If English means endless new words, difficult rules and sometimes strange sound, 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 improvement in your brain power. Researchers found that learning other languages changes grey matter. This is the area of the brain which processes (处理) information. It is similar to the way that doing lots of exercise helps build muscles (肌肉).
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, took a group of Britons who only spoke English. They were compared with a group of “early bilinguals” the people who had learned 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 difference.
“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 adds up the ability to learn.
Professor 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 can understand different ideas better.”
The findings were matched 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 (入口) to another world,” explained the scientists.
1. The writer mentions “exercise” in Paragraph 2 in order to ________.| A．say language is also a kind of physical labor |
| B．make people believe language learning helps grey matter work well |
| C．prove that one needs more practice when he/she is learning a language |
| D．show the importance of using the language when you learn the language |
| A．a researcher on language learning |
| B．an English native speaker |
| C．an active language learner |
| D．a person who can speak two languages |
| A．Italian is the best choice for you as a second language |
| B．learning a second language is the same as studying math |
| C．you’d better choose the ages between 2 and 34 to learn a second language |
| D．early learning of a second language helps you a great deal in studying other subjects |
| A．Science on learning a second language. |
| B．Language can increase brain power. |
| C．Man’s ability of learning a second language. |
| D．Language learning and math study. |
相似题推荐
In 1972, Richard Sears, a young American began learning Chinese because of his interest in traditional Chinese culture.
Drawn to the ancient language, he went to China to study Chinese in the 1990s.
In 1994, Richard Sears decided to put the ancient Chinese characters online. Then, in 2002, he did it. That is the beginning of the Chinese Etymology(汉字字源)website. "My website did not get much attention for the next few years. Until one day in 2011, it suddenly got a lot of attention.
I got a few thousand emails, and a few million visitors and people started calling me 'Uncle Hanzi', " Sears said with a smile. Hanzi means Chinese characters. He has put more than 96, 000 ancient Chinese characters onto the website. "When I study each character, I wonder what the ancient Chinese thought, " said Sears.
After visiting many Chinese cities, Sears learned more about China and ancient Chinese culture, He said when he came to China in the last century, few Chinese could speak good English "However, you can hear English in many places in China now. Chinese language and culture were mysterious and not known by people in most countries then, but now, more and more people in the world are learning Chinese, even Chinese history, traditional Chinese medicine and so on, "Sears added.
At present, the 70-year-old American has made his home in China. "When I die, I hope my website will live on, and I'm planning to write a book about my research. This will be my gift to China, " he said.
1. What does "Drawn to the ancient language" mean in Paragraph1?| A．Sears was interested in ancient Chinese. | B．Sears had to study Chinese characters. |
| C．Sears could draw Chinese characters well. | D．Sears could speak ancient Chinese very well. |
| A．1972 | B．1994 | C．2002 | D．2011 |
| A．Chinese history. | B．Ancient Chinese characters. |
| C．The daily life of Richard Sears | D．Traditional Chinese medicine. |
| A．become famous | B．get the nick name "Uncle Hanzi" |
| C．write a book about his research | D．make more people know about ancient Chinese characters |
| A．Great Changes in China | B．Mysterious Chinese Language and Culture |
| C．American "Uncle Hanzi" | D．A Young American and Traditional Chinese Culture |
【推荐2】Hi, my name is Simon. I’m Chinese, but I live in England. I speak English very well, but I sometimes make mistakes! Yesterday we went on a school visit to a farm. I was very happy. I said I wanted to see a ship. Everyone looked surprised(惊讶的) and I didn’t know why. My teacher said, “Simon, we are going to go to a farm, not to a lake or the sea. There are no ships at the farm.” Then I knew my mistake.I wanted to say “sheep”, the animal that says, “baa…,not “ship”, a big boat on the water! It was very funny. My friends laughed. Then we all said the words: “sheep, ship”!
