新東方：英語(yǔ)四級(jí)考試閱讀30天學(xué)習(xí)筆記

　　23. The findings of James and other scientists in their work _________.

　　A) remain a theory to be further proved

　　B) have been challenged by many other experts

　　C) are practised by the researchers themselves

　　D) have been generally accepted

　　24. Older people are generally advised to _________.

　　A) keep mentally active by challenging their brains

　　B) keep fit by going in for physical activities

　　C) maintain mental alertness through specific training

　　D) maintain a balance between individual and group activities

　　25. What is the passage mainly about?

　　A) How biochemical changes occur in the human brain.

　　B) Why people should receive special mental training as they age.

　　C) How intellectual activities influence brain-cell health.

　　D) Why people should keep active not only physically but also mentally.

　　Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage:

　　Researchers have established that when people are mentally engaged, biochemical changes occur in the brain that allow it to act more effectively in cognitive (認(rèn)知的) areas such as attention and memory. This is true regardless of age.

　　注：1."it"指代"brain"

　　2.mentally engaged 動(dòng)腦筋，思考問(wèn)題

　　3.第一句是主題句

　　People will be alert (警覺(jué)的) and receptive (愿意接受的) if they are faced with information that gets them to think about things they are interested in. And someone with a history of doing more rather than less will go into old age more cognitively sound than someone who has not had an active mind.

　　注：1.第一段 attention and memory 對(duì)應(yīng) alert and receptive

　　2.active mind 思維活躍

　　3.sound adj.健康的

　　Many experts are so convinced of the benefits of challenging the brain that they are putting the theory to work in their own lives. "The idea is not necessarily to learn to memorize enormous amounts of information," says James Fozard, associate director of the National Institute on Aging. "Most of us don't need that kind of skill. Such specific training is of less interest than being able to maintain mental alertness." Fozard and others say they challenge their brains with different mental skills, both because they enjoy them and because they are sure that their range of activities will help the way their brains work.

　　注：1.convince 相信，確信

　　2.雙引號(hào)之內(nèi)句子不重要

　　3.be less interest than 某事好處不如某事好處多

　　Gene Cohen, acting director of the same institute, suggests that people in their old age should engage in mental and physical activities individually as well as in groups. Cohen says that we are frequently advised to keep physically active as we age, but older people need to keep mentally active as well. Those who do are more likely to maintain their intellectual abilities and to be generally happier and better adjusted. "The point is, you need to do both," Cohen says. "Intellectual activity actually influences brain-cell health and size."

　　注：1.本段第二句中but之前是大眾觀點(diǎn)， 后面是作者觀點(diǎn)

　　2.age v. 變老