阅读理解 How to Stay Young
If you want to stay young, sit down and have a good think. This is the research finding of a team of Japanese doctors, who say that most of our brains are not getting enough exercise—and as a result, we are aging unnecessarily soon.
Professor Taiju Matsuzawa wanted to find out why otherwise healthy farmers in northern Japan appeared to be losing their ability to think and reason at a relatively early age, and how the process of aging could be slowed down.
With a team of colleagues at Tokyo National University, he set about measuring brain volumes (容量) of a thousand people of different ages and varying occupations.
Computer technology enabled the researchers to obtain precise measurements of the volume of the front and side sections of the brain, which relate to intellect (智能) and emotion, and determine the human character. (The rear section of the brain, which controls functions like eating and breathing, does not contract with age, and one can continue living without intellectual or emotional faculties.)
Contraction of front and side parts—as cells die off—was observed in some subjects in their thirties, but it was still not evident in some sixty and seventy-year-olds.
Matsuzawa concluded from his tests that there is a simple remedy to the contraction normally associated with age—using the head.
The findings show in general terms that contraction of the brain begins sooner in people in the country than in the towns. Those least at risk, says Matsuzawa, are lawyers, followed by university professors and doctors. White collar workers doing routine work in government offices are, however, as likely to have shrinking brains as the farm worker, bus driver and shop assistant.
Matsuzawa' s findings show that thinking can prevent the brain from shrinking. Blood must circulate properly in the head to supply the fresh oxygen the brain cells need. "The best way to maintain good blood circulation is through using the brain, " he says. "Think hard and engage in conversation. Don' t rely on pocket calculators. "
单选题 1.If you want to become young, you' d better keep sitting instead of standing.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】题干要求判断如果要变年轻是否最好坐着而不要站着。第一段中提到“If you want to stay young，sit down and have a good think”，意思是“如果想保持年轻，就坐下好好地思考”，并没有告诉我们如果要变年轻是否最好坐着而不要站着，所以无法判断题干是否正确。
单选题 2.We don't use most of our brains so we are getting old very soon.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】题干要求判断我们大部分的大脑是否都得不到使用所以我们衰老得很快。第一段最后提到，研究发现大部分的大脑“are not getting enough exercise”，也就是得不到充分使用，“as a result，we are aging unnecessarily soon”，所以题干中的信息是正确的。
单选题 3.The physically healthy farmers in northern Japan can't think and reason only at a very old age.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】题干要求判断在日本北部身体健康的农民是否在年龄很大的时候才不能思考。文中第二段讲到了这个具体信息，即“healthy farmers in northern Japan appeared to be losing their ability to think and reason at a relatively early age”，即在相当年轻的时候他们就失去了思考的能力，所以题干提供的信息是错误的。
单选题 4.The project starts with measuring brain volumes of a thousand people in the same area and in the same profession.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】题干要求判断这个研究项目是否首先测量同一地区从事同一职业的一千个人的大脑容量。第三段提到了这个研究的内容，即测量一千个人的大脑容量(measuring brain volumes of a thousand people)，但是这一千个人是不同年龄并且是从事不同职业的(different ages and varying occupations)。所以题干表述是错误的。
单选题 5.Human intellect and emotion are determined by the front and side sections of the brain.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】题干要求判断人类的智力和情感是否是由大脑的前部和侧面决定的。文中第四段提到了“the front and side sections of the brain，which relate to intellect and emotion”，所以题干表述是正确的。
单选题 6.If the rear section of the brain gets hurt, people can still eat, breathe and wink.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】题干要求判断如果大脑的后部受伤了，人们是否还可以吃饭、呼吸和眨眼睛。文中第四段提到了大脑后部的功能，即“which controls functions like eating and breathing”(控制着吃饭和呼吸等功能)，而且“does not contract with age”(不会随着年龄的增长而萎缩)。如果大脑后部受伤了，人们就不能吃饭、呼吸了，所以题干是错误的。
单选题 7.Some adults aged more than thirties become slow in thinking because the front and side parts of their brains contract a little.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】题干要求判断30多岁的成人思维变慢了是否是由于他们大脑的前部和侧面有些萎缩了。文中第五段谈到了有些30多岁的受试者已经出现了前部和侧面大脑萎缩的现象，即“Contraction of front and side parts…was observed in some subjects in their thirties”，但是并没有告诉我们这是否导致了他们的思维变慢，所以无法判断题干是否正确。
单选题 8.People living in the countryside have shrinking brains faster than those living in towns.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】题干要求判断生活在农村的人是否比生活在城市里的人大脑萎缩得快。文中第七段提到“contraction of the brain begins sooner in people in the country than in the towns”, 意思是“生活在农村的人比城市里的人大脑萎缩得快”，所以题干中的信息是正确的。
单选题 9.Lawyers, university professors and doctors are most likely to suffer from the contraction of the brain.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】题干要求判断律师、大学教师和医生是否最有可能发生大脑萎缩。文中第七段谈到了最没有可能发生大脑萎缩的人是“lawyers”，然后是“university professors and doctors”，这与题干正好相反，所以题干表述是错误的。
单选题 10.When you are thinking, the blood will circulate in your head to provide fresh oxygen to the brain cells.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】题干要求判断当你思考时，血液是否在你的脑部循环并且为脑细胞带来新鲜的氧气。最后一段总结了研究的结果，即“thinking can prevent the brain from shrinking”，意为“思考可以阻止大脑萎缩”，并且“Blood must circulate properly in the head to supply the fresh oxygen the brain cells need”，所以题干表述是正确的。