E
If you don’t have a college degree, you’re at greater risk of developing memory problems or even Alzheimer’s （老年痴呆）．Education plays a key role in lifelong memory performance and risk for mental disorder, and it's well documented that those with a college degree possess a cognitive（认知的） advantage over their less educated counterparts in middle and old age．
Now, a large national study from Brandeis University published in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry shows that those with less schooling can significantly make up for poorer education by frequently engaging in mental exercises such as word games, puzzles, reading, and lectures．
“The lifelong benefits of higher education for memory in later life are quite impressive, but we do not clearly understand how and why these effects last so long,” said lead author Margie Lachman, a psychologist．She suggested that higher education may encourage lifelong interest in cognitive efforts, while those with less education may not engage as frequently in mental exercises that help keep the memory agile （敏捷地）．
But education early in adulthood does not appear to be the only route to maintain your memory．The study found that intellectual activities undertaken regularly made a difference．“Among individuals with low education, those who are engaged in reading, writing, attending lectures, doing word games or puzzles once a week or more had memory scores similar to people with more education,” said Lachman．
The study, called Midlife in the United States, assessed 3,343 men and women between the ages of 32 and 84 with a mean age of 56 years．Almost 40 percent of the participants had at least a 4-year college degree．The researchers evaluated how the participants performed in two cognitive areas, verbal memory and executive function --- brain processes involved in planning, abstract thinking and cognitive flexibility．Participants were given a battery of tests, including tests of verbal fluency, word recall, and backward counting．
As expected, those with higher education said they engaged in cognitive activities more often and also did better on the memory tests, but some with lower education also did well, explained Lachman．
“The findings are promising because they suggest there may be ways to level the playing field for those with lower educational achievement, and protect those at greatest risk for memory declines,” said Lachman．“Although we can not rule out the possibility that those who have better memories are the ones who take on more activities, the evidence is consistent with cognitive plasticity （可塑性）, and suggests some degree of personal control over cognitive functioning in adulthood by adopting an intellectually active lifestyle．”
57．What is the text mainly about?
A．Higher education has a better cognitive advantage．
B．Better memories result from college degree．
C．Cognitive activity does a mind good．
D．Poor education has more risk of memory declines．
58．According to the result of Margie Lachman’s study, we can conclude that ________．
A．education is responsible for the lifelong memory performance and risk for mental disorder
B．education early in adulthood can be the only route to maintain your memory
C．those with higher education did better on the memory tests than those with lower education
D．an intellectually active lifestyle does help to maintain your memory
59．What do we know about the study called Midlife?
A．Participants each were given a battery to test their memory．
B．The average age of the participants are 56 years old．
C．Participants had to perform in one of the two cognitive areas．
D．One in four of the participants had a 4-year college degree．
60．Why are the findings of the Lachman’s study promising?
A．The lower educated may have the same opportunities to keep up memory．
B．We may have ways to cure the people who have memory declines．
C．Adopting a different lifestyle can control over cognitive functioning．
D．We can find out the possibility to have better memories．

A migraine（偏头痛）can cause disabling pain. People may not feel back to normal for hours or even days. Migraines are most common among young adults and middle-aged people. In the United States, about eighteen percent of women and six percent of men report having migraines.

People who suffer from migraines can find that different “triggers（诱因）”in different people may get a headache started. Stress can act as a trigger. So can chocolate in some people. Many migraine sufferers say hot weather and low barometric pressure（大气压）can act as triggers. But researchers say they do not have much scientific evidence of that — until now.

 In a new study, a team examined the medical records of seven thousand hospital patients. The patients had visited the emergency room at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts, because of a headache. More than two thousand of them had been found to have a migraine.

 The team then compared those records to weather conditions in the twenty-four hours before the hospital visits. For every increase of five degrees centigrade in air temperature, the patients had a seven and one-half percent higher risk of migraine. Decreases in barometric pressure two to three days before the visit also appeared to trigger headaches.

 The researchers found no evidence that air pollution influenced headaches. But they could not rule out the possibility of a smaller effect.

 A separate study has found that age, gender and where a person has extra body fat may affect the risk of migraine. It found that overweight people between the ages of twenty and fifty-five may have a higher risk. On average, those who were larger around the middle were more likely to have migraines than those of the same age with smaller waistlines.

 The study involved twenty-two thousand people. It was led by Lee Peterlin. She says early results suggest that losing weight in the stomach area may help younger people who experience migraines, especially women.

