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. This is the area of the brain which processes information. It is similar to the way that exercise builds muscles(肌肉).
The study also found the effect(效果) is greater when the younger people learn a second language. A team led by Dr. Andrea Mechelli, from University College London, 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(密度) 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. “Our findings suggest that the structure(结构) 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 math skills. “Having two languages gives you two windows on the world and makes the brain more flexible (灵活的),” he said. “You are actually going beyond language and have a better understanding of different ideas.”
The findings had the same result in a study of native Italian speakers who had learned 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. From Paragraph 1 and Paragraph 2, we can learn that ___________.| A．learning a second language can make you smarter |
| B．grammar is not very important in learning English |
| C．you can start to learn another language if you are smart |
| D．it is best to learn a second language in a British university |
| A．people who study language learning | B．people who can speak two languages |
| C．languages spoken by British people | D．languages children learn before five |
| A．it is not very good to start learning a language too early |
| B．it usually takes quite a long time to master a new language |
| C．learning a second language changes the structure of the brain |
| D．people who don’t learn a second language have no grey matter |
| A．the younger you start to learn a second language, the better |
| B．improving math skills is as difficult as learning a second language |
| C．Italian people are supposed to learn English as a second language |
| D．the best age to learn a second language is between two and thirty-four |
| A．language learning and math skills | B．how to learn a second language well |
| C．the importance of learning English | D．the good effect of learning a language |
相似题推荐
The advantages(优势) of going to England seem clear. Firstly, you will be able to listen to English all the time. Another advantage is that you have to speak English if you are with other people. In France, however, it is always possible, in class, to speak French if you want to and the learning is slower.
On the other hand, there are also advantages of staying at home to study. You don’t have to make big changes to your life. It is also a lot cheaper than going to England but it is never possible to get the results of living in the UK. If you have a good teacher in France, I think you can also learn English well without going to England.
If you have enough money and time, the best choice(选择) is to spend some time in the UK. This is not possible for most people, so being here in France is the only choice. The most important thing is to speak only English in class and to try to use English whenever possible outside the class.
1. What is the article about?
| A．How many people learn English. | B．The best way to learn English. |
| C．English schools in France. | D．Trying to learn English in France. |
| A．There are no Frenchmen in England. | B．You have to talk to others in English. |
| C．The langage schools are better. | D．The teaching skills are better. |
| A．learn English in England. | B．go to France to learn English. |
| C．try to speak as much English as possible. | D．ask English teachers for help. |
| A．France. | B．England. | C．China | D．Italy |
When you finish high school or university, is learning done?
Why is lifelong learning important? How can it help you? You go to school and learn. You study. You take tests.
When we graduate from school, we should keep on learning.
| A．It can also happen when you get a job. |
| B．Let’s look at one example of lifelong learning in Japan. |
| C．The answer is “no”. |
| D．Make lifelong learning one of your goals! |
| E．But learning doesn’t only happen in school. |
| F．Of course! |
【推荐3】You are never too old to learn (学习). Peng Shengwu, an-80-old grandma, learns every day.
At first, Grandma Peng just wanted to learn English to help her grandson. Then she began to love it. Now she studies at a school.
Grandma Peng learns many subjects (科目) at school.
But it is a little difficult (难的) for her to learn English.
根据短文内容，从下面五个选项中选出能填入文中空缺处的最佳选项， 使短文意思通顺、内容完整。
| A．Learning makes me happy. |
| B．But her favorite subject is English. |
| C．About 30 students are in her class. |
| D．So she works hard and takes every chance (机会) to learn. |
| E．She likes learning English and she can speak English well. |
【推荐1】There are many ways to help improve your health like eating healthy food, taking exercise and getting medical help. But the easiest and cheapest way to improve your health is just to sleep eight hours or more every night. The general sleeping rule is that the younger you are, the longer sleep you need. But regardless of (不管) age, some people need to sleep more while for some a few hours is enough.
The problem with sleep is that more and more people in the world are not sleeping enough. According to the World Health Organization over half the people in the world may be sleep-deprived. Having less sleep not only makes people feel tired but also causes accidents. In the United States alone, sleepy drivers cause at least 100,000 traffic accidents a year. Also sleep problems can cause medical problems such as high blood pressure (血压).
