Question

Many people think of the brain as a mystery. They don't know much about intelligence and how it works. When they do think about what intelligence is, many people believe that a person is born smart, average, or dumb — and stays that way in the whole life. But new research shows that the brain is more like a muscle — it changes and gets stronger when you use it. And scientists have been able to show just how the brain grows and gets stronger when you learn.
Everyone knows that when you lift weights, your muscles get bigger and you get stronger. A person who can't lift 20 pounds when he/she starts exercising can get strong enough to lift 100 pounds after working out for a long time. That's because the muscles become larger and stronger with exercise. And when you stop exercising, the muscles shrink and you get weaker. That's why people say “Use it or lose it！”
But most people don't know that when they practice and learn new things, parts of their brain change and get larger a lot like muscles do when they exercise. Inside the cortex (皮層) of the brain are billions of tiny nerve cells, called neurons. The nerve cells have branches connecting them to other cells in a complicated network. Communication between these brain cells is what allows us to think and solve problems. When you learn new things, these tiny connections in the brain actually multiply and get stronger. The more you challenge your mind to learn, the more your brain cells grow. Then, things that you once found very hard or even impossible to do — like speaking a foreign language or doing algebra (代數) — seem to become easy after learning them for a period of time. The result is a stronger, smarter brain.
Scientists started thinking that the human brain could develop and change when they studied animals' brains. They found out that animals that lived in a challenging environment were more “perspicacious” — they were better at solving problems and learning new things.
小題1:According to the first paragraph，________.

A．the function of our brain is like that of the muscle

B．until now it's impossible to explain the brain's mystery

C．many people believe one's intelligence is naturally determined

D．one's brain grows stronger as the age increases

小題2:Training muscles is compared to ________.

A．using the brain

B．connecting things in your brain

C．lifting weights

D．doing research about the brain

小題3:What is Paragraph 3 mainly about_________?
The complex structure of the brain.
B. How changes in the muscles affect the brain.
C. The importance of the brain.
D. How the brain becomes stronger by learning new things.
小題4:What does the underlined word “perspicacious” in the last paragraph probably mean_________?

A．Strong.

B．Smart.

C．Popular.

D．Active.

小題5:The paragraph that follows the passage will most probably talk about _______.

A．the differences between animals’ brains and humans’ brains

B．the relation between human brains and muscles

C．scientists’ findings about animals’ brains

D．how to make your brain smarter through self-development

Answer 1

小題1:C
小題2:A
小題3:D
小題4:B
小題5:D

試題分析：通常情況下，很多人都認為人的智力是與生俱來的，是由先天的遺傳條件決定的。但是，科學研究發現，人類大腦也可以像肌肉一樣，通過學習得到發展。
小題1:根據第一段“When they do think about what intelligence is, many people believe that a person is born smart, average, or dumb”可知，許多人認為，一個人的智力是與生俱來的，有的人天生聰明，有的智力一般，有的天生智力低下，故選C。
小題2:根據第一段“But new research shows that the brain is more like a muscle — it changes and gets stronger when you use it.”可知，大腦就像肌肉一樣，會隨著不斷的使用而變得更加強大，故選A。
小題3:根據“When you learn new things, these tiny connections in the brain actually multiply and get stronger. The more you challenge your mind to learn, the more your brain cells grow.”可知，第三段主要講的是如何通過學習使大腦變強大，故選D。
小題4:根據“they were better at solving problems and learning new things”可知，生活在挑戰性環境下的動物，它們更善于解決問題和學習新事物，科學家認為，人類大腦也可以發展并發生變化。根據破折號后面的解釋可以推斷，生活在挑戰性環境下的動物更聰明，故選B。
小題5:根據最后一段“Scientists started thinking that the human brain could develop and change when they studied animals' brains.”可知，科學家認為人類大腦與動物大腦一樣，也可以得到鍛煉并變得更加聰明，最后一段介紹了動物變聰明的條件--生活在挑戰性環境中，下一段有可能介紹人類如何讓大腦變得更聰明，故選D。