Plenty of kids like to play video games. But is gaming good or bad for their brains? Scientists from the University of Vermont recently found that video games could offer some benefits to the mind. Their study found that gamers did better than non-gamers on two mental tasks.
Bader Chaarania neuroscientist (神经学家), who helped lead the new research, said that scientists have looked at kids who play video games in the past. But many of their studies did not have good sample (样本) sizes. So, Chaarani and his team worked with data, or information, from 2,217 children. All of these children participated in a much larger study. Chaarani’s team just used the information from that study.
The scientists looked at two groups of kids in the study. One group was the non gamer group while the other was the gamer group. All of the kids had their brains scanned with an fMRI scanner at age 9 or 10.The kids did two tasks while in the fMRI scanner The first task was to press a right or left arrow on a computer when they were given instructions, which tested their ability to quickly act. The second task was to remember facial expressions in pictures on the screen. The scientists recorded the time they used, which tested what’s known as working memory.
The results matched the brain scans. For the kids they looked at, areas of the brain involved in working memory, attention and problem solving were more active in gamers Areas of the brain involved in hand-eye coordination (协调) were less active in gamers than non-gamers. Chaarani said that’s likely from practice. It’s like using a muscle. Gamers’ brains seem to have become stronger in this area. So they didn’t need to work as hard to respond to the images viewed on the screen.
Fran Blumberg who studies children’s attention and problem —solving skills agreed with the result of the study but he also advised Chaarani to collect more data as the kids get older. Then he can see whether their skills — and brains — change over time.
1. How was the new research different from those in the past?| A．All the kids had their brains scanned. |
| B．The kids completed two mental tasks. |
| C．The number of the kids was much larger |
| D．The study was led by a famous neuroscientist. |
| A．To test kids’ ability to quickly act. |
| B．To help the kids complete the two tasks. |
| C．To record what gamers saw and did in the two tasks. |
| D．To check if specific brain areas of gamers were more active. |
| A．Gamers used more time in the 2nd task |
| B．Gamers were not so active as non-gamers. |
| C．Gamers had better memory than non-gamers |
| D．Gamers acted as slowly as non-gamers in the 1st task |
| A．Supportive. | B．Doubtful. | C．Cautious. | D．Uninterested. |
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【推荐1】When we’re solving a complicated problem, we often gather a group to brainstorm. We’re looking to get the best ideas as quickly as possible. I love seeing it happen — except for one tiny wrinkle. Group brainstorming usually backfires.
Extensive evidence shows that when we generate ideas together, we’re unlikely to maximize collective intelligence. As the humourist John Smith said, “If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be: ‘meetings’.” But the problem isn’t meetings themselves — it’s how we run them.
Think about the brainstorming sessions you’ve attended. You’ve probably seen people bite their tongues due to ego threat (“I don’t want to look stupid.”), noise (“We can’t all talk at once.”), and conformity pressure (“Let’s all jump on the boss’s ship!”). Goodbye diversity of thought, hello group-think.
To unearth the hidden potential in teams, instead of brainstorming, we’re better off shifting to a process called “brainwriting”. The initial steps are solo. You start by asking everyone to generate ideas separately. Next, you pool them and share them among the group. To preserve independent judgment, each member evaluates them on their own. Only then does the team come together to select and refine the most promising options. By developing and assessing ideas individually before choosing them, teams can surface and advance possibilities that might not get attention otherwise.
Research by organizational behaviour scholar Anita Woolley and her colleagues helps to explain why this method works. They find that a key to collective intelligence is full and fair participation. In brainstorming meetings, it’s too easy for participation to become lopsided in favour of the biggest egos, the loudest voices, and the most powerful people. The brainwriting process makes sure that all ideas are brought to the table and all voices are brought into the conversation. The goal isn’t to be the smartest person in the room — it’s to make the room smarter.
Collective intelligence begins with individual creativity. But it doesn’t end there. Individuals produce a greater volume and variety of novel ideas when they work alone. That means that they come up with more brilliant ideas than groups — but also more terrible ideas than groups. It takes collective judgment to find the signal in the noise and bring the best ideas to fruition.
