Motherhood may make women smarter and may help prevent dementia(痴呆) in old age by bathing the brain in protective hormones(荷尔蒙) , U.S. reseachers reported on Thursday.

Tests on rats show that those who raise two or more litters of pups do considerably better in tests of memory and skills than rats who have no babies, and their brains show changes that suggest they may be protected against diseases such as Alzheimer’s(早老痴呆症). University of Richmond psychology professor Craig Kinsley believes his findings will translate into humans.

“Our research shows that the hormones of pregnancy(怀孕) are protecting the brain, including estrogen(雌激素), which we know has many neuroprotective (保护神经的) effects,” Kinsley said.  

“It’s rat data but humans are mammals just like these animals are mammals,” he added in a telephone interview. “They go through pregnancy and hormonal changes.”

Kinsley said he hoped public health officials and researchers will look to see if having had children protects a woman from Alzheimer’s and other forms of age-related brain decline.

“When people think about pregnancy, they think about what happens to babies and the mother from the neck down,” said Kinsley, who presented his findings to the annual meeting of the Society of Neuroscience in Orlando, Florida.

“They do not realize that hormones are washing on the brain. If you look at female animals who have never gone through pregnancy, they act differently toward young. But if she goes through pregnancy, she will sacrifice her life for her infant—that is a great change in her behavior that showed in genetic alterations(改变) to the brain.”

How do scientists know “Motherhood may make women smarter”?

A. Some researchers have told them.

B. Many women say so.

C. They know it by experimenting on rats.

D. They know it through their own experience.

What does the phrase “litters of pups” mean in the second paragraph?

A. Baby rats.         B. Animals.    C. Old rats.            D. Grown-up rats.

What can protect the brain of a woman according to the passage?

A. Estrogen.                            B. The hormones of pregnancy.    

C. More exercise.                     D. Taking care of children.

“It’s rat data but humans are mammals just like these animals are mammals.” What does the sentence suggest?

A. The experiments on the rats have nothing to do with humans.

B. The experiments on the rats are very important for animals.

C. The experiments on the rats are much the same on humans.

D. The experiments on the rats are much the same on other animals.

Which title is the best for this passage?

A. Do You Want to Be Smarter?  B. Motherhood Makes Women Smarter

C. Mysterious Hormones       D. An Important Study

Barbara and Barry Zucker – Pinchoff, both doctors from New York City, took their three daughters on a walking safari（旅行）last year in Tanzania. Barbara told about their experience in Kinbero, “It is the most remote（遥远的）place we have ever been to,” camping with a few other Americans, two Tanzanian guides, and several Hadza（哈扎人）who had time to sit and chat because they had just killed a giraffe.

About 400 members of the Eastern Hadza tribe（部落）live in Tanzania today, the only hunter-gatherers who remain in Africa. The Hadza hunt game, gather edible plants and honey, and move from place to place whenever the weather changers. Every two weeks or so, they move to a new campsite.

At the Pinchoffs’ campsite, three Hadza men stopped by to visit and ended up staying three days. One of the guides gave the men a cigarette. They took out the tobacco, put it in a pipe, and lit the pipe with fire they started.

It takes less than two hours for Hadza women to build a new camp. They make huts（茅屋）by bending branches into round structures about six feet high, and then covering them with long, golden grass. If the weather is very wet, the women may choose a dry cave to set up a camp. Some rock caves have been used over thousands of years and are decorated（装饰）with ancient rock paintings. Whether they sleep in huts, caves or in the open, the Hadza cover themselves only with thin cloths and depend on fire to keep them warm.

The Hadza refuse to be “settled” into villages or to have the life of farmers. By 1979, almost all of them had returned to their old ways. They Hadza may be the only tribe in Africa the has never paid taxes.

1. The passage mainly tells up         .

A. one of the author’s travel experiences

B. the life of the Hadza tribe in Tanzania

C. Barbara’s walking safari in Tanzania

D. the efforts of the Hadza to keep their old ways

2.What does the underlined word “game” ( in Paragraph 2 ) probably refer to?

A. Part of a match.                                           B. Edible wild animals.        

C. An area of work.                                                 D. A children’s activity.

3.What do we know about the life of the Hadza?

A. They change their campsites regularly.           B. They live mainly on farming.

C. They keep warm using leaves at night.            D. It takes them a long time to set up a camp.

4.Where do the Hadza live in wet weather?

