Learning to play a musical instrument can change your brain, with a US review finding musical training can lead to improved speech and foreign language skills.
Although it was suggested in the past that listening to Mozart’s music or other classical music could make you smarter, there has been little evidence to show that music can boost(使增长) brain power.
But a data-driven review by Northwestern University has pulled reaserch together that links musical training to learning that spills over into (波及) skills including language, speech, memory, attention and even vocal emotion.
Researcher Nina Kraus said the data strongly suggested that the nervous connections made during musical training also prepared the brain for other aspects of human communication.
“ The effect of musical training suggests that, like physical exercise and its effect on body fitness, music is a resource that tones the brain for auditory fitness and thus requires society to re-examine the role of music in shaping individual development, ” the researchers said in their study.
Kraus said learning musical sounds could improve the brain’s ability to adapt and change and also enable the nervous system to provide constructing patterns that are important to learning.
The study, published in Nature Review Neuroscience , looked at the explosion of research in recent years focusing on the effect of musical training on the nervous system which could have impacts for education.
The study found that playing an instrument prepares the brain to choose what is related in a complex process that may involve reading or remembering a score, timing issues and coordination with other musicians.What is the text mainly about ?
| A．The effect of physical exercise. | B．The researcher named Kraus. |
| C．The benefit of musical training. | D．Musicians’ improved skills. |
The underlined word “ auditory ” in Paragraph 5 probably means “ __________”.
| A．of the body | B．connected with seeing |
| C．of the mind | D．connected with hearing |
It was believed but not proved that listening to classical music could __________.
| A．add to your intelligence | B．improve your speech |
| C．boost your memory | D．make you think faster |
According to Kraus, musical training contributes to the following EXCEPT __________.
| A．body fitness | B．the way to speak |
| C．langugage learning | D．mental concentration |
The greatest recent social changes have been in the lives of women. During the twentieth century there has been a remarkable shortening of the proportion of a woman's life spent in caring for the children. A woman marrying at the end of the nineteenth century would probably have been in her middle twenties, and would be likely to have seven or eight children, four or five of whom lived till they were five years old. By the time the youngest was fifteen, the mother would have been in her early fifties and would expect to live a further twenty years, during which health made it unusual for her to get paid work. Today women marry younger and have fewer children. Usually a woman's youngest child will be fifteen when she is forty-five years and can be expected to live another thirty-five years and is likely to take paid work until retirement at sixty. Even while she has to take care of children, her work is lightened by modern living conditions.
This important change in women's life-patterns has only recently begun to have its full effect on women's economic position. Even a few years ago most girls took a full-time job after they left school. However, when they married, they usually left work at once and never returned to it. Today the school- leaving age is sixteen; many girls stay at school after that age, and though women usually marry older, more married women stay at work at least until shortly before their first child is born. Many more afterwards return to full-or-part-time work. Such changes have led to a new relationship in marriage, with the husband accepting a greater share of the duties and satisfactions of family life, and with both husband and wife sharing more equally in providing the money, and running the home, according to the abilities and interests of each of them.At what age did most women marry around the 1890 according to the passage?
| A．At about twenty-five | B．In their earl fifties |
| C．At the age of fifteen | D．At any age from fifteen to forty-five |
Many girls, the passage claims, are now likely to_______.
| A．give up their jobs for good after they are married |
| B．leave school as soon as they can |
| C．marry so that they can get a job |
| D．continue working until they are going to have a baby |
When she was over fifty, a late nineteenth-century mother ______.
| A．was usually expected to die fairly soon |
| B．would expect to work until she died |
| C．would be healthy enough to take up paid jobs |
| D．was less likely to find a job even if she wanted to |
Nowadays, a husband tends to_______.
| A．play a greater part in looking after the children |
| B．help his wife by doing much of the housework |
| C．feel dissatisfied with his role in the family |
| D．take a part-time job so that he can help in the home |
My brother Ron joined the US army a few years ago. Most girls, especially those who are my age, are thrilled by anything that has to do with the “army”. It’s a novelty to them to shoot a gun, jump out of a plane, and wear uniform.