Why are so many people sleep-deprived? Part of the reasons may be cultural. In the American culture, people put a higher value on work than on sleep. In fact, people who sleep a lot are usually seen as “lazy”. Also, you can sometimes hear some people say proudly that they don’t have much time to sleep, they only sleep four or five hours a night. It seems that the less you sleep, the more work you’ll do.
How do we teach these people to learn the value of sleep? Perhaps they may listen to the advice of Dr. James Maas, an expert (专家) in sleep. He says, “Sleep is like a credit (信用卡) card. When you sleep less, you are only borrowing time. You always have to pay it back. The more hours you don’t sleep, the more hours you should sleep to pay back the hours on your ‘sleep credit card.’”
For those who value work more than sleep, they should listen to what a famous person once said. “Don’t think you will be doing less work because you sleep during the night. That is a foolish idea which is held by people who have no imagination. You will be able to do more.”
1. According to the writer, the easiest and cheapest way to improve health is to ________.| A．eat healthy food every day | B．take exercise as much as possible |
| C．get medical help whenever necessary | D．sleep eight hours or more every night |
| A．Having less sleep. | B．Interested in sleep. |
| C．Excited about sleep. | D．Having a good sleep. |
| A．People have no courage. | B．People always do less work. |
| C．Sleeping during the night is foolish. | D．Sleeping during the night is helpful. |
| A．What Is Sleep | B．The Value of Sleep |
| C．How to Keep Healthy | D．Sleep Less and Study More |
【推荐2】Most of us probably have told a lie at one time or another. Some lies are harmful. Some are mostly harmless. Still other lies may even he created with kindness. But whatever kind of lie you tell, it takes surprising brainpower to pull it off. Lying also can have unwanted influences, too.
When you tell the truth, you think of what you want to say and just say it. However, lying takes much more work—you have to come up with a story and remember it. A lot of that work is done in a brain area called the prefrontal cortex(前额叶皮层). It’s responsible for working memory and executive function(执行功能) tasks such as planning, problem-solving and self-control. Working memory keeps things in mind just for a little while as you’re using them. Executive function comes into play when you use self-control to keep from blurting out(脱口而出) the facts that would uncover your lie. It helps you recall all the details of a lie to make sure that it sounds believable. It also lets you think a step or two ahead to make sure the lie you’re telling will likely hold up to questioning.
Calling on your executive function this way uses up a lot of brainpower. Vendemia, a neuroscientist at the University of South Carolina, did a research and has found that people’s mental workload will be heavier and their reaction time longer when they lie. Worse still, when the prefrontal cortex is busy with tasks related to lying, she notes, it has a harder time doing other tasks such as making a study plan or using self-control to keep from spending too much time on computer games.
Lying has social influences, too. Even the kindest lies can sometimes be risky and often backfire. When you give dishonest praise, you may make your friends feel good at first. But if you do it often enough, they’ll soon learn that they can’t trust your praise. People generally value honesty and don’t like liars, so if you are viewed as untrustworthy, it can be bad for your relationships.
It’s widely agreed that nearly all cultures value honesty, and now science is revealing(揭示) how dishonesty influences the brain and your ability to build the trust on which strong relationships depend. So, even when lying doesn’t stretch your nose, it still comes at a price that you can’t afford.
1. The second paragraph is mainly about _________.| A．why self-control benefits the brain | B．what social influences lying can bring |
| C．how the brain works when people lie | D．when executive function comes into play |
| A．Lying improves working memory. | B．Covering lies takes much brainpower. |
| C．The nature of lies is decided by the brain. | D．People’s reaction can be sped up by lying. |
| A．lead to serious accidents | B．help to win full support |
| C．build up strong relationships | D．have the opposite effect |
| A．Signs of Lying | B．Costs of Lying | C．Causes of Lies | D．Types of Lies |
【推荐3】There is an English saying: “
Other tests have shown that laughter seems to be able to reduce (降低) the pain on the body. In one experiment, doctors produced pain in groups of students who listened to different radio programs. The group that tolerated (忍耐) the pain for the longest time was the group who listened to a funny program. The reason why laughter can reduce pain seems that laughter helps to produce a kind of chemical in the brain.
