Searching the Internet may help middle-aged and older adults keep their memories sharp,US researchers said.
Researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles ,studied people doing web searches by recording their brain activity.
“What we saw was people who had Internet experience used more of their brain during the search,”Dr.Gary Small, a UCLA expert on aging, said,“This suggests that just searching on the Internet may train the brain and that it may keep it active and healthy.”
“This is the first time anyone has simulated(模拟)an Internet search task while scanning the brain,”Small said. His team studied 24 normal volunteers between the ages of 55 and 76. Half were experienced at searching the Internet and the other half had no web experience. However, the two groups were similar in age, gender and education.
Both groups were asked to do Internet searches and book reading tasks while their brain activity was monitored.
“We found that in the book reading task, the visual cortex— the part of the brain that controls reading and language — was activated,”Small said,“In doing the Internet search task, there was much greater activity, but only in the Internet-savvy（了解）group.”
He said it appears that people who are familiar with the Internet can engage in much deeper level of brain activity. Activities that keep the brain engaged can preserve brain health and thinking ability. Small thinks learning to do Internet searches may be one of those activities.Researchers when volunteers were doing web searches.
| A．studied the Internet |
| B．activated the brain |
| C．recorded their memories |
| D．monitored the brain activity |
The two volunteer groups were .
| A．similar in education |
| B．of the same age |
| C．good at the computer |
| D．book lovers |
According to the passage, we can learn that .
| A．reading books keeps the brain more engaged |
| B．searching the web keeps the brain more engaged |
| C．watching TV keeps the brain more engaged |
| D．chatting online keeps the brain more engaged |
Which of the following is TRUE?
| A．When you read, the whole brain will be activated. |
| B．Dr.Gary Small is a UCLA expert on brain health. |
| C．Internet searches can preserve brain health and thinking ability |
| D．People who read books may have a better memory. |
The composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s remarkable musical talent was apparent even before most children can sing a simple nursery rhyme. Wolfgang’s older sister Maria Anna (who the family called Nannerl) was learning the clavier, an early keyboard instrument, when her three-year-old brother took an interest in playing. As Nannerl later recalled, Wolfgang “often spent much time at the clavier picking out thirds (三度音), which he was always striking, and his pleasure showed that it sounded good.” Their father Leopold, an assistant concertmaster at the Salzburg Court, recognized his children’s unique gifts and soon devoted himself to their musical education.
Born in Salzburg, Austria, on January 27, 1756, Wolfgang had composed his first original work by age five. Leopold planned to take Nannerl and Wolfgang on tour to play before the European courts. Their first venture was to nearby Munich where the children played for Maximillian III Joseph, elector of Bavaria. Leopold soon set his sights on the capital of the Hapsburg Empire, Vienna. On their way to Vienna, the family stopped in Linz, where Wolfgang gave his first public concert. By this time, Wolfgang was not only a skilled harpsichord player, but he had also mastered the violin. The audience at Linz was amazed by the six-year-old, and word of his genius soon traveled to Vienna. In a much attended concert, the Mozart children appeared at the Schonbrunn Palace on October 13, 1762. They completely attracted the emperor and empress.
Following this success, Leopold received a lot of invitations for the children to play, for a fee. Leopold seized the opportunity and booked as many concerts as possible at courts throughout Europe. A concert could last three hours, and the children played at least two per a day. Today, Leopold might be considered the worst kind of stage parent, but at the time, it was not uncommon for prodigies to make extensive concert tours. Even so, it was an exhausting schedule for a child who was just past the age of needing an afternoon nap.
A good title for this passage would be ________.
| A．Classical Music in the Eighteenth Century: An Overview. |
| B．Stage Parents: A Historical Point of View. |
| C．Mozart: The Early Life of a Musical Genius. |
| D．Mozart: The Short Career of a Musical Genius. |
What was the consequence of Wolfgang’s first public appearance?
| A．He attracted the emperor and empress of Hapsburg. |
| B．Word of Wolfgang’s genius spread to the capital. |
| C．Leopold set his sights on Vienna. |
| D．Invitations for the miracle children to play poured in. |
Each of the following statements about Wolfgang Mozart is directly supported by the passage except ________.
| A．Mozart’s father made full use of his children’s talent |
| B．Maria Anna was also talented in music |
| C．Wolfgang’s childhood was devoted to his musical career |
| D．Wolfgang preferred the violin to other instruments |
The word “prodigies” in the last paragraph probably means “________”.
| A．unusually talented people | B．strict parents |
| C．greatest composers | D．generous people |
It takes two to duet (二重唱), and one question for scientists is how these coordinated (协调的) performances arise — in birds. Are they the result of cooperation, a way in which one pair signals to others that they’ve got it together? Or are they the result of conflict, evolving to avoid one partner’s song interfering with the other’s?
