阅读理解

　　A man sits on a chair, with rubber pads(垫)tied to his head．Someone is going to fire an electric current through his brain．

　　Sounds like a horror movie?Actually, the man is Telegraph journalist．Nick Collins．He is getting ready to test the newly－invented“electric thinking cap”．

　　Professor Johansen Berg, a neurologist at Oxford University, has discovered that firing a tiny electrical current to part of the brain can help people learn faster．

　　“It'S completely safe．The electric current is one thousand times lower than anvthing that could cause damage,”Kadosh,a researcher at Oxford University, told the Daily凇反Z eadier this year．

　　In a test, 15 volunteers were taught to press a set of buttons in three different, orders．Just like playing the piano．Electricity was fired into the area of their brains that eontrols movement．It ran from the front part of the head to a point above the ear．The electricitv was kept on for 10 minutes while the volunteers completed a task．

　　When the electric current ran in one diieetion, researchers found that volunteers leamed things 10 times more quickly．But if the current was sent the other way, their brain cells slowed down．

　　The cⅡrf每ijIf畜药}：ects the movement area of the brain．This means the method can onlv improve people'S learning skills that have some．thing to d．o with that muscle, such as rowing a boat or playing the piano．But scientists say it could be used in other areas of learning, or even(中风)．help people who have suffered a stroke(中风)．

　　The effects can last for about half an hour after the current is stopped．However, the researchers say that daily treatment could have a good, long-lasting effect．Electric caps could be produced SO that people could receive the treatment in clinics or even at home．

　　“I'm sure there are lots of people who would like to raise their normal abilities,”

　　Kadosh says．‘‘But should people be allowed to do this?It is all up for debate．''

阅读理解

　　For more than six million American children, coming home after school means coming home to an empty house．Some deal with the situation by watching TV．Some may hide．But all of them have something in common．They spend part of each day alone．They are called latchkey children．They’re children who look after themselves while their parents work．And their bad condition has become a subject of concern．

　　Lynette Long was once the headmaster of an elementary school．She said, “We had a school rule against wearing jewelry．A lot of kids had chains around their necks with keys attached．I was constantly telling them to put them inside shirts．There were so many keys, it never came to my mind what they meant．” Slowly, she learned they were house keys．

　　She and her husband began talking to the children who had them．They learned of the impact(影响)working couples and single parents were having on their children．Fear is the biggest problem faced by children at home alone．One in each three latchkey children the Longs talked to reported being scared．Many had nightmares and were worried about their own safety．

　　The most common way latchkey children deal with their fears is by hiding．It might be in a shower stall, under a bed in a closet．The second is TV．They’ll often play it at high volume．It’s hard to get statistics(情况，材料)on latchkey children, the Longs learned．Most parents are slow to admit they leave their children alone．