As a result of these discoveries, some doctors in the United States now open laughter clinics (诊所). In these clinics they help to improve their patients’ health by encouraging them to laugh. They have found that even if their patients do not really feel like laughing, just make them smile.
| A．Laughter can’t prolong (延长) one’s life. |
| B．Laughter is the best medicine. |
| C．Smile is as useful as laughter. |
| D．It reduces both stress and pain. |
| E．They have found that laughter really can improve people’s health. |
| F．Tests were carried out to study the effects of laughter on the body. |
【推荐1】①Parkinson’s disease (帕金森病) is the second most common neurodegenerative (神经退行性) disease worldwide. It affects about 1% to 2% of people aged 65 and over. As the global population ages, more and more people have this disease. Nowadays, more than 6 million people worldwide have Parkinson’s disease, and there are about 60,000 new patients each year.
②A recent study was carried out by Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine. The study observed (观察) the health of hundreds of Parkinson’s patients for up to five years.
③They studied two groups of people. One group of 147 people often practiced tai chi (太极), helped by training class to improve their ways. The traditional Chinese exercise includes slow gentle movements, deep breathing and relaxation. The other group of 187 patients continued with their common care, but didn’t practice tai chi.
④After five years of study, the researchers found that ________. This group also saw fewer falls, less back pain and fewer memory problems than the other group. At the same time, sleep and quality of life kept getting better.
⑤What’s more, an earlier test of people with Parkinson’s who practiced tai chi for six months found greater improvements in walking, posture (姿态) and balance than those not on the program. Experts say the findings support earlier studies on the benefits (益处) of exercise for those with Parkinson’s.
⑥Writing in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, researchers say their study shows that tai chi has the long-term beneficial effects on Parkinson’s disease, which include making quality of life last longer, cutting down the task on nursing care and medicine use, while still helping to keep patients active. They also find that tai chi training is safe for patients with early primary Parkinson’s disease.
⑦This was an observational study, so the relationship between tai chi and improvement in Parkinson’s discase could not be sure. But the researchers will continue to study it.
1. Who does Parkinson’s discase affect?| A．People aged 60. | B．People between 60-65. |
| C．People aged 65 and over. | D．All the people. |
| A．practicing Tai ji has a lot of benefits for patients |
| B．patients who didn’t practice tai chi got much better |
| C．patients in the tai chi group got over the discase completely |
| D．parkinson’s discase developed more slowly in the tai chi group |
| A．To explain the way Parkinson’s patients practice tai chi. |
| B．To discuss about the importance of studying Parkinson’s discase. |
| C．To introduce a study about the influence of tai chi on Parkinson’s disease. |
| D．To suggest some proper ways of improving Parkinson’s patients’ quality of life. |
A． | B． | C． | D． |
【推荐2】Do you know what information a tiny piece of your hair can give? The answer may include who your family is, which job you could be successful in, what illnesses you may get, and so on.
All the information is carried in your DNA. Every cell (细胞) in your body has your unique (唯一的) DNA. It can tell you a lot of information about your family, health and personality (性格).
DNA was discovered by Friedrich Miescher, a Swiss scientist, in 1869. However, for many years, nobody realized its importance. In 1953, Dr. James Watson and Francis Crick, two wonderful scientists at Cambridge University, finally discovered the structure of DNA. And they were given a Nobel Prize in 1962.
Gradually, scientists learned to “read” more and more of the information in DNA. In 1986, DNA testing was used by the police for the first time. The testing can be a helpful tool for the police to find out the criminal and solve the case. Today it is also used for finding lost children.
In 1990, the Human Genome Project was started in the US. Scientists wanted to make a map of human DNA. More than 1,000 scientists all over the world worked on the project, and it took them about 13 years to finish the project. It is really a big and meaningful project.
The more scientists know about human DNA, the more they can do. For example, it’s possible that many illnesses will be cured (治愈) in the future.
1. How does the writer start the passage?| A．By telling a story. | B．By comparing facts. |
| C．By asking a question. | D．By giving suggestions. |
| A．Your hair. | B．Your DNA. |
| C．Information. | D．Each part of your body. |
| A．In 1962. | B．In 1990. | C．In 2003. | D．In 2013. |
| A．How DNA will be used to help people. |
| B．Why everyone needs to know knowledge about DNA. |
| C．When new research on DNA will be carried out. |
| D．Who will play an important part in studying DNA. |
| A．To tell us about scientists’ research on DNA. |
| B．To ask us to learn from the police. |
| C．To show us some information on our hair. |
| D．To encourage us to join in the Human Genome Project. |
【推荐3】What comes to your mind when you read the word “robot”? Many people think about big and modern machines in car factories or films. Few of us think about the past. But people were building machines with human abilities hundreds of years ago.
