Many of us believe that a person’s mind becomes less active as he grows older. But this is not true, according to Dr Jarvik, professor of psychiatry at the University of California. She has studied the mental functioning of aging persons for several years. For example, one of her studies concerns 136 pairs of twins (双胞胎), who were first examined when they were already 60 years old. As Dr Jarvik continued the study of the twins into their 70s and 80s, their minds did not generally decline (衰弱) as was expected.

　　However, there was some decline in their psycho-motor speed. This means that it took them longer to finish mental tasks than it used to. But when speed was not a factor, they lost very little intellectual (智力的) ability over the years. In general, Dr Jarvik’s studies have shown that there is no decline in knowledge or reasoning ability. This is true not only with those in their 30s and 40s, but with those in their 60s and 70s as well.

　　It is true that older people themselves often complain that their memory is not as good as it once was. However, much of what we call “loss of memory” is not that at all. There usually was incomplete learning in the first place. For example, the older person perhaps had trouble hearing, or poor vision, or was trying to learn the new thing at too fast a speed. In the cases where the older person’s mind really seems to get worse, it is not necessarily a sign of decline due to old age. Often it is simply a sign of a sad emotional state. 

1. This passage is mainly about _______.

A. what caused mental decline

B. a new discovery about mental decline

C. the difference between middle-aged and older persons

D. how Dr Jarvik studied mental functioning of the twins

2.The word “psychiatry” in paragraph 1 most probably means _______.

A. the study of diseases of the mind

B. the study of physical diseases

C. the study of twins’ growth

D. the study of human behavior

3.More often than not, what we call mental decline is actually a sign of _______.

A. a worsening state of health               B. old age

C. nervous tension                         D. a state of unhappiness

Almost everyone wants to get smarter. We struggle to improve our  36_ , intelligence and attention. We drink cup after cup of coffee to help us  37_  the day.

 38 __, a new study published in Current Directions in Psychological Science warns that there are 39___ to how smart humans can get.

Each of our body parts develops in a certain way for a reason.  40  _, we are not 3 meters tall  41 _ most people’s hearts are not strong enough to send  42 _  up that high. Scientists say that our thinking ability works in the same way. A baby’s brain size is limited by a series of __43  , such as the size of the mother’s pelvis (骨盆). If our brains developed to be bigger, there could be more  44  during childbirth.

The study of Jews, who have an average IQ much _ 45_  than other Europeans, showed they were more  _46_  to develop diseases of the  _47_  system. This might be because of their increased brainpower.

If intelligence cannot be improved, can we at least get better at _ 48 _ ? Not really, say scientists. They studied  _49_  like caffeine (咖啡因)that improve attention. They found the drugs only helped people with serious  50 _ problems. For those who did not have trouble paying attention, the drugs could have the  51 _ effect. Scientists say that this suggests there is a(n)  52 limit to how much people can or should concentrate.

Our memory is also a “double-edged sword”. People with extremely good memories could  53__ having a difficult life because they cannot  _54 bad things that happen to them.

Thomas Hills, one of the authors of the paper, said that   55  all the problems in trying to get smarter, it’s unlikely that there will ever be a “super mind”.

1.                A．ability          B．character       C．memory  D．emotion

2.                A．go through      B．put through      C．get through    D．carry through

3.                A．Though         B．Therefore       C．However  D．Meanwhile

4.                A．standards       B．measures       C．ranges   D．limits

5.                A．At first         B．In addition       C．For example   D．Above all

6.                A．until           B．because        C．before   D．so that

7.                A．blood          B．information      C．breath   D．strength

8.                A．factors         B．reasons         C．aspects   D．effects

9.                A．chances        B．deaths          C．choices   D．lives

10.               A．smarter        B．better          C．lower D．higher

11.               A．likely          B．possible        C．probable  D．sure

12.               A．physical        B．bodily          C．personal   D．nervous

13.               A．exercising      B．concentrating    C．memorizing D．thinking

14.               A．poisons        B．drinks          C．plants     D．drugs

15.               A．attention       B．family          C．health D．living

16.               A．same          B．opposite        C．different  D．similar

17.               A．lower          B．smaller         C．upper     D．higher

18.               A．end up         B．make up        C．start up   D．come up

19.               A．forget          B．remember      C．perform   D．share

20.               A．supposing       B．concerning      C．considering D．regarding

Almost everyone wants to get smarter. We struggle to improve our  36_ , intelligence and attention. We drink cup after cup of coffee to help us  37_  the day.

 38 __, a new study published in Current Directions in Psychological Science warns that there are 39___ to how smart humans can get.

Each of our body parts develops in a certain way for a reason.  40  _, we are not 3 meters tall  41 _ most people’s hearts are not strong enough to send  42 _  up that high. Scientists say that our thinking ability works in the same way. A baby’s brain size is limited by a series of __43   , such as the size of the mother’s pelvis (骨盆). If our brains developed to be bigger, there could be more  44   during childbirth.

The study of Jews, who have an average IQ much _ 45_  than other Europeans, showed they were more  _46_  to develop diseases of the  _47_  system. This might be because of their increased brainpower.

If intelligence cannot be improved, can we at least get better at _ 48 _ ? Not really, say scientists. They studied  _49_  like caffeine (咖啡因)that improve attention. They found the drugs only helped people with serious  50 _ problems. For those who did not have trouble paying attention, the drugs could have the  51 _ effect. Scientists say that this suggests there is a(n)  52  limit to how much people can or should concentrate.

    Our memory is also a “double-edged sword”. People with extremely good memories could  53__ having a difficult life because they cannot  _54  bad things that happen to them.

