Ever walked to the shops only to find, once there, you’ve completely forgotten what you went for? Or struggled to remember the name of an old friend? For years we’ve accepted that a forgetful brain is as much a part of aging as wrinkles and gray hair. But now a new book suggests that we’ve got it all wrong.

According to The Secret Life of the Grown-up Brain, by science writer Barbara Strauch, when it comes to the important things, our brains actually get better with age. In fact, she argues that some studies have found that our brain hits its peak between our 40s and 60s — much later than previously thought.

Furthermore, rather than losing many brain cells as we age, we keep them, and even produce new ones well into middle age. For years it’s been assumed that brain, much like the body, declines with age. But the longest, largest study into what happens to people as they age suggests otherwise.

This continuing research has followed 6,000 people since 1956, testing them every seven years. It has found that on average, participants performed better on cognitive (認知的) tests in their 40s and 50s than they had done in their 20s. Specifically, older people did better on tests of vocabulary, verbal memory (how many words you can remember) and problem solving. Where they performed less well was number ability and perceptual speed — how fast you can push a button when ordered. However, with more complex tasks such as problem-solving and language, we are at our best at middle age and beyond. In short, researchers are now coming up with scientific proof that we do get wiser with age.

Neuroscientists are also finding that we are happier with aging. A recent US study found older people were much better at controlling and balancing their emotions. It is thought that when we’re younger we need to focus more on the negative aspects of life in order to learn about the possible dangers in the world, but as we get older we’ve learned our lessons and are aware that we have less time left in life: therefore, it becomes more important for us to be happy.

1.Barbara Strauch probably agrees that ______.

A. the young are better at handling important things

B. people’s brains work best between their 40s and 60s

C. aging leads to the decline of the function of the brain

D. wrinkles and gray hair are the only symbols of aging

2.The continuing research has found older people perform better on ______.

A. perceptual speed B. number ability

C. vocabulary tests D. body balance

3.People are happier with aging because ______.

A. they learn to value the time left

B. they know how to share feelings

C. they cannot focus on negative aspects

D. they do not realize the possible dangers

4.What is the main idea of the passage?

A. People get happier with age.

B. People get wiser with age.

C. People get more forgetful with age.

D. People get more self-aware with age.

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科目：高中英語 來源：2015-2016學(xué)年山東淄川一中臨淄中學(xué)淄博五中高二上學(xué)期期末英語卷（解析版） 題型：閱讀理解

At first sight the planet Mars(火星)does not appear very welcoming to any kind of life. It has very little oxygen and water, the temperature at night is below 50 degrees and winds of 100 miles (161 kilometers)per hour cause severe dust storms. However, the surface of the planet seems to show that water flowed across it at some time in the past, and it is believed that there would be enough ice at the poles to cover the planet with water if it melted. Although there is no life on the Mars now, some scientists think there may have been some form of life a long time ago. At that time, the planet had active volcanoes(火山); the atmosphere was thicker and warmer; and there was water. In fact, in some ways the Mars may have been similar to the Earth, where life exists.

Some people believe that the Mars could support life in the future if the right conditions were produced. The first step would be to warm the planet using certain gases which trap the Sun’s heat in the planet’s atmosphere. With warmth, water and carbon dioxide（二氧化碳）, simple plants could begin to grow. These plants could slowly make the Mars fit to live on. It is judged that the whole process might take between 100, 000 and 200, 000 years. In the meantime, people could begin to live on the planet in a special closed environment. They would provide a lot of useful information about conditions on Mars and the problems connected with living there.

1. According to the passage, the planet Mars has no __________on it.

A．a(chǎn)nimals B．mountains

C．dust D．winds

2. What is the topic of Paragraph 2?

A．Certain gases should be used to warm Mars.

B．Plants should be grown to make Mars fit to live on.

C．Mars could support life with right conditions in the future.

D．People could live on Mars in a special closed environment.

3. The most suitable title for the passage is __________.

A．No Life on Mars

B．A Study of Mars

C．The Future conditions on Mars

D．The Possibility of Life on Mars

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科目：高中英語 來源：2016屆山東萊蕪鳳城高級中學(xué)高三上學(xué)期1月段考英語試卷（解析版） 題型：閱讀理解

They wear the latest fashions with the most up-to-date accessories(配飾).Yet these are not girls in their teens or twenties but women in their sixties and seventies．A generation which would once only wear old-fashioned clothes is now favoring the same high street looks worn by those half their age.

