Until just a few years ago, we doctors believed that the brain stopped making new neural(神经系统的) connections (meaning that your memory began to get worse) when the body stopped developing, usually in your early 20s. And we knew that, like any other body part, neurons weaken as we age. Loss of brain function due to neural breakdown was assumed to be a normal, unavoidable part of aging.
It turns out that we were wrong. In the past few years, it has been discovered that you can, in fact, make new neurons starting in your 20s and continuing well into old age. You can literally rewire the brain with new parts as the older parts wear out. How? Simple: Keep learning. Just as your body can pack on and condition new muscle, your brain can rebuild used-up neurons.
How strong is the evidence for this? Strong enough that a $200 million industry devoted to brain boosting software (products like Brain Age, MindFit, and Lumosity that supposedly improve your memory function) has sprung up out of nowhere. All “mental fitness” means are keeping your memory intact(everything from phone numbers to how to throw a football). So what can you do to stay smart?
Keep blood pressure down. People with high blood pressure are more likely to develop cognitive impairment later in life.
Eat more vitamins. Like E(in nuts and sunflower seeds), B6 and B12(beef, tuna), and folic acid(leafy greens, citrus, berries), which help keep your brain’s chemistry in balance.
Exercise your brain. This is the best way to rebuild and strengthen those precious neurons. Learn to play chess or the guitar. When you’re at a stoplight, try to recall the starting lineup of the 1983 Celtics. See a movie that doesn’t feature Ben Stiller. Or read, like, a book.
Title: How to keep the ________smart?
| Previous |
The brain no longer makes new neural connections once the |
| New |
●New neurons continue to occur even in one’s old age. ● ●Many products which claim to improve your brain function appear in the |
| ●Keep yourself away from ● ● |
Unlike in our country, violence against women is very obvious in some western and African countries. The basic cause of it lies in discrimination, which claims women inequality with men in all aspects of life. Violence is both origin in discrimination and serves to worsen discrimination.
Violence against women is a sign of historically unequal status of women compared to men, which has resulted into domination (控制,主宰) and discrimination against women by men and to the prevention of the full development of women. Violence against women is one of the important social means by which women are restricted into a secondary position in comparison with men.
As violence against women is spread worldwide, many women are targets because of their ethnic group, class, sex or disability status.
Many women think that the psychological consequences of abuse are even more dangerous than its physical effects. The experience of abuse often shakes women's self-respect and puts them at great risk of a number of mental health problems, such as:
Depression is becoming broadly recognized as a main health problem in the world.
Women who are abused by their partners suffer more depression and anxiety than women who have not been abused, according to studies in Australia, Nicaragua, Pakistan, and the US.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a strong anxiety disorder that can happen when people go through or witness a very unpleasant event in which they feel disappointed and helpless or fear death or injury. The symptoms of PTSD contain mentally reliving the upsetting event by means of flashbacks (闪回,倒叙) ; avoiding anything that would remind one of the events; experiencing discomfort in sleeping and concentrating; and being easily alarmed or frightened.
The severe violence is also likely to lead to suicide. Some women kill themselves or try to do so. Researches from some countries, including Sweden, and the US, have showed that domestic violence is closely connected with suicide. Abused women who have PTSD symptoms prove to be most likely to try suicide.
Abused women are more likely than other women to misuse alcohol and drugs.
When a person' s everyday life functioning or life alternatives continue to be influenced, a post-traumatic stress disorder may be the problem, requiring professional treatment.
Title:
I .0f historically unequal status
Domination and discrimination from men , leading position and preventing
II. : women's self-respect shake and
occur.
, a main health problem
Post-traumatic stress disorder, a strong , happens under certain conditions.
One of its symptoms is mentally relivingby means of flashbacks.
, especially for women with PTSD symptoms
Alcohol and drug misuse
III. Professional treatment
阅读下面短文，根据以下提示：1）汉语提示，2）首字母提示，3）语境提示，在每个空格内填入一个适当的英语单词，所填单词要求意义准确，拼写正确，并将该词完整地写在答题卡中相应的横线上。
Bike riding is a great way to get exercise and fresh air. But before you rush out and start biking, tis an important thing you need to consider—safety.
Always wear a helmet when riding a bike, no matter ________ you are or how short the ride is. It can protect your brain from
ghurt in a bike accident. Many bike accidents mean brain damage or death for someone who does not wear
while riding. To protect against brain injury, make sure that the belts are
f. What you wear when riding a bike is also very important for safety. Bright-colored clothes will help you be visible on the road.
(除外) that, you have to choose good shoes. You should never ride barefoot!
Stop at all stop signs and otraffic lights just as cars do. Always stop and check for traffic in both
(方向) when leaving a driveway.
Never wear ear-phones while biking. It’s important to hear everyone（其他）on the road.
One of the best ways for parents to help kids learn safe bike riding is to set anby following the rules of the road themselves.
Simply said, Bora Bora is the most beautiful island in the world. Pora Pora ----the ancient name, meaning “first born”, came from legends describing this as the first island to rise. Although the first letter “B” does not exist in the Tahitian language, when Captain Cook first heard the name he mistook the softened sound of “P” for “B” and called the island Bora Bora.
