1 . If you don't use it, you lose it. At least, that's how the old saying goes. It refers to the idea that something which does not get used regularly quickly falls into a state of decline. Muscles, for example, will waste away without use. In order to resist this, people take regular exercise to keep their skills sharp.
Well, what about the brain? As we age, our brains can naturally begin to decline. In some cases, this can lead to certain mental conditions such as dementia(痴呆)，which I'm sure you will agree, no one wants. However, all is not lost because these days it's relatively easy to train your brain. Smart phones and apps have put programmes into our hands that can test, maintain and even improve our memories, mathematical skills and a lot of other mental abilities. With a little practice every day, we can keep our brains nice and sharp, right?
Well, no, actually. According to a report from the Global Council on Brain Health, even though many people thought it was important to play online games, such as puzzles and mind games, which are designed to improve brain health, the evidence of the benefits was “weak to non-existent”.
There are other ways to promote the old grey matter. It recommends seeking out new activities that challenge the way you think and are socially engaging，while leading to a healthy lifestyle. Among their suggestions are practising tai chi, taking photography classes, learning new technologies, gardening, art projects or volunteering.
There's more good news, too, James Goodwin, chief scientist at Age UK has said that brain decline is not inevitable (不可避免的）. As long as the activities are “new to you and require your concentrated attention”, they can provide benefits for brain health. So, hurry up, get out there and try something new. Maybe it's time to try that hobby you've always wanted to do. And as for me? I'm off to learn the piano.
1. From which is the text probably taken?| A．A biology textbook. | B．A healthy magazine. |
| C．A travel brochure. | D．A research paper. |
| A．Making more shopping. | B．Avoid brain decline. |
| C．Doing exercises alone. | D．Going out with friends. |
| A．Trying something new. | B．Using smart phone regularly. |
| C．Playing games online. | D．Doing what you are good at. |
| A．Advantages of trying something new. |
| B．Disadvantages of using smart phones. |
| C．Ways to keep our brain as sharp as possible. |
| D．How to spend time meaningfully at an old age. |
2 . Whether it's Chinese social media like Sina Weibo, or Western media like Instagram an Facebook, videos can go viral in mere hours.
The wide range of viral videos suggests that popular concepts are largely random. After all, what links the recent broom challenge to funny internet cat videos?
According to scientists from Stanford University, US, the popularity of a video can be predicted by looking at how certain areas of a person's brain react within the first few seconds of a video. This method has been called neuroforecasting（神经预测）.
The team made the finding by recruiting（招募）36 volunteers to watch a range of videos while being scanned with an FMRI—a machine that can monitor the changes in blood oxygen and flow.
Participants were shown 32 different videos and were monitored according to their brain responses in four different areas. The results showed that specific brain activity during the first four seconds of a video could effectively predict a person's thoughts on a video and whether they would keep watching.
Using the FMRI results, the Stanford team consistently saw increased activity in the nucleus accumbens（伏核）and decreased activity in the anterior insula（前脑岛）parts of the brain while the participants were watching the most popular of the 32-vidco selection.
According to the study, these two brain regions are related to the feeling of expectation we get when we're not certain of something's outcome.
Stanford neuroscientist（神经学家）and the study's author Brian Knutson said: "If we examine our subjects' choices to watch the video or even their reported responses to the videos, they don't tell us about the general response online ... Only brain activity seems to forecast a video's popularity on the internet.”
He added, “Future research might also systematically analyze the video content, so content creators can use these findings to make their videos more popular.”
In the future, the team aims to use this type of FMRI experiment to understand "whether processes that generate individual choice can tell us something about choices made by large groups of people”. According to Knutson, this could apply to shopping trends, charity support and general money-spending.
1. What did scientists from Stanford University find?| A．There are differences between viral videos in different cultures. |
| B．People's reported response can predict the popularity of a video. |
| C．There are links between viral videos under different subjects. |
| D．Viewers' initial brain activity can forecast the popularity of a video. |
| A．All four areas monitored displayed increased activity. |
| B．One area got more active while another became less active. |
| C．Areas related to the feeling of uncertainty got more active. |
| D．The activity of areas related to the feeling of expectation increased. |
| A．The participants' choices to watch the videos help them make the finding. |
| B．How long the subjects watched the videos also mattered to their conclusion. |
| C．Our brain activity can show something we ourselves don't realize. |
| D．When the video was beyond the viewers‘ expectation, it is generally popular. |
| A．Exploring the link between individual and general choices. |
| B．Interviewing content creators how they make videos. |
| C．Discouraging more charity organizations. |
| D．Applying their findings to arresting criminals. |
3 . The world has many beautiful sounds. we can hear the songs of birds and laugh of people. We can listen to cool music and news reports. And all this is due to(归功于) our ears! They bring us a world of sounds.
