Question

【題目】 "What's the name of our neighbour? 1 can't remember right now." Have you ever heard your grandparents ask questions like this? Usually, we think older people's memories become bad because their brains get weak, but a team of scientists at the University of Tubingen in Germany has a different idea.

"The human brain works slower in old age," said lead scientist Michael Ramscar, "but only because they have stored more information over time."

The findings are based on a series of computer simulations（模擬）of learning and memory. Scientists let the computers read a certain amount of words and learn new things each day. When the computer "reads" only so much, its performance on cognitive（認知）tests is similar to that of a young adult. But if the computer learned the experiences we might have over a lifetime, its performance is similar to that of an older adult.

Often it was slower because increased "experience" had caused the computer's database（數(shù)據(jù)庫）to grow, giving it more data to process-which takes time. This is similar to old people. Imagine a person knows two people's birthdays. Another person knows the birthdays of 2,000 people, but can only match the right person to the right birthday nine times out of 10. Can you say the first person has a better memory than the second person?

The basic idea is that "The larger the library you have in your head, the longer it usually takes to find a particular word." Benedict Carey, a science reporter, wrote in an article about the study.

【1】Why did the writer use a question at the beginning?

A.To attract readers' attention to the topic.

B.To invite the readers to answer the question.

C.To prove that older people have bad memories.

D.To encourage readers to think of their neighbours.

【2】How did the scientists do their research?

A.They interviewed all the old people of their neighbours.

B.They followed the experiences of a group of old people.

C.They asked both young and old people the same questions.

D.They used computers to simulate human learning and memory.

【3】According to the research, why do old people forget other people's names easily?

A.Because they have a very poor memory.

B.Because they are too old to remember things.

C.Because their brains become weaker than before.

D.Because they have too much information in their brains.

【4】What would be the best title for the story?

A.Is it Better to Be Old or YoungB.Human Brain's Processing Ability.

C.Do Old People Have Poor Memories?D.Scientists' New Findings on Brains.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】A

【2】D

【3】D

【4】C

【解析】

文章大意：通常，我們認為老年人的記憶力變差是因為他們的大腦變得虛弱，但是德國圖賓根大學的一個科學家小組有不同的想法。這些發(fā)現(xiàn)是基于一系列學習和記憶的計算機模擬�？茖W家讓計算機每天讀一定量的單詞并學習新事物。通常它比較慢，因為“經(jīng)驗”的增加導致了計算機數(shù)據(jù)庫的增長，從而使它能夠處理更多需要時間的數(shù)據(jù)。這和老年人很相似。

【1】猜測判斷題。根據(jù)文中“What's the name of our neighbour? 1 can't remember right now." Have you ever heard your grandparents ask questions like this?” “我們鄰居叫什么名字？我現(xiàn)在記不起來了�！澳阌袥]有聽過你的祖父母問這樣的問題？可知，作者一開始就用了一個問題來吸引讀者的注意力。故答案為A。

【2】細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)文中“The findings are based on a series of computer simulations（模擬）of learning and memory. Scientists let the computers read a certain amount of words and learn new things each day. When the computer "reads" only so much, its performance on cognitive（認知）tests is similar to that of a young adult. But if the computer learned the experiences we might have over a lifetime, its performance is similar to that of an older adult.” 這些發(fā)現(xiàn)是基于一系列學習和記憶的計算機模擬。科學家讓計算機每天讀一定量的單詞并學習新事物。當電腦“讀”得太多時，它在認知測試中的表現(xiàn)與年輕人相似。但是，如果計算機學習了我們一生中可能會有的經(jīng)驗，它的性能就類似于老年人�？芍�，故答案為D。

【3】細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)“"The human brain works slower in old age," said lead scientist Michael Ramscar, "but only because they have stored more information over time."” 首席科學家邁克爾拉姆斯卡（Michael Ramscar）說：“人類的大腦在老年時工作較慢，但這僅僅是因為隨著時間的推移，它們儲存了更多的信息�！笨芍�，故答案為D。

【4】最佳標題。根據(jù)文章內(nèi)容可知，我們認為老年人的記憶力變差是因為他們的大腦變得虛弱，但是德國圖賓根大學的一個科學家小組有不同的想法�？芍�，這篇文中最好的標題是老年人記憶力差嗎？故答案為C。

先通讀全文，了解大意。找到題干中的關鍵詞，有針對性找出相關語句進行仔細分析，結(jié)合選項選出正確答案。推理判斷要在抓住關鍵句子的基礎上合理分析，才能得出正確的答案。細節(jié)題較為簡單，在正確理解題目后，仔細閱讀短文，找出符合答案的相關句子，仔細推敲，確定答案。例如，第3小題，細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)“"The human brain works slower in old age," said lead scientist Michael Ramscar, "but only because they have stored more information over time."” 首席科學家邁克爾拉姆斯卡（Michael Ramscar）說：“人類的大腦在老年時工作較慢，但這僅僅是因為隨著時間的推移，它們儲存了更多的信息。”可知，故答案為D。