必胜高考网_全国高考备考和志愿填报信息平台

必勝高考網(wǎng) > 外語(yǔ)類 > 英語(yǔ)四級(jí) > 閱讀理解 >

四級(jí)快速閱讀精選閱讀練習(xí)

時(shí)間: 焯杰2 閱讀理解

  differential calculus [數(shù)]微積分;微分學(xué)

  chaos theory 混沌理論

  pump up 給……打氣;加速

  aerobic exercise 有氧運(yùn)動(dòng)

  Mark McDaniel, PhD, professor of psychology at Washington University in St. Louis, agrees, but adds, “I would suggest a combined program of aerobics and weight training. Studies show the best outcomes for those engaged in both types of exercise.”

  As we age, our brain cells, called neurons, lose the tree-branch-like connections between them. These connections, or synapses, are essential to thought. Quite literally, over time, our brains lose their heft. Perhaps the most striking brain research today is the strong evidence we now have that “exercise may forestall some kinds of mental decline,” notes McDaniel. It may even restore memory. Myriad animal studies have shown that, among other brain benefits, aerobic exercise increases capillary development in the brain, meaning more blood supply, more nutrients and — a big requirement for brain health — more oxygen.

  forestall v. 壟斷;預(yù)先阻止

  mental decline 智力下降

  The preeminent exercise and brain-health researcher in humans is Arthur Kramer at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. In a dozen studies over the past few years, with titles such as “Aerobic Fitness Reduces Brain Tissue Loss in Aging Humans,” Kramer and his colleagues have proved two critical findings: Fit people have sharper brains, and people who are out of shape, but then get into shape, sharpen up their brains. This second finding is vital. There’s no question that working out makes you smarter, and it does so, Kramer notes, at all stages of life. Just as important, exercise staves off heart disease, obesity, diabetes and other maladies that increase the risk of brain problems as we age.

  preeminent adj. 卓越的

  a dozen 一打;十二個(gè)

  out of shape (身體)走形;變樣

  sharpen up 使……更敏銳;認(rèn)真思考

  stave off 避開;延緩

  2. Feed It

  Another path to a better brain is through your stomach. We’ve all heard about antioxidants as cancer fighters. Eating foods that contain these molecules, which neutralize harmful free radicals, may be especially good for your brain too. Free radicals have nothing to do with Berkeley politics and everything to do with breaking down the neurons in our brains. Many colorful fruits and vegetables are packed with antioxidants, as are some beans, whole grains, nuts and spices.

  neutralize v. 抵消;中和;使……中立

  have nothing to do with 與……無(wú)關(guān)

  be packed with 擠滿;塞滿;充滿

  More important, though, is overall nutrition. In concert with a good workout routine, you should eat right to avoid the diseases that modern flesh is heir to. High blood pressure, diabetes, obesity and high cholesterol all make life tough on your brain, says Carol Greenwood, PhD, a geriatric research scientist at the University of Toronto.

  in concert with 和…相呼應(yīng);與…合作;和…一致

  flesh is heir to 人所難免[共有]的

  If your diet is heavy, then you’re probably also heavy. The same weight that burdens your legs on the stairs also burdens your brain for the witty reply or quick problem solving. The best things you can eat for your body, Greenwood notes, are also the best things you can eat for your brain. Your brain is in your body, after all. Greenwood’s recommendation is to follow the dietary guidelines from the American Diabetes Association (available at diabetes.org).

  3. Speed It Up

  Sorry to say, our brains naturally start slowing down at the cruelly young age of 30 (yes, 30). It used to be thought that this couldn’t be helped, but a barrage of new studies show that people of any age can train their brains to be faster and, in effect, younger. “Your brain is a learning machine,” says Michael Merzenich, PhD, a neuroscientist at the University of California, San Francisco. Given the right tools, we can train our brains to act like they did when we were younger. All that’s required is dedicated practice: exercises for the mind.

  a barrage of 大量的

  in effect 實(shí)際上

  Merzenich has developed a computer-based training regimen to speed up how the brain processes information (positscience.com). Since much of the data we receive comes through speech, the Brain Fitness Program works with language and hearing to improve both speed and accuracy. Over the course of your training, the program starts asking you to distinguish sounds (between “dog” and “bog,” for instance) at an increasingly faster rate. It’s a bit like a tennis instructor, says Merzenich, shooting balls at you faster and faster over the course of the summer to keep you challenged. Though you may have started out slow, by Labor Day you’re pretty nimble.

  nimble adj. 敏捷的;聰明的

  Similarly, Nintendo was inspired by the research of a Japanese doctor to develop a handheld game called Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day, which has sold more than two million copies in Japan. No software out there has yet been approved by the FDA as a treatment for cognitive impairment, but an increasing number of reputable scientific studies suggest that programs like Merzenich’s could help slow down typical brain aging, or even treat dementia. The biggest finding in brain research in the last ten years is that the brain at any age is highly adaptable, or “plastic,” as neurologists put it. If you ask your brain to learn, it will learn. And it may speed up in the process.

