The most famous hyper-polyglot was Giuseppe Mezzofanti, a 19th century Italian cardinal, who was said to speak 72 languages. This claim sounds absurd. If you assume each language had 20,000 words, Mezzofanti would have to learn a word a minute, six hours a day, for eleven years—an impossible task. But Mezzofanti was tested by critics, and they were all impressed.
Did Mezzofanti have an extraordinary brain? Or are hyper-polyglots just ordinary people with ordinary brains who manage to do something extraordinary through hard work?
U.S. linguist Stephen Drashen believes that outstanding language learners just work harder at it and then they acquire unusually strong language ability. As an example, he mentions a Hungarian woman who worked as an interpreter during the 20th century. When she was 86, she could speak 16 languages and was still working on learning new languages. She said she learned them mostly on her own, reading fiction or working through dictionaries or textbooks.
Some researchers argue to the contrary. They believe that there is such a thing as a talent for learning languages. In the 1930s, a German scientist examined parts of the preserved brain of a hyper-polyglot named Emil Krebs, who could speak 60 languages fluently. The scientist found that the area of Krebs’s brain called Broca’s area, which is associated with language, looked different from the Broca’s area in the brains of men who speak only one language. However, we still don’t know if Krebs was born with a brain ready to learn dozens of languages or if his brain adapted to the demands he put on it.
Although it is still not clear whether the ability to learn many languages is in born, there’s no doubt that just about all of us can acquire skills in a second, third, or even fourth language by putting our mind to it.
1. What does the underlined sentence imply?
| A．Mezzofanti could remember 360 words a day. |
| B．Mezzofanti had a special way to learn languages. |
| C．Mezzofanti’s achievement was ridiculous. |
| D．Mezzofanti language ability was astonishing. |
| A．good memory | B．unique brain | C．hard work | D．learning methods |
| A．had an unusual brain |
| B．was born with great talent |
| C．had worked hard at languages |
| D．expected too much of himself |
| A．it is not hard to learn foreign languages |
| B．hard work plays a part in language learning |
| C．there is no such thing as a talent for languages |
| D．hyper-polyglots have an inborn talent for language |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】I’m a strong believer that learning different languages makes you look incredibly good when you’re in a foreign country and can understand and speak the language. The list below is 4 apps that will help you learn a foreign language! You can download them for free.
Babbel：Learn Languages
Babbel is an excellent language tool to help you progress step by step with learning a new language. It helps you learn grammar along the way as you work your way through the tasks and assignments. You need to pay a monthly subscription (订阅费)，but this will still be cheaper than taking physical lessons with a tutor!
Duolingo：Learn Languages for Free
The app has many languages to choose from and will work through the basics all the way to advanced words and sentences. It’s all completely free too! It’s incredibly well designed，looks great and will help you learn，remember and progress with just a little bit of time every day.
Tandem：Language Exchange
Rather than have you work through tasks and memorize different things，the app lets you match with people who share your interests but speak the language you want to learn. You can then have text，voice and video conversations with people who want to learn your native language, and in return you learn theirs，all by simply communicating with each other. It’s a great way to learn with only $1 a day.
Busuu：Learn English
This app is perfect if you want to learn English. There are all sorts of audio and visual learning aids.You’ll find yourself working through interactive tests and learning tools for vocabulary and dialogue.
1. Which app suits best if you want to learn through communication?| A．Babbel. | B．Tandem. |
| C．Duolingo. | D．Busuu. |
| A．It is completely free to use. | B．It is specially for English learning. |
| C．It is unsuitable for beginners. | D．It is the most effective app. |
| A．They cover all languages. | B．They focus on grammar. |
| C．They contain many tests. | D．They are free to download. |
【推荐2】Learners of English, especially self-taught learners may have trouble in understanding speeches by native speakers. The following ways might help improve their listening ability.
First of all, do things step by step. It is not good to listen to something beyond your level. Better choose a suitable course and start with the first book. Go on to the second book only after you are sure you understand the first one.
Secondly, stick to one course of study. Don’t change books often. Never let your attention be attracted by another course just because it seems to be more “fashionable”.
Thirdly, listen to the English news program over the radio from time to time. Better go through the news stories in the Chinese-language newspaper first. That will make it easy for you to understand the English news on the radio.Fourthly, if you have time, listen to some interesting stories in some special English programs, such as VOA. or other listening materials of the same level as that of your textbook.
