A team of US psychologists have found that ta...

A team of US psychologists have found that talking to another person for ten minutes a day helps with memory.

"Socializing is just as effective as more traditional kinds of mental exercise in boosting memory and intellectual performance," Oscar Ybarra, a psychologist at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research, said in a statement.

In one investigation, they analyzed data on 3610 people, aged 24 to 96.

They found that the higher their level of social interaction (交流), the better their cognitive (认知的) functioning.  Social interaction includes getting together or having phone chats with relatives, freinds and neighbors.

In another experiment, the researchers conducted lab tests on 76 college students, aged 18 to 21, to evaluate how social interactions and intellectual exercises affected the results of memory and mental performance tests.

The students were divided into three groups: the social interaction group had a discussion of a social issue for 10 minutes before taking the tests; the intellectual activities group completed three tasks (including a reading comprehension exercise and a crossword puzzle) before the tests; and a control group (对照组) watched a 10-minute clip (电源片段) of the Seinfeld television show.

"We found that short-term social interaction lasting for just 10 minutes improved participants' intellectual performance as much as engaging in so-called 'intellectual' activities for the same amount of time," Ybarra said.

The study was expected to be published in the February issue of the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.

1.The underlined word "boosting" in the second paragraph can be replaced by ______.

2.Which is not included in social interaction?

3.What's the purpose of the experiment on 76 college students?

4.Which of the following questions may be asked in the social interaction group in the experiment?

5.What's the main idea of the passage?

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

An international team of researchers from the University of Oxford have found that the way people use the Internet is closely tied to the seasonal movements in the natural world. Their online species searches follow the patterns of seasonal animal migrations (迁徙).

Migratory birds ( 候 鸟 ) flood back to where they reproduce every spring. That migratory behavior is accompanied by some human behavior. “In English-language Wikipedia ( 维基百科), the online searches for migratory species tend to increase in spring when those birds arrive in the United States,” said the lead author John Mittermeier.

And not just birds. Mittermeier and his team surveyed nearly 2.5 billion Wikipedia search records, for 32,000 species, across 245 languages. They also saw variable search rates for insects, horsetails and flowering plants. Seasonal trends seemed to be widespread in Wikipedia behavior for many species of plants and animals.

This finding suggests new ways to monitor changes in the world’s biological diversity. It also shows new ways to see how much people care about nature, and which species and areas might be the most effective targets for conservation.

Mittermeier is encouraged by the search results. He commented, “I think there’s a concern among conservationists (生态环境保护者) that people are losing touch with the natural world and that they’re not interacting with native species anymore. And so in that sense, it was really exciting and quite unexpected for me to see people’s Wikipedia interest closely related to changes in nature.” Richard Grenyer, Associate Professor from the University of Oxford, says search data is useful to conservation biologists, “By using these big data approaches, we can direct our attention towards the difficult questions in modern conservation: which species and areas are changing, and where are the people who care the most and can do the most to help.”

1.What have researchers found about species searches?

A.They strengthen ties among people. B.They affect the animal movements.

C.They reflect animal migration seasons. D.They differ in language backgrounds.

2.What is the purpose of writing Paragraph 3?

A.To further support the research findings.

B.To show the variety of species searches.

C.To summarize the research process.

D.To present researchers’ heavy work load.

3.How does Mittermeier feel about the search results?

A.Sad about people’s not getting close to nature.

B.Worried about Wikipedia behavior.

C.Amazed at people’s care about nature.

D.Satisfied with Wikipedia’s service.

4.From which is the text probably taken?

A.A scientific magazine. B.A biology textbook.

C.A biography. D.A travel brochure .

高二英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析

Scientists, psychologists and English academics at Liverpool University have found that reading the works of the classical writers like Shakespeare and Wordsworth has a great effect on the mind, catches the reader’s attention and triggers moments of self-examination.

Using a special machine, they monitored the brain activity of 30 volunteers as they read works by William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth, T.S. Eliot and others.

In the first part of the research, the brain activity of 30 volunteers was monitored as they read passages from Shakespeare’s plays, including King Lear, Othello, Coriolanus and Macbeth, and again as they read the text rewritten in a simpler form or modern language.

While reading the common texts, normal levels of electrical activity were shown in their brains. When they read the works of Shakespeare, however, the levels of activity jumped because of his use of words which were unfamiliar to them. The result of the test showed that the more challenging passages cause a greater degree of electrical activity in the brain than the common ones.

Scientists went on to study the brain activity as it responded to each word and recorded how it lit up as the readers came across unusual words, surprising phrases or difficult sentences in the classical works. As a result, this lightening up process of the mind lasted longer than that when volunteers read common texts, encouraging further reading.

The research also found that reading poetry especially increases activity in the right hemisphere(半球) of the brain, an area connected with “autobiographical memory”, driving the readers to think carefully about their own experiences based on what they have read. The academics said this meant the classical works of literature are more useful than self-help books.

Philip Davis, an English professor who has worked on the study in the university’s magnetic resonance center, announced this week: “Classical literature acts like a rocket-booster（火箭加速器） to the brain, which provides extra power for the brain. You may never imagine how powerful it is. The research shows such kind of literature can create new thoughts and connections in the young and the old.”

1.The underlined word “trigger” in Paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to “______”.

A.depends on B.picks up

C.sets off D.changes into

2.Which of the following is NOT true about reading classical literature?

A.It makes readers’ brain more active than reading common texts.

B.It makes readers’ electrical activity of brain return to normal.

C.It’s helpful for readers to come up with new ideas.

D.It’s an activity that is suitable for people of all ages.

3.From the research, we can learn that ______.