A study of duetting in Peruvian warbling antbirds(蚁鸟) suggests that it might be a little of both, and that context is everything. Joseph A. Tobias and Nathalie Seddon of the University of Oxford show in Current Biology that sexual conflict can cause the female of a pair that normally cooperates to “jam” the male’s song by singing over it.
The researchers exposed antbird pairs to recorded songs of other antbirds and monitored the songs the pairs produced. In one experiment, they played the songs of an intruding pair. In this case, the resident pair “both are likely to lose their territory, so both should cooperate,” Dr. Tobias said. And they do. They produce a coordinated duet that in effect tells the intruders to keep away.
But when the researchers played the song of a single female, the pair behaved differently. “You’d expect the resident female to be highly motivated to defend her position in the partnership,” Dr. Tobias said. And that’s what occurs. The male sings its heart out, flirting(调情) with the single female, and the female of the pair does its best to interfere with the song by singing over it, apparently to make her mate less attractive to the other female.
“It’s clear that the male doesn’t like what she’s doing,” Dr. Tobias said. The behavior “breaks up what is otherwise a very cooperative situation into a more complicated signal,” he added.
It’s the first evidence of this kind of signal jamming among pairs, Dr. Tobias said.
And in that it leads the male to alter its song to avoid the female’s interfering notes, it shows that this kind of conflict could, over a long period, drive the evolution of coordinated song.
What is the key factor of antbirds’ duet?
| A．Their cooperation. | B．Their conflict. |
| C．The context. | D．Their instinct. |
How did the researchers conduct the experiment?
| A．They put the antbird pairs back to nature and observe them. |
| B．They played different recorded songs of other antbirds. |
| C．They put an antbird to the other’s territory and observed. |
| D．They played the songs of an intruding pair. |
Why did the female bird sing according to Paragraph 4?
| A．It wanted to show its singing talent to the partner. |
| B．It aimed at keeping the partnership with the male. |
| C．It wanted to frighten the other females. |
| D．It wanted to make her mate more attractive. |
Which of the following is the topic of this passage?
| A．The special phenomenon about birds pairs. |
| B．The conflict of bird pairs. |
| C．The cooperation of bird pairs. |
| D．The piece of music for bird pairs. |
Below is adapted from an English dictionary. Use the dictionary to answer the following questions.
 figure / fīgə / noun, verb ●noun 1 [C, often pl.] a number representing a particular amount, especially one given in official information: the trade /sales figures 2 [C] a symbol rather than a word representing one of the numbers between 0 and 9: a six-figure salary 3 [pl.] (informal) the area of mathematics that deals with adding, multiplying, etc. numbers 4 [C] a person of the type mentioned: Gandhi was both a political and a religious figure in Indian history. 5 [C] the shape of a person seen from a distance or not clearly 6 [C] a person or an animal as shown in art or a story: a wall with five carved figures in it 7 [C] the human shape, considered from the point of view of being attractively thin: doing exercise to improve one’s figure 8 [C] a pattern or series of movements performed on ice: figure-skating [IDM] be/become a figure of fun: be/become sb. that others laugh at cut a…figure: (of a person) to have a particular appearance He cut a striking figure in his dinner jacket. put a figure on sth.: to say the exact price or number of sth. |
a fine figure of man / woman: a tall, strong-looking and well-shaped person figure of speech: a word or phrase used in a different way from its usual meanings in order to create a particular mental image or effect figurehead: someone who is the head or chief in name only (with no real power or authority) ●verb 1 to think or decide that sth. will happen or is true: I figured that if I took the night train, I could be in Scotland by morning. 2 to be part of a process, situation, etc. especially an important part: My opinion of the matter didn’t seem to figure at all. 3 to calculate an amount or the cost of sth.: We figured that attendance at 150,000. [PHRV] 1 figure in: to include (in a sum): Have you figured in the cost of hotel? 2 figure on: to plan on; to expect sth. to happen: I haven’t figured on his getting home too late. 3 figure out: to work out; understand by thinking: Have you figured out how much the trip will cost? [IDM] It/That figures! (informal): That seems reasonable, logical and what I expect. |
—She was coming late again for the work.
—________! That’s typical of her. You just can’t do anything to stop her doing that.
| A．It figures her out | B．It figures |
| C．It cuts a poor figure | D．She is a figure of fun |
The phrase “watch my figure” in the sentence “Don’t tempt me with chocolate; I am watching my figure.” means “________”.
| A．add the numbers | B．have sports |
| C．try not to get fat | D．watch games |
Which underlined word in the following sentences is used as figure of speech?
| A．John is fond of animals and raises a rabbit as a pet. |
| B．In some countries, bamboo can be used to build houses. |
| C．We all regard Mr. Smith as an important figure in our company. |
| D．I didn’t really mean my partner was a snake. |
I live in the land of Disney, Hollywood and year-round sun. You may think people in such a splendid, fun-filled place are happier than others. If so, you have some mistaken ideas about the nature of happiness.