Now I know you’re thinking that I must find it really cool to know a solider, who’s my brother. That’s wrong, before I found out that my brother joined the army, I was crazy about the army. Firstly, I wanted to go to college, knew that joining the army was probably the only way I could get it as my parents couldn’t afford it. Additionally there were all the other points of the army that grabbed my heart. I wanted the challenge, I wanted the discipline and I wanted the feeling that I would be doing something beyond the ability of average citizen.
But as soon as my brother joined the army, all those things fell away. All I saw were dead people, guns shooting, tanks turning into a ball of fire, tents burning, and lots of blood. It was so horrible. When Ron went to Iraq, I freaked out whenever I didn’t hear from him for more than a week. I kept up with the news, reading the latest newspaper and listening to the hourly reports. And every time I heard that an American solider was killed, I prayed, it’ wasn’t Ron.
I’m proud of my brother for serving our country, and his willingness to devote his life to something he finds important. It’s great to see how discipline and mature he’s got, and I’m glad he has his college paid for. But although I am proud, I gladly give up the “coolness” of having a brother in the army. I would be perfectly all right if I had never seen that uniform on him, and he was just a plain old “boring” brother.
I love my brother, and I’m proud of him, but I want him back home!What did the writer think of the army before Ron joined?
| A．Joining the army was more beneficial than going to college. |
| B．Joining the army was a good choice for those who couldn’t afford college education. |
| C．Joining the army was meant risking one’s life for something important, |
| D．Joining the army did more harm than good. |
After Ron joined the army, the writer .
| A．decide to join the army one day |
| B．became afraid of seeing soldiers |
| C．often showed off Ron in front of friends |
| D．became aware of the danger of joining the army |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Peace or war? |
| B．Life in the army |
| C．Having a soldier in the family |
| D．A choice between your life and your dream |
Stop Spam!
When I first got an e-mail account ten years ago, I received communications only from family, friends, and colleagues. Now it seems that every time I check my e-mail, I have an endless series of advertisements and other correspondence that do not interest me at all. If we want e-mail to continue to be useful, we need specific laws that make spamming (发送垃圾邮件) a crime.
If lawmakers do not do something soon to prohibit spam, the problem will certainly get much worse. Computer programs allow spammers to send hundreds of millions of e-mails almost instantly. As more and more advertisers turn to spam to sell their products, individual (个人的) e-mail boxes are often flooded with spam e-mails. Would people continue to use e-mail if they had to deal with an annoying amount of spam each time?
This problem is troubling for individuals and companies as well. Many spam e-mails contain computer viruses that can shut down the entire network of a company. Companies rely on e-mail for their employees to communicate with each other. Spam frequently causes failures in their local communications networks, and their employees are thus unable to communicate effectively. Such a situation results in a loss of productivity and requires companies to repeatedly repair their networks. These computer problems raise production costs of companies, which are, in the end, passes on to the consumer.
For these reasons, I believe that lawmakers need to legislate (立法) against spam. Spammers should be fined, and perhaps sent to prison if they continue to disturb people. E-mail is a tool which helps people all over the world to communicate conveniently, but spam is destroying this convenience.What does the underlined word “correspondence” in the Paragraph 1 probably mean?
| A．messages | B．ideas | C．connections | D．programs |
According to the text, what is the major cause of the flooding spam?
| A．Companies rely on e-mail for communications. |
| B．More people in the world communicate by e-mails. |
| C．Many computer viruses contain spam e-mail. |
| D．More advertisers begin to promote sales through spam. |
According to Paragraph 3, who is the final victim of spam?
| A．The business | B．The advertiser. |
| C．The employee | D．The consumer. |
What is the purpose of the text?