41. From the first paragraph, we can infer a migraine can ________.

A. make people unable to walk

B. prevent people acting normally

C. cause people to leave home for days

D. get people to suffer from mental disorder

42. The underlined word “that” in Paragraph 2 refers to ________.

A. chocolate acting as a trigger

B. stress acting as a trigger

C. hot weather and low barometric pressure acting as triggers

D. high air pressure acting as a trigger

43. According to the passage, headaches are influenced least by ________.

A. body weight                  B. barometric pressure

C. air temperature                  D. air pollution

44. In the opinion of Lee Peterlin, a person who has a migraine should ________.

A. avoid gathering fat in the stomach area

B. eat more sweet food every day

C. stay warm in good weather

D. keep away from noisy places

45. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A. Overweight people may have a lower risk of migraines.

B. Weather is linked to migraines.

C. Migraines are a headache for many people.

D. Women suffer more migraines than men do.

Too much TV-watching can harm children’s ability to learn and even reduce their chances of getting a college degree, new studies suggest in the latest effort to examine the effects of television on children.

One of the studies looked at nearly 400 northern California third-graders. Those with TVs in their bedrooms scored about eight points lower on math and language arts tests than children without bedrooms TVs.

A second study, looking at nearly 1,000 grown-ups in New Zealand, found lower education levels among 26-year-olds who had watched lots of TV during childhood. But the results don’t prove that TV is the cause and don’t rule out that already poorly motivated youngsters(年轻人)may watch lots of TV.

Their study measured the TV habits of 26-year-olds between ages 5 and 15. Those with college degrees had watched an average of  less than two hours of TV per weeknight during childhood, compared with an average of more than 2½ hours for those who had no education beyond high school.

In the California study, children with TVs in their rooms but no computer at home scored the lowest, while those with no bedroom TV but who had home computers scored the highest.

While this study does not prove that bedroom TV sets caused the lower scores, it adds to accumulating findings that children shouldn’t have TVs in their bedrooms.

1. According to the California study, the low-scoring group might____________.

A. have watched a lot of TV          B. not be interested in math

C. be unable to go to college          D. have had computers in their bedrooms

2.What is the researchers’ understanding of the New Zealand study results?

A. Poorly motivated 26-year-olds watch more TV.

B. Habits of TV watching reduce learning interest.

C. TV watching leads to lower education levels of the 15-year-olds.

D. The connection between TV and education levels is difficult to explain.

3. What can we learn from the last two paragraphs?

A. More time should be spent on computers.

B. Children should be forbidden from watching TV.

C. TV sets shouldn’t be allowed in children’s bedrooms.

D. Further studies on high-achieving students should be done.

4. What would be the best title for this text?

A. Computers or Television

B. Effects of Television on Children

C. Studies on TV and College Education

D. Television and Children’s Learning Habits

I was late for the school bus and rushing to get ready. My dog, Tippy, got to the front door and lay down in front of it – his way of asking to be petted. I___36___his begging for affection (喜爱), hurdled over him and ran for the waiting bus.

___37___, that afternoon, when I came home, Mom said to me___38___, “Honey, I have some___39___news that I need to tell you. This morning, while you were at school, Tippy was hit by a car and___40___. I’m so sorry.”

“No! It’s not true!” I was___41___. I couldn’t believe her. “Tippy, come here! Come on, boy!” I called and called for him. I waited. He didn’t come. Feeling___42___, I wandered into the living room. I didn’t cry that night. I still couldn’t believe that he was___43___.

When I got off the bus the next day, the___44___at home was deafening. Finally, my sobs (哭泣) bubbled up and erupted (喷发) like lava (熔岩) from a volcano. I couldn’t stop___45___. I hadn’t even petted him when I left.___46___could I have known that was my last chance? I cried until I felt empty inside.

Time passed, and against my will, I started to___47___some things. I realized what little control any of us have over what happens ___48___ a dog. We can do everything right, but___49___things can still happen. But good things can happen too. That’s___50___. The best way to deal with the hard times is to___51___what you need to do to get through them when they come, and to remember that hard times always___52___.

I now deeply understand the “circle of life”. Everyone is born, everyone___53___, and that’s the way it is. If dogs never died, there would be no___54___for others like Belle – my new dog.

Best of all, I realized that Tippy___55___all of my good memories of him. And they come to me every time I call!