If you think English means endless new words, difficult grammar and sometimes strange pronunciation, you are wrong. Haven’t you noticed that you have become smarter since you started to learn a language?
According to a new study by a British university, learning a second language can lead to an increase in your brain power. Researchers found that learning other languages changes grey matter. This is the area of the brain which processes information. It is similar to the way that exercise builds muscles.
The study also found the earlier people learn a second language, the greater the effect is.
A team led by Dr. Andrea Mechelli, from University College London(UCL), took a group of Britons who only spoke English. They were compared with a group of“early bilinguals(通两种语言的人)”, who had learnt a second language before the age of five, as well as a number of later learners.
Scans showed that grey matter density in the brain was greater in bilinguals than in people without a second language. But the longer a person waited before mastering a new language, the smaller the difference was.
“Our findings suggest that the structure of the brain is changed by the experience of learning a second language,”said the scientists.
It means that the change itself increases the ability to learn.
Professor Dylan Vaughan Jones of the University of Wales, has researched the link between bilingualism and maths skills.
“Having two languages gives you two windows on the world and makes the brain more flexible,”he said,“You are actually going beyond language and have a better understanding of different ideas.”
The findings were matched in a study of native Italian speakers who had learned English as a second language between the ages of 2 and 34. Reading, writing and comprehension were all tested. The results showed that the earlier they started to learn, the better.“Studying a language means you get an entrance to another world,”explained the scientists.
1.What does the underlined part“grey matter”(in paragraph 2) refer to?
A. Grey hair. B. Material of the brain.
C. Intelligence. D. Difficult situations.
2.The experience of learning a second language can .
A. change one’s brain completely
B. improve one’s maths skills
C. make one smarter than others
D. increase the ability to learn
3.We can learn from the passage that .
A. the researchers from UCL did another study in Italy
B. a similar study was done on native Italian speakers who learn English as a second language
C. the research done on the Italians showed a totally different result
D. it will be easier for one to travel around the world by learning a second language
4.What’s the main idea of the passage?
A. Learning a second language can help improve your brain power.
B. You should learn a second language in English that is not your native language.
C. If you want to learn a second language, you should do it at a certain age.
D. The research done by the researchers from UCL is very successful.
Events in New Jersey （From April 11th-23rd）
Bloomfield Public Library, 90 Broad Street．（973）566-6200．
“Catch Me if You Can”, starring Leonardo DiCaprio．Monday, April 11th
“The Invention of Lying”, comedy．Thursday, April 14th, 8 p．m．
“Sideways”, starring Paul Giamatti．April 18
“Phone Call From a Stranger”, with Bette Davis．April 21
All are Free．
Studio Montclair, 33 Plymouth Street．（973）744-1818．
“Sustainability and the Artistic Vision”, group show featuring artists who use sustainable materials．
Through April 23．
Mondays through Saturdays, 9 a．m．to 5 p．m．, or by appointment．
The Community Theater, 100 South Street．（973）539-8008．
Russian National Ballet Theatre presents “Chopiniana” and “Romeo and Juliet”．
April 15, at 8 p．m．
$27 to $57．
Essex County Environmental Center, 621 Eagle Rock Avenue．（973）228-8776．
“New Jersey Wood-turners”, adults learn to create art from pieces of wood found in nature．
April 18 at 7 p．m．
$8; members, free．
Monmouth Museum, 765 Newman Springs Road．（732）747-2266．
“Give Peace a Chance: John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Bed-in for Peace Exhibition”, featuring more than 40 large-format images by the photojournalist Gerry Deiter．
Through April 22．
$7; children under 2, free．
Tuesdays through Fridays, 10 a．m．to 4:30 p．m．
William Paterson University, 300 Pompton Road．（877）978-3923．
“The African Impact on the American Experience: Between Race and Culture”, panel discussion moderated by Prof．Lawrence Mbogoni．
Tuesday, April 12 at 12:30 p．m．
American Labor Museum, 83 Norwood Street．（973）595-7953．
“The Line That Divides: NAFTA Trade Corridor”, exhibition of photographs, paintings and video by Pamela Calore．
Through April 23．
Wednesdays through Saturdays, 1 to 4 p．m．, or by appointment．
$3 to $5; members and children under 12, free．
1.Which of the following number can offer you more information if you show interest in John Lennon and his wife?