  Nintendo 任天堂(日本電子游戲公司及其開發(fā)的電腦游戲名稱)

  FDA (美)食品及藥物管理局(Food and Drug Administration)

  cognitive impairment 認(rèn)知障礙;認(rèn)知損害

  brain aging 腦老化

  To keep your brain young and supple, you can purchase software like Merzenich’s, or you can do one of a million new activities that challenge and excite you: playing Ping-Pong or contract bridge, doing jigsaw puzzles, learning a new language or the tango, taking accordion lessons, building a kit airplane, mastering bonsai technique, discovering the subtleties of beer-brewing and, sure, relearning differential calculus.

  supple adj. 靈活的;柔軟的

  jigsaw puzzles 拼圖游戲;拼圖玩具

  “Anything that closely engages your focus and is strongly rewarding,” says Merzenich, will kick your brain into learning mode and necessarily notch it up. For his part, Merzenich, 64, has “4,000 hobbies,” including a wood shop and a vineyard.

  notch up 完成

  4. Stay Calm

  So you may be saying to yourself, I have to sign up right now for Swahili and calculus and accordion lessons before my brain withers away! Stop! Breathe. Relax. Good.

  wither away 枯萎;幻滅

  While challenging your brain is very important, remaining calm is equally so. In a paper on the brain and stress, Jeansok Kim of the University of Washington asserts, in no uncertain terms, that traumatic stress is bad for your brain cells. Stress can “disturb cognitive processes such as learning and memory, and consequently limit the quality of human life,” writes Kim.

  in no uncertain terms 明確地

  One example is a part of the brain called the hippocampus, which is a primary locus of memory formation, but which can be seriously debilitated by chronic stress. Of course, physical exercise is always a great destressor, as are calmer activities like yoga and meditation. And when you line up your mental calisthenics (your Swahili and swing lessons), make sure you can stay loose and have fun.

  5. Give It a Rest

  Perhaps the most extreme example of the mental power of staying calm is the creative benefit of sleep. Next time you’re working on a complex problem, whether it be a calculus proof or choosing the right car for your family, it really pays to “sleep on it.”

  Researchers at Harvard Medical School have looked at the conditions under which people come up with creative solutions. In a study involving math problems, they found that a good night’s rest doubled participants’ chances of finding a creative solution to the problems the next day. The sleeping brain, they theorize, is vastly capable of synthesizing complex information.

  6. Laugh a Little

  Humor stimulates the parts of our brain that use the “feel good” chemical messenger dopamine. That puts laughter in the category of activities you want to do over and over again, such as eating chocolate or having sex. Laughter is pleasurable, perhaps even “addictive,” to the brain.

  But can humor make us smarter? The jury is still out and more studies are needed, but the initial results are encouraging. Look for a feature on exciting new research about humor and intelligence in the September issue of Reader’s Digest.

  7. Get Better With Age

  In our youth-obsessed culture, no one’s suggesting a revision to the Constitution allowing 20-year-olds to run for President. The age requirement remains at 35. You’ve heard about the wisdom and judgment of older people? Scientists are starting to understand how wisdom works on a neurological level.

  run for 競(jìng)選

  When you are older, explains Merzenich, “you have recorded in your brain millions and millions of little social scenarios and facts” that you can call upon at any time. Furthermore, he notes, “you are a much better synthesizer and integrator of that information.”

  Older people are better at solving problems, because they have more mental information to draw upon than younger people do. That’s why those in their 50s and 60s are sage. They’re the ones we turn to for the best advice, the ones we want to run our companies and our country.

  As Barry Gordon, a neurologist at The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and author of Intelligent Memory: Improve the Memory That Makes You Smarter, puts it, “It’s nice to know some things get better with age.”

  Question time:

  1. Why "exercise may forestall some kinds of mental decline"?

  2. How to train our brains to be faster according to Dr. Michael Merzenich?

  3. Why older people are better at solving problems?

  參考答案

  1. Because studies have shown that among other brain benefits, aerobic exercise increases capillary development in the brain, meaning more blood supply, more nutrients and — a big requirement for brain health — more oxygen.

  2. Anything that closely engages your focus and is strongly rewarding will kick our brain into learning mode and necessarily notch it up.

