Having a child may improve a woman’s memory, a new study suggests.
In the study, women who were new mothers scored better on tests of visuospatial memory – the ability to understand and remember information about their surroundings—compared with women who didn’t have children.
The findings contradicts the old belief that women develop“baby brain" or a decline in memory and cognitive(认知的) function, after they have kids, said study researcher Melissa Santiago, a doctoral student at Carlos Albizu University in Miami. “You don’t have to feel that because you have kids, your memory isn’t the same," Santiago said.
The study was small, and the findings will have to be tested in larger groups of people, Santiago said.
Previous studies on the topic have had mixed results—some showed motherhood hurts cognition, and others showed the opposite. Studies on rats show those with pups have better memory than those without offspring.
Santiago analyzed information from 35 first-time mothers whose children were ages 10 to 24 months, and 35 women who had never been pregnant. Both groups scored similarly on intelligence tests. The average age of mothers was 29 and the average age of never-pregnant women was 27.
To test visuospatial memory, the women were shown a paper containing six symbols for 10 seconds, and then asked to draw what they remembered. This task was repeated several times. The first time women were shown the paper, both groups remembered about the same amount. But on the second and third pass, mothers performed better than those without children, indicating that the mothers collected more information each time than the other women.
Later, the women were shown a variety of different symbols, and asked to remember which ones were presented on the earlier task. Mothers did not make a mistake in this task—they remembered every symbol correctly—but those without children made one or two errors, Santiago said. How did Santiago lead to the findings?
| A．By observation. |
B．By comparison. |
| C．By analyzing intelligence tests. |
D．By asking women questions. |
By saying “The study was small", what did Santiago mean?
| A．The study received little attention. |
| B．The study has just started. |
| C．The study was carried out among a small group of people. |
| D．A small group of researchers were involved in the study. |
Which of the following was discussed in the text?
| A．Ways to test visuospatial memory. |
| B．Why having kids improves memory. |
| C．How young mothers are different from never-pregnant women. |
| D．The negative effects that worries of women without children have. |
It can be inferred that Santiago believe the findings of the study_________.
| A．may cause a heated discussion among parents |
| B．may cause an increase in the birth rate |
| C．are tested by previous similar studies |
| D．are encouraging news for mothers |
A jobless man applied for the position of "office boy" at Microsoft. The manager interviewed him and then watched him cleaning the floor as a test.
"You are employed," he said. "Give me your e-mail address and I'll send you the application to fill in, as well as the date when you may start."
The man replied, "But I don't have an e-mail."
"I'm sorry," said the manager. "If you don't have an e-mail, that means you do not exist. And who doesn't exist cannot have the job."
The man left with no hope at all. He didn't know what to do, with only ten dollars in his pocket. He then decided to go to the supermarket and buy 10kg tomatoes. He then sold the tomatoes from door to door. In less than two hours, he succeeded to double his money. He repeated the practice three times, and returned home happily with 60 dollars.
The man realized that he can survive in this way, and started to go every day earlier and return late. Thus, his money doubled or tripled every day. Shortly, he bought a cart, then a truck, and then he had his own fleet of delivery vehicles. Five years later, the man is one of the biggest food retailers in the US.
He started to plan his family's future and decided to have a life insurance. He called an insurance broker (代理人) and chose a protection plan.
When the conversation was concluded, the broker asked him his e-mail. The man replied, "I don't have an e-mail."
The broker answered curiously, "You don't have an e-mail, and yet have succeeded to build an empire. Can you imagine what you could have been if you had an e-mail?" The man thought for a while and replied, "Yes, I'd be an office boy at Microsoft!"Why can't the man have the job at Microsoft?
| A．Because he was lazy. |
| B．Because he didn't pass the test. |
| C．Because he didn't have an e-mail. |
| D．Because he didn't have a computer. |
The underlined word "triple" in the passage can be replaced by "____".
| A．become twice |
| B．become 3 times |
| C．decrease twice |
| D．decrease 3 times |
Which of the following is TRUE?
| A．The man is one of the biggest food retailers in the world. |
| B．The man didn't give up though he failed the interview. |
| C．He started his career by selling tomatoes in the supermarket. |
| D．Those who have e-mails can work at Microsoft. |
The man can be described as ____.
| A．helpful and thoughtful |
| B．positive and generous |
| C．smart and hardworking |
| D．stubborn and selfish |
Which of the following can best describe the story?
| A．Misfortune may be an actual blessing. |
| B．A good beginning is half done. |
| C．Accidents will happen. |
| D．No pains, no gains. |
Is there anything more important than health? I don't think so. "Health is the greatest wealth(财富)," wise people say. You can't be good at your studies or work well when you are ill.
