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, the younger people learn a second language. A team led by Dr Andrea Michelle, 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 maths 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 34. 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. language can help brain power
D. language learning and maths study
2.In the second paragraph, the writer mentions “exercise” in order to ______.
A. say language is also a kind of physical labor
B. prove that one needs more practice when he (she) is learning a language
C. to show the importance of using the language when you learn the language
D. make people believe language learning helps grey matter work well
3.The underlined word “bilingual” probably means ______.
A. a researcher on language learning
B. a person who is good at learning foreign languages
C. a person who can speak two languages
D. an active language learner
假如你是张莹,上周在外教Mr.John的口语课上使用手机被老师发现,手机被没收。请给外教写一封道歉信,内容应包括以下要点：1.表示歉意； 2.解释上课使用手机的原因； 3.提出自己的请求并适当表态。
注意：1.字数100左右;
2.可适当添加细节使文章连贯；
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假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。每处错误涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加: 在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧）, 并在其下写出该加的词。
删除: 把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改: 在错的词下划一横线, 并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意: 1.每处错误及其修改均仅限一词;
2 .只允许修改10处, 多者(从第11处起)不计分。
As is known, that it is interesting to teach children to swim while they are still babies. Most large town in Florida and California have already run particularly lessons for babies. The idea has quickly spread to Europe which, in several countries, special courses were now offered to children who are from 7 to 24 months old. The first step is to have child get rid of the fear with water. Next, he is teaching to float in water. Once he can do that naturally and can swim with fear, the child can master the technique and push him forward through water.
阅读下面的短文，按照句子结构的语法性和上下文连贯的要求，在空格处填入一个适当的词或使用括号中词语的正确形式填空。
Chengdu has dozens of new millionaires, Asia’s biggest building, and fancy new hotels.But for tourists like me, pandas are its top 1.(attract).
So it was a great honour to be invited backstage at the not-for-profit Panda Base, where ticket money helps pay for research. I 2.(allow) to get up close to these cute animals at the 600-acre centre. From tomorrow, I will be their UK ambassador. The title will be 3.(official) given to me at a ceremony in London. But my connection with pandas goes back 4. my days on a TV show in the mid-1980s, 5. I was the first Western TV reporter 6.(permit) to film a special unit caring for pandas rescued from starvation in the wild. My ambassadorial duties will include 7.(introduce) British visitors to the 120-plus pandas at Chengdu and others at a research centre in the misty mountains of Bifengxia.
On my recent visit, I held a lively three-month-old twin that had been rejected by 8.(it) mother. The nursery team switches him every few 9.(day) with his sister so that while one is being bottle-fed, 10. other is with mum—she never suspects.
Martin Luther King. Jr. was born in Georgia in 1929. When he was ________ a boy Martin learned that his ______, the black Americans, were _______treated differently from most of ________ fellow Americans. Many could not attend good schools, __ good jobs, or live in nice houses because of the color of their ______. Martin knew that in a free country this was _______. He wanted to help his black brothers, ______ he decided to go to school and ________ a minister. He became a pastor(牧师) in Montgomery, Alabama. This is _____ Martin Luther King’s “peaceful fight” first began.
Dr. King worked _____ equality in other cities. He knew that the _____ way people could win their rights was to remain peaceful, ______ in face of danger. Dr. King won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 for his achievements and _______.
The whole nation ______ the terrible event that ______ on April 4, 1968, in Memphis,Tennessee. Martin Luther King, Jr, was ______. The man who had preached(倡导) nonviolence(非暴力) died ________.
But Dr. King’s dreams can never _______. Many Americans are still ______ to make that dream come true.
1.A. already B. still C. such D. not
2.A. family B. friends C. people D. country
3.A. much B. sometimes C. seldom D. often
4.A. his B. those C. most D. their
5.A. get B. look for C. having D. to do
6.A. faces B. skin C. bodies D. people
7.A. even worse B. different C. wrong D. reasonable
8.A. as B. because C. so D. but
9.A. helped B. ask C. visited D. become
10.A. where B. why C. said D. because
11.A. with B. in C. by D. for
12.A. only B. other C. wrong D. second
13.A. except B. even C. if D. not
14.A. honor B. victory C. courage D. strength
15.A. discouraged B. saw C. mourned D. rebelled
16.A. passed B. he did C. happened D. they managed
17.A. defeated B. shot C. caught D. put into prison
18.A. bravely B. violently C. quietly D. nonviolently
19.A. die B. be believed C. realize D. fail
20.A. wanted B. working C. prepared D. struggling
Laughing is essential to keep your stress levels under control ，it's not only necessary, but also essential to have a good sense of humor just to help us get through each and every day of our lives.1. , as the saying goes, makes me feel good and warms my heart. How would you feel if you could not joke around with your wife, husband, child, co-worker neighbor, close friend, or even just someone that you are standing in line with at your comer store? I am always saying things that make others smile or laugh, even if I don't know the person I'm joking around with. 2., even if it was the hardest job anyone could imagine. This not only relieves stress in any situation, but also is common courtesy (礼貌) to speak to others that are around you. I know of a few people that don‟t have a funny bone in their bodies, as they say. Everyone around them could be rolling on the floor after hearing a great joke and they would sit there without the slightest smile on their face. They don't get the joke that makes others laugh. I am busting a gut while they just sit there, looking at me3. How can people not get a really funny joke? 4. Without humor we would find ourselves with a lot of psychological problems, or on a lot of medications to keep us from going crazy. There is too much sadness in this present world.
5. We all need to find a way to bypass the sadness and bring a little light into our lives. So, I believe our best medicine is to get together and tell some jokes and have some fun laughing together.
A．It drives people crazy
B. It drives people excited
C. Putting a smile on someone's face when you know they are feeling down in the dumps
D. With all the wars, fighting and sadness in the world today
E. Laughing is essential to make your stress levels out of control
F. as if I were from outer space.
G. My Grandma always found humor in everything she did
