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The works of Shakespeare and Wordsworth are “rocket-boosters” to the brain and better therapy than self-help books, researchers will say this week.
Scientists, psychologists and English academics at Liverpool University have found that reading the works of the Bard and other classical writers has a beneficial effect on the mind, catches the reader’s attention and cause moments of self-reflection.
Using scanners, they monitored the brain activity of volunteers as they read works by William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth, T.S Eliot and others.
They then “translated” the texts into more “straightforward”, modern language and again monitored the readers’ brains as they read the words.
Scans showed that the more “challenging” prose (散文)and poetry set off far more electrical activity in the brain than the more pedestrian versions.
Scientists were able to study the brain activity as it responded to each word and record how it “lit up” as the readers encountered unusual words, surprising phrases or difficult sentence structure.
This “lighting up” of the mind lasts longer than the initial electrical spark, shifting the brain to a higher gear, encouraging further reading.
The research also found that reading poetry, in particular, increases activity in the right hemisphere (半球)of the brain, an area concerned with “autobiographical memory”, helping the reader to reflect on and reappraise their own experiences in light of what they have read. The academics said this meant the classics were more useful than self-help books.
Philip Davis, an English professor who has worked on the study with the university’s magnetic resonance centre, will tell a conference this week: “Serious literature acts like a rocket-booster to the brain.
"The research shows the power of literature to shift mental pathways, to create new thoughts, shapes and connections in the young and the elderly alike.”
小题1:How do classics such as Shakespeare and Wordsworth benefit the readers?
A.They set off far less electrical activity in the brain.
B.They light up the mind shorter than the initial electrical spark.
C.They shift physical pathways in the young and the elderly.
D.They draw readers’ attention and help make self-examination.
小题2:Why does the author mention” They then” translated”… modern language“?
A.To prove that classics are more useful than ordinary versions.
B.To show self-help books act like rocket-boosters to the brain.
C.To tell serious literature sets off far less electrical activity.
D.To make known ordinary versions set off more electrical activity
小题3:What can we conclude according to the researchers?
A.Self-help books are more valuable than classics.
B.Serious literature lights up the mind shorter than ordinary versions.
C.The right hemisphere of the brain is related to autobiographical memory.
D.Literature has a beneficial effect only on the mind of the young.
小题4:Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
A.Ordinary Versions Create New Thoughts
B.Modern Language Increases the Brain
C.Classics Help lmprove the Brain Activity
D.Self-help Books, Rocket-boosters

