If 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 effect is greater when the younger people learn a second language. A team led by Dr. Andrea Mechelli, from University College London, took a group of Britons who only spoke English. They were compared with a group of “early bilinguals” 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 (密度) 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.
“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 math skills. “Having two languages gives you two windows on the world and makes the brain more flexible (灵活的),” 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 two and thirty-four. Reading, writing, and comprehension were all tested. The results showed that the younger they started to learn, the better. “Studying a language means you get an entrance to another world,” explained the scientists.
1.The main subject talked about in this passage is ________.
A. science on learning a second language
B. man’s ability of learning a second language
C. that language can help brain power
D. language learning and math study
2.The underlined word “bilingual” probably means _______.
A. a researcher on language learning
B. a person who can speak two languages
C. a second language learner
D. an active language learner
3.We may know from the scientific findings that ________.
A. the earlier you start to learn a second language, the higher the grey matter density is.
B. there is no difference between a later second language learner and one who doesn’t know a second language.
C. the experience of learning a second language has bad effect on people’s brain.
D. the ability of learning a second language is changing all the time.
All over the world people enjoy sports. Sports help to keep people healthy, happy and help them to live longer.
Sports change with the seasons. People play different games in winter and summer.
Games and sports often grow out of people's work and everyday activities. The Arabs use horses or camels in much of their everyday life; they use them in their sports, too.
Some sports are so interesting that people everywhere go in for them. Football, for example, has spread around the world. Swimming is popular in all countries near the sea or in those with many rivers.
Some sports or games go back thousands of years, like running or jumping. Chinese boxing, for example, has a very long history. But basketball and volleyball are rather new. Neither one is a hundred years old yet. People are inventing new sports or games all the time.
People from different countries may not be able to understand each other, but after a game they often become good friends. Sports help to train a person's character. One learns to fight hard but fight fair, to win without pride and to lose with grace.
1.According to this passage we know that________.
A. people began to play pingpong about one hundred years ago
B. about 100 years ago people ran or jumped when they played
C. basketball has a longer history than volleyball
D. not all the games have a long history
2.The writer didn't tell us in this passage that________.
A. basketball was invented in America
B. sports change with the seasons
C. games and sports often grow out of people's work and everyday activities
D. football is played all over the world
3.According to this passage, which of the following is NOT true?
A. Sports help to train a person's character.
B. People swim only because there are a lot of rivers in their country.
C. People from different countries may not be able to understand each other before a game.
D. Sports and games can develop the friendship between people all over the world.
4.A lot of people have more free time from their work to enjoy sports because________.
A. they like sports very much B. they want to live longer
C. they want to make a lot more friends D. all of the above
A HALF - EMPTY BASKET
Once there was a poor farmer and his farm belonged to a rich man. One day he brought a basket of apples to the rich man’s house. On the doorsteps, he met two monkeys dressed like children. They jumped onto the basket to eat the apples and threw some on the ground. The farmer politely took off his hat and asked the monkeys to get off. They obeyed(服从) and the farmer went into the house. He asked to see the rich man. A servant took him to the room where the rich man was sitting.
"I have brought you the basket of apples you asked for," he said.
"But why have you brought a half-empty basket?" the rich man asked.
"I met your children outside, and they stole some of the apples."
1.Why did the farmer bring apples to the rich man? Because ___________
A. he was poor B. he liked the rich man
C. his farm belonged to the rich man D. the rich man’s children liked apples
2.What did the monkeys do when the farmer was on the doorsteps?
A. They jumped and jumped. B. They played.
C. They ran away. D. They ate some of the apples
3.The monkeys left the basket because ___________
A. they had thrown apples on the ground B. the farmer had politely asked them to get off
C. they were afraid of the hat D. the farmer was angry with them
4.How did the rich man feel when he saw the basket? He felt ________.
A. unhappy B. pleased
C. excited D. moved
阅读下面短文，在空白处填入 1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。
Children have their own rules in playing games. They don't care much about 1. wins or loses, and they don't seem to worry whether the game 2. (finish) or not when they leave.