Thomas Hills, one of the authors of the paper, said that   55  all the problems in trying to get smarter, it’s unlikely that there will ever be a “super mind”.

（江西省瑞昌一中2010届高三上学期期中考试）

Advancing age means losing your hair, your waistline and your memory，right ? Dana Denis is just 40 years old, but  36   she's worried about what she calls “my rolling mental blackouts” . “I try to remember something and I just blank out.” she says. You may  37   about these lapses, calling them “senior moments ”or blaming “early Alzheimer's (老年痴呆症)”. Is it an inescapable fact that the older you get, the  38   you remember? Well, sort of. But as time goes by, we tend to blame age   39   problems that are not necessarily age-related.
　“When a teenager can't find her keys, she thinks it's because she's distracted or disorganized”, says Paul Gold. “A 70-year-old blames her  40   ”. In fact，the 70-year-old may have been   41  things for decades.
　In healthy people, memory doesn't worsen as  42    as many of us think. “As we  43   , the memory mechanism isn't  44   ”, says psychologist Fergus Craik. “It's just inefficient”.
　The brain's processing speed  45  over the years，though no one knows exactly   46  . Recent research suggests that nerve cells lose efficiency    47   there's less activity in the brain. But, cautions Barry Gordon, “It's not clear that less activity is  48   . A beginning athlete is winded（气喘吁吁）more__49__than a senior athlete. In the same way,   50  the brain gets more skilled at a task, it expends less energy on it.”
　There are  51  you can take to compensate for normal slippage in your memory, though it  52   effort. Margaret Sewell says “We're a quick-fix culture, but you have to  53   to keep your brain  54   . It's like having a good body. You can't go to the gym once a year  55  expect to stay in top form”.

    36. A. almost              B. seldom                  C. already                 D. never

    37. A. joke                B. laugh                    C. blame                 D. criticize

    38. A. much               B. little                     C. more             D. less

    39. A. since              B. for                     C. by               D. because

    40. A. memory                   B. mind                     C. trouble            D. health

    41. A. organizing           B. misplacing                C. putting             D. finding

    42. A. rapidly              B. frequently                C. timely              D. quickly

    43. A. mature              B. progress                C. age                D. grow

    44. A. broken              B. poor                    C. perfect                 D. working

    45. A. falls down          B. slows down            C. sets down            D. turns down

    46. A. why                B. how                    C. what                   D. when

    47. A. although           B. so                     C. since                   D. that

    48. A. irregular             B. better                    C. normal                 D. worse

    49. A. difficultly            B. easily                    C. common                D. fast

    50. A. as                  B. till                      C. though                 D. yet

    51. A. stages             B. steps                    C. advantages              D. purposes

    52. A. tries                B. takes                    C. does                    D. spends

    53. A. rest               B. come                   C. work                   D. study

    54. A. in peace            B. in detail               C. in fashion             D. in shape

    55. A. so                B. or                      C. and                     D. if

Almost everyone wants to get smarter. We struggle to improve our 16_ , intelligence and attention. We drink cup after cup of coffee to help us  17_  the day.

 18 __, a new study published in Current Directions in Psychological Science warns that there are 19___ to how smart humans can get.

Each of our body parts develops in a certain way for a reason.  20  _, we are not 3 meters tall  21 _ most people’s hearts are not strong enough to send  22 _  up that high. Scientists say that our thinking ability works in the same way. A baby’s brain size is limited by a series of __23  , such as the size of the mother’s pelvis (骨盆). If our brains developed to be bigger, there could be more  24  during childbirth.

The study of Jews, who have an average IQ much _ 25_  than other Europeans, showed they were more  _26_  to develop diseases of the  _27_  system. This might be because of their increased brainpower.

If intelligence cannot be improved, can we at least get better at _ 28 _ ? Not really, say scientists. They studied  _29_  like caffeine (咖啡因)that improve attention. They found the drugs only helped people with serious  30 _ problems. For those who did not have trouble paying attention, the drugs could have the  31 _ effect. Scientists say that this suggests there is a(n)  32 limit to how much people can or should concentrate.

Our memory is also a “double-edged sword”. People with extremely good memories could  33__ having a difficult life because they cannot  _34 bad things that happen to them.

Thomas Hills, one of the authors of the paper, said that   35  all the problems in trying to get smarter, it’s unlikely that there will ever be a “super mind”.

1.                A．memory        B．character       C．.ability    D．emotion

2.                A．go through      B．get through      C．put through    D．carry through

3.                A．Though         B．Therefore       C．Meanwhile    D．However

4.                A．standards       B．measures       C．ranges   D．limits

5.                A．For example     B．In addition       C．At first   D．Above all

6.                A．until           B．before         C．because  D．so that

7.A. blood      B information        C. breath            D. strength

8.                A．reasons        B．factors         C．aspects   D．effects

9.                A．chances        B．lives           C．choices   D．deaths

10.               A．smarter        B．better          C．higher D．lower

11.               A．likely          B．possible        C．probable  D．sure

12.               A．nervous        B．bodily          C．personal   D．physical

13.               A．exercising      B．concentrating    C．memorizing D．thinking

14.               A．poisons        B．drinks          C．plants     D．drugs

15.               A．health         B．family          C．attention  D．living

16.               A．same          B．different        C．opposite   D．similar

17.               A．lower          B．smaller         C．higher D．upper

18.               A．end up         B．make up        C．start up   D．come up

19.               A．remember      B．forget          C．perform   D．share

20.               A．supposing       B．considering     C．concerning D．regarding