Many intelligent people still equate (等同于) happiness with fun. The truth is that fun and happiness have little or nothing in common. Fun is what we experience during an act. Happiness is what we experience after an act. It is a deeper, more lasting emotion.
Going to an amusement park or ball game, watching a movie or television, are fun activities that help us relax, temporarily forget our problems and maybe even laugh. But they do not bring happiness, because their positive effects end when the fun ends.
I have often thought that if Hollywood stars have a role to play, it is to teach us that happiness has nothing to do with fun. These rich, beautiful individuals have constant access to wonderful parties, fancy cars, expensive homes, everything that spells “happiness”. But in memoir（回忆录）after memoir, they reveal the unhappiness hidden behind all their fun: depression, alcoholism, drug addiction, broken marriages, troubled children and lasting loneliness.
Ask a bachelor why he refuses marriage, if he’s honest, and he will tell you that he is afraid of making a promise, for promise is in fact quite painful. The single life is filled with fun, adventure and excitement. Marriage has such moments, but they are not its most important features.
Similarly, couples that choose not to have children are deciding in favor of painless fun over painful happiness. They can dine out whenever they want and sleep as late as they can. Couples with young children are lucky to get a whole night’s sleep or a three-day vacation. I don’t know any parent who would choose the word fun to describe raising children.
Understanding and accepting that true happiness has nothing to do with fun is one of the most liberating（解放性的）realizations. It liberates time: now we can devote more hours to activities that can really increase our happiness. It liberates money: buying that new car or those fancy clothes that will do nothing to increase our happiness now seems pointless. And it liberates us from envy: we now understand that all those rich and glamorous people we were so sure are happy because they are always having so much fun actually may not be happy at all.
. We can learn from the passage that____________.
| A．fun creates long-lasting satisfaction |
| B．fun provides enjoyment while pain leads to happiness |
| C．happiness is lasting whereas fun is short-lived |
| D．fun that is long-standing may lead to happiness |
. To the author, the role Hollywood stars will play is to _________.
| A．write memoir after memoir about their happiness |
| B．tell the public that happiness has nothing to do with fun |
| C．teach people how to enjoy their lives |
| D．bring happiness to the public instead of going to parties |
In the author’s opinion, marriage____________.
| A．affords greater fun | B．leads to raising children |
| C．indicates duty and devotion | D．usually ends up in pain |
Which of the following is the best example of “painful happiness”?
| A．Winning lottery by accident. | B．A bachelor refusing marriage. |
| C．Raising children. | D．Buying some fancy clothes. |
If one gets the meaning of the true sense of happiness, he will____________.
| A．stop playing games and joking with others |
| B．keep himself with his family |
| C．give a free hand to money |
| D．use his time to increase happiness |
It’s really true what people say about English politeness: it’s everywhere. When squeezing past someone in a narrow aisle, people say “sorry”. When getting off a bus, English passengers say “thank you” rather than the driver. In Germany, people would never dream of doing these things. After all, squeezing past others is sometimes unavoidable, and the bus driver is only doing his job. I used to think the same way, without questioning it, until I started travelling to the British Isles and came to appreciate some more polite ways of interacting (交往) with people.
People thank each other everywhere in England, all the time. When people buy something in a shop, customer and retail assistant in most cases thank each other twice or more. In Germany, it would be exceptional to hear more than one thank you in such a conversation. British students thank their lecturers when leaving the room. English employers thank their employees for doing their jobs, as opposite to Germans, who would normally think that paying their workers money is already enough.
Another thing I observed during my stay was that English people rarely criticize others. Even when I was working and mistakes were pointed out to me, my employers emphasized (强调) several times but none of their explanations were intended as criticism. It has been my impression that by avoiding criticism, English people are making an effort to make others feel comfortable. This also is showed in other ways. British men still open doors for women, and British men are more likely to treat women to a meal than German men. However, I do need to point out here that this applies to English men a bit more than it would to Scottish men! Yes, the latter (后者) are a bit tightfisted.
. What is the author’s attitude towards English politeness?
| A．He thinks it is artificial. | B．He gives no personal opinion. |
| C．He appreciates it. | D．He thinks it goes too far. |
What can we learn about customers and retail assistants in Germany?
| A．A customer never says thank you to a retail assistant. |
| B．It’s always a retail assistant who says thank you. |
| C．They may say thank you only once. |
| D．they always say thank you to each other. |
We can learn from the last paragraph that Scottish men __________.
| A．are more likely to be involved in a fighting |
| B．are more polite than English men |
| C．treat women in a polite way |
| D．are not so willing to spend money for women |
The author of this text is most probably ___________.
| A．an Englishman | B．a German |
| C．a Scottish man | D．a Welshman |
The author develops the text through the method of ____________.
| A．making comparisons | B．telling stories |
| C．giving comments | D．giving reasons |