判断正(T)误(F)
1. Simon lives in China.
2. Simon makes mistakes in English.
3. Simon went to a sea.
4. There were ships at the farm..
5. Simon was happy.
【推荐1】What makes you who you are as a person? You probably have some ideas of your own personality. Are you similar to Martin Luther King or Albert Einstein? Read about these types and find out.
| The Dreamer A dreamer thinks there is a “right”way to do things. This person wants to live in the“perfect world”. A dreamer is often hard-working and organized. Many are good listeners and like to help others. Many dreamers work as teachers, lawyers, and in leadership roles. Famous dreamers: Mohandas Gandhi, Martin King Jr. | The Partners A partner wants to be in a group. For this person, group harmony is important. And rules can help us live in harmony because they can keep everything in good order and help the members avoid arguing. Partners are often serious, careful people. Many do well as teachers, managers, police officers, and politicians. Famous partners: Mother Teresa, Queen Elizabeth II |
| The thinker For thinkers, understanding things is very important. They like to solve problems and make new things. Thinkers can also be competitive. They like to win. They are independent and often have very strong opinions. Many thinkers work as scientists, inventors, politicians, and engineers. Famous thinkers: Bill Gates | The Artist Artists want to be free. They don’t want to follow the rules all the time. Artists like action and are often impulsive ( 冲动的). They also like trying new things. Like thinkers, many artists have strong opinions. Many artists are creative and do well as musicians, actors, fashion designers, and athletes. The motto of artists might be “Variety is the spice of life.” Famous artists :Russell Crowe, Madomma |
| A．Mother Teresa | B．Queen ElizabethⅡ | C．Bill Gates | D．Barack Obama |
| A．a scientist | B．a lawyer | C．an inventor | D．a musician |
| A．the dreamer | B．the partner | C．the thinker | D．the artist |
| A．They don’t like to follow the rules all the time. |
| B．They are usually careful and organized. |
| C．They like action and are often impulsive. |
| D．They like trying new things and have strong opinions. |
| A．different jobs | B．famous people | C．similar groups | D．personality types |
【推荐2】Nature and culture are often seen as opposite ideas. What belongs to nature cannot be the result of human activities and on the other hand, cultural development is achieved against nature. However, this is not the only opinion on the relationship between nature and culture. Studies in the development of humans suggest that culture, whether taken as an effort against nature or a natural effort, is part of the development of the human species (物种).
Several modern writers saw the process of education as a struggle (斗争) against human nature. We are born with wild natures, such as eating and behaving in a disorganized way or acting selfishly. Education uses culture as a way to get us out of our widest natures; it is thanks to culture that the human species could learn to adapt (适应), progress and raise itself above and beyond other species.
Over the past century and a half, however, studies in the history of human development have shown that the formation of culture is part of the biological adaptation. Consider, for example, hunting. It seems to be an adaptation, which allowed humans to move into new and different areas, opening up the opportunity to change living habits. At the same time, the development of weapons is related to that adaptation — from rocks and stones to a set of hunting tools, and from hunting tools to rules relating to the proper use of weapons. Hunting also seems to be responsible for a whole set of bodily abilities, such as balancing on one foot. Just think of how this very simple thing is closely related to dance, a key expression of human culture. It is then clear that biological development and cultural development are closely tied.
The transmission of culture seems to be directly related to what’s in our blood. Just as snails carry their shell, so do we bring along our culture. However, culture is also passed on among people of the same times or among people belonging to different populations. We can learn how to make jiaozi even if we were born from Russian parents in Paris just as we can learn how to speak English even if none of our family or friends speaks that language.
1. What is Paragraph 2 mainly about?| A．Culture belongs to human nature. |
| B．Nature teaches humans how to adapt. |
| C．Humans are supposed to be well organized. |
| D．Education pushes the human species to progress. |
| A．To suggest some possible ways of changing living habits. |
| B．To stress the importance of tools in humans’ struggle for life. |
| C．To show how culture develops as humans adapt to the environment. |
| D．To explain why there is a need to call for the proper use of weapons. |
| A．system | B．spread | C．start | D．spirit |
| A．Culture and nature are separate yet balanced. |
| B．Culture depends much on nature to progress. |
| C．Nature and culture are different but connected. |
| D．Nature follows the unwritten rules set by culture. |
| A．A magazine. | B．A science fiction. |
| C．An advertisement. | D．A poster. |
【推荐3】Height is just one of the features your genes (基因) decide. In fact, because you have two parents, your genes provide you a height that usually lands somewhere between the height of each parent. If both your parents are tall, then most probably you will be tall, too. But if you have questions about how tall you’re going to be, ask your doctor if he or she can help you find them out.
