Question

Many people think of the brain as a mystery. They don't know much about intelligence and how it works. When they do think about what intelligence is, many people believe that a person is born smart, average, or dumb — and stays that way in the whole life. But new research shows that the brain is more like a muscle — it changes and gets stronger when you use it. And scientists have been able to show just how the brain grows and gets stronger when you learn.

Everyone knows that when you lift weights, your muscles get bigger and you get stronger. A person who can't lift 20 pounds when he/she starts exercising can get strong enough to lift 100 pounds after working out for a long time. That's because the muscles become larger and stronger with exercise. And when you stop exercising, the muscles shrink and you get weaker. That's why people say “Use it or lose it！”

But most people don't know that when they practice and learn new things, parts of their brain change and get larger a lot like muscles do when they exercise. Inside the cortex (皮層) of the brain are billions of tiny nerve cells, called neurons. The nerve cells have branches connecting them to other cells in a complicated network. Communication between these brain cells is what allows us to think and solve problems. When you learn new things, these tiny connections in the brain actually multiply and get stronger. The more you challenge your mind to learn, the more your brain cells grow. Then, things that you once found very hard or even impossible to do — like speaking a foreign language or doing algebra (代數(shù)) — seem to become easy after learning them for a period of time. The result is a stronger, smarter brain.

Scientists started thinking that the human brain could develop and change when they studied animals' brains. They found out that animals that lived in a challenging environment were more “perspicacious” — they were better at solving problems and learning new things.

1.According to the first paragraph，________.

A. the function of our brain is like that of the muscle

B. until now it's impossible to explain the brain's mystery

C. many people believe one's intelligence is naturally determined

D. one's brain grows stronger as the age increases

2.Training muscles is compared to ________.

A. using the brain

B. connecting things in your brain

C. lifting weights

D. doing research about the brain

3.What is Paragraph 3 mainly about_________?

The complex structure of the brain.

B. How changes in the muscles affect the brain.

C. The importance of the brain.

D. How the brain becomes stronger by learning new things.

4.What does the underlined word “perspicacious” in the last paragraph probably mean_________?

A. Strong.　　　　B. Smart. C. Popular. D. Active.

5.The paragraph that follows the passage will most probably talk about _______.

A. the differences between animals’ brains and humans’ brains

B. the relation between human brains and muscles

C. scientists’ findings about animals’ brains

D. how to make your brain smarter through self-development

 

Answer 1

1.C

2.A

3.D

4.B

5.D

【解析】

試題分析：通常情況下，很多人都認(rèn)為人的智力是與生俱來(lái)的，是由先天的遺傳條件決定的。但是，科學(xué)研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，人類大腦也可以像肌肉一樣，通過(guò)學(xué)習(xí)得到發(fā)展。

1.When they do think about what intelligence is, many people believe that a person is born smart, average, or dumb”可知，許多人認(rèn)為，一個(gè)人的智力是與生俱來(lái)的，有的人天生聰明，有的智力一般，有的天生智力低下，故選C。

2.But new research shows that the brain is more like a muscle — it changes and gets stronger when you use it.”可知，大腦就像肌肉一樣，會(huì)隨著不斷的使用而變得更加強(qiáng)大，故選A。

3.When you learn new things, these tiny connections in the brain actually multiply and get stronger. The more you challenge your mind to learn, the more your brain cells grow.”可知，第三段主要講的是如何通過(guò)學(xué)習(xí)使大腦變強(qiáng)大，故選D。

4.they were better at solving problems and learning new things”可知，生活在挑戰(zhàn)性環(huán)境下的動(dòng)物，它們更善于解決問(wèn)題和學(xué)習(xí)新事物，科學(xué)家認(rèn)為，人類大腦也可以發(fā)展并發(fā)生變化。根據(jù)破折號(hào)后面的解釋可以推斷，生活在挑戰(zhàn)性環(huán)境下的動(dòng)物更聰明，故選B。

5.Scientists started thinking that the human brain could develop and change when they studied animals' brains.”可知，科學(xué)家認(rèn)為人類大腦與動(dòng)物大腦一樣，也可以得到鍛煉并變得更加聰明，最后一段介紹了動(dòng)物變聰明的條件--生活在挑戰(zhàn)性環(huán)境中，下一段有可能介紹人類如何讓大腦變得更聰明，故選D。

考點(diǎn)：自然科學(xué)類短文閱讀