2 . Directions: After reading the passage, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in the blank with the proper form of the given word; for the others, use one word that best fits each blank.
Sure, chocolate is a delicious treat, and it’s a staple of some of our favorite desserts. But it’s not exactly a health food, so it should be enjoyed in moderation — right?
Well, it turns out that 1 (eat) chocolate might actually have a pretty significant health benefit. According to recent research 2 (conduct) by five scientists in Italy, compounds found in chocolate, called flavanols(黄烷醇), can help boost cognitive performance. Yes, chocolate’s good for your brain.
The scientists, studying at the Universities of Rome and L’Aquila, 3 (record) research from 10 different studies. The studies assessed people’s performance on cognitive tests before and after eating cocoa or chocolate. The results were telling: in nine out of the 10 studies, there was a noticeable improvement 4 the subjects had eaten the chocolate. The scientists found improvements in “general cognition, attention, processing speed, and working memory.” Sounds pretty good to us!
And that’s not all. In subjects, especially women, who performed the tests while sleep-deprived, the flavanols helped “counteract” the negative effects of the sleep deprivation. And there’s even more good news. 5 (take) daily over periods ranging from five days to three months, chocolate can produce noticeable long-term improvements in cognition. Older adults, 6 memories were already declining, saw an especially significant improvement. Be right back, we’re gonna go stock up on Hershey bars. Here are some more strategies that can help improve your memory.
All chocolate has flavanols, since they occur naturally in cocoa. However, dark chocolate lovers feel happy, 7 it has more flavanols than any other type of chocolate. In fact, the scientists 8 have claimed that, after doing this research, they’ve started eating dark chocolate every day! Here are some other health benefits of eating dark chocolate. Now, we’re not saying that you 9 start eating chocolate for breakfast, lunch, and dinner — it’s still high in sugar and low in nutrients. But next time you find yourself yawning after a sleepless night, snack on some chocolate and let the flavanols work their magic. Go ahead, 10 take advantage of chocolate’s newfound brainpower with these delicious recipes.
