阅读理解 TEXTD Speakingtwolanguagesratherthanjustonehasobviousparcticalbenefitsinanincreasinglyglobalizedworld.Butinrecentyears,scientistshavebeguntoshowthattheadvantagesof bilingualismareevenmorefundamentalthanbeingabletoconversewithawiderrangeofpeople.Beingbilingual,itturnedout,makesyousmarter.Itcanhaveaprofoundeffectonyourbrain,improvingcognitiveskillsnotrelatedtolanguageandevenshieldingagainstdementia(痴呆)inoldage. Thisviewofbilingualismisremarkablydifferentfromtheunderstandingofbilingualismthroughmuchofthe20thcentury.Researchers,educatorsandpolicymakerslongconsideredasecondlanguagetobeaninterference,cognitivelyspeaking,thathinderedachild?sacademicandintellectualdevelopment. Theywerenotwrongabouttheinterference:thereisampleevidencethatinabilingual?sbrainbothlanguagesystemsareactiveevenwhenheisusingonlyonelanguage,thuscreatingsituationsinwhichonesystemobstructstheother.Butthisinterference,researchersarefindingout,isn?tsomuchahandicapasablessingindisguise.Itforcesthebraintoresolveinternalconflict,givingthemindaworkoutthatstrengthensitscognitivemuscles. Thecollectiveevidencefromanumberofsuchstudiessuggeststhatthebilingualexperienceimprovesthebrain?sso-calledexecutivefunction—acommandsystemthatdirectstheattentionprocessesthatweuseforplanning,solvingproblemsandperformingvariousothermentallydemandingtasks.Theseprocessesincludeignoringdistractionstostayfocused,switchingattentionwillfullyfromonethingtoanotherandholdinginformationinmind—likerememberingasequenceofdirectionswhiledriving. Whydoesthetusslebetweentwosimultaneouslyactivelanguagesystemsimprovetheseaspectsofcognition?Untilrecently,researchersthoughtthebilingualadvantagestemmedprimarilyfromanabilityforinhibitionthatwashonedbytheexerciseofsuppressingonelanguagesystem:thissuppression,itwasthought,wouldhelptrainthebilingualmindtoignoredistractionsinothercontexts.Butthatexplanationincreasinglyappearstobeinadequate,sincestudieshaveshownthatbilingualsperformbetterthanmonolingualsevenattasksthatdonotrequireinhibition,likethreadingalinethroughanascendingseriesofnumbersscatteredrandomlyonapage. Thekeydifferencebetweenbilingualsandmonolingualsmaybemorebasicaheightenedabilitytomonitortheenvironment."Bilingualshavetoswitchlanguagesquiteoften-youmaytalktoyourfatherinonelanguageandtoyourmotherinanotherlanguage,"saysAlbertCosta,aresearcherattheUniversityofPompeaFabrainSpain."Itrequireskeepingtrackofchangesaroundyouinthesamewaythatwemonitoroursurroundingswhendriving."InastudycomparingGerman-ItalianbilingualswithItalianmonolingualsincompletingmonitoringtasks,Mr.Costaandhiscolleaguesfoundthatthebilingualssubjectsnotonlyperformedbetter,butalsodidsowithlessactivityinpartsofthebraininvolvedinmonitoring,indicatingthattheywereefficientatit. Thebilingualexperienceappearstoinfluencethebrainfrominfancytooldage,andthereisreasontobelievethatitmayalsoapplytothosewholearnasecondlanguagelaterinlife.
单选题 Accordingtothepassage,themorerecentandoldviewsofbilingualismdiffermainlyin______.
【正确答案】 D
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单选题 Thefactthatinterferenceisnowseenasablessingindisguisemeansthat ______.
【正确答案】 C
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单选题 WhatistheroleofParagraphFourinrelationtoParagraphThree?
【正确答案】 B
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单选题 Whichofthefollowingcanaccountforbetterperformanceofbilingualsindoingnon-inhibitiontasks?
【正确答案】 D
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单选题 Whatisthemainthemeofthepassage?
【正确答案】 A
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