5."What's the name of our neighbour?I can't remember right now."Have you ever heard your grandparents ask questions like this sometimes?Usually,we think that older people's memory becomes bad because their brains get weak.But now a team of scientists at the University of Tubingen in Germany has a new idea.
"The human brain works slower in old age,"says Michael Ramscar,the lead scientist."But only because they have stored more information overtime."
The findings are based on a series of computer simulations(模拟) of learning and memory.Scientists let the computers read a certain amount of words and learn new things each day.When the computer"reads"only so much,its performance on cognitive(认知)tests is similar of a young adult.But if the computer learns the experiences we might encounter over a lifetime,its performance is similar to that of an older adult.
Often it is slower,but not because its processing capacity has declined.Rather,increased"experience"has caused the computer's database to grow,giving it more data(数据)to process--which takes time.This is similar to old people.Imagine a person knows two people's birthdays.Another person knows the birthdays of 2000people,but can only match the right person to the right birthday nine times out of 10.Can you say the first person has a better memory than the second person?
30.The writer uses a question at the beginning of the passage toB•
A.invite the readers to answer the question
B.attract the readers'attention to the topic
C.show how weak older people's brains are
D.tell the readers the latest findings about brains
31.According to the research,why do old people forget people's names easily?D
A.Because they have a very poor memory.
B.Because they are too old to remember things.
C.Because their brains become weaker than before.
D.Becasue they have stored too much information.
32.Where would this passage most probably appearA
A.In a magazine.
B.In a story book.
C.In a novel.
D.In a guidebook.
33.What would be the best title for the passage?A
A.Do old people have a bad memory?
B.Scientists'new findings on brains
C.Human brain's processing capacity
D.Which is better,the old or the young?
分析 本文是一篇健康环保类短文.主要介绍了与老年人的记忆力有关的话题.我们认为老年人的记忆力衰退是因为他们的大脑变的愚钝了,现在德国图宾根大学一个科学家团队有了新的看法.人们的大脑在年纪大的时候变得迟钝,是因为大脑中存储的东西太多了,一位首席科学家说,他们是通过电脑模拟学习好记忆发现的,科学家每天让电脑阅读一定数量的话和学习新的事情,当电脑读的多了之后,它的认知测试就和一个老年人一样,虽然变慢了但是处理能力没有减退,此外,增加的经验也会使电脑的数据库增加,这与老年人类似,设想一个人知道两个人的生日.另一个人知道2000个人的生日,把十分之九的人的生日都连对了,你能说第一个人的记忆力比第二个人的记忆力好吗?
解答 30.B.推理判断题.根据"What's the name of our neighbour?"以及"Have you ever heard your grandparents ask questions like this sometimes?"在文章的开头就用几个疑问句,这是一种写作手法,主要是为了引起读者的注意力,让读者很想知道下文的内容,故选B.
31.D.细节理解题.根据."But only because they have stored more information overtime."可知是由于储存的东西太多,所以老年人很容易忘记别人的名字,故选D.
32.A.推理判断题.根据"But now a team of scientists at the University of Tubingen in Germany has a new idea."可以推知,这篇文章是选自一本杂志,应该是与科学有关的杂志,而不是小说,故事书,或者导游指南,故选A.
33.A.标题概括题.根据"Usually,we think that older people's memory becomes bad because their brains get weak.But now a team of scientists at the University of Tubingen in Germany has a new idea."可知德国的科学家们从一个崭新的角度,阐释了老年人记忆力下降的原因,并不是由不好的记忆力导致的.故选A.
点评 首先仔细阅读短文,掌握大意,然后结合具体的题目再读短文,从中找出相关信息,就可以确定正确答案.