单选题
When older people can no longer remember names at a cocktail party, they tend to think that their brainpower is declining. But a growing number of studies suggest that this assumption is often wrong. Instead, the research finds, the aging brain is simply taking in more data and trying to sift through a clutter of information, often to its long-term benefit. The studies are analyzed in a new edition of a neurology book, "Progress in Brain Research. " Some brains do deteriorate with age. Alzheimer's disease, for example, strikes 13 percent of Americans 65 and older. But for most aging adults, the authors say, much of what occurs is a gradually widening focus of attention that makes it more difficult to latch onto just one fact, like a name or a telephone number. Although that can be frustrating, it is often useful. "It may be that distractibility is not, in fact, a bad thing," said Shelley H. Carson, a psychology researcher at Harvard whose work was cited in the book. "It may increase the amount of information available to the conscious mind. " For example, in studies where subjects are asked to read passages that are interrupted with unexpected words or phrases, adults 60 and older work much more slowly than college students. Although the students plow through the texts at a consistent speed regardless of what the out-of-place words mean, older people slow down even more when the words are related to the topic at hand. That indicates that they are not just stumbling over the extra information, but are taking it in and processing it. When both groups were later asked questions for which the out-of-place words might be answers, the older adults responded much better than the students. "For the young people, it's as if the distraction never happened," said an author of the review, Lynn Hasher, a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto and a senior scientist at the Rotman Research Institute. "But for older adults, because they've retained all this extra data, they' re now suddenly the better problem solvers. They can transfer the information they've soaked up from one situation to another. " Such tendencies can yield big advantages in the real world, where it is not always clear what information is important, or will become important. A seemingly irrelevant point or suggestion in a memo can take on new meaning if the original plan changes. Or extra details that stole your attention, like others'yawning and fidgeting, may help you assess the speaker's real impact.
单选题From the first two paragraphs, we learn that______. [A] aging brains tend to process more information simultaneously [B] one becomes forgetful when he gets old [C] older people don't think their brainpower is declining [D] the aged always stress long-term benefit
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[考点] 事买细节 [解析] 此题考查对文章中相关细节的理解。问题问的是根据前两段可以得知什么。第一段提出老年人记忆变差．并非是智能衰退，而是摄取更多信息并进行筛选(taking in more data and trying to sift through a clutter of information)；第二段引用该书作者的观点，提出老年人记忆广度在加宽(gradually widening focus of attention)，虽然记忆力下降了，但这很有用。两段的共同信息是老年人的大脑注意范围广，同时加工信息多，从而印证了A选项的正确性。 [干扰项分析] B选项只是一个引入文章的现象，并非主旨，而且原文没有直接出现这样的阐述；原文只是说“老人健忘时会怀疑自己智能衰退”。C选项来自于错误的逻辑推导“they tend to think that their brainpower is declining．But...this assumption is often wrong”只能得出结论their brainpower is not declining，而不能说明老人的设想(assumption)也有所改变。D选项偷换概念，原文信息指“老年人采纳更多并检索更多信息，为了便于进行长时信息加工”，而D选项含义却是“老年人总是强调长期利益”，将long-term benefit的概念扩大化。因此，应该排除B、C、D选项。
单选题Older adults tend to be forgetful because of______. [A] their broader range of attention [B] the harm of Alzheimer's disease [C] their wide information [D] their frustration from limited attention
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[考点] 事实细节 [解析] 此题考查对文章中相关细节的理解。问题问的是老年人往往健忘的原因，根据题干信息“be forgetful”，我们可以定位至第二段转折后的句子“much of what occurs is a gradually widening focus of attention that makes it more difficult to latch onto just one fact，...”，句中的difficult to latch onto just one fact对应题干中的be forgetful；句中that所指代的内容就是健忘的原因，而that所指代的是先行词(widening focus of)attention，是A选项their broader range of attention的同义转述，因此A选项正确。 [干扰项分析] B选项错误，从原文第二段转折前后的内容：some brains...Alzheimer’s disease，...．but for most aging adults，...．可以看出，阿尔茨海默病只不过是一部分人智能衰退的原因。C选项所述的wide information(信息面广)在文中未曾提及，是无中生有的内容。D选项总体上是一个前后文不相关信息简单拼凑的选项，而且limited information的概念在文中未曾提及，属于无中生有的判断。
单选题The studies mentioned in Paragraph 3 suggest that______. [A] it is advisable for the old to read slowly [B] out-of-place words are never negligible [C] there is nothing that can distract young people [D] old people may be more attentive in face of distractions
单选题What can we infer form the last paragraph? [A] Old people's forgetfulness turns to be their advantages. [B] The meaning of a point in a memo is changing anytime. [C] Wide attention is actually valuable in daily life. [D] Extra details have impacts on one's focus of attention
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[考点] 推理判断 [解析] 此题考查基于原文多处细节的推理及理解句子之间关系的能力。本题看似考查最后一段，其实应该结合上一段内容，澄清such tendencies所指的内容——老年人更宽的注意广度，即对更多细节信息(包括干扰信息)的加工；如此一来，就解释清楚了本段主题句Such tendencies can yield big advantages in the real world的含义：更宽的注意广度(甚至包括对干扰信息的加工)在现实生活中是一个很大的优势。抽象地说，是对老年人的注意广度给予了积极的评价，而C选项恰好对这个命题做了相应的总结。 [干扰项分析] A选项错在没有澄清such tendencies所指的内容，错误的将such tendencies指向“健忘”。B选项“备忘录中信息的含义”是文中的细节信息，并非主旨或观点．而且“随时都在改变”这一信息片断在文中无从印证。D选项是文章前后无关信息的简单拼凑。因此A、B、D三个选项错误。
单选题The text intends to tell us that______. [A] a brain with disease is a brain with wisdom [B] an older brain may be a wiser brain [C] brains do deteriorate with age [D] how an older brain processes information