Professor Julia Twiggy，a social policy expert，said，“Women over 75 are are shopping for clothes more frequently than they did when they were young in the 1960s，In the 1960s buying a coat for a woman was a serious matter．It was all expensive item that they would purchase only every three or four years—now you can pick one up at the supermarket whenever you wish to．Fashion is a lot cheaper and people get tired of things more quickly．”Professor Twiggy analyzed family expending data and found that while the percentage of spending on clothes and shoes by women had stayed around the same—about 5 or 6 percent of spending，the amount of clothes bought had risen sharply．

The professor said，“Clothes are now 70 percent cheaper than they were in the 1960s because of the huge expansion of production in the Far East．In the 1960s Leeds was the heart of the British fashion industry and that was where most of the clothes came from，but now almost all of our clothes are sourced elsewhere．Everyone is buying more clothes but in general we are not spending more money on them，”

Fashion designer Angela Barnard，who runs her own fashion business in London，said older women were much more affected by celebrity style than in previous years．She said，“When people see stars such as Judi Dench and Helen Mirren looking attractive and fashionable in their sixties，they want to follow them．Older women are much more aware of celebrities. There’s also the boom in TV programmers showing people how they can change their look，and many of my older customers do yoga to stay in shape well in their fifties．When I started my business a few years ago，my older customers tended to be very rich，but now they are what I would call ordinary women．My own mother is 61 and she wears the latest fashions in a way she would never have done ten years ago．”

1.It can be concluded that old women tend to wear the latest fashions today mainly because____________．

A．clothes are much cheaper than before

B．TV shows teach them how to stay in shape

C.they feel much younger now

D．they get tired of themselves more quickly

2.What can we learn about old women in terms of fashion?

A．they are often ignored by fashion designers．

B．they are regarded as pioneers in the latest fashion．

C．they are now more easily influenced by stars．

D．they are more interested in clothes because of their old age

3.Which is the best possible title of the passage?

A．Boom of the British Fashion Industry

B．The More Fashionable，the Less Expensive．

C．Unexpected changes in Fashion．

D．Age Is No Barrier for Fashion Fans．

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科目：高中英語 來源：2016屆河北棗強中學(xué)高三上學(xué)期期中考試英語試卷（解析版） 題型：閱讀理解

Guide to Stockholm University Library

Our library offers different types of studying places and provides a good studying environment.

Zones

The library is divided into different zones. The upper floor is a quiet zone with over a thousand places for silent reading, and places where you can sit and work with your own computer. The reading places consist mostly of tables and chairs. The ground floor is the zone where you can talk. Here you can find sofas and armchairs for group work.

Computers

You can use your own computer to connect to the wi-fi specially prepared for notebook computers; you can also use library computers, which contain the most commonly used applications, such as Microsoft Office. They are situated in the area known as the Experimental Field on the ground floor.

Group-study Places

If you want to discuss freely without disturbing others, you can book a study room or sit at a table on the ground floor. Some study rooms are for 2-3 people and others can hold up to 6-8 people. All rooms are marked on the library maps.

There are 40 group-study rooms that must be booked via the website. To book, you need an active University account and a valid University card. You can use a room three hours per day, nine hours at most per week.

Storage of Study Material

The library has lockers for students to store course literature. When you have obtained at least 40 credits, you may rent a locker and pay 400 SEK for a year’s rental period.

Rules to be Followed

Mobile phone conversations are not permitted anywhere in the library. Keep your phone on silent as if you were in a lecture and exit the library if you need to receive calls.

Please note that food and fruit are forbidden in the library, but you are allowed to have drinks and sweets with you.

1.Library computers on the ground floor .

A. help students with their field experiments

B. contain software essential for schoolwork

C. are for those who want to access the wi-fi

D. are mostly used for filling out application forms

2.A student can rent a locker in the library if he .

A. can afford the rental fee

B. attends certain courses

C. has nowhere to put his books

D. has earned the required credits

3.What should NOT be brought into the library?

A. Mobile phones. B. Orange juice.

C. Candy. D. Sandwiches.

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More than two thirds of the world's polar bears will be wiped out by 2050，according to a shocking new study. By then，scientists say，global warming will have melted 42 percent of the Arctic sea ice. By 2100，only a very few of these important creatures will be left.

