Researchers have established that when people are mentally engaged, biochemical changes occur in the brain that allow it to act more effectively in cognitive areas such as attention and memory. This is true regardless of age.
People will be alert and receptive if they are faced with information that gets them to think about things they are interested in. And someone with a history of doing more rather than less will go into old age more cognitively sound than someone who has not had an active mind.
Many experts are so convinced of the benefits of challenging the brain that they are putting the theory to work in their own lives. “The idea is not necessarily to learn to memorize enormous amounts of information,” says James Fozard, associate director of the National Institute on Again. “Most of us don’t need that kind of skill. Such specific training is of less interest than being able to maintain mental alertness.” Fozard and others say they challenge their brains with different mental skill, both because they enjoy them and because they are sure that their range of activities will help the way their brains work.
Gene Cohen, acting director of the same institute, suggests that people in their old age should engage in mental and physical activities individually as well as in groups. Cohen says that we are frequently advised to keep physically active as we age, but older people need to keep mentally active as well. Those who do are more likely to maintain their intellectual abilities and to be generally happier and better adjusted. “The point is, you need to do both,” Cohen says. “Intellectual activity actually influences brain-cell health and size.”
1. People who are cognitively healthy are those ______.
2. According to Fozard’s argument people can make their brains work more efficiently by ______.
3. The findings of James and other scientists in their work ______.
4. Older people are generally advised to ______.
5. What is the passage mainly about?
问题1选项
A.who can remember large amounts of information
B.who are highly intelligent
C.whose minds are alert and receptive
D.who are good at recognizing different sounds
问题2选项
A.constantly doing memory work
B.taking part in various mental activities
C.going through specific training
D.making frequent adjustments
问题3选项
A.remain a theory to further proved
B.have been challenged by many other experts
C.have been generally accepted
D.are practiced by the researchers themselves
问题4选项
A.keep fit by going in for physical activities
B.keep mentally active by challenges through specific training
C.maintain mental alertness through specific training
D.maintain a balance between individual and group activities
问题5选项
A.How biochemical changes occur in the human brain.
B.Why people should keep active not only physically but also mentally.
C.How intellectual activities influence brain-cell health.
D.Why people should receive special mental training as they age.
第1题:C
第2题:B
第3题:D
第4题:A
第5题:B
第1题:
客观细节题。由题干可以定位到文章第一段第一句Researchers have established that when people are mentally engaged, biochemical changes occur in the brain that allow it to act more effectively in cognitive areas such as attention and memory.（研究人员已经确定，当人们动脑时，大脑中会发生化学变化，使其在注意力和记忆等认知领域更有效地发挥作用。）和第二段第一句People will be alert and receptive if they are faced with information that gets them to think about things they are interested in.（当人们面对的信息能让他们思考自己感兴趣的事情时，他们会变得警觉和容易接受。），说明认识健康的人大脑在注意力和记忆等感知区域的活动更加增强，变得警觉和容易接受。因此C选项“大脑是警觉的容易接受的”正确。A选项“能记住大量信息的人”，B选项“具有高度智慧的人”，D选项“善于辨别不同声音的人”在文中均没有提及，所以A、B、D错误。
第2题:
客观细节题。由题干可以定位到文章第三段最后一句Fozard and others say they challenge their brains with different mental skill, both because they enjoy them and because they are sure that their range of activities will help the way their brains work.（福扎德和其他人说，他们用不同的脑力技能挑战自己的大脑，既是因为他们喜欢这些技能，也是因为他们确信他们的一系列活动将有助于他们大脑的工作方式。），说明福扎德认为脑力活动可以帮助大脑更有效地工作。因此B选项“参加各种脑力活动”正确。A选项“不断做记忆工作”，由原文The idea is not necessarily to learn to memorize enormous amounts of information（关键并不一定是学会记忆大量的信息）可知，福扎德认为没有必要持续做记忆方面的活动，所以A错误。C选项“经历特定的训练”，由原文Such specific training is of less interest than being able to maintain mental alertness.（这种特定的训练不如能够保持精神上的警觉性来得有意义。）可知，福扎德认为这种特定的训练也没有必要，所以C错误。D选项“经常进行调整”在文中没有提及，所以D错误。
第3题:
推理判断题。由题干可以定位到文章第三段第一句Many experts are so convinced of the benefits of challenging the brain that they are putting the theory to work in their own lives.（许多专家对挑战大脑的好处深信不疑，以至于他们将这一理论运用到自己的生活中。），说明科学家们自己也正在把这种理论付诸实践。因此D选项“被研究人员自己所实践”正确。A选项“仍然是一种有待进一步证明的理论”，B选项“受到了许多其他专家的质疑”，由原文可知这个理论已经被许多科学家认可，所以A, B错误。C选项“已被普遍接受”，原文没有说该理论是否被广泛接受，所以C错误。
第4题:
客观细节题。由题干可以定位到文章第四段第二句Cohen says that we are frequently advised to keep physically active as we age（科恩说，随着年龄的增长，我们经常被建议保持体育锻炼），说明多做体育活动是对老年人的一个普遍建议。因此A选项“通过参加体育活动来保持身体健康”正确。B选项“通过特定的训练来应对挑战，保持思维活跃”，C选项“通过特定的训练保持精神上的警觉性”，D选项“保持个人和集体活动的平衡”均不符合题意，所以B、C、D错误。
第5题:
主旨大意题。通读全文可知，文章阐述了除了体育活动，人们还应多参加脑力活动，保持思维的活力。因此B选项“为什么人们不仅在身体上而且在精神上都应该保持活跃”最能概括文章主旨。A选项“人脑中的生化变化是如何发生的”，C选项“智力活动如何影响脑细胞的健康”在文中没有提及，所以A、C错误。D选项“为什么人们在年老时应接受特殊的脑力训练”只是文章的一个方面，不能全面地概括文章主旨，所以D错误。
