单选题 {{B}}Text 2{{/B}}
William Shakespeare described old age as" second childishness"--no teeth, no eyes, no taste. In the case of taste he may, musically speaking, have been- more perceptive than he realised. A paper in Neurology by Giovanni Frisoni and his colleagues at the National Centre for Research and Care of Alzheimers's Disease in Italy, shows that frontotemporal dementia can affect musical desires in ways that suggest a regression, if not to infancy, then at least to a patient's teens.
Frontotemporal dementia, a disease usually found with old people, is caused, as its name suggests, by damage to the front and sides of the brain. These regions are concerned with speech, and with such" higher" functions as abstract thinking and judgment.
Two of such patients intrigued Dr Frisoni. One was a 68-year-old lawyer, the other a 73-year- old housewife. Both had undamaged memories, but displayed the sorts of defect associated with frontotemporal dementia--a diagnosis that was confirmed by brain scanning.
About two years after he was first diagnosed, the lawyer, once a classical music lover who referred to pop music as" mere noise", started listening to the Italian pop band "883". As his command of language and his emotional attachments to friends and family deteriorated, he continued to listen to the band at full volume for many hours a day. The housewife had not even had the lawyer's love of classical music, having never enjoyed music of any sort in the past. But about a year after her diagnosis she became very interested in the songs that her 11-year-old granddaughter was listening to.
This kind of change in musical taste was not seen in any of the Alzheimer's patients, and thus appears to be specific to those with frontotemporal dementia. And other studies have remarked on how frontotemporal-dementia patients sometimes gain new talents. Five sufferers who developed artistic abilities are known. And in another case, one woman with the disease suddenly started composing and singing country and western songs.
Dr Frisoni speculates that the illness is causing people to develop a new attitude towards novel experiences, Previous studies of novelty-seeking behaviour suggest that it is managed by the brain's right frontal lobe. A predominance of the right over the left frontal lobe, caused by damage to the latter, might thus lead to a quest for new experience. Alternatively, the damage may have affected some specific nervous system that is needed to appreciate certain kinds of music. Whether that is a gain or a loss is a different matter. As Dr Frisoni puts it in his article, there is no accounting for taste.
单选题 The writer quotes Shakespeare mainly to
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】该题为细节加推理题。第一段第一句话莎士比亚把老年阶段比做“第二次孩子气”——没有牙，视力差，失去味觉。接着整篇文章谈论了一种跟音乐品味有关的大脑疾病——额颞痴呆症。由此可知，作者引用莎士比亚的一句话只是为了引出后文，即start discussion on a brain disease，故选C。
单选题 The word "regression" in the 1st paragraph is best replaced by
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】该题为释义题。根据第一段最后一句“…if not to infancy, then at least to a patient's teens.”可知额颞痴呆症可以在某种程度上引起音乐品味的退化，即便不是退到婴儿期，也至少会退到病人十几岁时，故选A。
单选题 After contracting frontotemporal dementia, the 68-year-old lawyer
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】该题为细节题。根据第四段第一句“About two years after he was first diagnosed, the lawyer, once a classical music lover who referred to pop music as 'mere noise', started listening to the Italian pop band '883'.”以及第二句“…he continued to listen to the band at full volume for many hours a day.”可知，在这位68岁的律师患有额颞痴呆症后，本来只热爱古典音乐而把流行音乐比作“纯粹噪音”的他开始听意大利流行乐队“883”的歌，而且把音量放到最大，每天持续听数小时，可知他享受意大利流行音乐，故选D。
单选题 Frontotemporal dementia is a disease
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】该题为细节题。根据第二段第三句“Both had undamaged memories, but displayed the sorts of defect…”可知额颞痴呆症患者的记忆都没有受损，选项A不符合文意；根据第二段第一句“Frontotemporal dementia, a disease usually found with old people, is caused, as its name suggests, by damage to the front and sides of the brain.”可知，额颞痴呆症是由大脑前部和侧面的损坏引起的，而选项B表达的意思是额颞痴呆症会引起大脑某些部分的损毁，与文章原意因果颠倒；根据第五段第一句“This kind of change in musical taste was not seen in any of the Alzheimer's patients, and thus appears to be specific to those with ffontotemporal dementia.”可知，阿尔茨海默氏病患并没有出现这种音乐品味的变化，仪仪是那些患有额颞痴呆的病患有这样的症状，选项D所述额颞痴呆的症状与阿尔茨海默氏病症状相似的说法是错误的；根据第五段第二句“And other studies have remarked on how frontotemporal-dementia patients sometimes gain new talents.”可知，有研究表明额颞痴呆症有可能使患者获得新的才能，故选C。
单选题 Dr Frisoni attributed the patients' changing music taste to
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】该题为细节题。该题可使用排除法。根据最后一段第三句和第四句“A predominance of the right over the left frontal lobe, caused by damage to the latter, might thus lead to a quest for new experience. Alternatively, the damage may have affected some specific nervous system that is needed to appreciate certain kinds of music.”可知由于左侧额叶的损伤，右侧额叶会占据主导地位，这样导致了病患对新体验的追求。或者，左侧额叶的损伤可能会影响到一些控制音乐品味的特定的神经系统。所以，作者将病患音乐品味的变化归结为左侧额叶受损所导致一些控制音乐品味的特定神经系统的损坏。选项A“人们追求新体验的渴望”并不是患者音乐品味的原因；选项B将原因归结为大脑左半边的损坏，与文章中所述左侧额叶受损不符；选项C将原因归结为占主导地位的由右侧额叶转为左侧额叶，与文中提到的因左侧额叶受损，而右侧额叶占主导地位不符，A、B、C三项均不符合文意，故选D。