说明文阅读理解模拟训练(131622)-高三英语阅读(685)-21英语网

A

A new study from MIT has found that piano lessons have a very specific effect on kindergartners’ ability to distinguish different pitches (音高), which translates into an improvement in distinguishing between spoken words. However, piano lessons did not appear to provide any benefit for overall intelligence, as measured by IQ, attention span (注意力集中时间), and working memory.

The 74 children participating in the study were divided into three groups: one that received 45-minute piano lessons three times a week; one that received extra reading instruction for the same period of time; and one that received neither of these. All children were 4 or 5 years old and spoke Mandarin as their native language.

After six months, the researchers tested the children on their ability to distinguish words based on differences in vowels (元音), consonants (辅音), or tone (音调). Better word distinguishing usually comes with better phonological awareness – the awareness of the sound structure of words, which is a key part of learning to read.

Children who had piano lessons showed a significant advantage over children in the extra reading group in distinguishing between words that differ by one consonant. Children in both the piano group and extra reading group performed better than the third group when it came to distinguishing words based on vowel differences.

The researchers also used electroencephalography to measure brain activity and found that children in the piano group had stronger responses than the other children when they listened to a series of tones of different pitch. This suggested that a greater sensitivity (敏感性) to pitch differences is what helped the children who took piano lessons to better distinguish different words, Desimone says.

“That’s a big thing for kids in learning language: being able to hear the differences between words,” he says. “They really did benefit from that.”

In tests of IQ, attention, and working memory, the researchers did not find any significant differences among the three groups of children.

Desimone says he hopes the findings will help to convince education officials who are considering abandoning music classes in schools not to do so.

1. What do we know about the study?

A. The participants were divided into four groups.

B. All the participants spoke English as their native language.

C. The participants were tested after a period of six months.

D. The ages of the participants ranged from 4 to 15 years.

2. What did the researchers find in their study?

A. Children in the piano group had better awareness of the differences among words.

B. Children in the piano group performed better in the IQ test.

C. Children in the extra reading group had better awareness of sounds.

D. Children in the extra reading group performed better in the IQ test.

3. What does Desimone think is an important ability for kids learning a language?

A. The ability to imitate certain sounds.

B. The ability to tell the differences between sounds.

C. The ability to remember new sounds and words.

D. The ability to relate sounds to real objects.

4. With the findings, what does Desimone want education officials to do?

A. To have more music classes in schools.

B. Not to end music classes in schools.

C. To provide more types of musical instruments to schools.

D. Not to force students to study music if they are unwilling to.

B

Dreaming is believing, claim researchers of a new study, who found that dreams have an effect on people’s behavior, judgment and they might contain important hidden truths as well.

“Psychologists’ interpretations (解释) of the meaning of dreams vary widely. But our findings show that people believe their dreams provide meaningful insight (见识) into themselves and their world,” said a lead author of the study Carey Morewedge, an assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon University.

In six different studies, researchers surveyed nearly 1,100 people about their dreams. One of the studies focused on general beliefs about dreams and involved 149 university students. All students were asked to rate different theories about dreams. The experts found that a surprising majority of the participants supported the theory about dreams revealing (揭示) the hidden truths about themselves and the rest of the world.

In a second experiment, they surveyed 182 people at a Boston train station, and asked them to imagine one out of four possible situations that could have occurred the night before a scheduled airline trip. Most of the participants said that dreaming of a plane crash would be more likely to affect their travel plans than would just thinking about a crash, or being warned by the government of a terrorism risk. They said a dreamed crash would influence their travel plans just as much as learning about a real crash on their planned route would.

Another experiment involved 270 men and women from across the United States. In a short online survey, they were asked to recall one of the dreams they had had about any person they knew.

The findings showed that people were more likely to remember and describe pleasant dreams about a person they liked, rather than a person they disliked. Meanwhile, in most cases they tended to consider an unpleasant dream as more meaningful if it was about a person they disliked.

“In other words,” said Morewedge, “people attribute (认为……有……) meaning to dreams when it corresponds (与……一致) with their pre-existing beliefs and desires.”

