2024年英语六级考试辅导阅读理解材料

2024年英语六级考试辅导阅读理解材料材料

3.Speed ItUpSorry tosay,ourbrainsnaturally startslowing downat thecruelly youngageof30yes,

30.It usedto bethought that this couldn,t behelped,but a barrageof newstudies showthat peopleof anyage cantrain theirbrains to be faster and,in effect,younger.^Your brainis alearning machine,“says Michael Merzenich,PhD,a neuroscientistat theUniversity ofCalifornia,San Francisco.Given therighttools,we cantrain ourbrains toact likethey didwhen wewere younger.All thatsrequired isdedicated practice:exercises forthe mind.abarrageof大量的in effect实际上Merzenich hasdeveloped acomputer-based trainingregimen tospeed uphow thebrainprocesses informationpositscience.com.Since muchof thedata wereceivecomes throughspeech,the BrainFitness Programworks withlanguage andhearing toimproveboth speedand accuracy.Over the course ofyour training,the programstartsasking youto distinguishsounds betweendog andbog,for instanceat anincreasinglyfaster rate.It sa bitlike atennis instructor,says Merzenich,shooting ballsat youfasterandfaster overthecourseof thesummer tokeep youchallenged.Though you may havestarted outslow,by LaborDay youre prettynimble.nimble adj.敏捷的；聪明的Similarly,Nintendo wasinspired bythe researchof aJapanese doctorto developahandheld gamecalled BrainAge:Train YourBrain inMinutes aDay,which hassoldmore thantwo millioncopies inJapan.No softwareout therehas yetbeen approvedbythe FDAas atreatment forcognitive impairment,but anincreasing numberofreputable scientificstudies suggestthat programslike Merzenichs couldhelp slowdowntypical brain aging,or eventreat dementia.The biggestfinding inbrainresearch in the lastten yearsis thatthe brain at anyage ishighly adaptable,or“plastic,“as neurologistsput it.If youask your brain tolearn,it willlearn.And itmay speedup in the process.Nintendo任天堂日本电子游戏公司及其开发的电脑游戏名称FDA美食品及药物管理局Food andDrug Administrationcognitiveimpairment认知障碍；认知损害brain aging脑老化To keepyourbrainyoung andsupple,youcanpurchase softwarelike Merzenich,s,oryoucan doone ofa millionnew activitiesthat challengeand exciteyou:playingPing-Pong orcontract bridge,doing jigsaw puzzles,learning anew languageor thetango,taking accordionlessons,building akit airplane,mastering bonsaitechnique,discovering thesubtleties ofbeer-brewing and,sure,relearning differentialcalculus.supple adj.灵活的;柔软的jigsawpuzzles拼图游戏；拼图玩具uAnything thatclosely engagesyour focusand isstrongly rewarding,”saysMerzenich,will kickyourbrain into learning mode and necessarily notch it up.Forhis part,Merzenich,64,has“4,000hobbies,“including awood shopand avineyard.notch up完成

4.Stay CalmSoyoumaybe sayingto yourself,I haveto signup rightnow forSwahi1i andcalculusand accordionlessons beforemy brainwithers away!Stop!Breathe.Relax.Good.wither away枯萎;幻灭While challengingyourbrainis veryimportant,remaining calm is equallyso.In apaper on the brainand stress,Jeansok Kimof theUniversityofWashingtonasserts,in nouncertain terms,that traumaticstress isbad for your braincells.Stress can“disturb cognitiveprocesses such as learningand memory,andconsequently limitthe qualityof humanlife,“writes Kim.in nouncertain terms明确地One exampleis apart of thebraincalled thehippocampus,which isa primarylocusof memoryformation,but which can beseriously debilitatedby chronicstress.Of course,physical exerciseis alwaysa greatdestressor,as arecalmer activitieslikeyoga andmeditation.And whenyou lineupyourmental calisthenicsyour Swahi1iand swinglessons,make sureyoucanstay looseand havefun.