But genes don’t decide everything. For example, eating an unhealthy diet can keep you from growing to your full potential (潜力). Getting plenty of sleep and enough exercise will help you grow to the expected height.
It’s natural that you’re wondering how fast you should grow. There’s no perfect or right answer. Generally speaking, kids grow about 6 cm a year between age 3 and the time when they startpuberty.
Your doctor will know how your growth has been going over the years. 2 cm here and 3 cm there make a little difference to the height you’re at now. How have you been growing up to this height？What other changes may your body be going through？
Don’t be amazed if you seem to have grown a lot in a very short time. Everyone has a growth spurt (高峰) during puberty. The age for starting puberty is about 10 for girls and about 11 for boys. But it can be earlier or later — between 7 and 13 for girls and 9 and 15 for boys.
You’ll usually begin to notice that you’re growing faster about a year after your body starts to show the first changes of puberty.
1. If you want to know how tall you should grow, _______.| A．you should have enough exercise |
| B．you can ask doctors for help |
| C．you should take some special medicine |
| D．you can record your growth during puberty |
| A．童年时期 | B．婴幼儿时期 |
| C．习惯养成期 | D．生长发育期 |
| A．how the genes work in your body |
| B．how your parents’ height influence you |
| C．how you look like your parents |
| D．how you grow to a certain height |
| A．how good it is to be a doctor |
| B．how much sleep time we need |
| C．why genes can’t decide everything |
| D．what healthy diet is |
| A．Your height most probably depends on how tall your parents are. |
| B．Girls’ age for starting puberty is usually earlier than that for boys’. |
| C．The features showing the first changes of puberty between boys and girls are different. |
| D．You may be amazed sometimes when you grow too fast. |
A message in e-mail English mostly uses two kinds of new words. The first kind is made up of the first letters of the words. These are called acronyms. The second kind is homophones，letter combination(合并), symbols that sound like other words.
Acronyms in an e-mail save space and time. It takes a long time to write by the way. BTW is much faster. Other acronyms are F2F which stands for face to face, CSL for can’t stop laughing and DBEYR for don’t believe everything you read! Some of the acronyms look like strange words, such as SWAK. But this one means sealed(封口) with a kiss.
Homophones often use letters and numbers that sound like words or parts of words. For example, 8 sound like—eat in great, to save time, people write gr8. Another example is CU for see you or sometimes CU l8r (see you later)
The number 2 is used for to or too and the number 4 is used instead of for.
Another part of e-mail is emotive symbols(表情符号) which make faces when you look at them sideways. The most common emotive, is the happy face :). A comma (逗号) is often used to help add other parts of the face and show different expressions.
E-mail English is fun. An e-mail message with lots of e-mail English starts to look like secret code(密码). Your best friend will probably understand it, but your parents and teachers may not. In fact, many teachers don’t like e-mail English. It’s not just because they can’t comprehend what it means. It’s because students start to use e-mail English in their everyday writing. E-mail English is great for writing quickly. But most teachers say that e-mail English should only be used in e-mails to one’s friends.
1. What does the writer talk about in the first paragraph?
| A．How to read new e-mail words. |
| B．How new e-mail words are made. |
| C．Why people use e-mail English. |
| D．Canadian teachers and their e-mails. |
| A．accept | B．understand | C．guess | D．prefer |
| A．Parents will have to learn some e-mail English. |
| B．E-mail English will develop our everyday writing. |
| C．E-mail English can’t be used among schoolmates. |
| D．E-mail English shouldn’t be used in school writing. |
| A．E-mail English on Computer. | B．American E-mail English. |
| C．The Forms of E-mail English. | D．The Changing of English. |
【推荐2】Water shortages influence so many lives. The company Watergen produced a new machine to help solve this problem. The machine, called GENNY, is small enough to be used in a home or office but can produce up to 30 liters of water a day. More importantly, it can produce clean water out of air.