Yet, they like games that depend a lot on luck, so that their personal abilities cannot be 3.(direct) compared. They also enjoy games that move in stages in 4. each stage, the choosing of leaders, the picking-up of sides, or the determining of which side 5. (start) is almost a game in itself.
Grown-ups can hardly find children’s game exciting, and they often feel 6.(puzzle) at why their kids play such a simple game again and again.
However, it is found 7. a child plays games for very important reasons. He can find 8. (he) being a useful partner to someone of whom he is ordinarily afraid. He can become a leader and give 9.(order) when it comes to his turn. In some games, he can pretend to be dead or to kiss someone he has caught. 10. appears to us that when children play a game they imagine a situation under their control.
In the long history of about 5,000 years, numerous Chinese traditional festivals were celebrated as the memory of gods or some significant days, some of which are passed down from generation to generation and people always practice special traditional activities in each festival,
Qingming Festival
Qingming Festival is on the 15th day after Spring Equinox (春分), round April 4 or April 5 every year. 1., They remove the weeds growing on the ancestors* tomb to make them clean, so this festival is also called Tomb-sweeping Festival. In some areas, people are forbidden to use the fire to cook the food, so they only eat the cool food. Thus, it is also named Hanshi Festival.
Double Ninth Festival
2.The Chinese character of September is the same as 9, so we get this special name. Chinese people, especially the north Chinese，climb the mountains to the peak to enjoy the wonderful perspective, and admire the beauty of chrysanthemum(菊花).
Winter Solstice(冬至).
Winter solstice is on around December 22 or 23 of solar calendar each year, From winter solstice on, the daytime will be longer and longer. 3.Chinese people in the northern region, eat dumplings-aad wonton(馄炖), while in the southern regions rice balls.
4.
In China, this festival is in late January or early Februaty, the last day of the Lunar year.
People celebrate it by having a family reunion dinner, setting off fireworks and staying up late. Breaking the dishes and bowls is a thing all the people scare(惊恐），but if you did it, you have to say: “sui sui ping an)”5.
A. Spring Festival.
B. New Year's Eve.
C. People always visit their friends and relatives*
D. People will go to worship(祭拜）their ancestors.
E. It is a pun(双关语), meaning you will be healthy every year.
F. It is celebrated on Sept. 9th of the Lunar Calendar, around October
G. It's a holiday which is regarded as important as the Spring Festival.
When people reunite with their loved ones, it's usually all extremely happy moment. But what is their most common response to seeing them again? It may seem strange, but most of the time they break down in tears.
Now a group of psychologists (心理学家) from Yale University say they have found the reason why, and that crying tears of joy may well be the body's way of keeping emotional(情感的）balance.
“They seem to take place when people are overtaken by strong positive emotions, and people who do this seem to recover better from those strong emotions, ”Oriana Aragon, the lead researcher said.
Aragon and her fellow psychologists looked at hundreds of participants’ emotional responses to different things, including happy reunions and cute babe. Many participants said they would react in a negative or aggressive way to the positive things to cry at happy moments and want to pinch(捏) a cute baby's face or even, tell them“I want to eat you up!” But then researchers found that these people were able to calm down from strong emotions more quickly.
There are many other examples of times when people respond to a positive experience with a negative emotional reaction, At an exciting concert, fans scream at their idols(偶像).People who have just had a big lottery win are often in floods of tears* “These findings advance our understanding of how people express and control their emotions, which is importantly related to mental and physical health, the quality of relationships with others, and even how well people work together/' said Aragon.
1.What have the psychologists from Yale University found in their research?
A. Crying tears of joy helps to balance emotions.
B. The reason why people cry with tears.
C. People recover slowly from strong emotions
D. Strong negative feelings are useful to people.
2.What does the underlined “they” in Paragraph 2 probably refer to?
A. Times when people reunite with friends.
B. Participants’emotional responses.
C. Times when people cry tears of joy.
D. Strong positive emotions.
3.Which of the following agrees with the findings of the research?
A. Kissing a cute baby. B. Crying at good news.
C. Crying at a failure. D. Laughing at happy reunions,
4.Where does the passage most likely come from?
A. A popular biology book. B. A children literature book,
C. A science fiction novel. D. A psychological science journal.