A．（973）595-7953 B．（877）978-3923
C．（732）747-2266 D．（973）566-6200
2.How many events can you choose to enjoy yourself on Saturdays during April 11-23?
A．2 B．3 C．4 D．5
3.What can we know about “The Line That Divides: NAFTA Trade Corridor” according to the text?
A．Free admission is offered to certain groups of people．
B．The photos exhibited are about Pamela Calore．
C．It is accessible all day till April 23．
D．Arrangements in advance are required．
4.Who is the most likely one to satisfy a student majoring in African history?
A．Bette Davis B．Lawrence Mbogoni
C．Gerry Deiter D．Yoko Ono
William Herschel was born on November 15th, 1738 in Hanover in a family of musicians. In 1757,he fled to England and began earning a living as an organist and later composer and conductor. In 1772, he convinced his sister Caroline to join him as a singer. In their spare time the brother-sister team became occupied in astronomy. William died at his home in Slough, near Windsor on August 25th,1822,and Caroline on September 1st,1848.
Herschel’s first major discoveries were to show that Mars and Jupiter exhibit axial rotation(绕轴自转). Herschel struck fame in 1781,when on March 13th he discovered the planet Uranus(天王星) while engaged in work aimed at determining stellar parallax(恒星视差).This being the first new planet discovered since ancient times, Herschel, until then a mere amateur astronomer relatively unknown even in England, became world-famous. Adopting a historically proven strategy, Herschel named the new planet Georgium Sidum, in honor of the then ruling English king GeorgeⅢ. The trick worked once again, as King GeorgeⅢ gave William and Caroline the titles of“The King’s Astronomer”and“Assistant to the King’s Astronomer”, an honor which came with a life’s pension for both. In 1782 they moved to Bath, and shortly thereafter to Slough, and from this point on William and Caroline could devote themselves entirely to astronomy. The Herschels went on to discover two moons of Uranus in 1787.
While Caroline became increasingly occupied with the search for comets at which she was quite successful, William became for a time interested in the Sun. Inspired by Wilson’s 1774 work, he put forth the theory of sunspots(太阳黑子),an opinion that continued to exist well into the nineteenth century. In 1800,he became interested in the solar spectrum(太阳光谱),and uncovered the first evidence for solar energy output outside of the visible spectrum, in what is now known as the infrared(红外线).In 1801, he published two papers that effectively started the field of solar influences on Earth’s weather.
1.Herschel made himself known to the world mainly by .
A. discovering the planet Uranus
B. determining stellar parallax
C. discovering two moons of Uranus
D. uncovering the evidence for the infrared
2.It can be inferred from the passage that George Ⅲ .
A. liked science and technology
B. liked Herschel’s naming of the new planet
C. was interested in astronomy
D. gave Herschel a lot of useful suggestions
3.What do we know about Caroline from the passage?
A. She was successful in music.
B. She was given the title of“The King’s Astronomer”.
C. She died later than her brother.
D. She published two papers.
4.This passage mainly tells readers .
A. some information about Herschel and his sister
B. how Herschel and his sister discovered the planet Uranus
C. Herschel and Caroline got along well with each other
D. Herschel and Caroline’s major scientific publications
He’s an old cobbler(修鞋匠) with a shop in the Marais, a historic area in Paris. When I took him my shoes, he at first told me,“I haven’t time. Take them to the other fellow on the main street. He’ll fix them for you right away.”
But I had my eyes on his shop for a long time. Just looking at his bench loaded with tools and pieces of leather, I knew he was a skilled craftsman(手艺人).“No.”I replied,“The other fellow can’t do it well.”
“The other fellow”was one of those shopkeepers who fix shoes and make keys —without knowing much about mending shoes or making keys. They work carelessly, and when they have finished sewing back a sandal strap(鞋带), you might as well just throw away the pair.