But some people can’t hear any sound at all. Some are born deaf. Others can hear well in their childhood, but too many loud sounds hurt their ears later on.
In China, 6 children out of 1000 have hearing problems when they are born. They can not hear ordinary sounds clearly. Children who have hearing problems usually also have learning problems at school.
A lot of things can cause hearing problems. For example, too much earwax is not good for our hearing and noise louder than 85 decibels(分贝) can hurt our ears and make us lose our hearing for a short time or even forever.
Hearing is a problem for all of us. So we should do our best to give our ears special care. Don't forget the following:
Try to stay away from places with too much noise. If you have to go, wear earplugs(耳塞). A pair of earplugs can cut the noise by 30 decibels. When swimming, remember to put earplugs into your ears to stop water from getting in. Never put anything sharp into your ears. If you think you have too much earwax, ask your parents to help you clean it out.
Keep these things in mind! Then you won’t ask “WHAT?” when you are older.
1. In the first paragraph, the writer wants to .| A．tell us many beautiful sounds. | B．describe the sounds. |
| C．teach us how to use ears. | D．show the importance of ears |
| A．耳膜 | B．耳鸣 | C．耳垢 | D．耳疾 |
| A．a little earwax | B．learning problems at school |
| C．noise louder than 85 decibels | D．earplugs that can only cut noise by 15 decibels |
| A．Hearing problems caused by diseases(疾病). | B．People with hearing problems. |
| C．Ways to protect our ears. | D．Danger of loud noise |
4 . Losing a baby tooth can be fun for a kid. You can put it under your pillow and look forward to finding some money there in the morning. And then you can watch your new permanent(永恒的）tooth grow in its place.
But if a permanent tooth falls out, that's a problem. There isn't another one under the gum（齿龈）that can replace it. Unfortunately, this happens to some older people. And if permanent teeth fall out or need to be pulled, an older person might need dentures.
Dentures,known as false teeth, are a set of replacement teeth for any teeth that are missing.
There are partial dentures, which take the place of only a few teeth and prevent the others from changing position. If all the teeth are gone, the person would need complete dentures,which replace every tooth in the mouth.
Dentures can cause pains at first but take little time to get used to.They also need special care. They should be brushed daily with a special denture brush and cleanser and soaked(浸泡） in denture solution when not in the mouth.
Dentures are important for the old because, without teeth, it's hard to smile, talk, and eat properly. But it can be a little weird if you see someone take out his or her dentures. It can also be strange to see someone, like a grandparent, without dentures in because he or she won't have any teeth. Try not to make fun of the person because this could cause hurt feelings.
People usually lose their permanent teeth due to periodontal disease (牙周炎）， or gum disease, which is caused by bacteria that attack the gums. Diseased gums aren't strong and healthy, so teeth can get loose and fall out. Older people often have many cavities (洞） that have been filled over the years, and these fillings can weaken over time, leading to more tooth problems.
1. If one of your baby teeth falls out, you_______| A．should have a false tooth fixed in its place |
| B．will gain a permanent tooth in future. |
| C．have to put it under your pillow at once |
| D．can exchange it for some money |
| A．will experience unpleasant feelings at the beginning |
| B．will spend a very long time adjusting himself or herself to them |
| C．should brush them with a special denture brush every few days |
| D．should use denture solution to soak them in his or her mouth |
| A．Partial dentures can prevent the remaining teeth from changing position. |
| B．Old people will find it hard to smile, talk, and eat properly without teeth. |
| C．A person's teeth will possibly get loose if diseases strike his gums. |
| D．It is hard for a person to wear dentures if all his teeth have fallen out. |
| A．inconvenient | B．excited | C．strange | D．impolite |
5 . Have you ever wondered if you see the same colours as other people? Most people know what blue is when they see it. They see the colour and call it “blue” because they were taught the word and associated it with what they saw. But how do you know what you see as blue isn’t someone else’s red?
