Until just a few years ago，we doctors believed that the brain stopped making new neural(神经系统的)connections (meaning that your memory began to get worse)when the body stopped developing，usually in your early 20s. And we knew that，like any other body part，neurons weaken as we age. Loss of brain function due to neural breakdown was assumed to be a normal，unavoidable part of aging.
It turns out that we were wrong. In the past few years，it has been discovered that you can，in fact，make new neurons starting in your 20s and continuing well into old age. You can literally rewire the brain with new parts as the older parts wear out. How？Simple：Keep learning. Just as your body can pack on and condition new muscle，your brain can rebuild used-up neurons.
How strong is the evidence for this？Strong enough that a $200 million industry devoted to brain boosting software (products like Brain Age，MindFit，and Lumosity that supposedly improve your memory function)has sprung up out of nowhere. All“mental fitness”means are keeping your memory intact(everything from phone numbers to how to throw a football)．So what can you do to stay smart?
Keep blood pressure down. People with high blood pressure are more likely to develop cognitive impairment later in life.
Eat more vitamins. Like E(in nuts and sunflower seeds)，B6 and B12(beef，tuna)，and folic acid(leafy greens，citrus，berries)，which help keep your brain’s chemistry in balance.
Exercise your brain. This is the best way to rebuild and strengthen those precious neurons. Learn to play chess or the guitar. When you’re at a stoplight，try to recall the starting lineup of the 1983 Celtics. See a movie that doesn’t feature Ben Stiller. Or read，like，a book.
Title：How to keep the1.________smart？
Previous 2._________ | The brain no longer makes new neural connections once the 3.________ of one’s body has stopped. |
New 4. ________
| ●New neurons continue to occur even in one’s old age. ●5.________contributes to the development of the new parts of your brain. ●Many products which claim to improve your brain function appear in the 6._________. |
7._________ | ●Keep yourself away from 8._________blood pressure. ●9._________in more vitamins for the needs of your brain. ●10.________your brain as much as you can. |
Christian Eijkman, a Dutch doctor, left the Netherlands for the island of Java. Many people on the island had a disease called beri-beri. He was going there to try and find a cure.
At first, Eijkman thought some kind of germ (细菌) caused beri-beri. He raised some chickens. He didn’t eat them, but made experiments on them. The local people were quite surprised at that. One day he noticed that his chickens became sick when they were fed the food most Javanese ate — refined white rice (精炼米). When he fed them with unrefined rice, also known as brown rice, they recovered. Eijkman realized that he had made an important discovery — that some things in food could prevent disease. These things were named vitamins. The Javanese were not getting enough vitamins because they had actually removed the part that contains vitamins. Later, other diseases were also found to be caused by the lack of vitamins in a person’s food.
Today many people know the importance of vitamins and they make sure they have enough vitamins from the food they eat. If they don’t, they can also take vitamin pills.
1. Christian Eijkman went to the island of Java to ______.
A. help the Javanese with their illness
B. find ways to grow better crops
C. do some research about the island
D. spend his holiday
2. Why did Christian Eijkman raise some chickens?
A. To eat them.
B. To make money by selling them.
C. To give the Javanese a surprise.
D. To carry out his experiments.
3. If a person doesn’t get enough vitamins in his diet, he’d better ______.
A. eat more rice B. eat vitamin pills
C. eat some chicken D. eat more meat
4. We can learn from the passage that ______.
A. Christian Eijkman’s experiment was successful
B. the Javanese didn’t like vitamins
C. beri-beri was caused by chickens
D. the Javanese’s disease was caused by a kind of germ
You can't always predict a heavy rain or remember your umbrella. But designer Mikhail Belyaev doesn't think that forgetting to check the weather forecast before heading out should result in you getting wet. That's why he created Lampbrella, a lamp post with its own rain－sensing umbrella.
The designer says he came up with the idea after watching people get wet on streets in Russia. “Once, I was driving on a central Saint Petersburg street and saw the street lamps lighting up people trying to hide from the rain. I thought it would be appropriate to have a canopy(伞篷)built into a street lamp，” he said.
The Lampbrella is a standard－looking street lamp fitted with an umbrella canopy. It has a built－in electric motor which can open or close the umbrella on demand. Sensors(传感器)then ensure that the umbrella offers pedestrians(行人)shelter whenever it starts raining.
In addition to the rain sensor, there's also a 360° motion sensor on the fiberglass street lamp which detects whether anyone is using the Lampbrella.After three minutes of not being used the canopy is closed.
According to the designer, the Lampbrella would move at a relatively low speed, so as not to cause harm to the pedestrians. Besides, it would be grounded to protect from possible lightning strike. Each Lampbrella would offer enough shelter for several people. Being installed(安装) at 2 meters off the ground, it would only be a danger for the tallest of pedestrians.
While there are no plans to take the Lampbrella into production, Belyaev says he recently introduced his creation to one Moscow Department, and insists his creation could be installed on any street where a lot of people walk but there are no canopies to provide shelter.
1. For what purpose did Belyaev create the Lampbrella?
A. To protect people from the rain.
B. To predict a heavy rain.
C. To check the weather forecast.
D. To remind people to take an umbrella.
2.What do we know from Belyaev's words in Paragraph 2?
A. It rains a lot in the city of Saint Petersburg.
B. His creation was inspired by an experience.
C. Street lamps are protected by canopies.
D. He enjoyed taking walks in the rain.
3.What does Paragraph 5 mainly tell us about the Lampbrella?
A. Its moving speed. B. Its appearance.
C. Its safety. D. Its installation.
4.What can be inferred from the last paragraph?