The researchers say that more investigation (研究) is needed to fully understand how people interpret their dreams. According to Morewedge, most people realize that dreams are not predicting their future, but they still try to find some meaning in them.

5. The purpose of the studies is to _______.

A. determine when people tend to remember their dreams

B. research whether dreams have anything to do with real life

C. find out how people interpret their dreams and what impact that has

D. understand what causes people to dream and how to interpret dreams

6. According to the second experiment, what might influence people’s travel plans most?

A. Thinking about a past plane crash.

B. Dreaming about a plane crash.

C. Hearing a government’s warning of a terrorism risk.

D. Imagining a plane crashing on their planned route.

7. What can be concluded from the study?

A. Dreams can be a useful tool for learning and problem solving.

B. Most people disagree that dreams help them better know themselves and the world.

C. A majority of people believe that dreams can predict their future and try to find their meaning.

D. When a dream conflicts with people’s existing beliefs and desires, they tend to attribute less meaning to it.

8. Which kind of dream is seen as the most meaningful?

A. A pleasant dream about a person the dreamer likes.

B. A pleasant dream about a person the dreamer dislikes

C. An unpleasant dream about a person the dreamer likes.

D. An unpleasant dream about a person the dreamer dislikes.

C

The fact that your hair turns grey because of stress is nothing more than an old wives’ tale.

It’s true that stress isn’t good for you, but it’s not going to turn you into a silver fox just yet.

In fact, the answer comes from the cells in your hair. These are what determine the color and, eventually, the fade to grey.

Most of us start to notice our first grey hairs by the time we hit our thirties. A general rule to go by is that by the age of 50, half of the population will have lost the color in 50 percent of their hair.

But why does it happen? Firstly, we need to understand how hair gets its color.

Your hair is made up of cells called melanocytes (黑色素细胞) which produce pigments (色素) as they grow into the hair fiber.

There are two different types of melanins (黑色素): eumelanins (真黑色素) and pheomelanins (类黑色素). The former produces black and brown pigments, while the latter produces red and yellow pigments.

The exact amount of these pigments determines whether a person has black, brown, blonde or red hair.

As we age, the ability of the melanocytes to produce more pigments weakens. That’s because our hair grows in different phases.

The growing phase lasts between three and five years, after which our follicles (毛囊) turn off for about three months to rest and get ready to grow more hairs. This goes round and round and, after a time, our bodies aren’t as good at producing new hairs.

Scientists are continuing to try and find ways to prevent greying hair.

A team of scientists in France is working to try and stop the melanocytes from being damaged at the end of each hair cycle.

They are trying to use a special enzyme (酶) to protect the cells from damage. If successful, it could lead the way for new products that keep our locks full of color for years to come.

9. What does the phrase “an old wives’ tale” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?

A. an incorrect belief

B. useless talk

C. a scientific rule

D. helpful experience

10. What do we know about red hair?

A. It doesn’t turn grey as people get older.

B. It contains more pheomelanins than melanins.

C. The amount of pigments in it doesn’t change over time.

D. People with red hair have weaker ability to produce pigments.

11. What do the French scientists aim to do?

A. To repair damaged hair follicles.

B. To protect hair cells against damage.

C. To shorten the hair cycle to protect the hair.

D. To study the relationship between health and hair color.

12. What can we infer from the article?

A. Grey hair has nothing to do with stress.

B. Grey hair is a symbol of declining health.

C. It takes three months for new hair to grow.

D. The growth and color change of hair depend on cells.

D

“Although we live in an era where everything seems to be available immediately, our study suggests that today’s kids can delay gratification (满足感) longer than children in the 1960s and 1980s,” said University of Minnesota psychologist (心理学家) Stephanie M. Carlson. “This finding stands in great contrast with the assumption by adults that today’s children have less self-control than previous generations.”

The original marshmallow (棉花糖) test conducted by researchers at Stanford University involved a series of experiments in which children aged between 3 and 5 years were offered one treat that they could eat immediately or a larger treat if they waited. Researchers then left the room to see how long the children would wait and watched from behind a one-way mirror.

Interestingly, today’s adults thought that children nowadays would be more impulsive and less able to wait, Carlson found. “Our findings serve as an example of how our beliefs can be wrong and how it’s important to do research,” said co-author Yuichi Shoda, PhD at the University of Washington.

