Question

Parents might tell older children to “Act your age”. But some researchers say that is what persons from thirteen to nineteen years old are doing. While teenagers can look all grown up, studies have shown that their brains are still developing. How much this explains their behavior, though, is a subject of debate.

Jay Giedd of America’s National Institutes of Health is a leader in this area of research. Doctor Giedd has been studying a group of young people since 1991. They visit him every two years for imaging tests of their brains. He says considerable development continues in young people from the teenage years into the twenties.

A part of the brain called the dorsal-lateral prefrontal cortex appears especially undeveloped in teenagers. Researchers believe that this area controls judgment and consideration of risk. So, its underdevelopment may explain why young people seem more willing to take risks like driving too fast.

Laurence Steinberg is a psychology professor at Temple University in Philadelphia. He says stronger laws and stronger parental control are needed to protect teens from themselves. That includes raising the age for driving. He says research shows that teenage brains are not fully equipped to control behavior.

Other researchers, however, say there is not enough evidence to make a strong case for such findings. Psychologist Robert Epstein is a visiting scholar at the University of California in San Diego. Mr. Epstein notes that teen behavior differs from culture to culture. He says behavior depends for the most part on socialization. He believes that teenagers will demonstrate(表明) better, safer behavior if they spend more time with adults, and are treated more like them.

But is that always true? Mike Males works at the Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice in San Francisco. He suggests that all of this talk lately about brainless teens could be an attempt to take away attention from the reality. Writing in the New York Times, he says it is middle-aged adults whose behavior has worsened. In his words, if grown-ups really have superior brains, why don’t we act as if we do?

1.If your parents ask you to act your age, they really mean to advise that you __________.

A. behave yourself

B. take care of yourself

C. make yourself at home

D. do everything on your own

2.Why do young people seem more willing to take adventures?

A. Because they can all look grown up in that way.

B. Because their dorsal-lateral prefrontal cortex appears undeveloped.

C. Because some researchers have been studying and encouraging them.

D. Because stronger laws and stronger parental control protect them

3.Which of the following is TRUE about teenagers?

A. Their brains have almost stopped developing.

B. Their cultures have influenced their behavior more or less.

C. The behavior of brainless teens has drawn a lot more attention.

D. Staying more often with adults makes things even worse.

4.It can be inferred from the last paragraph that Mike Males _______.

A. agrees with what Robert Epstein says

B. keeps silent about the subject of debate

C. is a leader in this area of research

D. has the opinion of his own

5.The passage is written mainly to tell people that __________.

A. development continues in young people from the teens into the twenties

B. teenagers’ behavior differs from culture to culture

C. there is still a debate between researchers about people’s behaviors

D. the talk about brainless teens could take away attention from governments

Answer 1