Question

【題目】 “What’s the name of the supermarket? 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 had 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 team’s lead scientist, “only because it has stored more information over time.” The findings are based on a series of computer tests related to learning and memory.

Scientists had the computers read a certain amount of words and learn new things each day. When the computer “read” a small amount of data（數據），its performance on cognitive（認知）tests was similar to that of a young adult . But if the computer took in larger amounts of data, its performance was similar to that of an older adult. Often it was slower, but not because its processing ability had dropped. Rather, increased “experience” had caused the computer’s database to grow, giving it more data to process-which takes more time. This is similar to how old people process information.

Imagine that one person knows just two people’s birthdays and can get them right each time he or she is asked. Another person knows the birthdays of 2,000 people , but can only match the right person to the right birthday 9 times out of 10. Can you say the first person has a better memory than the second person?

“The larger the library you have in your head , the longer it usually takes to find a particular word,” Benedict Carey, a science reporter for The New York Times, wrote in an article about the study.

根據材料內容選擇最佳答案，并在答題卡上將該項涂黑。

【1】Why is the poor memory of elderly people mentioned at the beginning?

A.To lead in the discussion of memory.B.To describe the way elderly people live.

C.To express his or her care about the elderly.D.To draw the public attention to elderly people

【2】How did the scientists prove （論證）the new idea?

A.By telling stories.B.By doing experiments.

C.Be making surveys.D.By listing others’ opinions.

【3】What does the underlined word “it” refer to?

A.The data.B.The brain.C.The computer.D.The information.

【4】The example in Paragraph 3 shows ___________.

A.Memorizing birthdays is easyB.the first person has a better memory

C.Who has a better memory is uncertainD.the second person can memorize 10% birthdays

【5】What does the text mainly tell us ?

A.How computers process data.B.How to improve the memory.

C.Old people can remember things easily.D.Much information makes the brain slower.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】A

【2】B

【3】C

【4】C

【5】D

【解析】

文章大意：本文講述的是有關于老人記憶力的科學知識。人們通常認為，老人記憶力變壞是因為大腦變弱了，其實經過研究發(fā)現：這是因為老人大腦中存儲的信息太多，讀取變慢了。

【1】推理判斷題。根據“What’s the name of the supermarket? I can’t remember right now.” 以及Have you ever heard your grandparents ask questions like this sometimes? 在文章的開頭就用幾個疑問句，這是一種寫作手法，主要是為了引起讀者的注意力，讓讀者很想知道下文的內容，故答案選A。

【2】細節(jié)理解題。根據The findings are based on a series of computer tests related to learning and memory. 這些發(fā)現是基于一系列與學習和記憶有關的計算機測試。以及下文的描述，可知，科學家們是通過做實驗來證明這個新想法的，故答案選B。

【3】詞義猜測題。根據上文But if the computer took in larger amounts of data, its performance was similar to that of an older adult. 但是如果電腦接收了大量的數據，它的表現就和老年人差不多了。結合Often it was slower,可知，此處指的是“電腦”經常會變得比較慢，所以it指代的是“電腦”，故答案選C。

【4】段意歸納題。根據第三段的內容Imagine that one person knows just two people’s birthdays and can get them right each time he or she is asked. Another person knows the birthdays of 2,000 people , but can only match the right person to the right birthday 9 times out of 10. Can you say the first person has a better memory than the second person? 想象一下，一個人只知道兩個人的生日，而且每次都能答對。另一個人知道2000個人的生日，但10次中只有9次能將正確的人與正確的生日匹配起來。你能說第一個人的記憶力比第二個人好嗎?可知，本段的例子表明誰的記憶力更好是不確定的，故答案選C。

【5】主旨大意題。通讀全文可知，本文主要講述了老年人記憶力下降的原因，并不是由不好的記憶力導致的，經過研究發(fā)現：是因為老人大腦中存儲的信息太多，讀取變慢了。結合選項可知D選項“過多的信息會使大腦反應變慢。”符合題意，故答案選D。