A. The designer will open a company to promote his product.
B. The Lampbrella could be put into immediate production.
C. The designer is confident that his creation is practical.
D. The Lampbrella would be put on show in Moscow.
When Christopher Columbus landed on the then unnamed Costa Rica in 1502, he saw many Indians wearing gold earrings. So he thought the land must be rich in gold. He named the place Costa Rica, which means “rich coast” in Spanish.
Though little gold was found, Costa Rica today is indeed rich with coffee and bananas. Coffee is the most important product in Costa Rica and most of it is exported to other countries like America and West Germany. Bananas are the country’s second most important export. Costa Ricans also grow many other crops such as fruits, corn and beans for their own use. Costa Ricans love colors and their houses are painted in bright colors.
Education is very important to the Costa Ricans. Almost every village has a school and education is a must for children between seven and fourteen years of age. Boys and girls go to separate schools. Classes begin in March and end in November. The other three months of the year are harvest time and the children have to help their parents to pick coffee beans.
1. What’s the main idea of the first paragraph?
A. How Columbus found Costa Rica.
B. How Costa Rica got its name.
C. What the Costa Ricans wore.
D. What language the Costa Ricans spoke.
2. The Costa Ricans may NOT paint their houses ______.
A. pink and red B. yellow and orange
C. blue and green D. grey and black
3. In Costa Rica, boys and girls between seven and fourteen ______.
A. can choose to stop schooling at any time
B. study in the same school
C. do not have to go to school at all
D. must go to school
4. From December to February, school children in Costa Rica ______.
A. help their parents pick coffee beans
B. have their examinations
C. have lessons every day
D. help their parents decorate their houses
For years scientists have been worried about the effects of air pollution on the earth’s natural conditions. Some believe the air inside many houses may be more dangerous than the air outside. It may be one hundred times worse.
Indoor air pollution can cause a person to feel tired, to suffer eye pain, headache and other problems. Some pollutants（污染物）can cause breathing disorders, diseases of blood and even cancer. Most scientists agree that every modern house has some kind of indoor pollution.
People have paid more attention to the problem now. It is true that when builders began making houses and offices they did not waste energy. To do this they build buildings that limited the flow of air between inside and outside. They also began using man-made building materials. These materials are now known to let out harmful gases.
As the problem became more serious, scientists began searching for a way to deal with it. They discovered a natural pollution control system for building—green plants. Scientists do not really know how plants control air pollution. They believe that a plant’s leaves absorb or take in the pollutants. In exchange the plant lets out oxygen through its leaves and tiny organizations on its roots. Scientists suggest that all buildings should have one large plant or several small plants inside for every nine square meters of space. Studies of different plants show that each absorbs different chemicals. So the most effective way to clean the air is to use different kinds of plants. Having green plants inside your house can make it a prettier and more healthy place.
1. Generally speaking, indoor air pollution may be more harmful than the air outside because _ .
A．indoor air pollution can often make people seriously ill
B．there may be more harmful gases outside the buildings
C．man-made building materials give off dangerous gases
D．the air indoors is polluted, which is very harmful
2. Some kind of indoor pollution can be found in _______.
A．every old house B．every modern house
C．all kinds of houses D．all kinds of offices
3. The indoor air pollution is caused by ______.
A．the man-made building materials and the limit of air-flow
B．the building way that the builders want to save energy
C．the building things that are made of man-made materials
D．the limit of the flow of air between inside and outside
4. The reason why we should use different kinds of plants to clean the air is that ______.
A．plants can let out all kinds of pollutants indoors
B．plants may take in more oxygen which people need
C．plants can make our houses prettier and more healthy
D．plants can absorb all kinds of harmful indoor chemicals
I found out one time that doing a favor for someone could get you into a lot of trouble. I was in the eighth grade at the time, and we were having a final test. During the test, the girl sitting next to me whispered something, but I didn’t understand. So I leaned over her way and found out that she was trying to ask me if I had an extra pen. She showed me that hers was out of ink and would not write. I happened to have an extra one, so I took it out of my pocket and put it on her desk.
Later, after the test papers had been turned in, the teacher asked me to stay in the room when all the other students were dismissed（解散）. As soon as we were alone she began to talk to me about what it meant to grow up; she talked about how important it was to stand on your own two feet and be responsible for your own acts. For a long time, she talked about honesty and emphasized the fact that when people do something dishonest, they are really cheating themselves. She made me promise that I would think seriously about all the things she had said, and then she told me I could leave. I walked out of the room wondering why she had chosen to talk to me about all those things.
Later on, I found out that she thought I had cheated on the test. When she saw me lean over to talk to the girl next to me, it looked as if I was copying answers from the girl’s test paper. I tried to explain about the pen, but all she could say was it seemed very very strange to her that I hadn’t talked of anything about the pen the day she talked to me right after the test. Even if I tried to explain that I was just doing the girl a favor by letting her use my pen, I am sure she continued to believe that I had cheated on the test.
1.The story took place exactly ____________ .
A. in an exam room B. in the teacher’s office
C. in the school D. in the language lab
2. The teacher saw all this, so she asked the boy ____________ .
A. to go on writing his paper
B. to stop whispering
C. to stay behind after the exam
D. to leave the room immediately
3.The thing(s) emphasized in her talk was(were) ____________ .
A. seriousness B. honesty
C. sense of duty D. all of the above
4.The boy knew everything ____________ .
A. the moment he was asked to stay behind
B. only some time later
C. when the teacher started talking about honesty
D. when he was walking out of the room