GENNY takes air in and passes it through a filter（过滤器）to remove dust and dirt. The filter is powerful enough to work even in areas with high air pollution. The air then passes through a room where heating and cooling turns steam in the air into water. This water is then passed through several more filters, and minerals are added to make it healthier and better tasting. Finally, the water is kept in a tank where it is continually recycled to keep it fresh.
The heating and cooling process, called GENius, is far more energy-efficient than other technologies that produce water from air. It produces four to five times more water per kilowatt-hour（千瓦时）. Watergen has other products that use this same technology in a larger size, the largest of which can produce up to 5,000 liters of water per day.
As a company, Watergen aims to provide drinking water to the billions of people who don’t have safe drinking water at home. Last year Watergen’s large-size products were given to the local government in Brazil, Vietnam and India.
Watergon tries to help the environment by reducing waste caused by plastic bottles. People can put the water from GENNY into reusable bottles so that plastic ones don’t get used and thrown away. It also calls for saving energy. There are even two types of GENNY: one that uses the electrical power supply and another that runs on energy from solar power. The latter one is particularly useful for villages or other areas not connected to an electrical network.
Watergen’s technology is sure to help many people around the world as well as help take care of our planet.
1. What does the underlined word “it” refer to in paragraph 1?| A．The latest technology. |
| B．The company Watergen. |
| C．The new machine GENNY. |
a. Some minerals are added into the water.
b. It takes air in and passes it through a filter.
c. The water is stored in a tank to keep it fresh.
d. The water passed through several more filters
e. The heating and cooling turns steam into water.
| A．b-e-a-c-d | B．b-e-d-a-c | C．e-b-d-a-c |
| A．It produces clean and safe water and air. |
| B．It uses solar power to turn air into water. |
| C．It solves the problem of water shortage in the world. |
| A．Water from Air | B．Clean Air out of Water | C．Ways of Turning Air into Water |
【推荐3】Your third year of middle school was probably a tough and busy time. You may have had trouble getting enough sleep. We all know that not getting enough sleep is not good for our health. But it has been found that less sleep could even cause you to have fewer friends.
According to researchers from the University of California, people who don’t get enough sleep are less willing to socialize (社交) with others. They are simply too tired to go out.
The researchers did a small study. They tested 18 young people who had just had a good night’s sleep-as well as tested them again after a sleepless night. The participants(参加者) watched videos of people with neutral (中性的) expressions walking toward them. When the person on the video got too “close” to them, they pushed a button (按钮) to stop the video, which recorded how close they allowed the person to get.
The results showed that the participants kept the person at a distance of 60 percent further back if they hadn’t gotten enough sleep. They felt that their personal space was being invaded (侵占). But when the participants got a good night’s sleep, they allowed the person to get much closer to them.
According to lead researcher Matthew Walker, the less sleep you get, the less you want to socialize with others. In turn, other people may think you are weird and stay away from you. This can make you feel lonely and cause you to sleep even less. It becomes a vicious cycle (恶性循环).
So if you want to be a more sociable and popular person, sleeping well might help. “One night of good sleep makes you feel more outgoing and socially confident,” Walker told the Daily Mail.
1. Researchers from the University of California believe that less sleep _____.| A．makes school life tough and busy | B．is good for one’s health |
| C．makes people less sociable | D．causes people to become excited |
| A．They did tests on 18 young people. | B．They watched videos of sleepless people. |
| C．They interviewed people on the street. | D．They invited people to join in a game. |
| A．strict | B．strange | C．friendly | D．angry |
| A．The proper distance to keep from others is 60 cm. | B．People don’t like sharing their personal space. |
| C．People are more sociable after a good sleep. | D．Don’t get too close to sleepless people. |
| A．people who sleep less are weird | B．loneliness makes people sleep more |
| C．popular people always sleep well | D．sleeping well makes people confident |