Bora Bora often reminds people of images of a heaven on earth. For this reason, travelling to Bora Bora is popular with honeymooners and anyone who wishes to be surrounded by amazing beauty. Bora Bora is a destination that is small enough to explore in a few days. However, because of the island’s friendly people and fun activities, you might be willing to extend your plan of Bora Bora journey for weeks.
The landscape consists of a mountainous centre that is completely surrounded by a lagoon(环礁湖，濒海湖)，which is then surrounded by a coral reef. These natural features make Bora Bora perfect for diving. The central feature of Bora Bora is Mount Otemanu, a huge rock that stands 2,379 feet tall.
Your Bora Bora vacations won’t be complete if you don’t visit the beaches and lagoons. Perhaps one of the best known features of Bora Bora is its white sand beaches. The most popular beach is Point Matira, located at the southern end of the island. The beach stretches for over two miles and is lined with palm trees.
There is more to do on Bora Bora vacations than lie on the beach. Hiking is an activity that Bora Bora’s 7,000 residents as well as Bora Bora travel enthusiasts, enjoy. If you’re up for a challenge, take the route from Vaitape to the top of Mount Otemanu. If you’re an inexperienced hiker, you might need the help of a guide.
Bora Bora---- The Romantic Island
| ·Pora Pora: meaning “first born” in ----the first island to rise ·Bora Bora: Captain Cook’s |
|
| ·images of a heaven on earth ·a · ·fun activities |
|
| ·a mountainous centre---- Mount Otemanu ·a lagoon ·a coral reef · |
|
| ·diving ·lying on the beaches ·visiting the lagoons · |
Everybody gets stressed from time to time. Different people feel stress in different ways. You can try taking these five steps the next time to overcome stress:
Step one: get support. When you need help, reach out to the people who care about you. Talk to a trusted adult, such as a parent, or a coach. And don't forget about your friends. They might be worried about the same test or have had similar problems.
Step two: don't freak out(崩溃)! Notice your feelings, and name them — for example, "I am so angry!" And say or think about why you feel that way. Find a way to calm down and get past the upset feelings and find a way to express them. Do breathing exercises, listen to music, or do whatever helps you shift to a better mood.
Step three: don't take it out on yourself. Sometimes when kids are stressed and upset they take it out on themselves. You should be kind to yourself and ask for the helping hand or pat on the back that you need — and deserve — to get you through the tough situation you're facing.
Step four: try to solve the problem. After you're calm and you have support from adults and friends, it's time to get down to business. You need to figure out what the problem is. Even if you can't solve all of it, maybe you can begin by solving a piece of it.
Step five: be positive --- most stress is temporary. It may not seem like it when you're in the middle of a stressful situation, but stress does go away, often when you figure out the problem and start working on solving it.
These five steps aren't magic, and you might have to do some steps more than once, but they do work.
| Title: Five Steps |
|
| Get others’ support |
Turning to people who Talking to a |
| Don’t freak out |
Noticing your feelings, and Finding a way to express them Doing something to help you shift to |
| Don't yourself |
Being kind to yourself Asking for help and getting rid of facing |
| Find |
Getting down to business and problem is Solving it |
| Be positive |
Most stressful situation is temporary and will go away. |
第四部分：任务型阅读（共 10 小题，每小题 1 分，满分 10 分）
What happens when you take about 50 sixth-graders and send them to a nature camp with no access to computers, tablets and mobile phones? A new study suggests that after just five days their ability to understand nonverbal social cues improves.
Nonverbal social cues are the emotional information we pick up from people around us that is not communicated through words. It includes facial expressions, eye contact, tone of voice and body posture.
As children spend more time corresponding with their friends via text rather than talking to them face to face, the researchers wondered whether they were losing the ability to read these important cues.
"The idea for this study came from looking at the way my older child and her friends' older siblings were communicating," said Yalda Uhls, "I've been at parties where the kids are all hanging out, but instead of looking at each other, they are staring at their phones."
Uhls, who is the lead author of the study, wanted to see what would happen if a group of children had to spend an extended period of time communicating completely device-free. She found a public school that sends its sixth-grade class to a wilderness camp near Big Bear for five days. At the camp, the students have no access to electronics.
When the class of about 50 children arrived at the camp, they were asked to take two tests to measure their ability to read nonverbal social cues. In the first, the kids were asked to assess the emotions portrayed in 48 photos of people making faces. In the second test, they watched a video with the sound turned off, and then made a judgment about the emotional state of the actor.
At the end of the five-day camp, the students were asked to take the tests again. The researchers report that over the five days the kids went from making an average of 14.02 errors on the face-recognition test at the beginning of their camp stay to 9.41 errors by the end. For the video component, they went from getting an average of 26% of the emotional states correct to getting 31% correct.
"Honestly, we were pretty surprised that just five days would have that effect," said Uhls. "But we think this is good news because if indeed lack of face-to-face time is changing people's ability to understand emotion, our results suggest you can disconnect for five days and get better."
Uhls said the results of their study suggest that it is important for kids to spend time away from screens, but it doesn't necessarily suggest that all screen time is bad." The main thing I hope people take away from this is that it is really important for children to have time for face-to-face socializing," said Uhls. "I love media, my kids are media-savvy, but it is really important to have a balance."