答案

小题1:D
小题2:A
小题3:C
小题4:C
解析

试题分析:本文介绍了最新研究的成果,作者引述了一些人的观点和研究成果来证明经典的文学对提高大脑的活动非常有益。
小题1:细节题。从文章reading the works of the Bard and other classical writers has a beneficial effect on the mind, catches the reader’s attention and cause moments of self-reflection. 可知,读这些经典著作有助于自我的反省,故选D
小题2:细节题。从文章Scans showed that the more “challenging” prose (散文)and poetry set off far more electrical activity in the brain than the more pedestrian versions.可知作者之所以提到以上的话是为了给我们说明经典的书要比普通的书要更加有用,故选A
小题3:推断题。从文章The research also found that reading poetry, in particular, increases activity in the right hemisphere (半球)of the brain, an area concerned with “autobiographical memory”,可知,大脑的右半球与自传式记忆有关,故选C
小题4:主旨题。从第一段The works of Shakespeare and Wordsworth are “rocket-boosters” to the brain and better therapy than self-help books, researchers will say this week.及最后一段可知,本文的标题应该为经典的东西能够提高大脑的活动,故选C
点评:本文文脉清晰,句意中生词有一定的难度。说明文是历年高考很常见的文体,对于科技类的说明文比较难。本文中,把握好一个中心即作者对读经典著作的好处进行了对比介绍。同时,此类文章中推断题要理解作者写作的意图,方可作答。
核心考点
试题【The works of Shakespeare and Wordsworth are “rocket-boosters” to the brain and b】;主要考察你对题材分类等知识点的理解。[详细]
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Dear Dr Fang,
How are you? I am writing to ask for some   36  about how to help my 15-year-old son. At the moment, he refuses to do almost anything his mother and I ask him to do. He is our only child and we treat him very   37 . Though his grandparents buy him many things, yet he is still   38  to them and often shouts at them. He also   39  to spend time with us or do as we tell him.
Recently, he has been refusing to do his homework, and instead insists on   40  his time listening to foreign music. I cannot understand that   41 , and I don’t like it. Meanwhile, he spends too much time in Internet cafes, where he either plays games   42  chats on the Internet. He is wasting valuable time during this   43  period in his life!
What shall I do? I am worried about it.   44  I keep allowing him to do what he wants, he may fail at school, or worse. How can I help my son   45  hurting our feelings?
Best regards
Liu Zhen     
小题1:A  questions      B  advice      C  problems      D  lessons
小题2:A  badly      B  ill          C  well        D  coldly
小题3:A  kind         B  good     C  polite        D  rude
小题4:A  prefers      B  wants       C  likes        D  refuses
小题5:A  saving        B  missing     C  wasting      D  winning
小题6:A  music         B  film      C  game      D  play
小题7:A  and          B  or         C  but        D  so
小题8:A  dark         B  old       C  sad       D  important
小题9:A  If            B  Until        C  Though      D  Before
小题10:A  for          B  in          C  without       D  about
题型:不详难度:| 查看答案
The possibility that pleasant smells might reduce pain has recently been suggested by new research. In a scientific study, doctors asked 20 men and 20 women to keep their hands in very hot water for as long as possible while breathing in different smells.
As people believe that strong smells can affect the senses, volunteers were asked not to eat or drink for eight hours before the experiment began. During the experiment, volunteers were asked to take in pleasant smells such as vanilla (香草), and unpleasant smells such as durians (榴莲). The volunteers kept their hands in the water until it became too hot for them. When they could not bear the pain any more, they took their hands out of the water.
Scientists are interested in whether the senses or smell is related to pain and whether men and women have the same senses. Now, the study has proved that for women, pleasant smells reduce pain. For men, there is no change.
Dr Finkelstein has been studying smells since 1999. He says that scientists already have data from 40 volunteers. He adds that this year, scientists will test another 60 volunteers and will be in a better position to explain the results.
One explanation is that women’s sense of smell developed long ago, and is linked to recognizing the smell of babies. Scientists used to believe that mothers recognized their children by sight only. Now, they have started to believe that the sense of smell also helps, but why pleasant smells do not reduce pain in men is a question still to be answered by scientists.
小题1:Before the experiment, volunteers ______.
A.are gathered and take a training
B.cannot eat or drink for several hours
C.must wash their hands carefully
D.will be interviewed by Dr Finkelstein
小题2:If both men and women are asked to keep their hands in hot water while taking in some pleasant smells, ______.
A.women may stand the pain of the hot water longer
B.men may keep their hands in the hot water longer
C.they will probably take their hands out at the same time
D.we are not quite sure who will take their hands out earlier
小题3:From the passage we learn that _________.
A.the reason why women are sensitive to smells is clear
B.the experiment for the sense of smell has come to an end
C.unpleasant smells affect men’s senses more than women’s
D.scientists have not totally explained the result of the study
小题4:Now scientists believe that _______.
A.mothers recognize their children only by sight
B.men’s sense of smell developed a long time ago
C.strong smells have a great influence on people’s senses
D.smells are helpful for mothers to spot their children
小题5:The writer wrote the passage in order to ________.
A.supply some entertainment to us
B.show women’s sharper senses than men’s
C.inform the readers of some knowledge
D.call for volunteers for the experiment

题型:不详难度:| 查看答案
Most recently, it’s very common in students who need a parent present for job interviews.
Naturally, it’s easy to blame the students in these situations, but the bigger problem is us. We—as parents—are so eager to protect our kids that we fail to realize that this in itself is harming them. As the mother of two young sons, I have to remind myself all the time that the biggest responsibility I have as a parent is to help them develop the skills needed to live in, to live without me. So, I’ll let them fail.
I’ll let them fail because as long as they are safe and warm inside their comfort zones, they will never grow. And failure—along with loss, heartbreak, disappointment, etc.—will be part of growth for them. Call me the anti-tiger mom, but leaving them alone is my way of helping them become equipped to fit in this world as we know it today. From terrorism (恐怖主义) and seemingly endless natural disasters, to our national debt and beyond, if we expect the next generation to stand up to the very real problems of our time, we need to stop feeding them and start teaching them how to fish.
My children are faced with hard situations in their own life almost each day, but they try to negotiate (协商) everything now. It’s a small price to help them learn a skill they’ll use for the rest of their lives, including when I don’t come with them on job interviews. 
小题1:Why do parents go along with their kids on job interviews?
A.Because they want to protect their kids from difficulties.
B.Because they think they can protect them from being hurt.
C.Because their kids are too shy to attend interviews.
D.Because their kids strongly request them to do so.
小题2:According to the author, what is helpful to kids’ development?
A.Protecting them.B.Keeping them safe.
C.Leaving them alone.D.Blaming them.
小题3:The author believes experiencing failure in life can make kids ___________.
A.become healthier than other kids
B.grow in this challenging world
C.develop all social skills
D.escape from natural disasters
小题4:If the writer’s boy goes to a job interview, she probably will ___________.
A.go with him to protect her kid from difficulty
B.stay home but give him directions over telephone
C.wait outside and talk with other parents
D.let him go to the interview by himself
小题5:Which of the following might be the best title of the text?
A.Never help your kidsB.Let your kids fail
C.Go to the interview with your kidsD.Live without parents