1. This is a piece of advice to learners of English on how to______.| A．write better English and read faster | B．read fast |
| C．improve their listening ability | D．speak correctly |
| A．read the Chinese language newspaper step by step |
| B．go through the Chinese language newspaper first |
| C．read again and again the Chinese language newspaper |
D．be able to recite the Chinese lan guage newspaper |
| A．should take up other courses if they are more fashionable |
| B．should begin with the last book |
| C．should stick to it. |
| D．shouldn’t do anything else |
| A．a radio station | B．a magazine |
| C．a text-book | D．a book |
【推荐3】How to improve your vocabulary
Vocabulary is a key part of learning a new language.
Make a plan to learn new words. If you want to improve your vocabulary more quickly, you have to make at least a small promise.
Make you vocabulary practical.
When you learn a word, use it immediately and frequently. Put your new word into conversation with as many different people as you can.
| A．Repeat it to yourself. |
| B．They’re highly reusable. |
| C．Start learning where you are. |
| D．Decide to learn one new word every day or two. |
| E．When you’re writing something, use a dictionary frequently. |
| F．Start by learning the words that can express what’s most important to you. |
| G．The more you read, the more words you’ll see, and the more you’ll understand. |
【推荐1】The term “birdbrain” is frequently used to describe a person’s lack of intelligence and good decision-making ability. However, some scientists believe it should be considered a compliment, given that many birds can perform tasks that were once considered human fields. These include making tools, solving problems, and planning for future needs. Now, Griffin, an African Grey parrot, has proved that birds may even possess better visual memories than human adults and children.
The study led by Hrag Pailian, a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, required the parrot to compete in the shell game against 21 adults and 216-to 8-year-old children. The popular game involves hiding a small object under one of three or more upside-down cups, which are moved around. Participants are required to accurately identify the cup under which the object lies.
The Harvard team began by placing different-colored pom-poms under four cups and moving them around. To make the task more challenging, the researchers required participants to track two, three, and four pom-poms at the same time. The cup positions we removed between zero to four times for each of the combinations.
An analysis of the results showed that Griffin outperformed the children across all levels on average. Even more impressive, the “bird brain” performed as well as, or slightly better, than the 21 Harvard students on12 of the 14 trials! It was only in the final two tests, which had the most pom-poms and most movement that the parrot fell behind the adults. However, Griffin’s performance never dropped below that of the children.
The fun experiment was part of a study conducted to test the brain’s ability to keep memories of things that are no longer in view and then updating them when faced with new information, like a change in location. The cognitive system, known as visual working memory, is one of the foundations for intelligent behavior.
1. What does the underlined word “compliment” in Paragraph 1 refer to?| A．Praise. | B．Promise. | C．Criticism. | D．Misunderstanding. |
| A．It could read human mind. | B．It could keep goodnight vision. |
| C．It could memorize complex numbers. | D．It could outsmart adults in visual memory game. |
| A．They’re disappointing. | B．They’re challenging. |
| C．They’re effortless. | D．They’re fruitless. |
| A．Entertainment. | B．Science. | C．Health. | D．Education. |
【推荐2】For centuries, the power of Chinese emperors rose and fell with their control of the Grand Canal. Today, this waterway is shorter than it once was, but it is still the longest man-made river in the world. Importantly, the Grand Canal continues to provide a significant cultural and economic link for modern China.
The original canal system began around the year 605. China’s Emperor Yang realized that he needed a better way to move food quickly to his army from China’s southern rice-growing region to the country’s north. So about one million people-mostly farmers-worked on the construction of the first section of the Grand Canal, which took six years.
Over the next 500 years, the canal’s importance grew. However, by 1127 , parts had begun to deteriorate. In 1279, Kublai Khan began to repair and build new parts of the canal, which created a more direct north-south route to and from Beijing. Future rulers continued to expand and improve the waterway, and it eventually became an important national lifeline.
In addition to moving rice around China, the Grand Canal was an important cultural connection. Soldiers, businessmen,and artists transported ideas, regional foods, and cultural practices from one part of China to another. According to ancient stories, this is how Beijing acquired two of its best-known trademarks. Peking duck,a dish from Shandong Province, and the Peking opera, from Anhui and Hubei regions,were both brought north by the canal.
For more than a thousand years, goods have been transported along the Grand Canal.Even today, the country’s watery highway plays an important economic role in China. Boats continue to carry tons of goods. In addition, local governments-eager to in-crease tourism and real estate (房地产) development-are beautifying areas along the canal.
