题目内容
The high noise of modern life may affect speech and language development in the very young, according to a study that found the auditory (听觉的) parts of the brains of young mice are slower to organize properly in the presence of continuous sounds.
Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, reared a group of rats in an environment of continuous background noise and found that their brain circuits that receive and interpret (解释) sound did not develop at the same rate as animals that were raised in a quieter environment.?
Edward F. Chang and Michael Merzenich, co-authors of the study appearing in the journal Science, said that the continuous noise delayed the organization of auditory neurons (神经细胞) during a critical two-to-three-week period after the rat pups were born.?
For rats not exposed to the noise, the auditory cortex(皮层) neurons during this period gathered into a smaller area and began developing a selective response to sounds.?
But for the noise?exposed rats, this organization was slowed, causing a delay in the development of the ability to discriminate(辨别) specific sound tones. The researchers said it took three or four times longer for the rats raised in a noisy environment to reach the basic bench marks (基准) of auditory development seen in the rat pups not exposed to noises.?
Although the rat is not a perfect model for what happens in humans, the authors note, the study does suggest that high levels of noise might possibly affect some language learning in babies.?
“These findings suggest that environmental noise, which is commonly present in contemporary child-rearing environments, can potentially contribute to auditory and language-related development delays,”the authors wrote in Science.?
The authors noted that although the brain development was delayed in rats exposed to the noise, their brains did eventually mature (成熟的) normally.?
The scientists at California University studied rats_______.?
A. of different age groups B. with different habits?
C. in different environments D. from different areas?
The rats exposed to noise, compared to those not exposed, _______.?
A. were more sensitive B. were duller?
C. grew up more slowly D. gathered together more quickly
The result of the research mainly tells us that noise _______.
A. delays brain development B. stops baby growth
C. affects speech and language D. destroys brains?
【小题1】C
【小题2】B
【小题3】A
解析:
【小题1】从文章第二段内容可知,加利福尼亚大学的研究者们养了一些老鼠,进行实验。分别在不断的噪音和相对较安静的环境下进行实验。?
【小题2】 从文章第五段可以得出the rats exposed to noise要比the rats not exposed to noise反应迟钝。?
【小题3】 从最后—段内容可以得知,噪音延缓脑的发育。B项是明显错误的。不是毁坏脑子,而是延缓,可知D项是错误的。此题侧重的是对老鼠的实验结果,而C项是对这个结果的进—步推测,所以C是不对的。?
任务型阅读（共10小题；每小题1分，满分10分）
请认真阅读下列短文，并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入1个最恰当的单词。(Reuters) - A U.N. climate deal due to be agreed in Copenhagen at talks from December 7-18 may fall short of a legally binding(有约束力的) agreement. If Copenhagen fails to live up to hopes of a strong agreement to slow global warming, what are the reasons and who risks blame? The following are some of the candidates:
● Decline in economy distracted(分散) focus from climate change after the world agreed in Bali, Indonesia, in 2007 to work out a new U.N. agreement by December 2009. Rich nations have put billions of dollars into green growth as part of recovery packages but, when unemployment at home is high, find it hard to promise extra money for developing countries. The slowdown in industrial output means a brief fix -- greenhouse gas emissions(排放) are likely to fall by as much as 3 percent this year.
● Many delegates at U.N. talks have given up hope that the United States, the number two emitter after China, will agree legislation(立法, 法律) to limit carbon emissions before Copenhagen. The US is the only industrialized nation outside the Kyoto Protocol(京都协议书) for cutting greenhouse emissions until 2012. Many countries welcomed President Barack Obama's promises of doing more to fight climate change when he took office in January but hoped for swifter action.
● Developing nations accuse the rich of repeatedly failing to keep promises of more aid. Few developed countries live up to a target agreed by the U.N. General Assembly in 1970 to give 0.7 percent of their gross domestic product in development aid. Other plans, such as the Agenda 21 environmental development plan agreed in 1992, have fallen short.
● Most rich nations are promising cuts in greenhouse gas emissions well short of the 25-40 percent below 1990 levels by 2020, which are needed to avoid the worst of climate change. Overall cuts promised by developed nations total between 11 and 15 percent. Best offers by countries including Japan, the European Union, Australia and Norway would reach the range.
● More than 90 percent of the growth in emissions between now and 2030 is set to come from developing nations -- with almost 50 percent from China alone, U.S. climate envoy Todd Stern said this week. "No country holds the fate of the earth more in its hands than China. Not one," he said. China and India say they are slowing the growth of emissions but raising living standards is more important. So burning more energy is unavoidable -- as industrialized nations have done for 200 years.
● 2008 was the 10th warmest year since records began in the mid-19th century. The warmest was 1998, when a strong El Nino event in the eastern Pacific disrupted(使混乱) weather worldwide. That has led some to argue that global warming is slowing even though the U.N.'s WMO(世界气象组织) says a long-term warming trend is unchanged.
● People have been slow in changing lifestyles to use less carbon. Simple choices like taking more public transport, using less heating or air conditioning, even changing light bulbs can help if millions of people act.
Who's to blame if U.N. climate deal falls short?
| Possible candidates | Supporting Details |
| __71___downturn | ● Faced with the______72____ rising unemployment, rich countries fail to give more aid to developing ones. ●____73_____industrial output brings about a temporary relief from the pressure of greenhouse gas emissions. |
| United States | ● It’s the only industrialized country outside the Kyoto Protocol. ● Immediate____74____ was expected to be taken by President Obama to fight climate change. |
| Rich-Poor divide | ● Developed nations are____75____ by the poor for repeatedly breaking promises of aid. |
| Developed nations | ● There is a huge ____76____between the overall cuts promised by developed nations and those required to avoid climate catastrophe. |
| Developing nations | ● The increase in emissions from developing nations ____77____for 90% between now and 2030. ● Developing nations need to be given priority to raising living standards by burning more ___78____. |
| The weather | ● The worldwide disorder caused by El Nino has __79__some people into believing that global warming is slowing. |
| The public | ● People should be _80__to change lifestyles to use less carbon. |