The report has been produced by the US Geological Survey. The scientists have publicized their findings in the hope of influencing US Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne，who has been asked to put polar bears on the US endangered species list.

Polar bears depend on floating sea ice as a platform for hunting seals，which are their main food. Without enough ice，polar bears would be forced to go onto the land，where they are poorly skilled hunters，and would be unlikely to adapt to the life on the land in time. Experts say few little bears would survive and the stress could make many females unable to get pregnant.

The team of American and Canadian scientists spent six months studying bears，on the ground，from spotter planes and in the lab，using computer models.

Some team members fear the result is even worse for the bears than what their report says. They say the Arctic is warming faster than anywhere in the world and much faster than their computer had been forecasting. Satellite observations have showed that the ice has decreased to an all－time low.

However，not everyone in the scientific community believes that global warming is happening on such an alarming scale. Another investigation has found that polar bears are still being hunted by wealthy “sportsmen” who want their skins and heads. At least ten international companies offer bear－h(huán)unting trips.

1.What do we know about Dirk Kempthorne according to the passage?

A．He is an animal scientist.

B．He is a protector of animals working for the US government.

C．He was asked to put polar bears on the US endangered species list.

D．He offered to put polar bears on the endangered species list.

2.Why will polar bears die out if there is not enough sea ice?

A．Because polar bears can't catch enough food without ice.

B．Because polar bears eat ice when they feel thirsty.

C．Because polar bears will be easily found by hunters without ice.

D．Because most female bears are used to giving birth under ice.

3.After a six－month study，some scientists fear that ________．

A．there is something wrong with their computers

B．polar bears will disappear even faster than they ever expected

C．their computer models are not as accurate as they expected

D．global warming will destroy everything in the Arctic

4.What does the writer want to tell us in the last paragraph?

A．The forecast about the future of polar bears is not correct.

B．Global warming won't have any effect on hunting trips in the Arctic.

C．Polar bears are an endangered species as a result of bear－h(huán)unting.

D．People don't pay enough attention to the protection of endangered species.

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科目：高中英語 來源：2016屆江西贛州市十三縣高三上期中聯(lián)考英語試卷（解析版） 題型：閱讀理解

In modern society there is a great deal of argument about competition. Some value it highly, believing that it is responsible for social progress and prosperity （繁榮）. Others say that competition is bad; that it sets one person against another; that it leads to unfriendly relationship between people.

I have taught many children who held the belief that their self-worth relied on how well they performed at tennis and other skills. For them, playing well and winning are often life-and-death affairs. In their single-minded pursuit（追求）of success, the development of many other human qualities is sadly forgotten.

However, while some seem to be lost in the desire to succeed, others take an opposite attitude. In a culture which only values the winner and pays no attention to the ordinary players, they strongly blame competition. Among those who are against competition are young people who have suffered under competitive pressures from their parents or society. Teaching these young people, I often observe in them a desire to fail. They seem to seek failure by not trying to win or achieve success. By not trying, they always have an excuse: “I may have lost, but it doesn’t matter because I really didn’t try.” What is not usually admitted by them is the belief that if they had really tried and lost, that would mean a lot.

Such a loss would be a measure of their worth. Clearly, this belief is the same as that of true competitors who try to prove themselves. Both are based on the mistaken belief that one’s self-respect relies on how well one performs in comparison with others. Both are afraid of not being valued. Only as this basic and often troublesome fear begins to disappear can we discover a new meaning in competition.

1.What is the best title of this passage?

A. Competition! Why Friends Turn into Enemies

B. Competition! What Self-respect Depends on

C. New Meaning Found in Competition

D. Two Mistaken Beliefs about Competition

2.Why do some young people suffering from competitive pressures seek failure?

A. Because they are aware that they will not succeed in competition.

B. Because they don’t think it worthwhile to compete with others.

C. Because they are afraid that they would not be valued if they lost.

D. Because they are fed up with the great efforts needed to compete with others.

3.Which of the following will the author probably agree with?

A. One should treat competition as a life-and-death affair.

B. One should make every effort to avoid competition.

C. One should get rid of the fear of failure in competition.

D. One should be given rewards after competing with others.

4.The true competitors and those with a desire to fail both believe ________.