A.the readers prefer Shakespeare’s works to the other writers’ works

B.the words of classical works make it hard for volunteers to read further

C.reading classical works produces a good and long-lasting effect on the mind

D.poetry increases left-brain activity more than other literary forms

4.What does the author mainly tell us in this passage?

A.Shakespeare’s plays deserve to be read.

B.Common books are unpopular anymore.

C.Poetry is best for developing people’s brain.

D.Classical works help the brain develop better.

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Mar Levine, ____ scientist at University of Pennsylvania, US, has found that competitive eaters have stomachs that can expand like ____ balloon.

高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

1.The teacher’s talk made us so _______ (鼓舞) that we were all eager to have a try.

2.His family was poor. Unfortunately his father died, leaving the family even w__________ off.

3.It rained; t_____________ the football match was put off until further notice.

4.Shaking the fist is a g ______ commonly used to express anger.

5.More and more people choose to shop in a supermarket because it offers a great v________ of goods.

6.It’s necessary for us young people to _______ (尊敬) the old.

7.It’s no use _________ (后悔)your past mistakes all the time.

8.As a man with a strong will, he finally ________ (克服)his disability.

9.As winter is a________ (接近), the weather is getting colder.

10.The t______ of the 2010 Shanghai World Expo is “Better City, Better Life

高二英语单词拼写中等难度题查看答案及解析

All of us found ______ difficult to work out the maths problem.

A. what            B. that           C. which          D. it

高二英语单项填空简单题查看答案及解析

Psychologists in Britain have said that the last full week of January is the most depressing time of the year, and have labeled the Monday of that week “Blue Monday”, the most depressing day of the year. Mondays are generally seen as the worst day of the week because people feel grumpy(烦躁的) and tired at having to go back to work after a weekend with a different sleep pattern.

There are various reasons why more people feel depressed at this time of year. Many people have unpaid credit card bills for the Christmas presents they bought. As the party season is over, people feel stressed because they have to go back to real life — work and commuting; they may be unhappy with their body image after eating too many cakes, chocolates, and other food at Christmas-time. People may have already failed in their New Year’s plans, such as giving up smoking. The bad weather in January can also contribute to people feeling fed up.

Some companies are taking this quite seriously and offering suggestions for all the staff who are feeling depressed. They hope that helping people as soon as there are signs of depression will keep people from taking time off. Evidence shows that unreasonable managers who contribute to their staff feeling fed up at this time can expect an uncooperative (不合作的) workforce.

However, it’s not all bad! Many people feel optimistic at this time — that things can only get better. Psychologists offer suggestions of how to fight against feeling blue. These include spending 15 minutes doing a “gratitude exercise”, thinking about and writing down what you are grateful for, such as health, family, friends and so on. Taking up a new hobby, doing some exercise, going to bed earlier, eating a healthy breakfast, and listening to some cheerful music are all recommended (推荐) as ways to feel more cheerful.

68. How many reasons are mentioned in this passage for feeling depressed in January?

A. 2.            B. 3.           C. 4.           D. 5.

69. We can learn from the passage that if we say someone is blue, we mean he is ______.

A. wearing blue clothes          B. feeling down

C. very scared                    D. very worried

70. What can we learn from the passage?

A. Everyone feels depressed during the last full week of January.

B. Many workers leave their jobs during the most depressing time of the year.

C. Some people are not sad in January as they know that all the following months will be better.

D. Psychologists are working hard on how to solve the “Blue Monday” problem.

高二英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析

Psychologists in Britain have said that the last full week of January is the most depressing time of the year, and have labeled the Monday of that week “Blue Monday”, the most depressing day of the year Mondays are generally seen as the worst day of the week because people feel grumpy(烦躁的) and tired at having to go back to work after a weekend with a different sleep pattern

There are various reasons why more people feel depressed at this time of year Many people have unpaid credit card bills for the Christmas presents they bought As the party season is over, people feel stressed because they have to go back to real life — work and commuting; they may be unhappy with their body image after eating too many cakes, chocolates, and other food at Christmas-time People may have already failed in their New Year’s plans, such as giving up smoking The bad weather in January can also contribute to people feeling fed up

Some companies are taking this quite seriously and offering suggestions for all the staff who are feeling depressed They hope that helping people as soon as there are signs of depression will keep people from taking time off Evidence shows that unreasonable managers who contribute to their staff feeling fed up at this time can expect an uncooperative (不合作的) workforce

However, it’s not all bad! Many people feel optimistic at this time — that things can only get better Psychologists offer suggestions of how to fight against feeling blue These include spending 15 minutes doing a “gratitude exercise”, thinking about and writing down what you are grateful for, such as health, family, friends and so on Taking up a new hobby, doing some exercise, going to bed earlier, eating a healthy breakfast, and listening to some cheerful music are all recommended (推荐) as ways to feel more cheerful

1.How many reasons are mentioned in this passage for feeling depressed in January?

A 2            B 3           C 4            D 5

2.We can learn from the passage that if we say someone is blue, we mean he is ______

A wearing blue clothes            B feeling down

C very scared                     D very worried

3.What can we learn from the passage?

A Everyone feels depressed during the last full week of January

B Many workers leave their jobs during the most depressing time of the year

C Some people are not sad in January as they know that all the following months will be better

D Psychologists are working hard on how to solve the “Blue Monday” problem

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

With the help of some students, I have found the _____ to the problem that we are short of seats for so many people.

A. way　　 B. place

C. step　　 D. solution

高二英语单项填空简单题查看答案及解析

Experts have found that the disease will lead to a greater increase in the number of sufferers unless ________ seriously when the symptom first appears.

A. treated　　　　　　　　　 B. to be treated

C. being treated　　　　　 D. be treated

高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析