In 2005, a group of citizens proposed that the historic Grand Canal be made a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was officially granted (批准) in 2014. The hope now is that the Grand Canal-one of the world’s great engineering achievements -will continue to link north and south China for centuries to come.
1. Why was the Grand Canal originally built?| A．To enable more people to visit distant parts of China. |
| B．To allow the army to move quickly from the north to the south. |
| C．To promote the cultural and traditional connection of south China. |
| D．To transport food from the southern regions of China to the north. |
| A．It took six years to complete its first section. |
| B．Even today, it is the longest man-made river in the world. |
| C．Around a million people worked on the first part of the canal. |
| D．It allowed Peking duck and the Peking opera to spread to southern China. |
| A．Get worse. | B．Get destroyed. | C．Get shorter. | D．Get repaired. |
| A．Renewed Importance. | B．Cultural Connections. |
| C．The Army’s Highway. | D．The Origins of the Peking Opera. |
| A．Construction of the Canal began. |
| B．New parts of the Canal were built. |
| C．The Grand Canal became a World Heritage Site. |
| D．The Grand Canal was proposed as a UNESCO Heritage Site. |
【推荐3】Lawmakers in Massachusetts have introduced a law that would ban children in the seventh grade or younger from playing tackle football (冲撞式橄榄球). The Act for No Organized Head Impacts to Schoolchildren, or the NO HITS Act, was introduced last month in an effort to protect children’s heads from blows (重击) while at a particularly fragile age.
The bill would cause fines of up to $ 2,000 for each time the law is broken. People who frequently break the law, or those whose actions cause physical harm, would face bigger fines.
“It’s all about kids’ health and we have a number of studies that say that repeated contacts to the head are very bad for you and the younger that starts, the worse it is,” said Paul, who introduced the bill with House Minority Leader Bradley Jones .
According to a 2017 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers examining 111 brains belonging to former NFL (National Football League) players found the brain disease Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, or CTE, in 110 of them. The disease is associated with repeated head injuries, not just concussions (脑震荡), and is generally found in athletes, retired soldiers and others with a history of repetitive brain injuries, according to the Concussion Legacy Foundation, a non-profit organization that works to study, treat and prevent future cases of brain injuries among athletes and other at-risk groups.
Similar laws have been considered elsewhere in the country, including California and Illinois last year, though they didn’t secure enough votes to become law. Those against previously proposed (提议的) bans have argued that adequate progress has been achieved to make the sport safer and that the sport offers too many benefits for children to totally avoid it.
Several former NFL players, who have been directly or indirectly affected by CTE, have argued differently, however. “I made the mistake of starting tackle football at 9 years old. Now, CTE has taken my life away.Youth tackle football is all risk with no reward,” Nick Buoniconti, a former NFL player, told CNN last year.
1. Why was the law introduced by lawmakers in Massachusetts?| A．To ban children from doing sports too young. |
| B．To make tackle football safer for players. |
| C．To keep young children from suffering brain injuries. |
| D．To encourage the popularity of some safe sports. |
| A．The fines of playing tackle football incorrectly. |
| B．The causes of the new law in Massachusetts. |
| C．The consequences of breaking the new law. |
| D．The reason why the sport is forbidden. |
| A．Brain injuries can really be prevented with action. |
| B．Repeated head blows can result in brain diseases. |
| C．NFL players used to pay much attention to CTE. |
| D．Future cases of brain injuries can be reduced. |
【推荐1】Mr. and Mrs. March lived together with their four daughters. Amy was very shy. Beth loved being at home. Meg looked very pretty. Jo was tall and thin and she was a tomboy(假小子). Their home was always busy and full of noise and people. Next to them lived old Mr. Laurence and his grandson, Laurie. They lived in a very large and comfortable house. But it was a house without life.
One day, Jo saw Laurie standing at an upstairs window in his house and looking down at their garden. Jo's sisters were playing in the snow there. They were throwing snowballs and having a lot of fun. But Laurie's face was very sad
“Poor boy!” Jo thought. “He's all alone. He needs some friends.” She couldn't stop thinking about him. She wanted to go and see him, but how could she go to the house without an invitation?
Then one snowy afternoon, she saw Laurie's grandpa go out. This gave her an idea. She took a broom(扫帚) from the kitchen.
“What are you going to do, Jo?” asked her sister Meg.
“To clear the garden path.” Answered Jo.
When Laurie saw Jo from the window, a big smile changed his pale, sad face.
Jo laughed and shouted, “How are you? Are you ill?”
Laurie opened the window and said, “I'm better now, thank you. I had a bad cold and had to stay inside for a week”.
