Question

    “What’s the name of the supermarket? I can’t remember right now.” Have you ever heard your grandparents ask questions like this sometimes? Usually, we think that older people’s memory becomes had because their brains get weak. But now a team of scientists at the University of Tubingen in Germany has a new idea. “The human brain works slower in old age,” says Michael Ramscar, the team’s lead scientist, “only because it has stored more information over time.” The findings are based on a series of computer tests related to learning and memory.

Scientists had the computers read a certain amount of words and learn new things each day. When the computer “read” a small amount of data（数据），its performance on cognitive（认知）tests was similar to that of a young adult . But if the computer took in larger amounts of data, its performance was similar to that of an older adult. Often it was slower, but not because its processing ability had dropped. Rather, increased “experience” had caused the computer’s database to grow, giving it more data to process-which takes more time. This is similar to how old people process information.

Imagine that one person knows just two people’s birthdays and can get them right each time he or she is asked. Another person knows the birthdays of 2,000 people , but can only match the right person to the right birthday 9 times out of 10. Can you say the first person has a better memory than the second person?

“The larger the library you have in your head , the longer it usually takes to find a particular word,” Benedict Carey, a science reporter for The New York Times, wrote in an article about the study.

根据材料内容选择最佳答案，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

1.Why is the poor memory of elderly people mentioned at the beginning?

A.To lead in the discussion of memory. B.To describe the way elderly people live.

C.To express his or her care about the elderly. D.To draw the public attention to elderly people

2.How did the scientists prove （论证）the new idea?

A.By telling stories. B.By doing experiments.

C.Be making surveys. D.By listing others’ opinions.

3.What does the underlined word “it” refer to?

A.The data. B.The brain. C.The computer. D.The information.

4.The example in Paragraph 3 shows ___________.

A.Memorizing birthdays is easy B.the first person has a better memory

C.Who has a better memory is uncertain D.the second person can memorize 10% birthdays

5.What does the text mainly tell us ?

A.How computers process data. B.How to improve the memory.

C.Old people can remember things easily. D.Much information makes the brain slower.

Answer

1.A

2.B

3.C

4.C

5.D

【解析】

文章大意：本文讲述的是有关于老人记忆力的科学知识。人们通常认为，老人记忆力变坏是因为大脑变弱了，其实经过研究发现：这是因为老人大脑中存储的信息太多，读取变慢了。

1.推理判断题。根据“What’s the name of the supermarket? I can’t remember right now.” 以及Have you ever heard your grandparents ask questions like this sometimes? 在文章的开头就用几个疑问句，这是一种写作手法，主要是为了引起读者的注意力，让读者很想知道下文的内容，故答案选A。

2.细节理解题。根据The findings are based on a series of computer tests related to learning and memory. 这些发现是基于一系列与学习和记忆有关的计算机测试。以及下文的描述，可知，科学家们是通过做实验来证明这个新想法的，故答案选B。

3.词义猜测题。根据上文But if the computer took in larger amounts of data, its performance was similar to that of an older adult. 但是如果电脑接收了大量的数据，它的表现就和老年人差不多了。结合Often it was slower,可知，此处指的是“电脑”经常会变得比较慢，所以it指代的是“电脑”，故答案选C。

4.段意归纳题。根据第三段的内容Imagine that one person knows just two people’s birthdays and can get them right each time he or she is asked. Another person knows the birthdays of 2,000 people , but can only match the right person to the right birthday 9 times out of 10. Can you say the first person has a better memory than the second person? 想象一下，一个人只知道两个人的生日，而且每次都能答对。另一个人知道2000个人的生日，但10次中只有9次能将正确的人与正确的生日匹配起来。你能说第一个人的记忆力比第二个人好吗?可知，本段的例子表明谁的记忆力更好是不确定的，故答案选C。

5.主旨大意题。通读全文可知，本文主要讲述了老年人记忆力下降的原因，并不是由不好的记忆力导致的，经过研究发现：是因为老人大脑中存储的信息太多，读取变慢了。结合选项可知D选项“过多的信息会使大脑反应变慢。”符合题意，故答案选D。