If you have a headache, toothache, backache, earache or bad pain in the stomach, if you complain of a bad cough, if you run a high temperature and have a bad cold, or if you suffer from high or low blood pressure, I think you should go to the doctor.
The doctor will examine your throat, feel your pulse, test your blood pressure, take your temperature, sound your heart and lungs, test your eyes, check your teeth or have your chest X-rayed. After that he will advise some treatment or some medicine. The only thing you have to do is to follow his advice.
Speaking about doctor's advice, I can't help telling you a funny story.
An old gentleman came to see the doctor. The man was very ill. He told the doctor about his weakness, memory loss and serious problems with his heart and lungs. The doctor examined him and said there was no medicine for his disease.
He told his patient to go to a quiet place for a month and have a good rest. He also advised him to eat a lot of meat, drink two glasses of red wine every day and take long walks. In other words, the doctor advised him to follow the rule-Eat at pleasure, drink with measure and enjoy life as it is. The doctor also said that if the man wanted to be well again, he shouldn't smoke more than one cigarette a day.
A month later the gentleman came into the doctor's office. He looked cheerful and happy. He thanked the doctor and said that he had never felt a healthier man.
"But you know, doctor," he said, "it's not easy to begin smoking at my age."The writer thinks that ____.
| A．health is more important than wealth |
| B．work is as important as studies |
| C．medicine is more important than pleasure |
| D．nothing is more important than money |
The doctor usually tells his patient what to do _____.
| A．without examining the patient |
| B．after he has examined the patient |
| C．if the patient doesn't take medicine |
| D．unless the patient feels painful |
The underlined part in the passage means "____".
| A．he was feeling better than ever |
| B．he will be well again |
| C．he was feeling worse than before |
| D．he wasn't a healthy man |
From the last sentence of the passage, we learn the man ____ before.
| A．was a heavy smoker |
| B．didn't smoke so much |
| C．didn't smoke at all |
| D．began to learn to smoke |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．The man thanked the doctor. |
| B．The man didn't follow the doctor's advice. |
| C．The man told the doctor he couldn't remember things. |
| D．The doctor usually tests his/her blood pressure when a person is ill. |
Habits, whether good or bad, are gradually formed. When a person does a certain thing again, he is driven by some unseen force to do the same thing repeatedly, then a habit is formed. Once a habit is formed, it is difficult, and sometimes impossible, to get rid of. It is therefore very important that we should pay great attention to the formation of habits. Children often form bad habits, some of which remain with them as long as they live. Older persons also form bad habits lasting as long as they live, and sometimes become ruined by them.
There are other habits which, when formed in early life, are of great help. Many successful men say that much of their success has something to do with certain habits in early life, such as early rising, honesty and so on.
Among the habits which children should not form are laziness, lying, stealing and so on. These are all easily formed habits. Unluckily older persons often form habits which could have been avoided.
We should keep away from all these bad habits, and try to form such habits as will be good for ourselves and others. ____ are formed litde by little.
| A．Good habits |
| B．Bad habits |
| C．Both good habits and bad habits |
| D．Either good habits or bad habits |
The underlined word "them" in the first paragraph refers to "____"
| A．bad habits | B．good habits | C．bad children | D．other persons |
Generally speaking, it's difficult for one _____ and easy for them _____ which should be avoided.
| A．to form bad habits; to form good habits |
| B．to form good habits; to form bad habits |
| C．to form good habits; to get rid of had habits |
| D．to get rid of bad habits: to form good habits |
Why should we pay much attention to the formation of habits?
| A．Because a man can never get rid of a habit. |
| B．Because we are forced to do them again and again. |
| C．Because habits are of great help to every one of us at present. |
| D．Because it's hard and sometimes even impossible to throw away bad habits. |
According to the passage, early rising _____.
| A．has something to do with success |
| B．is an easily formed habit |
| C．is such a habit as should have been avoided |
| D．is such a habit as won't be kept |
We can slow down aging. That is the message Dr. Shen Ziyin wants to give the world. And the Chinese doctor claims that he has found an answer to the problems of aging. His solution is a herbal medicine（草药）to slow the process of aging.
