Question

【題目】 If you were like most kids, your mother must have told you there were three no-no’s when it came to your fingers: Don’t put them in an electrical outlet, don’t stick them up your nose (at least not in public), and don’t use them when you are counting. 【1】 But experts in education and cognition now believe that using your fingers to do math is not only a perfectly good idea but may even help children become superior students.

It certainly makes sense. When children count on their fingers, they take an abstract concept — mathematics — and translate it into the most basic and visual form 【2】. Even when we aren’t actually counting on figures, they still can help us on math problems.

【3】 It activates when we respond to heat, pressure, pain, or the use of a given finger.

Studying brain scans, researchers discovered that when students aged 8 to 13 work on subtraction (減法 ) equations, this region “l(fā)ights up” on the scans, even if the students aren’t using their fingers. The more complex the problem is, the more activities are detected.

The connection between finger use and math ability has been proved on old-fashioned math tests as well. With their eyes closed, first graders were asked to identify which of their fingers a researcher was touching. 【4】. When college students were given the same quiz, the highest scores once again performed best on calculation tests.

So what does all this mean? For one thing, parents and teachers shouldn’t discourage children from counting on their fingers. 【5】. Memorizing the multiplication tables may help, but it is not the best option. “I would like to see interesting and creative representations of ideas.” says Jo Boaler, a professor of math education.

Recently, a series of activities have been designed to strengthen students’ perception of their fingers. Maybe in the near future, there will be only two no-no’s regarding the use of fingers.

A.There is a section of the brain, called the somatosensory finger area.

B.Researchers also stress that students simply learn better using visual tools.

C.The first two laws of fingers are as true as ever.

D.That may sound simplistic, but the researchers offer an interesting explanation.

E.Researchers found those scoring highest on the finger-ID questions scored higher on a math test.

F.Researchers are unimpressed by those students who finish quickly as well.

G.In fact, experts believe the brain is built to “see” any process with our fingers.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】C

【2】G

【3】A

【4】E

【5】B

【解析】

本文是一篇說明文。家長經(jīng)常教育孩子不要用手指數(shù)數(shù)，但研究表明用手指數(shù)數(shù)對數(shù)學(xué)能力有促進(jìn)作用。

【1】上文講母親告訴我們的三個(gè)不要用手指的事項(xiàng)，再根據(jù)空后But experts in education and cognition now believe that using your fingers to do math is not only a perfectly good idea but may even help children become superior students.(但是教育和認(rèn)知方面的專家現(xiàn)在認(rèn)為，用你的手指做數(shù)學(xué)不僅是一個(gè)非常好的主意，甚至可以幫助孩子成為優(yōu)秀的學(xué)生)可知，教育專家說數(shù)數(shù)時(shí)用手指是很好的方法。因此推斷，C項(xiàng)The first two laws of fingers are as true as ever.(手指的前兩個(gè)定律和以往一樣正確)是對上文的總結(jié)，對下文的轉(zhuǎn)折。故選C。

【2】根據(jù)空前When children count on their fingers, they take an abstract concept — mathematics — and translate it into the most basic and visual form.可知，用手指數(shù)數(shù)能把抽象的數(shù)學(xué)概念變成最基本的視覺形式。因此推斷，G項(xiàng)In fact, experts believe the brain is able to “see” a representation of our fingers.(事實(shí)上，專家認(rèn)為大腦能夠“看到”我們手指的圖像)是對上句的進(jìn)一步解釋。故選G。

【3】根據(jù)下文It activates when we respond to heat, pressure, pain, or the use of a given finger.可知，當(dāng)我們對熱、壓力、疼痛或使用給定的手指作出反應(yīng)時(shí)，它就會激活。下文內(nèi)容接著講大腦特定區(qū)域的具體工作程序，因此推斷，A項(xiàng)There is a section of the brain,called the somatosensory finger area.(大腦有一個(gè)區(qū)域，叫做軀體感覺指區(qū))講得是大腦的一個(gè)區(qū)域，引出下文。下文it指代上文的the somatosensory finger area。故選A。

【4】本段第一句The connection between finger use and math ability has been proved on old-fashioned math tests as well.可知，手指的使用和數(shù)學(xué)能力之間的聯(lián)系在老式的數(shù)學(xué)測試中也得到了證明。此處在講手指使用和數(shù)學(xué)能力之間的關(guān)系，根據(jù)空格上文With their eyes closed, first graders were asked to identify which of their fingers a researcher was touching.(當(dāng)他們閉上眼睛時(shí)，一年級的學(xué)生被要求識別他們的手指中的哪一個(gè)是研究人員觸摸的)可知，此處講述研究過程，因此推斷，E項(xiàng)Researchers found those scoring highest on the finger-ID questions scored higher on a math test.(研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)，在手指識別問題上得分最高的人在數(shù)學(xué)測試中得分較高)說明了兩者之間的關(guān)系，符合本段主題。故選E。

【5】上文For one thing, parents and teachers shouldn’t discourage children from counting on their fingers.可知，首先，父母和老師不應(yīng)該阻止孩子們用手指數(shù)數(shù)。B項(xiàng)Researchers also stress that students simply learn better using visual tools.(研究人員還強(qiáng)調(diào)，學(xué)生們只是通過視覺工具學(xué)習(xí)會更好)與上句并列，與下句的乘法表一致。故選B。

代詞指代題要求同學(xué)們根據(jù)語境的邏輯關(guān)系、判斷畫線的人稱代詞或指示代詞在文章中指代的對象，包括考查it(指動物，無生命的事物、特定的事件或人)，they/them(指代人、物、事件的復(fù)數(shù)名詞)，he/she等人稱代詞的指代意義，以及指示代詞this，that，these，those等在文章中的指代意義，考查同學(xué)們對文章中敘述特定的人、物、事件的認(rèn)知能力。在做七選五時(shí)利用這些代詞的指代能快速準(zhǔn)確地找到正確選項(xiàng)。本題第3小題，根據(jù)下文It activates when we respond to heat, pressure, pain, or the use of a given finger. 可知，當(dāng)我們對熱、壓力、疼痛或使用給定的手指作出反應(yīng)時(shí)，它就會激活。下文內(nèi)容接著講大腦特定區(qū)域的具體工作程序，因此推斷A .There is a section of the brain, called the somatosensory finger area.(大腦有一個(gè)區(qū)域，叫做軀體感覺指區(qū))講得是大腦的一個(gè)區(qū)域，引出下文。下文it指代上文的the somatosensory finger area。故選A。