A. On the farm.            B. In huts.             C. In caves.           D. In the open.

第三部分 阅读（共两节，满分40分）

阅读理解（共15小题，每小题2分，满分30分）      

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，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

Two American scientists told the people in industrial nations（工业国） that they would be much healthier if they ate more of the same kind of foods eaten by humans living more than 10,000 years ago．

The scientists say that the human body has changed very little since human first appeared on earth, but the way we live has changed greatly．Our body has not been able to deal with these changes in life style and this has led to new kinds of sicknesses．These new sicknesses were not known in ancient times．So they are called “diseases of civilization （文明）”．Many cancers and diseases of the blood system, including heart attacks （心脏病）and strokes（中风）are examples of such diseases．

Scientists noted that early stone-age people used very little alcohol（酒精） or tobacco, probably none．Ancient people also got a great deal of physical exercise, but a change in food is one of the main differences between life in ancient times and life today．

Stone-age people hunted wild animals for their meat, which had much less fat than farm animals．They also ate a lot of fresh wild vegetables, and fruits．They did not use milk and other dairy products, and they made very little use of grains．But today, we eat a large amount of dairy products and grain foods．We eat six times more salt than stone-age people．We eat more sugar．We eat twice as much fat but only one third as much protein（蛋白质）and much less vitamin C．

People today probably do not want to live as people thousands of years ago did, but scientists say that we would be much healthier if we ate as those ancient people did, cutting the amount of fatty, salty and sweet foods．

1．The people in industrial nations would be much healthier if they ate              ．

A．more foods as humans living 10,000 years ago did

B．as humans living 10,000 years ago

C．more kinds of food eaten by people living over 10,000 years ago

D．more of the same kinds of foods eaten by people over 10,000 years ago．

2．New kinds of sicknesses have been found because                       ．

A．the human body has changed compared with human first appeared on earth

B．the way we live has changed a little

C．our body can’t deal with the changes in life style

D．the way we live today is proper for the human body

3．What is the main cause mentioned in the article why people suffer from a lot of new sicknesses?

A．Ancient people did a great deal of physical exercise

B．People today have a lot of alcohol    

C．People today have more tobacco

D．Food is quite different between life today and life in ancient times

4．Stone-age people were much healthier than people today because they ate a lot of         ．

A．milk and other dairy products     

B．grain foods and farm animals

C．salt and sugar                       

D．wild animals, fresh wild vegetables and fruits

5．From this article, we know that                        are not good to our health．

A．protein and vitamin                            

B．milk and grain foods

C．wild animals, vegetables and fruits

D．a huge amount of fatty, salty and sweet foods

New research shows sheep are clever
People often make jokes about how dull sheep are, but new research shows they may be cleverer than we think. Researchers at the University of Cambridge discovered that Welsh mountain sheep have brainpower that equals rodents (啮齿动物). Tests found that the sheep can map the area they live in, and some may even be able to plan ahead.
Young fish prefer noisy neighbors
A new study has shown that young fish like to live on reefs with noisy neighbors! Researchers from the universities of Auckland and Bristol found that young fish looking for a home choose areas where other noisy fish live. The scientists produced all kinds of sounds which had been recorded in different natural environments. The young fish seemed to prefer the sounds of natural reefs, complete with noisy animals! The scientists compared the choice to a music fan wandering around at a music festival, choosing to set up a tent closest to the music they like best!
Butterflies are disappearing
A new study has shown that 17 species (物种) of butterfly found in Europe have dropped by 70% in the last 20 years. The information collected from 3,000 sites across 15 countries shows it may be caused by the loss (减少) of grasslands covered with flowers. You can encourage butterflies to come into your garden by planting flowers.
【小题1】What is the passage mainly about?

C
We have met the enemy, and he is ours. We bought him at a pet shop. When monkey-pox, a disease usually found in the African rain forest, suddenly turns up in children in the American Midwest, it’s hard not to wonder if the disease that comes from foreign animals is homing in on human beings. “Most of the infections (感染) we think of as human infections started in other animals,” says Stephen Morse, director of the Center for Public Health Preparedness at Columbia University.
It’s not just that we’re going to where the animals are; we’re also bringing them closer to us. Popular foreign pets have brought a whole new disease to this country. A strange illness killed Isaksen’s pets, and she now thinks that keeping foreign pets is a bad idea. “I don’t think it’s fair to have them as pets when we have such a limited knowledge of them,” says Isaksen.
“Laws allowing these animals to be brought in from deep forest areas without stricter control need changing,” says Peter Schantz. Monkey-pox may be the wake-up call. Researchers believe infected animals may infect their owners. We know very little about these new diseases. A new bug (病毒) may be kind at first. But it may develop into something harmful. Monkey-pox doesn’t look a major infectious disease. But it is not impossible to pass the disease from person to person.
60. We learn from Paragraph 1 that the pet sold at the shop may _________.
A. come from Columbia            B. prevent us from being infected
C. enjoy being with children        D. suffer from monkey-pox
61. Why did Isaksen advise people not to have foreign pets?
A. They attack human beings.              B. We need to study native animals.
C. They can’t live out of the rain forest.      D. We do not know much about them yet.
62. What does the phrase “the wake-up call” in Paragraph 3 most probably mean?
A. a new disease                     B. a clear warning
C. a dangerous animal                D. a morning call
63. The text suggests that in the future we _______.
A. may have to fight against more new diseases
B. may easily get infected by diseases from dogs
C. should not be allowed to have pets
D. should stop buying pets from Africa