题型:不详难度:| 查看答案
Have you ever noticed someone "talking" to them-selves? What did you think? The word "crazy" probably came to your mind. Wait a minute, though. Maybe they’re doing something meaningful.
Speaking practice can be effective in many different forms when people learn English or another foreign language. Imitating the speech of others is proven to be highly effective in developing a native speaker’s level of fluency in a language. Actually you’ve already proven that to your-self.
How? That’s how you learned your first language! Whether it was English, Spanish, French or some other language, you "imitated" your mother, father, other family members, friends, teachers and whoever else was around making "talking" noises at you as you formed your first communicative language skills.
So don’t think those who are talking to themselves are "crazy". At least don’t do so until you’ve tried it for your-self, in English or in your new foreign language.
As you go through your day, in English or your new foreign language, tell yourself what you’re doing at the moment and what you’re going to do during the day.
"Which of these shirts, ties, etc. should I wear today? Not this one, I wore it just last week. Maybe this one, but I don’t like this color with the pants. Let’s try another one," you might say as you are getting dressed.
If you live alone, you can talk aloud whenever you want without disturbing others. If you don’t live alone, however, then first explain to your family or roommates what you’ll be doing, to avoid a quiet phone call to the local psychiatrist (精神病学家).
小题1:The author wrote the passage mainly to _______.
A.tell us how to talk to ourselves
B.introduce a method of learning a foreign language
C.tell us why some people talk to themselves
D.explain to us how we learned our native language
小题2:What does the underlined word "it" in the fifth paragraph refer to?
A.The word "crazy".B.A foreign language.
C.The skill of communicating.D.The method of talking to oneself.
小题3:From the passage we can know that ______.
A.people who talk to themselves are crazy
B.if you live alone, you should talk to yourself
C.you should tell yourself what you’re doing
D.we learned our native language by imitating

题型:不详难度:| 查看答案
You can’t hide a natural disaster from children, so how do we prepare them for it? First of all, you should explain to them that acts of nature aren’t necessarily disasters but can become one. These may include floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, winter storms, wild fires, and earthquakes. The way to prepare children for these disasters is to educate them about what each type is and then make it fun by making them “Disaster Masters” or whatever title you can think of.
Making them a Disaster Master won’t be easy. They must know what’s in a disaster emergency kit(工具箱) and why it’s included. You can get your friends involved, too. If your friends have children, they may want to be involved in your emergency preparations. Make it a group project. This is the opportunity for everyone to become familiar with the equipment.
We have to be aware of our conduct and the way we react to stress. The children will be easily influenced by your attitude and demeanor. The calmness, steady manner, and good humor of your spouse (配偶) and you will go a long way toward the easing or the reduction of stress.
Explain to them what they’re likely to encounter or see and describe how people may react. Disasters can come and go very quickly and generally don’t last long. If you must stay away from home, try to get into a routine quickly and encourage them to make new friends. Let them know they can look to their parents and other adults if they become scared or confused. And it’s important to let them know it’s OK to cry during a disaster.
It’s sometimes helpful to let the children draw pictures of what they’ve experienced. Encourage them to write what they learned and what could have been done better. Save the story. Make it part of a documented family history!
小题1:This passage was written mainly to tell us about ______.
A.the importance of mutual help in disaster preparation
B.tips for preparing children for a natural disaster
C.the importance of educating children about natural disasters
D.ways to raise children’s courage in natural disasters
小题2:It is a must that a Disaster Master knows ______.
A.when a natural disaster will come
B.why there are natural disasters
C.how to use a disaster emergency kit
D.how to teach others about emergency preparations
小题3:The underlined word “demeanor” in Paragraph 3 can be replaced by “______”.
A.personalityB.lifestyleC.emotionD.behavior
小题4:When they meet with a natural disaster, children ______.
A.must write down what they see and how they feel
B.should believe that the disaster will never last long
C.can cry if they are frightened
D.should help other children despite the danger
小题5:The author wrote the passage mainly for ______.
A.parentsB.young childrenC.teachersD.college students

题型:不详难度:| 查看答案
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