Question

【题目】Hey girls, if the boys in your class are acting silly, you might as well leave them alone. You are far more sensible than them, aren’t you?

There is science to back up this theory. Scientists from Newcastle University, UK, and Seoul University, South Korea, found that the brain matures (成熟) earlier in girls than in boys. This is partly because of the way children’s brains are “pruned.”

As the brain matures, it begins to cut out unimportant information and focus on important information. This process is called “pruning.”

In order to learn more about this process, scientists scanned the brains of 121 people aged between 4 and 40. They found that pruning began much earlier in girls. Between the ages of 10 and 12, a girl’s brain will start to see a lot of activities as the pruning process starts. But for boys, this doesn’t start until the age of 15 to 20.

During this process, the brain will turn off memories, sounds or sights that appear several times. But important connections, like linking the sound of a familiar person’s voice to their face, are kept.

“The loss of connectivity during brain development can help to improve brain function,” scientist Sol Lim told the Daily Telegraph.

To understand this more easily, imagine you are at a party and everyone is talking. You can’t concentrate. But if you “turn off” some of the voices, it is easier to hear the others. The brain works in a similar way.

【1】What did the scientists find?

A. Boys usually focus on unimportant information.

B. Girls never focus on unimportant information.

C. Girls mature earlier than boys.

D. Connectivity helps improve brain function.

【2】What does the underlined word “pruned”probably mean?

A. 删减B. 成长C. 改变D. 损失

【3】What happens during the process “pruning”?

A. The brain doesn’t work for a moment.

B. You can’t remember, hear or see.

C. The connections between things disappear.

D. Brains develop to focus on important information.

【4】What can we know from the passage?

A. Boys are more silly than girls.

B. Boys are less sensible than girls.

C. You can never concentrate at the parties.

D. Brains function better after losing some connections.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】C

【2】A

【3】D

【4】D

【解析】

这篇短文介绍的是，英国纽卡斯尔大学的科学家和韩国首尔大学的科学家们发现女生的大脑成熟比男生早。

【1】细节理解题。根据第二段Scientists from Newcastle University, UK, and Seoul University, South Korea, found that the brain matures earlier in girls than in boys 可知，英国纽卡斯尔大学的科学家和韩国首尔大学的科学家们发现女生的大脑成熟比男生早，故应选C。

【2】词义猜测题。根据第三段的内容，As the brain matures, it begins to cut out unimportant information and focus on important information可以判断出是大脑删减信息，cut out与pruned意思相同，故应选A。

【3】细节理解题。根据短文第五段the brain will turn off memories, sounds or sights. But important connections are kept可知并不是大脑停止运转，所以选项ABC错误，选项D正确。

【4】推理判断题。根据短文第六段“The loss of connectivity during brain development can help to improve brain function,” scientist Sol Lim told the Daily Telegraph.可知，在大脑发展期间失去一些联系，有助于提高大脑的功能。由此可知应选D。

这是一篇科普说明文，短文中给我们介绍了科学家们的一个发现，即女孩大脑成熟比男孩早。短文主题明确，但文章中所涉及的话题对学生们比较难以理解。做题时，应先阅读短文，掌握大意，并尽量获得更多的信息；然后根据题目所问，锁定文章相关段落或语句，结合选项作答。例如第2小题，这是一个猜词题，短文第三段是对pruned这个词的解释，根据As the brain matures, it begins to cut out unimportant information and focus on important information可以判断出是大脑删减信息，cut out与pruned意思相同，故应选A。