5.Give Ita RestPerhapsthemostextreme exampleof themental powerof stayingcalmisthecreative benefitof sleep.Next timeyoureworking on a complexproblem,whetherit bea calculusproof orchoosing theright carforyourfamily,it reallypaysto“sleep onit.”Researchers atHarvard MedicalSchool havelooked atthe conditionsunder whichpeoplecome upwith creativesolutions.In astudy involvingmath problems,theyfound thatagoodnight srest doubledparticipants,chances offinding acreativesolution to the problems the nextday.The sleepingbrain,they theorize,is vastlycapableof synthesizingcomplex information.

6.Laugh aLittleHumor stimulatesthe parts of ourbrain thatuse the“feel good”chemicalmessenger dopamine.That putslaughter in the categoryof activitiesyou wanttodo overand overagain,suchaseating chocolateor havingsex.Laughter ispleasurable,perhaps evenuaddictive,“to thebrain.But canhumor makeus smarterThe juryis stillout andmore studies are needed,but theinitial resultsare encouraging.Look fora featureon excitingnew researchabouthumor andintelligence inthe Septemberissue ofReaders Digest.

7.Get BetterWith AgeInour youth-obsessed culture,no ones suggestinga revisionto theConstitutionallowing20-year-olds torun forPresident.The agerequirement remainsat

35.Youve heardabout thewisdom andjudgment ofolder peopleScientists arestarting tounderstandhow wisdomworks ona neurologicallevel.run for竞选When you are older,explains Merzenich,“you haverecorded inyourbrainmillionsand millionsof littlesocial scenariosand facts”that youcan callupon atanytime.Furthermore,he notes,“youarea muchbetter synthesizerand integratorofthat information.”Older people are better at solving problems,because theyhave morementalinformation to draw upon than younger people do.That swhy thosein their50sand60saresage.They,re the ones weturn toforthebest advice,theoneswe wanttorun ourcompanies andour country.As BarryGordon,a neurologistat TheJohns HopkinsSchool ofMedicine andauthorof IntelligentMemory:Improve theMemory ThatMakes YouSmarter,puts it,It sniceto knowsome thingsget betterwith age.”Question time:

1.Why exercisemayforestallsome kindsof mentaldecline”

2.How totrain ourbrains tobe fasteraccording toDr.MichaelMerzenich

3.Why olderpeoplearebetteratsolvingproblems【参考答案】

1.Because studieshave shownthat amongotherbrainbenefits,aerobic exerciseincreasescapillary developmentinthebrain,meaning moreblood supply,morenutrients and—a bigrequirement forbrain health一more oxygen.

2.Anything thatclosely engagesyour focusand isstrongly rewardingwill kickourbrainintolearningmodeandnecessarilynotchitup.

3.Because theyhave moremental informationtodrawuponthanyoungerpeopledo.材料2Our visualperception dependson thereception of energy reflectingor radiatingfromthat whichwe wishto perceive.If oureyes couldreceive andmeasure infinitelydelicatesense-data,we couldperceive the world withinfinite precision.Thenatural limitsof oureyes have,of course,been extendedby mechanicalinstruments;telescopes andmicroscopes,for example,expand ourcapabilities greatly.There is,however,an ultimatelimit beyondwhich noinstrument cantake us;this limit isimposed byour inabilityto receivesense-data smallerthan thoseconveyed byanindividual quantumof energy.Si neethese quantaare believed tobe indivisiblepackagesof energyand socannot befurther refined,we reacha pointbeyond whichfurtherresolution of the worldis notpossible.It islike a drawing achild mightmakeby stickingindivisible discsof coloronto acanvas.We mightthink thatwe couldavoid thislimitation byusing quanta with extremelylong wavelengths;such quanta would besufficiently sensitiveto conveyextremelydelicate sense-data.And thesequantawould be useful,as longas weonly wantedtomeasure energy,but a completely accurateperception of the worldwill dependalsoontheexact measurementofthelengths and positions ofwhat wewish toperceive.For this,quanta of extremely long wavelengths areuseless.To measurealength accuratelyto withina millionthof an inch,we musthave ameasure graduatedinmillionths ofaninch;a yardstickgraduated in inches inuseless.Quanta withawavelength of one inchwou1d be,inasense,measures thatare graduatedin inches.Quanta of extremely long wavelength areuseless inmeasuring anythingexceptextremely largedimensions.Despite thesedifficulties,quanta haveimportant theoreticalimplications forphysics.It usedtobesupposed that,intheobservation ofnature,the universecouldbe dividedinto twodistinct parts,a perceivingsubject anda perceivedobject.In physics,subject and object weresupposed tobe entirelydistinct,so thatadescription ofany partoftheuniverse wou1dbeindependent ofthe observer.Thequantum theory,however,suggests otherwise,for everyobservation involvesthepassage ofacompletequantum fromthe objecttothesubject,and itnow appearsthatthis passageconstitutes animportant couplingbetween observer and observed.We canno longermake asharp divisionbetweenthetwo inan effortto observenatureobjectively.Such anattempt atobjectivity woulddistort thecrucialinterrelatioship ofobserverandobserved aspartsofa singlewhole.But,even forscientists,itisonly inthe worldof atomsthatthisnew developmentmakes anyappreciabledifference inthe explanationof observations.