The researchers offered several possible explanations for why children in the 2000s waited longer than those in prior decades. They noted a statistically significant increase in IQ scores in the last several decades. Another explanation may be society’s increased focus on the importance of early education, according to Carlson. The primary objective of preschool changed from largely custodial care (监护) to school readiness in the 1980s. Parenting also has changed in ways that help promote the development of executive function, such as being more supportive of children’s self-control, the researchers noted.

Walter Mischel of Columbia University, who co-authored this paper, noted that “while the results indicate that the children’s ability to delay is not weakened on the marshmallow test, the findings do not speak to their willingness to delay gratification when faced with the many temptations (诱惑) now available in everyday life.”

13. What is the adults’ assumption about today’s children?

A. They are not easy to please.

B. They are less able to control themselves.

C. They don’t like things that are easy to get.

D. They have different personalities from previous generations.

14. What does the underlined word “impulsive” in Paragraph 3 mean?

A. productive

B. considerate

C. clear-minded

D. hot-headed

15. What did the researchers find about children in the 2000s?

A. They are more prepared to go to school.

B. They are not as clever as previous generations.

C. They are taught self-control by their teachers.

D. They have better education than previous generations.

16. What does the author want to tell readers in the last paragraph?

A. Most children nowadays can’t resist the temptations of everyday life.

B. Children did not willingly choose to delay gratification in the marshmallow test.

C. The marshmallow test can’t accurately measure children’s ability to delay gratification.

D. Children’s ability to delay gratification is weakened because there’re many temptations.

E

Technoference (科技入侵) is defined as everyday interruptions in face-to-face interactions because of technological devices (设备).

Recent studies showed that parents use devices for nine hours per day on average. Smartphones are often used during family activities such as meals, playtime, and bedtime – all important times involved in shaping a child’s emotional well-being.

When parents are on their devices, they have fewer conversations with their children, and pay less attention to them.

In one study, 172 two-parent families with a child aged 5 years or younger answered online questionnaires about family relationships.

Participants indicated how often different devices interrupted their activities with their children.

They rated their child’s behavior, such as how often they got upset or how easily their feelings were hurt. The parents also reported their own levels of stress and depression, the support they received from their partners, and their children’s screen media use.

In almost all cases, devices were part of parent-child interactions during the day.

Technology may serve as a way for parents to deal with difficult child behavior. However, it has its drawbacks.

Electronic device use means parents can’t provide meaningful emotional support and positive feedback (反馈) to their children, which causes behavior such as crying.

But this adds to parents’ stress levels. Parents are likely to spend more time with their technological products, and the cycle continues.

“These results showed that relationships between parent technoference and child behavior influence each other over time,” said McDaniel. “Parents who have children with behavioral problems become more stressed, which may lead to them using technology more, which in turn may contribute to more problems with their children.”

So, it seems like the best solution to a difficult relationship between a parent and their child would be to simply spend more time with each other, and less time on their smartphones or computers.

17. What do the first three paragraphs tell us about “technoreference”?

A. It makes life convenient and efficient.

B. It stops people from thinking independently.

C. It brings children more leisure activities at home.

D. It affects communication among family members.

18. What were the parents asked to do in the study?

A. Spend several hours with their children.

B. Observe how their children use technological devices.

C. Answer some questions about their family relationships.

D. List the benefits and problems of using technological devices.

19. What does the underlined word “drawbacks” in Paragraph 8 mean?

A. Effects.

B. Disadvantages.

C. Benefits.

D. Functions.

20. What does McDaniel suggest parents do?

A. Play with technological devices together with their children.

B. Be relaxed when their children use electronic devices.

C. Encourage their children to spend more time playing outside.

D. Have more face-to-face quality time with their children.

F

Whether you’ve gone away to college, moved to a new city or even just traveled for vacation, homesickness is a common emotional experience.

But what exactly are we feeling when we experience homesickness, why do we feel it so deeply, and why does it sometimes affect us physically?

“Homesickness has everything to do with attachment (依恋),” said Joshua Klapow, a professor of public health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, US.