1. What is the main idea of paragraph 3?| A．How to assess humans potential. | B．Why brainstorming fails. |
| C．How possible good ideas arise. | D．What’s a successful meeting like. |
| A．By making participants speak loud. |
| B．By giving participants support to maintain their egos. |
| C．By giving participants equal chances to be fully involved. |
| D．By making sure participants are all sit to the table. |
| A．“Two heads are better than one” doesn’t always make sense. |
| B．Collective ideas are bound to be more brilliant. |
| C．The aim of brainstorming is to tap individuals’ potential. |
| D．There should be a leader to make the final judgment to bring the best ideas. |
| A．challenge a conclusion | B．make a comparison |
| C．introduce a research | D．advocate a practice |
【推荐2】The two terms nature and nurture have been subjects of comparison since the 16th century. The argument is centered on the question as to whether it is nature or nurture that makes us who we are.
Nature provides the starting point for an organism that will interact with nurture, the environment, during the organism’s life. Nature does not just affect an organism during its lifetime, but it also can directly affect the expression of genes in offspring (后代). For the Geneticists, they believe that our lives are entirely determined by genetics, which is nature. An opposing view is that there is no indication that genes (基因) determines one’s personality, rather there is growing evidence that nurture serves as the determining factor in personality development.
Nurture refers to the conditions under which living things grow and develop after birth. When applied to human beings, it means how the person is raised, which includes nutrition, education, care, as well as the kind of surroundings, such as cultural influence, family and friends.
The argument of nature and nurture as to which is more important is necessitated by an attempt to differentiate how much effect genetics has on a person’s development against how easily humans are influenced by one’s environment.
While nurture undeniably plays its part on the growth and development of one’s personality, nature dramatically outweighs nurture, for nature can be likened to a foundation. The impact of nurture on the development of persons cannot be totally denied. However, nature is regarded as being of most importance because of the fact that it affords an opportunity and creates a foundation and the basis for the question of nurture to arise at the very first instance. Even without nurture, the nature impact can still stand independently without necessarily causing destruction. More so, even when the nurture impact is successfully effected, it does not remove the genetic characteristics of a person. It therefore stands correctly that nature is that which determines the substance of a person.
1. What can we learn from Paragraph 2?| A．Nature’s role is supported by additional evidence. |
| B．Personality development is determined by nurture. |
| C．Nature impacts gene expression in later generation. |
| D．Environment shapes personality more than genetics. |
| A．What nurture means to human beings. |
| B．How living things develop after birth. |
| C．How nurture shapes human development. |
| D．How surroundings influence human beings. |
| A．By giving examples. |
| B．By making contrast. |
| C．By conducting experiments. |
| D．By citing research data. |
| A．A Long Story of Nature and Nurture |
| B．A New Research on Nature and Nurture |
| C．Who Can Tell What Makes Who We Are? |
| D．Which Is More Important, Nature or Nurture? |
【推荐3】The curb cut (路缘坡) is a convenience that most of us rarely, if ever, notice. Yet, without it, daily life might be a lot harder in more ways than one, such as carrying baggage, pushing a bicycle or a wheelchair or riding a skateboard etc. —all these tasks are easier because of the curb cut.
But it was created with a different purpose in mind. It’s hard to imagine today, but back in the 1970s, most sidewalks in the United States ended with a sharp drop-off. That was a big deal for people in wheelchairs because there were no ramps (斜坡) to help them move along city blocks without assistance. According to one disability rights leader, a six-inch curb “might as well have been Mount Everest”. So, activists from Berkeley, California, who also needed wheelchairs, organized a campaign to create tiny ramps at intersections to help disadvantaged people dependent on wheels move up and down curbs independently.
I think about the “curb cut effect” a lot when working on issues around health equity. The first time I even heard about the curb cut was in a 2017 Stanford Social Innovation Review piece by Policy Link CEO Angela Blackwell. Blackwell rightly noted that many people see equity “as a zero-sum game.” Basically, there is a deeply rooted social belief among them that intentionally supporting one group hurts another. What the cur b cut effect reveals though, Blackwell said, is that “when society creates the circumstances that allow those who have been left behind to participate and contribute fully, almost everyone wins.”