My man saw I wouldn’t give in, and he smiled. He wiped hands on his blue apron(围裙),looked at my shoes, had me write my name on one shoe with a piece of chalk and said,“Come back in a week.”
I was about to leave when he took a pair of soft leather boots off a shelf.
“See what I can do?”he said with pride.“Only three of us in Paris can do this kind of work.”
When I got back out into the street, the world seemed brand-new to me. He was something out of an ancient legend, this old craftsman with his way of speaking familiarly, his very strange dusty felt hat, his funny accent and his pride in his craft.
These are times when nothing is important but the bottom line, when you can do things any old way as long as it“pays”,when, in short, people look on work as a path to ever-increasing consumption rather than a way to realize their abilities. In such a period it is a rare comfort to find a cobbler who gets his greatest satisfaction from pride in a job well done.
1.Which of the following is true about the old cobbler?
A. He was equipped with the best repairing tools.
B. He was the only cobbler in the Marais.
C. He was proud of his skills.
D. He was a native Parisian.
2.The sentence“He was something out of an ancient legend.(Paragraph 7) implies that .”
A. nowadays you can hardly find anyone like him
B. it was difficult to communicate with this man
C. the man was very strange
D. the man was too old
3.According to the author, many people work just to .
A. realize their abilities B. gain happiness
C. make money D. gain respect
4.This story wants to tell us that .
A. craftsmen make a lot of money B. whatever you do, do it well
C. craftsmen need self-respect D. people are born equal
I grew up poor-living with six brothers, three sisters and my mother. We had little money, but plenty of love and attention. I was and energetic. I understood that no matter how poor a person was, he could still a dream.
My dream was . By the time I was sixteen, I could throw a ninety-mile-per- hour baseball and anything that moved on the field. I was also : my high school coach was John, who not only me, but also taught me how to believe in myself. He me the difference between having a dream and showing conviction(信念). One particular incident with coach John changed my life forever.
A friend me for a summer job. This meant a chance for money in my pocket — money for a new bike, new clothes and the of savings for a house for my mother. Then I realized I would have to up summer baseball to handle the work schedule, and that meant I would have to tell John I wouldn’t be playing.
When I told John, he was as as I expected him to be. “You have your whole life to work,”he said,“Your days are limited. You can’t afford to waste them.”I stood before him with my head , trying to think of the that would explain to him why my dream of buying my mom a house and having money in my pocket was worth facing his in me.
“Well,”he asked,“is $ 3.5 an hour the price of a dream?”
That simple question made to me the difference between something right now and having a goal. I myself in sports that summer and the year I was drafted(选拔) by the Pittsburgh Pirates to play baseball, and a $ 20,000 contract. Later, I bought my mother the house of my dream!
1.A.happyB.politeC.shyD.honest
2.A.bringB.affordC.makeD.occupy
3.A.athleticsB.musicC.businessD.money
4.A.kickB.playC.passD.hit
5.A.rightB.popularC.luckyD.confident
6.A.believed inB.relied onC.called onD.dealt with
7.A.gaveB.taughtC.broughtD.asked
8.A.calledB.advisedC.appliedD.recommended
9.A.aimB.ideaC.startD.purpose
10.A.keepB.endC.giveD.pick
11.A.madB.excitedC.frightenedD.shameful
12.A.livingB.playingC.workingD.dreaming
13.A.movingB.noddingC.shakingD.hanging
14.A.questionsB.excusesC.wordsD.ways
15.A.beliefB.prideC.helplessnessD.disappointment
16.A.directB.clearC.straightD.bare
17.A.wantingB.changingC.dreamingD.enjoying
18.A.devotedB. engagedC.appliedD.contributed
19.A.byB.forC.beyondD.within
20.A.paidB.foundC.offeredD.presented
The child tiptoed(翘起脚尖走) quietly to the bird. ______ into the forest when he was about to catch it.
A. Flew it away B. Away flew it C. Away it flew D. Flew away it