“When we feel homesick, we’re feeling insecure or uncomfortable with where we are, physically and emotionally,” he explained. “We’re longing for something that in our minds is known, predictable, consistent and stable.”

Of course, different people experience homesickness in different ways. Klapow said homesickness often causes physical changes in our bodies.

“You feel it in your stomach – it’s an unease in which you feel uncomfortable, nervous, anxious, stressed, or tense because you’re in a place or situation that’s not familiar, that triggers (触发) your fight-or-flight response (“战或逃”反应),” he said. “It’s an evolutionary (进化的), adaptive thing that wires us to protect ourselves from danger when something is unknown. When we think about home, we know that the sense of unknown and potential danger is not happening there, so we want to return.”

Meanwhile, longing and sadness also play a big part in feeling homesick.

“The comfort of home becomes like a person you’ve lost and miss,” said Klapow. “You may have some [memories] about home and what you’re missing, comparing everything in your day to your experience back home, and that can create a lot of sadness.”

So what’s the best way to fight homesickness? According to Klapow, keeping yourself busy with activities like schoolwork is a good way to keep your mind focused on other things.

“When you’re doing an activity, it distracts you, but you’re also creating a new reality for yourself,” he said.

And, most importantly, sharing your feelings with others who are going through the same thing as you are means you have a support network.

“Once you feel compassion (同情) from other people in the same place, you tend to feel less homesick,” as Klapow said.

21. What is the cause of homesickness according to Klapow?

A. Lack of self-control.

B. Longing for love.

C. Uncertainty about one’s environment.

D. Pessimism about the future.

22. How does homesickness affect people?

A. It protects people from getting hurt.

B. It prevents people from exploring new environments.

C. It helps people to have a closer relationship with their family.

D. It brings about both physical and mental discomfort.

23. When people are homesick, they may often feel changes in their ______.

A. stomach

B. heart

C. head

D. lungs

24. What does Klapow think is the best way to fight homesickness?

A. Making more friends through different activities.

B. Seeking help from doctors.

C. Communicating with people in the same situation.

D. Showing compassion to people around you.

G

In a time when a dangerous number of people are overweight, many people seem to have forgotten the most important way to keep healthy and slim – exercise. And as a new study carried out on mice in the lab has shown, exercise done early in life can reward you in your adult years.

A team of researchers at the University of California studied the effects of early exercise on adult physical activity, body mass and eating. They found that early-age exercise in mice has positive effects on adult levels of voluntary exercise in addition to reducing body mass.

“These results may have an effect on the importance of regular physical education in elementary and middle schools,” said Theodore Garland, a professor of biology, who led the research project. “If kids exercise regularly through their school years, then they may be more likely to exercise as adults, which could have far-reaching positive effects on human health and well-being.”

Although the positive effects of early-life exercise lasted for only one week, it is important to note that one week in the life of a mouse is the same as about nine months for humans. “Our results suggest that any positive effects of early-life exercise on adult exercise will need to be kept up if they are to be long-lasting.”

His team of researchers found, too, that all mice that had access to early exercise were lighter in weight than non-exercised mice.

Garland explained that, in general, exercise will stimulate appetite sooner or later. However, it is possible that certain types of exercise, done for certain periods of time or at certain light levels, might not stimulate appetite much, if at all, at least in some individuals.

“If we could understand what sorts of exercise these might be, then we might be able to tailor exercise recommendations in a way that would bring the benefits of exercise without increases in appetite, leading to a better chance of weight loss,” he said.

25. How long do the positive effects of early-life exercise last for a mouse?

A. One day.

B. One week.

C. One month.

D. Nine months.

26. What can we learn from the article?

A. Early-life exercise has life-long positive effects on people.

B. The new study on mice mainly focused on how exercise affects appetite.

C. More study is needed to better understand the effects of different types of exercise.

D. Kids should be encouraged to do exercise as early as possible to ensure physical health.

27. The underlined word “stimulate” in the second to last paragraph is closest in meaning to ______.

A. improve

B. decrease

C. change

D. harm

28. What is the article mainly about?

A. New ways to fight against being overweight.

B. How to do exercise properly.

C. The possible risks of doing exercise.

D. The positive effects of early-life exercise.