A. one’s self-worth comes from how well he performs in comparison with others

B. one’s dream can be achieved if he has mastered good communication skills

C. one’s failure happens when he is suffering from emotional problems

D. one’s success is based on how hard he has tried

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科目：高中英語 來源：2016屆河南南陽市高三上學(xué)期期中質(zhì)量評估英語試卷（解析版） 題型：閱讀理解

Leon, 12, was born without fingers on his left hand.That didn't -stop him from being able to do many tasks. But Leon could not grasp more than one object at a time. So Leon's father, Paul, created a prosthesis(假肢），using a 3D printer. Now Leon has fingers that open and close."It was a do-it-yourself, father and son adventure," says raw.

When Leon was a baby, his doctor advised his parents not to give him a prosthetic hand until he was in his early teens. "The doctor said Leon should first learn to get full use out of the hand he was born with," says Paul. As Leon got older, his father looked into buying a prosthetic hand, which can cost as much as $30,000. Paul found a more affordable solution.

One day, Paul discovered a video on the Internet about Robohand, a prosthesis created with a 3Dprinter. He downloaded the free instructions and called Robohand's creators for advice. They told him all he needed was a 3D printer一which costs around $2,000- and some materials.

Luckily, Leon's school had recently purchased a 3D printer and it offered to help Paul build the hand for Leon.“We used a soccer shin guard（護脛），cardboard, and tape. They cost about＄10," says Paul.

With his new hand, Leon can do things better. "I can help my mom more, because now I can carry two grocery bags,”he says.

Leon's father has already built .several hands for Leon. Leon helps design each one. He says there's one thing in particular that he wants to do with a future prosthesis.“The goal," he tells the

reporter from the local evening paper,“is to be able to tie my shoelaces:'

1.Why did Leon's doctor disapprove of his using a prosthesis in his childhood?

A.The prosthetic technology was underdeveloped then.

B. A prosthesis was very expensive at that time.

C. To master the disabled hand was important.

D. The original hand could do many tasks.

2.Leon's father managed to get Leon a new hand by

A.collecting money on the Internet.

B. buying a prosthetic hand

C. purchasing a 3D printer

D. printing a hand

3.The materials used for Leon's hand can be described as

A. cheap and common B. strange and valuable

C. personal and lovely D. basic and solid

4.Where can the passage be taken from?

A. An advertisement B. A newspaper

C. A poster D. A travel guide

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科目：高中英語 來源：2016屆甘肅天水第一中學(xué)高三上期中英語試卷（解析版） 題型：信息匹配

根據(jù)短文內(nèi)容， 從短文后的選項中選出能填入空白處的最佳選項。選項中有兩項為多余選項。

1. If you are growing tomatoes in your backyard for sale you are producing for the market. You might sell some to your neighbor and some to the local manager of the supermarket. But in either case, you are producing for the market. 2. If people stop buying tomatoes, you will stop producing them.

If you take care of a sick person to earn money, you are producing for the market. If your father is a steel worker or a truck driver or a doctor or a grocer, he is producing goods or service for the market.

3. You may spend money in stores, supermarkets, gas stations and restaurants. Still you are buying from the market. When the local grocer hires you to drive the delivery truck, he is buying your labor in the labor market.

4. But for each person or business that is making and selling something, it is very concrete(具體的). If nobody buys your tomatoes, it won’t be long before you get the message. __5.__ It is telling you that you are using energies and resources in doing something the market doesn’t want you to do.

A. The market may be something abstract.

B. The sellers are always smarter than buyers.

C. When you spend your income, you are buying things from the market.

D. The market is a concept.

E. One has to make his ends meet when shopping.

F. The market is telling you something.

G. Your efforts are being directed by the market.

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科目：高中英語 來源：2016屆吉林東北師大附中高三上模擬3英語試卷（解析版） 題型：書面表達

據(jù)報道， 在我國仍有很多山區(qū)的孩子因為家庭貧窮而上不起學(xué)，你們班就如何幫助這些孩子上學(xué)進行了討論。假如你是李華，請你把你們的建議寫成一封信寄給Teens,希望他們能夠呼吁更多的人參與這項活動。

建議要點：

1.收集舊課本和衣服

2.呼吁更多人幫助他們

3.你的建議,至少一條

要求：1.100詞左右 2.可適當增加細節(jié)，以便行文連貫。

Dear Editor,

I’m a senior high school student._____________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

We’ll really appreciate it if you can, through the English Weekly, increase public awareness of the

poor children’s living conditions and call on more people to help them.

Yours sincerely,

LiHua

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