  3. Because they have more mental information to draw upon than younger people do.

62000 主站蜘蛛池模板: 步进电机_agv电机_伺服马达-伺服轮毂电机-和利时电机 | 黑龙江京科脑康医院-哈尔滨精神病医院哪家好_哈尔滨精神科医院排名_黑龙江精神心理病专科医院 | 兰州UPS电源,兰州山特UPS-兰州万胜商贸 | 小型手持气象站-空气负氧离子监测站-多要素微气象传感器-山东天合环境科技有限公司 | 天一线缆邯郸有限公司_煤矿用电缆厂家_矿用光缆厂家_矿用控制电缆_矿用通信电缆-天一线缆邯郸有限公司 | 杜康白酒加盟_杜康酒代理_杜康酒招商加盟官网_杜康酒厂加盟总代理—杜康酒神全国运营中心 | 恒温恒湿箱(药品/保健品/食品/半导体/细菌)-兰贝石(北京)科技有限公司 | 【同风运车官网】一站式汽车托运服务平台,验车满意再付款 | 实木家具_实木家具定制_全屋定制_美式家具_圣蒂斯堡官网 | 中式装修设计_全屋定制家具_实木仿古门窗花格厂家-喜迎门 | 蒸汽吸附分析仪-进口水分活度仪|康宝百科 | 【直乐】河北石家庄脊柱侧弯医院_治疗椎间盘突出哪家医院好_骨科脊柱外科专业医院_治疗抽动症/关节病骨伤权威医院|排行-直乐矫形中医医院 | 华溶溶出仪-Memmert稳定箱-上海协烁仪器科技有限公司 | 工业电炉,台车式电炉_厂家-淄博申华工业电炉有限公司 | 展厅设计公司,展厅公司,展厅设计,展厅施工,展厅装修,企业展厅,展馆设计公司-深圳广州展厅设计公司 | 首页-浙江橙树网络技术有限公司| 福州仿石漆加盟_福建仿石漆厂家-外墙仿石漆加盟推荐铁壁金钢(福建)新材料科技有限公司有保障 | 创客匠人-让IP变现不走弯路| 防勒索软件_数据防泄密_Trellix(原McAfee)核心代理商_Trellix(原Fireeye)售后-广州文智信息科技有限公司 | 板式换网器_柱式换网器_自动换网器-郑州海科熔体泵有限公司 | 京马网,京马建站,网站定制,营销型网站建设,东莞建站,东莞网站建设-首页-京马网 | b2b网站大全,b2b网站排名,找b2b网站就上地球网 | 岸电电源-60HZ变频电源-大功率变频电源-济南诚雅电子科技有限公司 | 警用|治安|保安|不锈钢岗亭-售货亭价格-垃圾分类亭-移动厕所厂家-苏州灿宇建材 | 北京四合院出租,北京四合院出售,北京平房买卖 - 顺益兴四合院 | 北京公司注册_代理记账_代办商标注册工商执照-企力宝 | 淄博不锈钢无缝管,淄博不锈钢管-鑫门物资有限公司 | 台湾阳明固态继电器-奥托尼克斯光电传感器-接近开关-温控器-光纤传感器-编码器一级代理商江苏用之宜电气 | TPU薄膜_TPU薄膜生产厂家_TPU热熔胶膜厂家定制_鑫亘环保科技(深圳)有限公司 | 上海盐水喷雾试验机_两厢式冷热冲击试验箱-巨怡环试 | 沈阳液压泵_沈阳液压阀_沈阳液压站-沈阳海德太科液压设备有限公司 | 制样机-密封锤式破碎机-粉碎机-智能马弗炉-南昌科鑫制样 | 山西3A认证|太原AAA信用认证|投标AAA信用证书-山西AAA企业信用评级网 | 智慧养老_居家养老_社区养老_杰佳通 | 派财经_聚焦数字经济内容服务平台 | 全自动端子机|刺破式端子压接机|全自动双头沾锡机|全自动插胶壳端子机-东莞市傅氏兄弟机械设备有限公司 | 精密模具-双色注塑模具加工-深圳铭洋宇通 | 净化板-洁净板-净化板价格-净化板生产厂家-山东鸿星新材料科技股份有限公司 | 钢格板_钢格栅_格栅板_钢格栅板 - 安平县鑫拓钢格栅板厂家 | 艾默生变频器,艾默生ct,变频器,ct驱动器,广州艾默生变频器,供水专用变频器,风机变频器,电梯变频器,艾默生变频器代理-广州市盟雄贸易有限公司官方网站-艾默生变频器应用解决方案服务商 | 菲希尔FISCHER测厚仪-铁素体检测仪-上海吉馨实业发展有限公司 |