| A．To inform. | B．To educate. | C．To persuade. | D．To instruct. |
| BORDER CROSSINGS While there are no restrictions on the amount of money that you can bring across the border, you must report to both the US and Canadian border services amounts equal to or greater than $10.000. PERSONAL EXEMPTIONS（免税）ON PURCHASES AMERICANS RETURNING TO THE US Less than 48 hours: $ 200 US 48 hours or more: $ 800 US duty-free personal exemption. next $ 1.000 US at 3% Including up to 100 cigars and 100 cigarettes. CANADIANS RETURNING TO CANADA Less than 24 hours: $ 50 CAN 48 hours or more: $ 400 CAN Including up to 100 cigars and 200 cigarettes. 7 days or more: $ 750 CAN Including up to 100 cigars and 200 cigarettes. DOCUMENTATION NEEDED FOR BORDER CROSSING LAND OR SEA TO THE US(INCLUDING FERRIES) A valid passport or passport card, or a NEXUS card. (A NEXUS card is a Trusted Traveler Program that provides quick travel for pre-approved, low risk travelers through special lanes.) A recent Washington State, New York or BC driver’s license. Note: Children 15 years of age and younger require only a birth certificate or copy.(Certified copies are not required but are advised.) AIR TRAVEL TO THE US A valid passport, an Air NEXUS card, or a U.S. Coast Guard Merchant Marine Document. |
If a Canadian who is on a 7-day trip to New York buys $ 800 CAN worth of goods, how much should he pay tax on when returning home?
| A．$ 800 CAN | B．$750 CAN | C．$ 400 CAN | D．$ 50 CAN |
For an American citizen on a 2-day tour of Canada, how much tax does he have to pay on $ 1.600 US worth of purchases when returning to the US?
| A．$ 24 US | B．$ 48 US | C．$52 US | D．$ 200 US |
What documentation should a couple with a 7-year-old child carry when they drive a car from Canada to America?
| A． A BC driver’s license, an Air NEXUS card, and a birth certificate. |
| B． An Air NEXUS card, a U.S. Coast Guard Merchant Marine Document, and a birth certificate. |
| C． Two valid passport cards and a certified copy of a birth certificate. |
| D．A NEXUS card, a U.S. Coast Guard Merchant Marine Document., and a certified copy of a birth certificate. |
Reading to dogs is an unusual way to help children improve their literacy skills. With their shining brown eyes, wagging tails, and unconditional love, dogs can provide the nonjudgmental listeners needed for a beginning reader to gain confidence, according to Intermountain Therapy Animals （ITA） in Salt Lake City. The group says it is the first program in the country to use dogs to help develop literacy in children, with the introduction of Reading Education Assistance Dogs（READ）.
The Salt Lake City Public Library is sold on the idea. “Literacy specialists admit that children who read below the level of their fellow pupils are often afraid of reading aloud in a group, often have lower self-respect, and regard reading as a headache,” said Lisa Myron, manager of the children’s department.
Last November, the two groups started “Dog Day Afternoon” in the children's department of the main library. About 25 children attended each of the four Saturday-afternoon classes, reading for half an hour. Those who attended three of the four classes received a “paw graphed” book at the last class.
The program was so successful that the library plans to repeat it in April, according to Dana Thumpowsky, public relations manager. What is mainly discussed in the text?
| A．Children’s reading difficulties. |
| B．Advantages of raising dogs. |
| C．Service in public library. |
| D．A special reading program. |
Specialists use dogs to listen to children reading because they think ______________.
| A．dogs are young children's best friends |
| B．children can play with dogs while reading |
| C．dogs can provide encouragement for shy children |
| D．children and dogs understand each other |
By saying “The Salt Lake City Public Library is sold on the idea”, the writer means the library ____________.
A. uses dogs to attract children.
B. accepts the idea put forward by ITA.
C. has opened a children's department.
D. has decided to train some dogs.A “paw graphed” book is most probably_____________.
| A．a book used in Saturday classes |
| B．a book written by the children |
| C．a prize for the children |
| D．a gift from parents |
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