Question

Many people think of the brain as a mystery.They don’t know much about intelligence and how it works. When they do think about what intelligence is，many people believe that a person is born smart，average，or dumb—and stays that way in the whole life.But new research shows that the brain is more like a muscle—it changes and gets stronger when you use it.And scientists have been able to show just how the brain grows and gets stronger when you learn.

Everyone knows that when you lift weights，your muscles get bigger and you get stronger.A person who can’t lift 20 pounds when he/she starts exercising can get strong enough to lift 100 pounds after working out for a long time.That’s because the muscles become larger and stronger with exercise.And when you stop exercising，the muscles shrink and you get weaker.That’s why people say “Use it or lose it！”

But most people don’t know that when they practice and learn new things，parts of their brain change and get larger a lot like muscles do when they exercise.Inside the cortex (皮層) of the brain are billions of tiny nerve cells，called neurons.The nerve cells have branches connecting them to other cells in a complicated network.Communication between these brain cells is what allows us to think and solve problems.When you learn new things，these tiny connections in the brain actually multiply and get stronger.The more you challenge your mind to learn，the more your brain cells grow.Then，things that you once found very hard or even impossible to do—like speaking a foreign language or doing algebra (代數(shù))—seem to become easy after learning them for a period of time.The result is a stronger，smarter brain.

Scientists started thinking that the human brain could develop and change when they studied animals’ brains.They found out that animals that lived in a challenging environment were more “perspicacious”—they were better at solving problems and learning new things.

1.According to the first paragraph，________.

A．the function of our brain is like that of the muscle

B．until now it’s impossible to explain the brain’s mystery

C．many people believe one’s intelligence is naturally determined

D．one’s brain grows stronger as the age increases

2.Training muscles is compared to________.

A．using the brain

B．connecting things in your brain

C．lifting weights

D．doing research about the brain

3.What does the underlined word “perspicacious” in the last paragraph probably mean?

A．Strong.B．Smart.

C．Popular.D．Active.

4.The following paragraph will most probably talk about________.

A．the differences between animals’ brains and humans’ brains

B．the relation between human brains and muscles

C．scientists’ findings about animals’ brains

D．how to make your brain smarter through self?development

 

Answer 1

1.C

2.A

3.B

4.C

【解析】

試題分析：科學研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，經(jīng)常學習能促進大腦的發(fā)育，正如經(jīng)常鍛煉能使肌肉更強健一樣。

1.A．the function of our brain is like that of the muscle。該選項錯在function，根據(jù)文章可知brain和muscle確實有相似之處，但不是“功能”相似。.“But new research shows that the brain is more like a muscle”說明，到目前為止，人們對brain并不是毫無發(fā)現(xiàn)，所以B選項錯誤�！癷t changes and gets stronger when you use it”，所以大腦是越用越靈，而此處并未提及與年齡有關，故D選項錯誤。而C，是由“many people believe that a person is born smart，average，or dumb—and stays that way in the whole life.”可以推知。

2.But new research shows that the brain is more like a muscle—it changes and gets stronger when you use it.”可推知，正確答案為A即：Training muscles is compared to using the brain.

3.根據(jù)該詞后破折號后面的“they were better at solving problems and learning new things”可知，該詞應為“聰明的，機敏的”之意。

4.提出了科學家從研究動物的大腦得出的結論，因此下一段最可能進一步具體描述這些研究成果。

考點：科普說明文的閱讀