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 (皮层) 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 (代数)—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】

试题分析：科学研究发现，经常学习能促进大脑的发育，正如经常锻炼能使肌肉更强健一样。

1.A．the function of our brain is like that of the muscle。该选项错在function，根据文章可知brain和muscle确实有相似之处，但不是“功能”相似。.“But new research shows that the brain is more like a muscle”说明，到目前为止，人们对brain并不是毫无发现，所以B选项错误。“it changes and gets stronger when you use it”，所以大脑是越用越灵，而此处并未提及与年龄有关，故D选项错误。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，正确答案为A即：Training muscles is compared to using the brain.

3.根据该词后破折号后面的“they were better at solving problems and learning new things”可知，该词应为“聪明的，机敏的”之意。

4.提出了科学家从研究动物的大脑得出的结论，因此下一段最可能进一步具体描述这些研究成果。

考点：科普说明文的阅读