Question

【题目】阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。

New research shows that kids from low-income families may be falling behind their peers because an important part of their brains is underdeveloped.

Researchers from MIT’ s McGovern Institute for Brain Research compared the brains of 12-and 13-year-olds from rich families with the brains of their peers from lower-income families. They found that one particular area of the brain—the neocortex(新皮质),which plays a key role in memory and learning ability—is thinner in children from lower-income households.

This is a crucial part of the brain for young students, who are often tested based on their ability to recall large chunks of information. Children who had a thinner neocortex performed poorly on standardized tests,researchers found.More than 90% of high-income students scored above average on a statewide math and English/Language Arts standardized test,compared with less than 60% of low-income students.Differences in cortical(脑皮层) thickness could account for almost half of the income-achievement gap in this sample,researchers wrote.

“Just as you would expect, there’ s a real cost not living in a supportive environment. We can see it not only in test scores,in educational attainment,but within the brains of these children,”says psychological scientist John Gabrieli,a professor of brain and cognitive sciences at MIT and one of the study’s authors.

Since a 2011 study published by Stanford University professor Sean Reardon found that the gap between standardized test scores of high-income and low-income students has grown by about 40% since the 1960s,there’ s been a lot of research aimed at finding links between income and achievement, rather than race alone. The MIT study found low-income children were equally likely to have a thinner neocortex,no matter their races.

Gabrieli and his co-authors can’ t say exactly why poor children’ s brains develop differently because there are too many possibilities to count.Their findings do,however,underline the importance of early intervention(干预) to ensure that low-income kids get the tools they need to succeed.

【1】What’ s the function of the first paragraph?

A. To list some findings.

B. To give some advice.

C. To do some comparisons.

D. To show the main idea of the text.

【2】What does the underlined word “crucial” in Paragraph 3 mean?

A. Special. B. Important.

C. Separate. D. Unknown.

【3】What John Gabrieli says in Paragraph 4 mainly shows the importance of 　　　.

A. cognitive ability

B. educational attainment

C. having developed brains

D. living in supportive surroundings

【4】What is the main idea of the passage?

A.Wealthy parents do better in raising children.

B.Differences exist between poor children and rich ones.

C.Poor children study harder due to their financial conditions.

D.Poor children have thinner neocortex than their wealthy peers.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】D

【2】B

【3】D

【4】D

【解析】

试题分析：本文属于科普说明文阅读，来自低收入家庭的孩子可能会落后同龄人，主要是因为大脑中的the neocortex(新皮质)更薄，而这种物质对于记忆以及学习能力至关重要。

【1】D 推理判断题。本文第一段New research shows that kids from low-income families may be falling behind their peers because an important part of their brains is underdeveloped.是文章的主题段，直接告诉我们一项研究成果：因为大脑中一个重要的部分没有发育成熟，低收入家庭的孩子可能会落后同龄人。所以本段的目的就是为了说明中心思想，故D正确。

【2】B 词义猜测题。根据第二段最后一句They found that one particular area of the brain—the neocortex(新皮质),which plays a key role in memory and learning ability—is thinner in children from lower-income households.可知这种新皮质在记忆以及学习能力方面起着关键的作用，所以它是人脑中一种非常重要的部分。故B正确。

【3】D 推理判断题。根据本段第一句“Just as you would expect, there’ s a real cost not living in a supportive environment. We can see it not only in test scores, in educational attainment, but within the brains of these children,”可知在一个supportive environment中，不仅仅对考试成绩有很大帮助，而且对孩子的头脑发展也有很大的帮助。所以本段是在说明supportive environment的重要性，故D项正确。

【4】D 主旨大意题。根据文章第二段最后一句They found that one particular area of the brain—the neocortex(新皮质),which plays a key role in memory and learning ability—is thinner in children from lower-income households可知低收入家庭的孩子可能会落后同龄人，主要是因为大脑中的the neocortex(新皮质)更薄。故D项正确。