular restaurant, a line of customers wait for taxis. And wait. Most of the cabs(taxis) are full. That’s nothing unusual in this city of 4 million people. But it’s 2:30 in the morning.
Visitors to the Olympic Games may leave disappointed if they see Athens only through the eyes of the typical tourist, who makes a beeline of the islands after the visit to the Acropolis(雅典卫城) and the unusual and attractive Plaka district. To fully appreciate and discover Athens’ many charms(魅力), do as the Greeks do: walk out into the neighborhoods, find the packed nightclubs, eat at one of the innumerable(数不清的) restaurants, or see Hollywood stars under real stars in a romantic outdoor cinema.
The Greek capital is named for the ancient goddess Athena, whose favourite animal was the owl(猫头鹰). It’s a fitting symbol for the city’s nocturnal (夜里的) nature, which often reaches its highest point in summer with a rush hour just before dawn.
As native Athenian Panos Demestiha said, Athens by day is unlivable(不宜居住的), but it’s magical at night. Athenians face up to heavy traffic block, decreasing green space, dusty streets… City officials are using the momentum(契机) of the August 13-29 Olympics to fix some of these problems and make city life more bearable.To the surprise of the visitors to Athens , ____.
| A．most of the cabs are often full all day long |
| B．the cabs are often empty |
| C．the cabs are almost full even at 2:30 am |
| D．there is no cab in the street at 2:30 am. |
The name of Athens came from ____.
| A．a goddess | B．a famous athlete |
| C．a kind of animal | D．a kind of plant |
The typical visitors will often visit the following places EXCEP ____.
| A．the neighborhood | B．the Plaka district |
| C．the Acropolis | D．famous islands |
The underlined word “bearable” in the last paragraph can be replaced by “____”.
| A．astonishing | B．forgettable |
| C．exciting | D．comfortable |
Foreign attacks on U． S． soil
1812 ---- During the War of 1812, British forces（军队） burned the new capital at Washington, D． C． They also attacked Baltimore and New Orleans and captured（占领） Detroit, which at the time was a remote military outpost (前哨基地)．
1846 ---- A brief invasion（入侵）by Mexican troops across the Rio Gande began the U． S． - Mexican War in 1846． But the remaining action in that conflict（冲突） occurred in California, New Mexico and in Mexico． California and New Mexico belonged to Mexico at the time．
1916 ---- Mexican revolutionaries led by Pancho Villa attacked the town of Columbus, N． M．, on March 9, 1916．
1941 -- Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on Dec． 7, 1941, killing nearly 2,400 people and forcing America into World War II．
1993 ---- Terrorists（恐怖主义者） blew up a truck bomb in the basement of the World Trade Center in February 1993, killing six people and injuring more than 1,000．
2001 ---- Terrorists hijacked(劫机) several planes on Sep．11, 2001． Two ploughed into（撞入） New York’s World Trade Center (WTC), toppling the two highest buildings in the city; a third seriously damaged the Pentagon（五角大楼）． The fourth hijacked plane crashed in Pennsylvania． Several thousand people were killed in the attacks．During the War of 1812, British forces did the following except that _____．
A．they captured Detroit
B．they attacked Baltimore and New Orleans
C．they attacked the town of Columbus, N． M．
D．they burned the new capital at Washington, D． C．During the September 11th terrorist attacks, _____．
| A．terrorists hijacked three planes |
| B．destroyed the Pentagon completely |
| C．killed six people and injured more than 1,000 |
| D．two planes knocked into New York’s World Trade Center |
The underlined word “toppling” in the last paragraph means _____．
| A．reaching the highest point of | B．causing to fall |
| C．knocking into | D．building |
How many foreign attacks mentioned in the passage did the US have?
| A．5 | B．6 | C．7 | D．8 |