“I'm sorry,” said Jo. “Are you bored?”
“Yes, very.” he replied.
“Don't your friends come to visit you?”
“No. But I don't want to see anybody. Boys are noisy and they give me a headache.”
“Girls are quiet.”
“I don't know any girls.”
“You know us.”
“That's true! Can you come and visit me?” cried Laurie.
“I'm not quiet, but I'd like to come,” replied Jo. “I must ask Mother first.” She ran back into her house.
A few minutes later, she returned and rang the bell on the door of Laurie's house. A servant took her upstairs.
“Here I am!” she said brightly. “Mother sends her love and my sisters gave me this blancmange(牛奶冻) for you.”
“That looks delicious,” Laurie said. He was very happy to see Jo.
Jo looked around. There were lots of books on the shelves.
“A nice room!” she said. “I can read to you if you like.”
“No, let's talk,” replied Laurie.
“All right,” said Jo, “I can talk for hours. My sisters say I never know when to stop.”
“You have three sisters-Amy, Beth and Meg.” Laurie continued
“How do you know this?” Jo was surprised.
“You call each other's names when you are in the garden. Sometimes I can see you all around the table with your mother. She has a very kind face. I like looking at her. I haven't got a mother.”
Jo felt sad when she heard this
“Why don't you come and visit us?” she said, “It isn't good for you to stay in this house all the time.”
“Thank you. I'd like to come very much.” Said Laurie.
“We know all our neighbours except you.” Jo said, “I'm glad we're friends now.”
She told him about all the interesting things in her life. She said, “Besides(除了……之外) plays, I also love books.” Laurie loved books too, and offered to show her the library in the house. The library was a wonderful room. Jo loved it.
“Wow!” she said, “All those books!”
Laurie said, “A person needs more than books.”
(Adapted from Little Women)
1. From the first paragraph, we know____________.| A．Jo's family had five members | B．Jo and Laurie were neighbors |
| C．Laurie and his grandpa were busy | D．the four sisters had the same hobby |
| A．she wanted to visit his large house | B．Laurie invited her to play with snowballs |
| C．she felt he was lonely and needed friends | D．Laurie was seriously ill and needed her care |
a. Jo saw Laurie standing at an upstairs window in his house.
b. Jo and Laurie were having a talk happily at Laurie's home.
c. Jo went to Laurie's home after telling her mother.
d. Jo couldn't stop thinking about Laurie.
| A．a-b-c-d | B．b-a-c-d |
| C．b-d-a-c | D．a-d-c-b |
| A．Kind and friendly | B．Generous but rude |
| C．Quiet and smart | D．Funny but carless |
| A．People need to stay in their own houses. |
| B．People should learn much more from the books. |
| C．People need love and friendship besides books. |
| D．People should relax themselves besides reading |
| A．Mean and strict | B．Quiet but cold |
| C．Quick and learned | D．Warm and kind |
【推荐2】It was the summer of 1965. DeLuca, then 17, visited Peter Buck, a family friend. Buck asked DeLuca about his plans for the future. “I’m going to college，but I need a way to pay for it” DeLuca recalls saying, “Buck said ‘You should open a sandwich shop.’”
That afternoon, they agreed to be partners. And they set a goal: to open 32 stores in ten years. After doing some research, Buck wrote a check for $1,000. DeLuca rented a storefront (店面) in Connecticut, and when they couldn't cover their startup costs，Buck kicked in another $1,000.
But business didn't go smoothly as they expected. DeLuca says, “After six months，we were doing poorly, but we didn't know how badly, because we didn't have any financial controls.” All he and Buck knew was that their sales were lower than their costs.
DeLuca was managing the store and going to the University of Bridgeport at the same time. Buck was working at his day job as a nuclear physicist in New York. They'd meet Monday evenings and brainstorm ideas for keeping the business running. “We convinced ourselves to open a second store. We figured we could tell the public. ‘We are so successful，we are opening a second store.’” And they did—in the spring of 1966. Still, it was a lot of learning by trial and error.
But the partners' learnasyougo approach turned out to be their greatest strength. Every Friday, DeLuca would drive around and hand-deliver the checks to pay their suppliers. “It probably took me two and a half hours and it wasn't necessary, but as a result, the suppliers got to know me very well, and the personal relationships established really helped out.” DeLuca says.
And having a goal was also important. “There are so many problems that can get you down. You just have to keep working toward your goal.” DeLuca adds.