Philo of Byzantium, an ancient Greek inventor, built a robot thousands of years ago. If someone placed a cup in the robot’s hand, it could mix water and wine to make a drink. But it wasn’t popular because people didn’t need robots to work at that time.
Another ancient robot was a robotic arm called “The Claw”. Polybius, the Greek writer, wrote about it in 213 BC. It was built during a war with the Romans and hung over the city wall towards the sea. When a Roman ship came close, the arm caught the front of it and lifted the ship into the air. Then the ship fell backward into the sea and went down. Again, we don’t know whether the machine was built, but it was possible with Ancient Greek technology.
Leonardo da Vinci, the famous artist, loved designing robots. Few of his designs were built, but his plans were very perfect. Mark Rosheim, a robot engineer, still learns from those ideas when he works! One of Leonardo da Vinci’s robots was a lion. He built it in 1515. It could walk and send flowers! In 2009, engineers used the plans to rebuild the robot lion. It worked perfectly.
As time went by, more robots were built, and they could do more difficult work, such as writing and drawing a picture. Although modern technology has moved on, these historical robots still surprise people today.
1. What can we learn about Philo?| A．He was a modern inventor. | B．He was from Germany. |
| C．His robot was popular in his time. | D．He built a robot thousands of years ago. |
| A．察看 | B．敲打 | C．举起 | D．推走 |
| A．difficult work | B．think deeply | C．draw pictures | D．write |
| A．①/②③④/⑤ | B．①/②③/④⑤ | C．①/②/③④⑤ | D．①②/③④/⑤ |
| A．A few interesting ancient stories. |
| B．What are ancient robots like? |
| C．Some amazing (令人惊奇的) robots from ancient times. |
| D．Why are ancient robots different from modern ones? |
1. Why do people visit Venice?
| A．Because it’s a beautiful city. |
| B．Because it’s going down. |
| C．Because it has many cinemas. |
| D．Because it’s going down. |
| A．car | B．plane | C．boat | D．bus |
| A．is going down, is going up |
| B．is going up, is going down |
| C．is going up, is going up |
| D．is going down, is going down |
| A．want to stay there | B．want to leave there |
| C．want to move to Italy | D．want to move to America |
| A．on the water | B．under the water |
| C．on the hill | D．under the hill |
Jo is said to be the twelfth richest woman in the UK. In October 2010, Jo was named the “Most Influential (有影响的)Woman in Britain.
1. Joanne "Jo" Rowling was born_______.
| A．on 31 June 1965 | B．on 31 July 1965 |
| C．in the USA | D．in Canada |
| A．Harry Potter |
| B．Most Influential man in Britain |
| C．the actress of Harry Potter |
| D．The writer of Harry Potter |
| A．in 1997 | B．in 2007 |
| C．in 2010 | D．in 1965 |
【推荐3】This March is a busy month in Shanghai. There is a lot to do. Here are some exciting activities.
Live Music—Late Night Jazz (爵士乐) Enjoy real American jazz from John Davis, the famous guitar player. This is his third visit to Shanghai.
| PLACE: The Jazz Club DATES:15-23 March PRICE:￥120 TIME: 10 pm till late! TEL:6466-8736 |
Scottish (苏格兰的) Dancing Take your friends and get ready to dance till you get tired. Scottish dancing is fun and easy to learn. Teachers there will teach you to dance.
| PLACE: Jack Stein's DATES: every Monday PRICE:￥60 TIME:7 pm-10 pm TEL:6402-1877 |
Exhibitions—Shanghai Museum There are 120,000 pieces on show here. You can see the whole of Chinese history. It's always interesting to visit.
| PLACE: Shanghai Museum DATES: daily PRICE:￥30(￥15 for students) TEL:6888-6888 TIME: Monday-Friday 9 am-5 pm, Weekends 9 am-9pm |
1. If you want to watch John's show, you can call at ______ to book a ticket.
| A．6466-1877 | B．6888-6888 | C．6402-1877 | D．6466-8736 |
| A．￥180 | B．￥120 | C．￥90 | D．￥60 |
| A．enjoy real American jazz | B．take your friend to do Scottish dancing |
| C．go to visit Shanghai Museum | D．see the whole of the world history |
