Having a child may improve a woman’s memory, a new study suggests.

In the study, women who were new mothers scored better on tests of visuospatial memory – the ability to understand and remember information about their surroundings—compared with women who didn’t have children.

The findings contradicts the old belief that women develop“baby brain" or a decline in memory and cognitive(认知的) function, after they have kids, said study researcher Melissa Santiago, a doctoral student at Carlos Albizu University in Miami. “You don’t have to feel that because you have kids, your memory isn’t the same," Santiago said.

The study was small, and the findings will have to be tested in larger groups of people, Santiago said.

Previous studies on the topic have had mixed results—some showed motherhood hurts cognition, and others showed the opposite. Studies on rats show those with pups have better memory than those without offspring.

Santiago analyzed information from 35 first-time mothers whose children were ages 10 to 24 months, and 35 women who had never been pregnant. Both groups scored similarly on intelligence tests. The average age of mothers was 29 and the average age of never-pregnant women was 27.

To test visuospatial memory, the women were shown a paper containing six symbols for 10 seconds, and then asked to draw what they remembered. This task was repeated several times. The first time women were shown the paper, both groups remembered about the same amount. But on the second and third pass, mothers performed better than those without children, indicating that the mothers collected more information each time than the other women.

Later, the women were shown a variety of different symbols, and asked to remember which ones were presented on the earlier task. Mothers did not make a mistake in this task—they remembered every symbol correctly—but those without children made one or two errors, Santiago said.

55. How did Santiago lead to the findings?

   A. By observation.                                                 B. By comparison.

   C. By analyzing intelligence tests.                       D. By asking women questions.

56. By saying “The study was small", what did Santiago mean?

   A. The study received little attention.

   B. The study has just started.

   C. The study was carried out among a small group of people.

   D. A small group of researchers were involved in the study.

57. Which of the following was discussed in the text?

   A. Ways to test visuospatial memory.

   B. Why having kids improves memory.

   C. How young mothers are different from never-pregnant women.

   D. The negative effects that worries of women without children have.

58. It can be inferred that Santiago believe the findings of the study_________.

   A. may cause a heated discussion among parents

B. may cause an increase in the birth rate

   C. are tested by previous similar studies

D. are encouraging news for mothers

In modern society there is a great deal of argument about competition. Some value it highly, believing that it is responsible for social progress and prosperity. Others say that competition is bad; that it sets one person against another; that it leads to unfriendly relationship between people.
I have taught many children who held the belief that their self-worth relied on how well they performed at tennis and other skills. For them, playing well and winning are often life-and-death affairs. In their single-minded pursuit of success, the development of many other human qualities is sadly forgotten.
However, while some seem to be lost in the desire to succeed, others take an opposite attitude. In a culture which values only the winner and pays no attention to the ordinary players, they strongly blame competition. Among the most vocal are youngsters who have suffered under competitive pressures from their parents or society. Teaching these young people, I often observe in them a desire to fail. They seem to seek failure by not trying to win or achieve success. By not trying, they always have an excuse: “I may have lost, but it doesn’t matter because I really didn’t try. “What is not usually admitted by themselves is the belief that if they had really tried and lost, that would mean a lot. Such a loss would be a measure of their worth. Clearly, this belief is the same as that of the true competitors who try to prove themselves. Both are based on the mistaken belief that one’s self-respect relies on how well one performs in comparison with others. Both are afraid of not being valued. Only as this basic and often troublesome fear begins to dissolve (缓解) can we discover a new meaning in competition .
【小题1】What does this passage mainly talk about?

In modern society there is a great deal of argument about competition. Some value it highly, believing that it is responsible for social progress and prosperity. Others say that competition is bad; that it sets one person against another; that it leads to unfriendly relationship between people.

I have taught many children who held the belief that their self-worth relied on how well they performed at tennis and other skills. For them, playing well and winning are often life-and-death affairs. In their single-minded pursuit of success, the development of many other human qualities is sadly forgotten.

However, while some seem to be lost in the desire to succeed, others take an opposite attitude. In a culture which values only the winner and pays no attention to the ordinary players, they strongly blame competition. Among the most vocal are youngsters who have suffered under competitive pressures from their parents or society. Teaching these young people, I often observe in them a desire to fail. They seem to seek failure by not trying to win or achieve success. By not trying, they always have an excuse: “I may have lost, but it doesn’t matter because I really didn’t try. “What is not usually admitted by themselves is the belief that if they had really tried and lost, that would mean a lot. Such a loss would be a measure of their worth. Clearly, this belief is the same as that of the true competitors who try to prove themselves. Both are based on the mistaken belief that one’s self-respect relies on how well one performs in comparison with others. Both are afraid of not being valued. Only as this basic and often troublesome fear begins to dissolve (缓解) can we discover a new meaning in competition .