DeLuca ended up founding Subway Sandwich, the multimilliondollar restaurant chain.
1. DeLuca opened the first sandwich shop in order to____.| A．support his family |
| B．pay for his college education |
| C．help his partner expand business |
| D．do some research |
| A．He put money into the sandwich business. |
| B．He was a professor of business administration. |
| C．He was studying at the University of Bridgeport. |
| D．He rented a storefront for DeLuca. |
| A．It stood at an unfavorable place. |
| B．It lowered the prices to promote sales. |
| C．It made no profits due to poor management. |
| D．It lacked control over the quality of sandwiches. |
| A．Learning by trial and error. |
| B．Making friends with suppliers. |
| C．Finding a good partner. |
| D．Opening chain stores. |
【推荐3】Freshmen at Central Valley High in Ceres had a busy week of good deeds, tied to Pay It Forward Day, April 30, and an urge to show the world that teens can be awesome.
Kids in Success 101 spent first period making sandwiches for the homeless. The classes, taught by Natalie Rowell and Becky Lynch, got to hand 200 bagged sandwiches to the charity giving out the food. “They got to really see what an impact they had. It was inspiring and heartwarming,” Rowell said. Besides, students also made blankets to send to soldiers, and created 45 flower arrangements for senior people at the Hale Aloha Home in Ceres. “They were nervous going into it. But when they saw how happy the elderly were, the reality of what they did really surfaced,” Rowell said.
Rowell said she liked working with children. get to see how they learn. “It's different from how we learn, but we're kind of the same because they struggle in some of the subjects that we find hard as well.”
Success 101 was tailor-made for students with that kind of insight. The first-period class includes study help, speakers on teen subjects and an overall focus on looking past high school, figuring out the steps to create their future. “Some kids need that little push. In this class, that's what we do, we give them that little push,” Lynch added. “Success would be beneficial for all ninth-grade students. Since the start of the year, I really see a change in them.”
Raquel Alfaro, a teen participant who worked with the younger kids, likes the Pay It Forward idea. “This helps us show adults, and also kids, that we're doing something different and that we're not as mean and selfish as they think we are," Alfaro said.
1. How did the kids in Success 101 show their value in the week?| A．By studying very hard. | B．By doing some good deeds. |
| C．By helping their teachers. | D．By inspiring local community. |
| A．She is in need of some push. | B．She tried hard to learn some subjects. |
| C．She understands the kids well. | D．She started the Pay It Forward Day. |
| A．To push students to study harder. | B．To educate students to help others. |
| C．To inspire students to make a better change. | D．To improve students' academic performance. |
| A．Awesome. | B．Successful. | C．Changeable. | D．Selfish. |
Babies don't learn to talk just from hearing sounds. They are lipreaders too. It happens during the stage when a baby's babbling (咿呀声) gradually changes from unclear voices into that first “mama” or “dada”. The baby in order to do like you has to figure out how to shape their lips to make that particular sound they are hearing, according to developmental psychologist David Lewkowicz of Florida Atlantic University, who led the study.
Apparently it doesn't take them too long to absorb the movements that match basic sounds. By their first birthdays, babies start changing back to look you in the eye again. It offers more evidence that quality facetime with babies is very important for speech development more than, say, turning on the latest baby DVD.
But Lewkowicz went a step further. He and his student Amy HansenTift tested nearly 180 babies, groups of them at ages 4,6,8,10 and 12 months. How? They showed videos of a woman speaking in English or Spanish to babies of English speakers. They found that when the speaker used English, the 4montholds gazed mostly into her eyes. The 6montholds spent equal amounts of time looking at the eyes and the mouth. The 8and 10montholds studied mostly the mouth. At 12 months, attention started changing back toward the speaker's eyes.
But what happened when these babies accustomed to English heard Spanish? The 12montholds studied the mouth longer, just like younger babies. They needed the extra information to recognize the unfamiliar sounds. That fits with research into bilingualism (双语) that shows babies' brains adjust themselves to distinguishing the sounds of their native language over other languages in the first year of life.
The continued lipreading shows the 1yearolds clearly still are fit for learning. Babies are so hard to study that this is “a fairly heroic data set”， says Duke University cognitive neuroscientist Greg Appelbaum, who found the research so fascinating that he wants to know more.
