Researchers have established that when people are mentally ____1____, biochemical changes occur in the brain that allow it to ____2____ more effectively in cognitive (認(rèn)知的) areas such as attention and memory. This is true ____3____ age.
People will be alert and ____4____ if they are faced with information that ____5____ them to think about things they are ____6____ in. And someone with a history of doing more ____7____ less will go into old age more cognitively sound than someone who has not had an active ____8____.
Many experts are so convinced ____9____ the benefits of challenging the brain that they are ____10____ the theory to work in their own lives. “The idea is not ____11____ to learn to memorize enormous ____12____ of information,” says James Fozard, associate director of the National Institute on Aging. “Most of us don’t need that kind of skill. Such speci? c training is____13____ less interest than being able to maintain mental ____14____.” Fozard and others say they challenge their brains with different mental skills, ____15____ because they enjoy them and because they are sure that their range of activities will help the ____16____ their brains work.
Gene Cohen, acting director of the same institute, says that we are frequently advised to keep ____17____ active as we age, but older people need to keep mentally active as well. Those who ____18____ are more ____19____ to maintain their intellectual abilities and to be generally happier and better adjusted. And intellectual activity actually ____20____ brain-cell health and size.
1. A. strengthened B. alert C. engaged D. activated
2.A. act B. think C. learn D. respond
3.A. as to B. regardless of C. in spite of D. despite
4.A. deceptive B. inceptive C. perceptive D. receptive
5.A. makes B. lets C. pushes D. gets
6.A. familiar B. interested C. Impressed D. attracted
7.A. rather than B. other than C. instead of D. in place of
8.A. brain B. mind C. intellect D. mentality
9.A. with B. at C. of D. in
10. A. putting B. trying C. using D. laying
11. A. certainly B. necessarily C. immediately D. quickly
12. A. number B. numbers C. amount D. amounts
13. A. of B. in C. with D. at
14. A. function B. alertness C. activity D. shape
15. A. both B. not C. and D. which
16. A. style B. effect C. ef?ciency D. way
17. A. bodily B. physically C. spiritually D. intellectually
18. A. do B. act C. work D. laugh
19. A. possible B. able C. likely D. often
20. A. affects B. in?uences C. re?ects D. changes
文章大意
本文主要介紹研究人員所證實(shí)的一個(gè)觀點(diǎn) ：當(dāng)人們動(dòng)腦筋時(shí) ，大腦 中會(huì)產(chǎn)生生物化學(xué)變化 ，這種變化在人們 的認(rèn)知方面體現(xiàn)得更為明顯 。另外，當(dāng)人們遇到自己感興趣的內(nèi)容時(shí) ，大腦會(huì)保持清醒狀態(tài) ;同時(shí) ，經(jīng)常動(dòng)腦筋對(duì)年老之后 的腦健康是非常有益的。
答案與解析
1. C
語(yǔ)義銜接題 。mentally engaged ：動(dòng)腦筋 ，思考問(wèn)題 。與第二段 “...think about things they are interested in”的think about相對(duì)應(yīng) 。
2. A
語(yǔ)義銜接題 。think和respond在意義上無(wú)法與effectively搭配。本句的意思是研究者證實(shí) ，當(dāng)人們處于思考狀態(tài)時(shí) ，大腦 中產(chǎn)生 的生物化學(xué)變化會(huì)使得大腦在諸如注意力和記憶力等認(rèn)知領(lǐng)域的活動(dòng)更為有效 。
3. B
邏輯關(guān)系題 。regardless of ：不管 ，不顧 ，在此表示與年齡無(wú)關(guān) ;despite, in spite of 意為“盡管”;as to ：至于。
4. D
形容詞辨析題 。receptive ：善于接受 (新思想 )的 ;deceptive ：欺騙的;
inceptive ：期初的;perceptive ：感知的。
5. D
動(dòng)詞辨析題 。get sb. to think ：使 ……去思考 。make后面應(yīng)該省略to ;let和push的意思都不合適 。
6. B
語(yǔ)義銜接 、介詞搭配題 。此處 的意思是人們會(huì)對(duì)“感興趣 的”事情進(jìn)行思考 。此外 ，只有interested的介詞搭配為in。
7. A
邏輯關(guān)系題 。根據(jù)句意 ，一貫喜歡多思考而非少思考 的人老了以后其認(rèn)知能力更加健全 。rather than ：是 (前者 )而非 (后者 );other than ：除了……之外 ; instead of 和in place of均表示替代 。
8. B
名詞辨析題 。mind ：思想感知或思維能力 。brain ： (人體器官 )大腦 ;intellect ：智力 ;mentality ：智力 ，心態(tài) 。
9. C
固定搭配題 。be convinced of ：相信 ，確信 。
10. A
固定搭配題 。put the theory to work ：將理論付諸實(shí)踐 。
11. B
邏輯關(guān)系題 。根據(jù)下文 “most of us don t need that kind of skill”可知 ，多動(dòng)腦并不是指“必需” (necessarily )記住大量的信息 。
12. D
詞組辨析題 。四個(gè)詞都表示數(shù)量大。amounts of和an amount of 后接不可數(shù)名詞 ;numbers of和a number of后接可數(shù)名詞的復(fù)數(shù)形式 。由此可見(jiàn)amount
和number在使用單數(shù)形式時(shí)都應(yīng)在前面加不定冠詞 。
13. A
固定搭配題 。be of interest ：有意義。“be of+名詞”的結(jié)構(gòu)相 當(dāng)于“be+ (該名詞 的 )形容詞 。
14. B
語(yǔ)義銜接題。根據(jù)上文可知 ，研究者認(rèn)為專 門進(jìn)行記憶力訓(xùn)練不如讓人的大腦總是保持活躍或敏銳的狀態(tài) 。
15. A
邏輯關(guān)系題。這里是both... and... 結(jié)構(gòu) ，表示并列關(guān)系。
16. D
語(yǔ)義銜接題 。四個(gè)選項(xiàng) 中只有(the) way后面少跟一個(gè)省略介詞及關(guān)系代詞which 的賓語(yǔ)從句，本句在way之后省略了in which 。另外從語(yǔ)義上來(lái)講 ，選way (方式 )最合適 。
17. B
語(yǔ)義銜接及結(jié)構(gòu)題 。根據(jù)后文mentally(頭腦方面地 )，得知這里需要與之對(duì)應(yīng)的physically (身體地 )一詞 。
18. A
邏輯關(guān)系題 。who do是修飾those 的定語(yǔ)從句 ，those表示前文那些mentally active的人。“do”替代 “keep mentally active”這一行為。
19. C
語(yǔ)義銜接題。be likely to do sth ：極有可能做某事。possible不能以人作主語(yǔ) 。
20. B
動(dòng)詞辨析題。influence表示較好的影響，而affect往往表示不好的影響。根據(jù)意思 ，智力活動(dòng)對(duì)腦細(xì)胞的健康和大小都會(huì)產(chǎn)生影響，而這種影響是積極的。