Of all the workings of the human body, there is one organ that produces the most intrigue amongst scientists. The brain is the centre of the nervous system and controls most of the body’s activities. Interestingly, it is the back part of the brain that is involved with our vision. The sides of the brain are involved in memory, speech and rhythm. Although the brain amounts to only about 2% of total body weight, it uses up to 20% of the body’s energy—more than any other organ. Scientists have been conducting research in order to seek greater understanding of the brain, especially since the 1950s. Nevertheless, there is still a long way to go before we can completely understand the workings of this complex organ.
1. What functions of the brain are mentioned in the passage?2. What is the current research situation concerning the brain?
3. Do you know any other interesting facts about the brain? Share them with the class.
2 . 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 |
3 . Take care of your spine（脊柱）
The spine stands at the center of your health, providing your body with structure and support. It also contains your spine cord, a massive collection of nerves conveying electric signals from the rest of your body to your brain
Maintaining good posture( 姿势) is one of the most important things you can do to keep your spine healthy. Proper posture means standing or sitting while keeping your spine straight, except for its natural curves. Posture comes into play even when you are asleep. Sleeping on your side puts less stress on your spine than most other positions.
Finally, your diet affects the health of your spine because many vitamins are necessary for bones and nerves. In particular, vitamins B and D are essential to keep bones healthy, so you may want to consider taking a supplement.
Many of the actions necessary to keep your spine healthy are identical to those used to preserve your health in other ways.
| A．However, the latter is also absorbed from sunlight. |
| B．Staying still for too long can be hard on your back. |
| C．So protect your back, the rest of the body will benefit. |
| D．Protecting your spine with yoga is also a necessary step. |
| E．Try the following exercises to keep your spine more flexible. |
| F．Exercise is also an important factor in the health of your spine. |
| G．So you should take the following factors into account to have a healthy spine. |
4 . Crossing your legs is an extremely common habit. While you may find it comfortable to sit with one knee crossed over the other, it might be causing health problems that you are not aware of.
A study published in Blood Pressure Monitoring stated that sitting with your legs crossed can increase your blood pressure. The reason this happens is because the blood in your legs has to work against gravity to be pumped back to your heart, crossing one leg over the other increases resistance, making it even harder for the blood to circulate. You won’t feel any immediate effects, but sitting for long periods of time will hurt you forever.
Crossing your legs can also lead to neck and back pain. Ideally, it’s best for our bodies to sit with our feet planted flat, hip width apart, on the floor, but it’s not easy to maintain perfect posture all day at the office. When you sit with your legs crossed your hips are in a twisted position, which can cause one of your pelvic bones(骨盆) to rotate. Since your pelvic bone supports your neck and spine（脊椎）, this can cause pressure on your lower and middle back and neck.
You also might notice that when you sit with your legs crossed for long periods of time your feet and legs get painful or have the feeling of being asleep. This is because when one leg sits on top of the other it causes pressure on the veins（静脉） and nerves in your legs and feet. It can cause numbness and/or temporary paralysis in the legs, ankles, or feet. While the feeling of discomfort may only last a minute or two, repeatedly crossing your legs until they feel numb can cause permanent nerve damage.
So next time you sit down, try to get yourself in the habit of sitting with both of your feet on the floor. Not only will it help your posture and stability, but it will also save your health in the long run.
1. Which of the following is not the consequence of crossing legs?| A．Neck and back get hurt. |
| B．Feet and legs become numb. |
| C．Blood pressure goes up. |
| D．Pelvic bones keep perfect postures. |
| A．break seriously |
| B．hurt greatly |
| C．move casually |
| D．straighten suddenly |
| A．How to choose a proper sitting posture |
| B．It is advisable not to sit with legs crossed |
| C．How to develop beneficial habits |
| D．Blood pressure harms our bodies. |
5 . Easy Ways to Keep Your Brain Sharp
Everyone is forgetful, but as we age, we start to feel like our brains are slowing down a bit- -and that can be a very annoying thing.
1.
People who regularly made plans and looked forward to upcoming events had a 50 percent reduced chance of Alzheimer’s disease (早老性痴呆症)，according to a recent study.
2. Go for a walk.
Mildly raised glucose (葡萄糖) levels can harm the area of the brain that helps you form memories and physical activity can help get blood glucose down to normal levels. In fact, exercise produces chemicals that are good for your brain.
3. Learn something new.
Take a Spanish class online, join a drawing club, or learn to play cards. A study found that mental stimulation (刺激) limits the weakening effects of aging on memory and the mind. But the best thing for your brain is when you learn something new and are physically active at the same time.
| A．Focus on the future. |
| B．This can be especially harmful to the aged. |
| C．It should be something like learning gardening. |
| D．So take a few minutes each day to do some reading. |
| E．But don’t worry if your schedule isn’t filled with life changing events. |
| F．Luckily, research shows there is a lot you can do to avoid those moments |
| G．In other words, when you take care of your body, you take care of your brain. |