The ability to perceive colours is down to receptors in our eyes. Light waves hit these receptors and they react depending on which colour the light is, sending signals to the brain. The brain then decodes these signals to determine which colour light the eyes are receiving. Some people’s receptors are more developed than others. People with weaker receptors usually have colour blindness. The inability of the receptor to interpret the light waves correctly means that some people cannot tell different shades of a colour.
In the past, most scientists would argue that everyone saw colours in the same way. However, research was conducted on monkeys, in which they were injected with a virus affecting their receptors. This enabled them to understand more colours than usual and brought an interesting discovery. Normally monkeys can only see blue and green, but the virus allowed monkeys to see red. The neurons (神经元) in their brains adapted to be able to understand new colours, which might mean the neurons in our brains are not instinctive (本能的) to automatically understand which colour is which. This implies that our brains and neurons may adapt depending on our stimulus (刺激) during the developmental phase. Colour could be a very personal experience, unique to everyone.
So, the next time you talk about your favourite colour, just remember if yours is blue and your friend says red, you might actually be thinking about the same colour. What if everyone in the world has the same favourite colour, but just calls it different names?
1. What does the underlined word “perceive” in paragraph 2 mean?| A．Explain. | B．See. | C．Analyze. | D．Track. |
| A．They can see many shades of some colours. |
| B．Their receptors fail to send signals to their brains. |
| C．There are not enough light waves hitting their receptors. |
| D．The receptors in their eyes are not well developed. |
| A．Monkeys can only only see two colours-green and blue. |
| B．The neurons in monkeys’ brain can instinctively distinguish colours. |
| C．Brains and neurons can be stimulated to recognize new colors. |
| D．The neurons in human brain work differently from monkey’s. |
6 . Things Could Happen If You Keep Rubbing Your Eyes
Rubbing eyes can often result in significant damage, from causing eye disease to making existing conditions worse and increasing your risk of infection. Here are things that can happen if you keep rubbing your eyes.
People who are nearsighted may find that rubbing eyes results in worse eyesight. Nearly 9.6 million people are what is known as highly nearsighted and their eyes degraded over time, according to research from the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
•You'll give yourself an infectionIf you rub your eyes hard enough, you might cause tiny blood vessels in your eyes to break. That could result in bloodshot eyes. The blood will then flow to surrounding tissue.
| A．If your eyes get infected |
| B．No matter how often you wash your hands |
| C．You'll lose your eyesight and become blind |
| D．Since not all know the harm of rubbing eyes |
| E．You'll make your nearsightedness much worse |
| F．Rubbing eyes can injure more than your eyeballs |
| G．This might give you those dark circles under your eyes |
7 . Have you ever said to a friend “That rose’s smell is really sweet!”, only to find that your friend can’t smell anything at all?
According to a study published in the journal PNAS in May, people have different abilities to recognize certain odors (气味) — and it’s linked to different genes.
For the study, 300 people were placed among 150 jars with different odors. At a given time, they had to smell an odor and then rate the intensity (强度) and pleasantness of the odor on a scale from 1 (extremely weak/unpleasant) to 7 (extremely strong/pleasant). Before they left, the participants needed to leave a blood sample.
After comparing genes of the participants, researchers found all had different smelling abilities and that the differences between these abilities could be traced to certain genes.
According to The New York Times, human beings have nearly 400 genes that directly control receptors (器官) and influence the way these receptors become active.
“Odors ... turn on specific receptors, which then tells us if we’re smelling a flower, how strong we find it, and whether we like it,” said Casey Trimmer, a geneticist and the lead author of the study. “One small change in the gene for the receptor can change its shape and how well the odor fits, thereby changing the awareness of the odor.”
Though genes play a decisive role in our ability to smell, other factors, including attention, past associations and expectations, are important as well. For example, if we love the smell of roses, we are drawn to their smell and pay special attention to it.
But what does our different abilities to sense odors mean?
“Smelling is the most important sense for the rest of the animal kingdom,” said Trimmer. Although, unlike other animals, humans aren’t any longer dependent on their sense of smell to find food or detect danger, smell is still a significant sense. There is also evidence that a reduced sense of smell is an early symptom of Alzheimer’s disease.
