文章大意:这是一篇说明文。乔治城大学医学中心的一项研究表明,教育似乎能保护老年人,尤其是女性,防止记忆力减退。文章主要说明了这一项研究的过程,以及研究发现教育对于延缓衰老与疾病发生的益处。
Education appears to protect older adults especially women,against memory loss,according to a study by investigators at Georgetown University Medical Center.
The study tested declarative memory in 704 older adults (58—98 years of age).Declarative memory refers to our ability to remember events,facts,and words,such as where you put your keys or the name of that new neighbor.The investigators found that their memory performance became progressively worse with aging.However,more years of early-life education countered these losses,especially in women.
For example,the declarative memory abilities of an 80-year-old woman with a bachelor’s degree would be as good as those of a 60-year-old woman with a high school education.So,four extra years of education make up for the memory losses from 20 years of aging.
“Simply said,learning brings about learning,” says the study’s senior investigator,Michael Ullman.“Since learning new information in declarative memory is easier if it is related to knowledge we already have,more knowledge from more education should result in better memory abilities,even years later,” adds the study’s lead author,Jana Reifegerste.
“Evidence suggests that girls often have better declarative memory than boys,so education may lead to greater knowledge gains in girls,” says Ullman.“Education may thus particularly benefit memory abilities in women,even years later in old age.”
The study tested individuals in a non-Western population.Participants varied in the number of years of education,from none at all to graduate studies.“Future research is needed to test whether the findings can be generalized to other populations,” Ullman says.
“These findings may be important,especially considering the rapidly aging population globally,” Reifegerste says.“The results argue for further efforts to increase access to education.”
“Education has also been found to delay the beginning of Alzheimer’s disease,” Ullman says.“We believe that our findings may shed light on why this occurs.”
12. What does the passage mainly talk about?
A.Declarative memory abilities fail with aging. |
B.Women should try to obtain a bachelor’s degree. |
C.Learning regularly helps improve old adults’ memory. |
D.Early-life education helps prevent memory loss in old age. |
13. What does the underlined word “countered” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?
A.Canceled. | B.Changed. |
C.Replaced. | D.Reduced. |
14. What may the research findings help to do?
A.Slow down the process of aging. |
B.Promote the development of education. |
C.Advance the study of Alzheimer’s disease. |
D.Ensure the equal rights of women’s education. |