1. According to the first paragraph, babies________.
| A．might get its voice “mama” by lipreading |
| B．learn to talk just from hearing the sounds |
| C．like to figure out how to shape their lips |
| D．communicate with parents through gestures |
| A．Playing baby DVD nearby. |
| B．Teaching babies to read English. |
| C．Speaking with babies face to face. |
| D．Speaking different languages in front of babies. |
A． | B． | C． | D． |
| A．Babies Have Different Methods to Talk |
| B．Babies Try Lipreading in Learning to Talk |
| C．Babies Are Suitable to Learn Two Languages |
| D．Babies Can Easily Accept Foreign Language |
【推荐2】With intelligent systems and new-age networks, life in the big cities will likely be happier and more efficient (有效率的). After all, more than 60 percent of the world's population is expected to live in cities by 2050, according to a UN report. The answer to making these cities more livable for so many people lies in creating “smart” cities. They will use 5G networks and the “internet of things” (IoT) to make everyday life safer and more convenient. Some cities are already using smart technology to improve the lives of their people.
But what exactly does a smart city do? Let's look at a few examples. In the United States cities of Boston and Baltimore, sensors (传感器) in smart rubbish cans can tell cleaning workers how full they are and when they need to be emptied. In Amsterdam, the Netherlands, traffic low and energy usage are monitored and adjusted (监控和调整) according to real-time data (数据) collected from sensors around the city. And in Copenhagen, Denmark, a smart bike system allows riders to check on air quality and traffic jam as they ride.
Smart cities will be interactive (互动的), allowing their people to feel like they're truly shaping their environment, instead of only living in it. It's very important that we can actually communicate with our environment in a way that we never had in the past. Smart cities will also allow us to save resources. By using sensors and 5G networks to monitor the use of water, gas and electricity, city managers can figure out how to share and save these resources more efficiently.
Of course, it will take time and money to turn our present cities into the smart cities of the future. But as we've already seen, more cities around the world are already using smart technology in small ways. It won't be long before more cities start to develop their own smart systems.
1. What makes it necessary to create smart cities?| A．The development of present cities. | B．The increasing population in cities. |
| C．The wide use of 5G networks and IoT. | D．The growing number of present cities |
| A．The sensors can control the traffic low. |
| B．Smart bike systems can improve air quality. |
| C．Smart technology can make city life convenient. |
| D．Smart technology has been used throughout the world. |
| A．How smart cities work. | B．How smart cities are created. |
| C．How smart cities save resources. | D．How smart cities communicate with us. |
| A．Supportive. | B．Worried. | C．Uninterested. | D．Doubtful. |
【推荐3】When Carson Palmer, a professional American football player, hurt his arm a few years ago, he took a week off from throwing the football. But in his head, Palme practiced every day. The following weekend, Palmer had the best game of his life.
For more than a century, scientists have been trying to understand how this mental training works. In the 1930s, researchers proved by experiment that when you’re imagining an action, your brain sends signals to your muscles which are too weak to tighten the muscles but might help train the body to perform. In other words, mental practice might create a pattern in your head, like an inner how-to guide for a particular skill.
Sports psychologists have conducted hundreds of studies comparing imagined and physical practice for actions. On the whole, the research shows that mental training works. A 2012 study, for example, compared 32 amateur golfers who practiced hitting the balls to another 32 who merely held a golf club in their hands and visualized (想象) their swings.
Under the same training rules, both groups improved their skills by getting the ball about 4 inches closer to the hole.
Visualization has advantages over the real thing: You can do it anywhere, even when injured. It is safe — a major plus for high-risk performers such as gymnasts and surgeons. And you can practice for longer periods of time because you’re not restricted by physical tiredness. That’s not to say it’s easy. “We’ve had Olympic-level athletes sitting in our lab, visualizing the movements for two hours,” says Tadhg Macintyre, a sports psychologist at the University of Limerick in Ireland. “When we’re done, they’re absolutely tired.”
It doesn’t work for everyone, though. “If you’re a novice, the effect can be harmful,” warns Macintyre. “If you’re trying to visualize a free throw, and you don’t even know the proper movement, then you’re probably going to mentally practice the wrong skill.”
1. The author introduces the topic of the text by_ .| A．giving an example | B．presenting an argument |
| C．explaining a phenomenon | D．making an assumption |
| A．A special skill is quickly acquired. |
| B．A certain model is formed in the head |
| C．The muscles grow increasingly tense. |
| D．The brain sends strong messages to the body. |
| A．Athletes are likely to win games through imagined practice. |
| B．Practicing a skill properly in mind can produce intended effect. |
| C．Practice whether mental or physical has its own characteristics. |
| D．Scientists have found a sale way for athletes to practice their skills. |