1.The primarypurpose ofthe passageis toAdiscuss aproblem thathinders preciseperception ofthe worldBpoint outthe inadequaciesof acceptedunits ofmeasurementC criticizeattempts todistinguish betweenperceiving subjectsand perceivedobjectsDcompare andcontrast rivalscientific hypothesesabout howtheworldshouldbe measuredand observedEsuggest thelimited functionof sensoryobservation

2.According tothe passage,quantawithan extremely longwavelengthcannot beusedto givecomplete informationabout thephysical worldbecause theyAexist independentlyof sense-dataB aregraduated only in inchesChave aninsignificant amountof energyDcannot,with present-day instruments,be isolatedfrom quantaof shorterwavelengthEprovide aninsufficiently precisemeans ofmeasuring lengthand position3Which ofthe followingdescribes asituation mostanalogous tothe situationdiscussedin lines9-13A Amathematician canonly solveproblemsthesolution ofwhichcanbe deducedfromknown axiom.B Ananimal canrespond tono commandthat ismore complicatedsyntacticallythan anyit haspreviously received.C Aviewer whohas notlearned,at leastintuitively,the conventionsofpainting,cannot understandperspective inadrawing.D Asensitized filmwill recordno detailonascale thatis smallerthan thegrainofthefilm.E Ashadow castonascreen byan opaqueobject willhavesharpedge onlyifthe lightsource issmall orvery distant.

4.The authoruses theanalogy ofthe childs drawinglines17-19primarilyin ordertoA illustratethe ultimatelimitation inthe precisionof sense-data conveyedbyquantaB showthe senseof helplessnessscientists feelintheface ofsignificantobservational problemsCanticipate theobjections ofthe thosescientists whobelieve thatnoinstrumental aidto observationis entirelyreliableD exemplifythe similaritiesbetween packagesofenergyand varietiesof colorEdisparage thosescientists whobelieve thatmeasurement bymeans ofquantaoffers anaccurate pictureoftheworld

5.The authorimplies thatmaking asharp divisionbetween subjectandobjectinphysics isApossible ina measuremento objects lengthandposition,but notin ameasurementof itsenergyB stilltheoretically possible inthesmall-scale worldof atomsand electronsCpossibleinthe caseof observationsinvolving the passage ofa completequantumDno longeran entirelyaccurate wayto describeobservation ofthe universeEa goalat whichscientists stillaim

6.The authorsuse ofthe phrase“inasense”line34implies whichof thefollowingAQuanta ofextremely longwavelength areessentially graduatedin inches.B quantaof one-inch wavelengthare notprecisely analogousto yardsticksgraduatedininches.C Quantaofextremelylongwavelength,in atleast one respect,resemble quantaofshorter wavelength.D quantaofon-inch wavelengthand quantaofextremelylongwavelengthdo notdifferonlyintheir wavelengths.E quantaof one-inch wavelengthmust bemeasured bydifferent standardsthanquanta ofextremelylongwavelength.

7.According tothepassage,the quantumtheory canbe distinguishedfrom previoustheoriesof physicsby itsAinsistence onscrupulously precisemathematical formulations。