One such example is closed captioning (字幕), originally intended to help deaf people understand movies and TV shows without needing to hear dialogue or sounds. But it’s easy to think of other applications for closed captioning: it’s convenient for customers watching TV in a noisy bar or gym. second-language learners who want to read as well as listen, or students who use it as a study aid.
So, next time you cross the street, or roll your suitcase through a crosswalk or ride your bike directly onto a sidewalk —think about how much the curb cut, that change in design that broke down walls of exclusion for one group of people at a disadvantage, has helped not just that group, but almost all of us.
1. What is the purpose of the examples listed in the first paragraph?| A．To call on us to care about the disadvantaged groups. |
| B．To offer some background information about the curb cut. |
| C．To tell us that people ignore the existence of the curb cut. |
| D．To make us know the convenience of the curb cut to our daily life. |
| A．It is an impassable barrier. | B．It is an important sign. |
| C．It is an unforgettable symbol. | D．It is an impressive landmark. |
| A．Classic literature got translated into many languages. |
| B．The four great inventions of China spread to the West. |
| C．Reading machines for blind people also benefit others. |
| D．Helping the disabled contributes to more people doing it. |
| A．The curb cut is only beneficial to the disabled. |
| B．Everyone in a society should be treated equally. |
| C．The disadvantaged people fight for rights and equality. |
| D．Caring for disadvantaged groups may benefit more people. |
“I would never have said to my mom, ‘Hey, the new Weezer album is really great. How do you like it?’” says Ballmer. “There was just a complete gap in taste.”
Music was not the only gulf. From clothing and hairstyles to activities and expectations, earlier generations of parents and children often appeared to move in separate orbits.
Today, the generation gap has not disappeared, but it is getting narrow in many families. Conversations on subjects such as sex and drugs would not have taken place a generation ago. Now they are comfortable and common. And parent—child activities, from shopping to sports, involve a feeling of trust and friendship that can continue into adulthood.
No wonder greeting cards today carry the message, “To my mother, my best friend.”
But family experts warn that the new equality can also result in less respect for parents. “There’s still a lot of strictness and authority on the part of parents out there, but there is a change happening,” says Kerrie, a psychology professor at Lebanon Valley College. “In the middle of that change, there is a lot of confusion among parents.”
Family researchers offer a variety of reasons for these evolving roles and attitudes. They see the 1960s as a turning point. Great cultural changes led to more open communication and a more democratic process that encourages everyone to have a say.
“My parents were on the ‘before’ side of that change, but today’s parents, the 40-year-olds, were on the ‘after’ side,” explains Mr. Ballmer. “It’s not something easily accomplished by parents these days, because life is more difficult to understand or deal with, but sharing interests does make it more fun to be a parent now.”
1. The underlined word gulf in Para.3 most probably means _________.
| A．interest | B．distance | C．difference | D．separation |
| A．Parents help their children develop interests in more activities. |
| B．Parents put more trust in their children’s abilities. |
| C．Parents and children talk more about sex and drugs. |
| D．Parents share more interests with their children. |
| A．more confusion among parents | B．new equality between parents and children |
| C．less respect for parents from children | D．more strictness and authority on the part of parents |
| A．follow the trend of the change | B．can set a limit to the change |
| C．fail to take the change seriously | D．have little difficulty adjusting to the change |
| A．describe the difficulties today’s parents have met with |
| B．discuss the development of the parent—child relationship |
| C．suggest the ways to handle the parent—child relationship |
| D．compare today’s parent—child relationship with that in the past |
【推荐2】If he is in a tight spot, says Trouble Kalua, people mention his name, asking, “What do you expect?” Shortly before his birth in Malawi, his father had lost his job as a bus conductor, making the family even poorer. Then the baby nearly died. “This boy is trouble,” his father said. “His name is Trouble.”