1.What does this passage mainly talk about?

A．Competition helps to set up self-respect.

B．Opinions about competition are different among people.

C．Competition is harmful to personal quality development.

D．Failures are necessary experiences in competition.

2.Why do some people favor competition according to the passage?

A．It builds up a sense of duty.                B．It pushes society forward.

C．It improves personal abilities.              D．It encourages individual efforts.

3.The underlined phrase “the most vocal” in Paragraph 3 means ______.

A．those who try their best to win

B．those who value competition most highly

C．those who are against competition most strongly

D．those who rely on others most for success

4.What is the similar belief of the true competitors and those with a “desire to fail”?

A．One’s worth lies in his performance compared with others’.

B．One’s success in competition needs great efforts.

C．One’s achievement is determined by his particular skills.

D．One’s success is based on how hard he has tried.

5.Which point of view may the author agree to?

A．Every effort should be paid back.

B．Competition should be encouraged.

C．Winning should be a life-and-death matter.

D．Fear of failure should be removed in competition.

In the modern society there is a great deal of argument about competition. Some value it highly, believing that it is responsible for social progress and prosperity (繁荣). Others say that competition is bad, that it sets one person against another, that it leads to unfriendly relationship between people.

I have taught many children who held the belief that their self-worth relied on how well they performed at tennis and other skills. For them, playing well and winning are often life-and-death affairs. In their single-minded pursuit (追求) of success, the development of many other human qualities is really forgotten.

However, others take an opposite attitude. In a culture which values only the winner and pays no attention to the ordinary players, they strongly blame competition. Among the most vocal are youngsters who have suffered under competitive pressures from their parents or society. Teaching these young people, I often notice that they have a desire to fail. They seem to choose failure by not trying to win or achieve success. By not trying, they always have an excuse: “I may have lost, but it doesn’t matter because I really didn’t try.” They don’t believe that if they had really tried and lost, such a loss would prove their worth. Clearly, this belief is the same as that of the true competitors who try to prove themselves. Both are based on the mistaken belief that one’s self-respect relies on how well one performs in comparison(比较) with others. Both are afraid of not being valued. Only as this basic and often troublesome fear begins to dissolve (缓解) can we discover a new meaning in competition.

What does this passage mainly talk about?

A. Competition helps set up self-respect.

B. Failures are necessary experiences in competition.

C. Competition is harmful to personal quality development.

D. Opinions about competition are different among people.

Why do some people value competition according to the passage?

A. It builds up a sense of duty.       B. It pushes society forward.

C. It improves personal abilities.     D. It encourages individual effects.

The underlined phrase “the most vocal” in Paragraph 3 refers to_______.

A. those who try their best to win    

B. those who value competition most highly

C. those who are against competition most strongly

D. those who rely on others most for success

What is the similar belief of the true competitors and those with a “desire to fail”?

A. One’s success is based on how hard he has tried.

B. One’s success in competition needs great efforts.

C. One’s achievement is determined by his particular skills.

D. One’s worth lies in his performance compared with others’.

Which point of view may the author agree to?

A. Every effort should be paid back.        

B. Competition should be encouraged.

C. Winning should be a life-and-death matter.

D. Fear of failure should be removed in competition.

In the modern society there is a great deal of argument about competition. Some value it highly, believing that it is responsible for social progress and prosperity (繁荣). Others say that competition is bad, that it sets one person against another, that it leads to unfriendly relationship between people.
I have taught many children who held the belief that their self-worth relied on how well they performed at tennis and other skills. For them, playing well and winning are often life-and-death affairs. In their single-minded pursuit (追求) of success, the development of many other human qualities is really forgotten.
However, others take an opposite attitude. In a culture which values only the winner and pays no attention to the ordinary players, they strongly blame competition. Among the most vocal are youngsters who have suffered under competitive pressures from their parents or society. Teaching these young people, I often notice that they have a desire to fail. They seem to choose failure by not trying to win or achieve success. By not trying, they always have an excuse: “I may have lost, but it doesn’t matter because I really didn’t try.” They don’t believe that if they had really tried and lost, such a loss would prove their worth. Clearly, this belief is the same as that of the true competitors who try to prove themselves. Both are based on the mistaken belief that one’s self-respect relies on how well one performs in comparison(比较) with others. Both are afraid of not being valued. Only as this basic and often troublesome fear begins to dissolve (缓解) can we discover a new meaning in competition.
【小题1】What does this passage mainly talk about?