1 . The benefits of a bilingual brain

Hablas espafiol?Parlez-yous francais? 你会说中文吗?If you answered, “sí,” “oui,” or “会” and you’re watching this in English, _________ are you belong to the world’s bilingual and multilingual majority. And besides having an easier time traveling or watching movies without subtitles, knowing two or more languages means that your brain may actually look and work _________ than those of your monolingual friends.

So what does it really mean to know a language? Language ability is typically measured in two active parts, speaking and writing, and two   _________ parts, listening and reading. While a(n) _________ bilingual has near equal abilities across the board in two languages, most bilingual around the world know and use their languages in varying proportions. And   _________ their situation and how they acquired each language, they can be _________ into three general types. For example, let’s take Gabriella, whose family immigrates to the US from Peru when she’s two-years old. As a compound bilingual, Gabriella develops two linguistic codes simultaneously (同时地), with a single set of concepts, learning both English and Spanish as she begins to   _________ the world around her. Her teenage brother, on the other hand, might be a coordinate bilingual, working with two sets of concepts, learning English in school, while _________ to speak Spanish at home and with friends. Finally, Gabriella’s parents are likely to be subordinate (次要的) bilinguals who learn a secondary language by filtering it through their mother_________.

Because all types of bilingual people can become fully proficient in a language __________ accent or pronunciation, the difference may not be apparent to a casual observer. But recent   __________·in brain imaging technology have given neurolinguists a glimpse into how specific aspects of language learning affect the bilingual brain. It’s well known that the brain’s left hemisphere is more dominant and analytical in __________ processes. while the right hemisphere is more active in emotional and social ones, though this is a matter of degree, not an absolute split. The fact that language involves both types of functions while lateralization (脑部的偏侧性) develops gradually with age，has led to the critical period hypothesis. According to this theory, children learn languages more easily, because the plasticity of their developing brains lets them use both hemispheres in language acquisition, while in most adults, language is lateralized to one hemisphere, usually the left.

But regardless of when you acquire additional languages, being multilingual gives your brain some__________ advantages. Some of these are even visible, such as higher density of the grey matter that contains most of your brain’s neurons and synapses, and more activity in certain regions when engaging a second language. The heightened __________ a bilingual brain receives throughout its life can also help delay the onset of diseases, like Alzheimer’s and dementia by as much as five years.

So, while bilingualism may not   __________ make you smarter, it does make your brain more healthy, complex and actively engaged, and even if you didn’t have the good fortune of learning a second language as a child, it’s never too late to do yourself a favor and make the linguistic leap from, “Hello,” to, “Hola,” “Bonjour” or “你好’s” because when it comes to our brains a little exercise can go a long way.

2 . In the dim light of an early autumn evening, Alexander, a hunter: known as much for his solitude as for his skill, ventured into the untamed (原始的) heart of the jungle. Each step he took was measured and careful, a respect for the ancient wilderness where every breath was a story, and man was but a fleeting shadow.

For years, whispers of a tiger, not just any tiger but one whose fur caught the last rays of the sun, had reached Alexander. A creature so splendid and fearsome, it was said to be more myth than flesh. On this day, as the shadows lengthened and the jungle whispered its age-old secrets, Alexander sought not just the tiger, but a confrontation with the very essence of the wild itself. As dusk settled, painting the world in colors of gold and shadow, the boundary between predator and prey seemed to dissolve. The air was heavy with anticipation, the kind that precedes storms and stories.

Then, in a clearing where the jungle seemed to hold its breath, the tiger appeared. It was as if the sun had woven itself into the fabric of its being, its fur a blend of flame and night. For a moment, the world shrank to the space between the hunter named Alexander and the legend made flesh before him.

Their gazes locked, a silent understanding passing between man and beast. Here was Alexander, a man who had walked through shadows to stand in the light of a legend, and the tiger, an embodiment of the wild’s untouchable majesty. In that eternal moment, Alexander saw not a prey but a sovereign of nature, a being whose right to wander the dusk was as undeniable as the setting sun.

With a respect born of countless sunsets and the silent tales they told, Alexander slowly lowered his rifle (步枪). The act was not one of defeat but of profound respect-a recognition of the bond that ties every living thing to the pulse of the earth. The tiger, its gaze still locked with Alexander’s, seemed to acknowledge this unspoken pact. Then, it turned and melted into the shadows, leaving behind a trail of twilight.

Alexander left the jungle that night without a trophy (战利品), but his soul was alight with a tale of fire and twilight. He had sought a legend and found a truth far greater: in the wild’s heart, where shadows and light dance, there lies a respect so deep it transcends the hunt. This encounter, a dance with the untamed, would echo in Alexander’s heart long after the jungle’s whispers faded into the dawn.

Walking past a corner bakery, you may find yourself drawn in by the fresh smell of sweets wafting from the front door. You're not alone. The knowledge that humans make decisions based on their nose has     1     major brands like Cinnabon and Panera Bread to use the scents of baked goods in their restaurants, leading to big increases in sales.

But according to a new study, the food you ate just before your walk past the bakery may impact your chance of stopping in for a sweet     2    —and not just because you're full. Scientists at Northwestern University found that people became less sensitive to food odors (气味) based on the meal they had eaten just before. So, if you were     3     on baked goods from a coworker before your walk, for example, you may be less likely to stop into that sweet-smelling bakery.

The study found that participants who had just eaten a meal of either cinnamon buns (肉桂面包) or pizza were less likely to     4     "meal-matched" odors, but not non-matched odors. The findings were then     5     by brain scans that showed brain activity in parts of the brain that process odors was altered in a similar way. These findings show that just as smell regulates what we eat, what we eat—in turn—regulates our sense of smell.

Feedback between food intake and the olfactory (嗅觉的) system may have an evolutionary     6    , said senior and corresponding study author Thorsten Kahnt, an assistant professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. "If you think about our ancestors     7     around the forest trying to find food, they find and eat berries and then aren't as sensitive to the smell of berries anymore, "Kahnt said. So it could theoretically help facilitate (促进)     8     in food and nutrient intake.

While we may not notice the hunter-gatherer adaptation having an effect on our day-to-day decision-making, the connection between our nose, what we seek out and what we can detect with our nose may still     9    . If the nose isn't working right, for example, the feedback may be disrupted, leading to problems with     10     eating and obesity. There may even be links to disrupted sleep, another tie to the olfactory system the Kahnt lab is researching.