Question

Losing weight comes with a lot of health benefits—including making your brain sharper.

Yes, it turns out that overweight may damage cognitive functions (认知功能) such as memory and attention. There have been few studies of overweight and cognitive functioning, possibly because it is generally believed that it is not a primary risk cause for poor cognitive performance. Losing weight, therefore, may help improve these mental functions, according to a new research led by John Gunstad, assistant professor of psychology at Kent State University.

Growing evidence suggests that being fat is linked to cognitive deficits (缺陷). So Gunstad and his team guessed that losing weight might improve mental function. For their study, they measured memory and attention in a group of 150 overweight participants, some of whom had some kind of operation for weight loss and some did not. All of the volunteers completed mental skills tests to assess their abilities of memory and attention at the beginning of the study, and again 12 weeks later. To begin with, about 24% of the patients showed damaged learning and 23% showed signs of poor memory when tested. At the end of the study, those who had lost weight after operation improved their scores into the average or above average range for cognitive functions. Scores for the volunteers who didn’t lose weight dropped even further.

The study helped Gunstad to find out whether losing weight had any effect on mental function. Now that he’s seen the positive effect that weight loss can have on memory and attention, he says he will next study those who choose to lose weight by the traditional way—eating healthier and getting more active. He expects that losing weight in this way will have a similarly positive effect on the brain. “If we can improve the condition with operations, then we can probably produce the same change with behavioral weight loss as well,” he says.

1.There is less research on overweight and cognitive functions because researchers _____.

A. believe overweight only affects our body

B. have focused on ways to sharpen people’s mind

C. do not consider overweight a main cause for low cognitive ability

D. are clear about the relation between weight and mental functions

2.The result of Gunstad’s study shows that ______.

A. losing weight has little effect on people’s memory

B. losing weight can improve people’s mental functions

C. overweight people are likely to have psychology problems

D. overweight people’s abilities of concentration differ greatly

3.What is Gunstad planning to prove next in his research?

A. Slim people are smarter than overweight people.

B. Healthy diet is better than exercise in losing weight.

C . Traditional ways of losing weight are better than operation.

D. Overweight people will get smarter by taking more exercise.

4.Which of the following is the best title for th e text?

A. Body Weight and Health

B. Losing Weight by Operation

C. Ways to Improve Mental Functions

D. Losing Weight to S harpen Your MindD

Answer

1.C

2.B

3.D

4.D

【解析】

试题分析: 根据一项新的研究表明减肥会给人们带来很多好处，其中之一就是让人们更聪明。Gunstad和他的团队对150名肥胖人员进行了调查，其中通过手术减肥的人们智力明显比减肥前要高，由此他希望能够在通过锻炼减肥的人们身上也看到这种效果。

1.C 细节理解题。根据文中There have been few studies of overweight and cognitive functioning, possibly because it is generally believed that it is not a primary risk cause for poor cognitive performance.可知人们在此之前很少研究肥胖和认知功能之间存在关系的原因是人们没有认为肥胖是导致认知功能下降的基本原因，答案选C。

2.B细节理解题。根据文章首段Losing weight, therefore, may help improve these mental functions,可知减肥可以改善大脑功能，故选B。

3.D推理判断题。根据文章末段Now that he’s seen the positive effect …… he says he will next study those who choose to lose weight by the traditional way—eating healthier and getting more active.可以判断他在接下来要研究那些通过锻炼和健康饮食减肥的人们，看是否健康减肥也存在这种对大脑的积极影响，选D。

4.D主旨大意题。文章首段提出中心Losing weight comes with a lot of health benefits—including making your brain sharper.，然后在下文中对这项研究进行详细介绍，故D选项内容可以概括文章中心，答案选D。

考点：考查科学知识类短文阅读。