Dr. Shen Ziyin has been trained in Western medicine. At the same time he studied traditional Chinese medicine. And, he has been working for the past forty years to put together the best of both and find a cure for aging. He has taken a hint from the ancient Chinese medicine system called “Shen”.
According to Shen, it is the kidney（肾脏）which adjusts the functioning of the body as well as its aging process. It is responsible for the level of activity that the human bodies go through. Studies conducted by Dr. Shen show that herbal medicine based on the Shen system slows the aging process, says a report in the Telegraph newspaper. We notice that when people grow old, they have reduced strength, loss of hair, backache, weakness, wrinkles and so on. This happens because when people grow old, their bodies produce T-cells. These T-cells contain a particular substance called Fas. Fas makes the cells in the body destruct themselves.
So the only way to slow down aging is to slow the production of T-cells in the body. This can happen if people eat low calorie food. Then the body is not active enough to produce extra T-cells. But, is going hungry all the time a good price to pay for staying young? This is where Dr. Shen’s herbal medicine comes in. But how effective it will be, only time can tell. How did Dr. Shen find the solution to the problem of aging?
| A．By studying Western medicine. |
| B．By learning traditional Chinese medicine. |
| C．By combining both Western and Chinese medicine. |
| D．By doing research on both Western and Chinese people. |
What plays the most important role in keeping people young according to Shen?
| A．Medical treatment. |
| B．Positive life attitude. |
| C．People’s good kidney. |
| D．Level of people’s activity. |
The reason why people become old is that .
| A．their bodies produce T-cells |
| B．they become weaker and weaker |
| C．they have reduced strength, loss of hair |
| D．their bodies are unable to fight diseases |
We can probably learn from the passage that .
| A．producing more low calorie food allows people to keep young |
| B．it remains unknown how effective Dr. Shen’s herbal medicine is |
| C．people should try to quicken the production of T-cells in the body |
| D．the more Chinese herbal medicine people drink, the better for health |
As the summer time approaches, more and more commercials and advertisements can be seen on the mass media encouraging students to join English study tours abroad. The purpose of these tours is to provide students with an opportunity to learn English in a native speaking environment and use English in real situations. Parents always believe that their children will automatically speak good English after attending these study tours. However, for me, as an English major and former participant of many English study tours, I find these summer tours ineffective.
Parents who send their children abroad for a summer to study English usually believe that the native speaking environment, including the courses, teachers, and host families, can help their children to learn English better. This might be true if the students really study hard and they really get an all-English environment. But the fact is that, most of the time, the tour part is more important than the study part. Although these tours take place in foreign countries, students are rarely exposed in an all-English environment. You will find that, in the morning classes, Taiwanese students would like to stick together and speak Chinese with each other, even though there are some students from other countries. In the afternoon, the students go on a sightseeing excursion with their companions from Taiwan; they speak Chinese of course. In the evening, when students return to the host families, they would stay in their room and share the day with their roommate, another Taiwanese student. People who speak the same language with you is like a log（原木）in the ocean when living in a foreign country where you can not express yourself well, so that you would naturally stick with them. This is especially true with children.
Another unrealistic expectation parents have for these tours is that the experience of living abroad can make their children more independent and mature. However, maturity does not come overnight. It takes time and practice. The most important of all is that they need a good mentor（顾问）. None of these exist in the study tours. Which of the following is the most important thing for children who study in an English environment according to the writer?
| A．Host families. | B．Hard work. | C．Courses. | D．Teachers. |
The underlined word “mature” in the last paragraph probably means .
| A．active | B．free | C．outgoing | D．grown-up |
What’s the author’s attitude towards the English study tours abroad?
| A．Doubtful. | B．Negative. | C．Positive. | D．Neutral. |
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