1. What did the study find about smelling?| A．Men and women have different smelling abilities. |
| B．Differences between smelling abilities lie in genes. |
| C．People’s abilities to smell change over time. |
| D．Human beings can tell 150 odors apart. |
| A．Our receptors won’t work when we smell an unpleasant smell. |
| B．People’s preferences for smells can affect their health. |
| C．Small changes in genes for smelling make a difference. |
| D．The sense of smell is the most important human sense. |
| A．Past experiences. | B．The environment. |
| C．Other senses. | D．The cultural belief. |
| A．Man has a better sense of smell than animals. |
| B．Man can use their sense of smell to detect danger. |
| C．The loss of smelling causes many health problems. |
| D．Poor smelling ability may be a signal of early disease. |
8 . As doctors performed surgery on Dagmar Turner’s brain, the sound of a violin filled the operating room. The music came from the patient on the operating table. In a video from the surgery, the violinist was moving her bow (琴弓) up and down as surgeons worked to remove her brain tumor (肿瘤). The King’s College hospital surgeons woke her up in the middle of the operation in order to ensure they did not damage parts of the brain necessary for playing the violin and keep her hand’s functions intact.
Turner, 53, learned that she had a slow-growing tumor. Later doctors found that it had become more aggressive and the violinist decided to have surgery to remove it. “We knew how important the violin is to Turner, so it was vital that we preserved function in the delicate areas of her brain that allowed her to play,” Keyoumars Ashkan, a doctor at King’s College Hospital, said in a press release.
Before Turner’s operation, Ashkan and his colleagues spent two hours carefully mapping her brain to identify areas that were active when she played the violin and those controlling language and movement. Waking her up during surgery then allowed doctors to monitor whether those parts were suffering damage.
Brad Mahon, expert at Carnegie Mellon University, said the basic features of an “awake craniotomy” — the type of brain surgery where patients are awake in order to avoid damage to critical brain areas — have remained largely unchanged for decades. But he said that doctors are now able to map the patient’s brain activity in great detail before the surgery, using an imaging technique called functional MRI. That means surgeons are coming into the operating room with far more information about a specific patient’s brain. That kind of information helps doctors tailor tests to a patient’s particular needs.
1. What does the underlined word “intact”mean in the first paragraph?| A．Strong. | B．Sound. |
| C．Talented. | D．Influential. |
| A．To keep her brain more active when she played the violin. |
| B．To monitor whether her brain had suffered damage severely. |
| C．To recognize the areas related to music and movement precisely. |
| D．To remove the tumor while keeping all function of her brain. |
| A．Doctors are using an imaging technique to monitor the surgery. |
| B．Patients are asleep to protect critical brain areas in a surgery. |
| C．A patient’s language ability couldn’t be preserved before. |
| D．Surgeons can personalize a patient’s operation by mapping his brain. |
| A．Musician joined in her own brain surgery |
| B．Mapping a brain is realized after surgery |
| C．The violinist suffers from a brain tumor |
| D．Doctors perform surgery on a brain |
9 . Eyesight plays a very important role in our daily life. Every waking moment, the eyes are working to see the world around us. Over forty percent of Americans worry about losing eyesight, but it's easy to include steps into our daily life to ensure healthy eyes. Here are five suggestions for a lifetime of healthy eyesight:
Schedule yearly exams.
Protect against UV rays .
Long-term stay in the sun creates risk to your eyes. No matter what the season is, it’s extremely important to wear sunglasses.
Two-thirds of Americans spend up to seven hours a day using computers or other digital products.
As part of a healthy diet, eat more fruits and vegetables each day. Vitamins C and E help protect eyesight and promote eye health.
Practice safe wear and care of contact lenses.
Many Americans use contact lenses to improve their eyesight. While some follow the medical guidance for wearing contact lenses, many are breaking the rules and putting their eyesight at risk.
Otherwise: you may have problems such as red eyes, pain in the eyes, or a more serious condition.
| A．Eat your greens. |
| B．Eye care should begin early in life. |
| C．They can properly protect your eyes. |
| D．Stay in good shape by taking more vitamins. |
| E．Parents usually don’t care about their own eyesight. |
| F．Always follow the doctor’s advice for appropriate wear. |
| G．This frequent eye activity increases the risk for eye tiredness. |
1.用眼存在的问题；
2. 爱护眼睛的意义；
3.提出倡议。
注意：1.词数80左右；
2. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯
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