Across Africa names can have a story behind them. Yewande, for instance, is a Yoruba name meaning “mother has paid me a visit”, given when an older female relative dies just before a girl is born. Kiptanui may suggest at a difficult birth for mothers who speak one of the Kalenjin group of languages in Kenya.
But southern Africa stands out for nominative (提名) creativity, at least when it comes to English names.
Ask Zimbabweans about their school friends and you will hear different registers: Lovemore, Hopewell, Innocence, Patience, Knowledge, Fortune, Brilliant. A Malawian (himself Golden) lists friends named Goodfriday, Wisdom and Iron.
In Zimbabwe children were long given African names with meaning. This practice switched after British colonization (殖民), when having an English name was seen as a way of getting ahead. Names may refer to conditions around the birth, a quality parents see in the child, an aspiration (期望) for them or even for the country.
Under white rule some children were called Democracy, Freedom or, allegedly, Polling Station. Other names suggested progress. One venture capitalist recalls school friends named Computer.
Names, and the language they are in, reflect changing times, too. In Zimbabwe, whose economy is falling down, one comes across people named No Money. In many places African names are supplanting (取代) English ones. In recent years in South Africa, Enzokuhle (“to do good” in Xhosa), has become one of the most popular names, perhaps inspired by a popular song, “Enzo”.
It may be that names such as Salad Nthenda will become relics. The Malawian, whose mother ate lots of vegetables when pregnant (怀孕的), says his “name felt good from day one”. He loves the “uniqueness”. Although he is teased at times, he does not care.
1. How does the author introduce the topic in paragraph 1?| A．By sharing a story. | B．By comparing facts. |
| C．By reporting findings. | D．By presenting figures. |
| A．Yewande. | B．Kiptanui. |
| C．Freedom. | D．Enzokuhle. |
| A．Interesting. | B．Meaningless. |
| C．Important. | D．Special. |
| A．Stories Behind Some Names |
| B．Some Strange Names in Southern Africa |
| C．Names in Southern Africa Are Both Creative and Meaningful |
| D．One’s Name Is Closely Connected with Its Country’s History |
【推荐3】It's good to share, right? Growing up as kids we are told to share our toys and not be selfish. We also live in an age where discussing our feelings is encouraged. But when does it all become too much? With new fashion trending all the time, such as dance challenges and wearing a pillow as a dress, the question is: when can sharing become oversharing on social media?
What is oversharing? The term has become associated with social media, but it doesn't only belong to this platform. Imagine you head to a party and you meet someone. Within five minutes they have given away details about their personal life. While some of us may try to escape these people, according to marriage therapist Carolyn Cole, this form of oversharing could come from a strong desire to connect with someone. But how does this translate to social media?
Dr. Christopher Hand, a lecturer in internet psychology, says the more details people disclose, the less sympathy we express when things go wrong. This could be due to a belief that we attract our own negative experiences the more we share them. It seems that the idea of searching for sympathy by oversharing, is generally viewed as negative rather than the cry for help it could actually be.
However, Dr Hand's research also seems to suggest that the more positive posts we share on a platform, the more socially attractive we become. Even back in 2015, Gwendolyn Seidman PhD, said that we should avoid complaining and being negative online. We are supposed not to show off, as it's now known—especially about our love lives. It makes sense—if your date is going 'that well', would you really have time to share a photo with text?
So, how can you know if you are oversharing? Well, why not ask your friends in real life. They would probably be more than happy to tell you if your posts about your breakfast or your complaint about your lack of money really are too much.
1. Why do some people try to overshare at parties?| A．Because they want to catch others' attention. |
| B．Because they just want to show off something. |
| C．Because they have a strong desire to pour out their emotions. |
| D．Because they may expect to make a connection with someone. |
| A．explore | B．expose | C．display | D．discuss |
| A．We will become more socially attractive if we post more on a platform. |
| B．We tend to show sympathy when things go wrong. |
| C．We may be considered negative when seeking for sympathy by oversharing. |
| D．We can show off something positive especially about our love lives. |
| A．To inform. | B．To inspire. | C．To advertise. | D．To condemn. |
