【推荐1】If English means endless new words, difficult grammar and sometimes strange pronunciation, you are wrong. Haven’t you noticed that you have become smarter since you started to learn a language?

According to a new study by a British university, learning a second language can lead to an increase in your brain power. Researchers found that learning other languages changes grey matter density (灰质密度). This is the area of the brain which processes (加工) information. It is similar to the way that exercise builds muscles. The study also found the younger people learn a second language, the greater the effect is.

A team led by Dr. Andrea Mechelli, from University College London (UCL), took a group of Britons who only spoke English. They were compared with a group of “early bilinguals” who had learnt a second language before the age of five, as well as a number of later learners.

Scans showed that grey matter density in the brain was greater in bilinguals than in people without a second language. But the longer a person waited before mastering a new language, the smaller the difference was.

“Our findings suggest that the structure of the brain is changed by the experience of learning a second language,” said the scientists. It means that the change itself increases the ability to learn.

Professor Dylan Vaughan Jones of the University of Wales, has researched the link between bilingualism and maths skills. “Having two languages gives you two windows on the world and makes the brain more flexible.” he said. “You are actually going beyond language and have a better understanding of different ideas.”

The findings were matched in a study of native Italian speakers who had learnt English as a second language between the ages of two and thirty-four. Reading, writing, and comprehension were all tested. The results showed that the younger they started to learn, the better. “Studying a language means you get an entrance to another world,” explained the scientists.

1. Why does the writer mention “exercise” in the second paragraph?

A．To make people believe language learning is helpful for their health.

B．To suggest language learning is also a kind of physical labor.

C．To prove that one needs more resources when he/she is learning a language.

D．To tell us that learning a language can train your brain effectively.

2. What can we know from the scientific findings?

A．The ability of learning a second language is changing all the time.

B．The earlier you start to learn a second language, the higher the grey matter density is.

C．The experience of learning a second language has a bad effect on brain.

D．There is no difference between a later second language learner and one without a second language.

3. In the last two paragraphs, the author tries to tell us that ________.

A．early learning of a second language helps in studying other subjects

B．learning a second language is the same as studying maths

C．Italian is the best choice for you as a second language

D．you’d better choose the ages between 2 and 34 to learn a second language

4. What is mainly talked about in this passage?

A．Language learning is closely connected with maths study.

B．Man has a great ability of learning a second language.

C．Studying a foreign language can improve man’s ability to think.

D．The study done by the researchers from UCL is failed finally.

【推荐2】Recently a Beijing father sent in a question at an Internet forum (论坛) asking what "PK" meant.
"My family has been watching the 'Super Girl' singing competition TV program. My little daughter asked me what 'PK' meant, but I had no idea," explained the puzzled father.
To a lot of Chinese young people who have been playing games online, it is impossible not to know this term. In such Internet games, "PK" is short for "Player Kill", in which two players fight until one ends the life of the other.
In the case of the "Super Girl" singing competition, "PK" was used to refer to the stage where two singers have to compete with each other for only one chance to go up in competition ranking.
Like this father, Chinese teachers at high schools have also been finding their students' compositions using Internet jargons which are difficult to understand. A high school teacher from Tianjin asked her students to write compositions with simple language, but they came up with a lot of Internet jargons that she didn't understand.
"My 'GG' came back this summer from college. He told me I've grown up to be a 'PLMM'. I loved to 'FB' with him together; he always took me to the 'KPM'," went one composition. "GG" means Ge Ge (Chinese pinyin for brother). "PLMM" refers to Piao Liang Mei Mei (beautiful girl). "FB" means Fu Bai (corruption). "KPM" is short for KFC, Pizza Hut and McDonald's.
Some specialists welcome Internet jargons as a new development in language.
If you do not even know what a Kong Long (dinosaur, referring to an ugly looking female) or a Qing Wa (frog, referring to an ugly looking male) is, you will possibly be regarded as a Cai Niao!
1. By writing the article, the writer tries to   ________ .

A．explain some Internet language	B．suggest common Internet language
C．laugh at the Beijing father	D．draw our attention to Internet language

2. What does the writer think about the term "PK"?

A．Fathers can't possibly know it.	B．The daughter should understand it.
C．Online game players may know it.	D．"Super Girl" shouldn't have used it.

3. The examples of the Beijing father and the Tianjin teacher are used to show that Internet jargons ________ .

A．are used not only online	B．can be understood very well
C．are welcomed by all the people	D．cause trouble to our mother tongue

4. The underlined word "jargons" means " ________ " in Chinese.

A．行话

B．粗口

C．歌词

D．趋势

【推荐3】Culture can affect not just language and customs, but also how people experience the world on surprisingly basic levels.

Researchers, with the help of brain scans, have uncovered shocking differences in perception（感知）between Westerners and Asians, what they see when they look at a city street, for example, or even how they perceive a simple line in a square, according to findings published in a leading science journal.

In western countries, culture makes people think of themselves as highly independent individuals. When looking at scenes, Westerners tend to focus more on central objects than on their surroundings. East Asian cultures, however, emphasize inter-dependence. When Easterners look at a scene, they tend to focus on surroundings as well as the object.

Using an experiment involving two tasks, Dr Hedden asked subjects to look at a line simply to estimate its length, a task that is played to American strengths. In another, they estimated the line’s length relative to the size of a square, an easier task for the Asians.

The level of brain activity, by tracking blood flow, was then measured by Brain Scanners. The experiment found that although there was no difference in performance, and the tasks were very easy, the levels of activity in the subjects’ brains were different. For the Americans, areas linked to attention lit up more, when they worked on the task they tended to find more difficult—estimating the line’s size relative to the square. For the Asians, the attention areas lit up more during the harder task also—estimating the line’s length without comparing it to the square. The findings are a reflection of more than ten years of previous experimental research into East-West differences.

In one study, for instance, researchers offered people a choice among five pens; four red and one green, Easterners were more likely to choose a red pen while Westerners were more likely to choose the green one.

Culture is not affecting how you see the world, but how you choose to understand and internalize（使内化）it.

But such habits can be changed. Some psychological studies suggest that when an Easterner goes to the West or vice versa, habits of thought and perception also begin to change. Such research gives us clues on how our brain works and is hopeful for us to develop programs to improve our memory, memory techniques and enhance and accelerate our learning skills.

1. According to the passage, Chinese people are most likely to ________.

A．more emphasize independent thinking

B．always focus more on their surroundings

C．focus on the context as well as the object

D．think of Westerners as highly independent units

2. We know from the passage that people’s brains will be more active when ________.

A．the task is much easier	B．the blood flow is tracked
C．people begin to choose colors	D．the task is more difficult

3. What does Dr Hedden’s experiment in Paragraph 4-5 indicate?

A．Culture has a great impact on the way people talk and behave.

B．Easterners and Westerners perceive the world differently.

C．People’s perception of the world can be changed.

D．Americans are better at calculating than the Asians.