单选题
Learning disabilities are very common. They affect perhaps
10 percent of all children. Four times as many boys as girls have learning
disabilities. Since about 1970, new research has helped brain
scientists understand these problems better. Scientists now
know there are many different kinds of learning disabilities and that they are
caused by many different things. There is no longer any question that all
learning disabilities result from differences in the way the brain is
organized. You cannot look at a child and tell if he or she has
a learning disability. There is no outward sign of the disorder. So some
researchers began looking at the brain itself to learn what might be wrong. In
one study, researchers examined the brain of a learning-disabled person, who had
died in an accident. They found two unusual things. One involved ceils in the
left side of the brain, which control language. These cells normally are white.
In the learning-disabled person, however, these cells were gray. The researchers
also found that many of the nerve cells were not in a line the way they should
have been. The nerve cells were mixed together. The study was
carried out under the guidance of Norman Geschwind, an early expert on learning
disabilities. Doctor Geschwind proposed that learning disabilities resulted
mainly from problems in the left side of the brain. He believed this side of the
brain failed to develop normally. Probably, he said, nerve cells there did not
connect as they should. So the brain was like an electrical device in which the
wires were crossed. Other researchers did not examine brain
tissue. Instead, they measured the brain's electrical activity and made a map of
the electrical signals. Frank Duffy experimented with this technique at
Children's Hospital Medical Center in Boston. Doctor Duffy found large
differences in the brain activity of normal children and those with reading
problems. The differences appeared throughout the brain. Doctor Dully said his
research is evidence that reading disabilities involve damage to a wide area of
the brain, not just the left side.
单选题
Scientists found that the brain cells of a learning-disabled person
differ from those of a normal person in ______.
A. structure and function
B. color and function
C. size and arrangement
D. color and arrangement
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】[考点] 细节判断
[解析] 线索1：文章的第3段提到“These cells normally are white. In the learning-disabled person, however, these cells were gray. ”
线索2：文章的第3段提到“The researchers also found that many of the nerve cells were not in a line the way they should have been. The nerve cells were mixed together. ”
通过线索1和线索2的理解，我们可以判断正确答案应该是选项D。
单选题
Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?
A. Learning disabilities may result from the unknown area of the brain
B. Learning disabilities may result from damage to a wide area of the
brain
C. Learning disabilities may result from abnormal organization of brain
cells
D. Learning disabilities may result from problems in the left side of the
brain
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[考点] 细节判断
[解析] 线索1：文章的第7段提到“that reading disabilities involve damage to a wide area of the brain not just the left side. ”表明B在原文中明确提到。
线索2：文章的第3段提到“...nerve cells were mixed together. ”表明选项C在文章中出现。
线索3：文章的第5段提到“Doctor Geschwind proposed that learning disabilities resulted mainly from problems in the left side of the brain. ”表明选项D在原文中明确提到。只有选项A在原文中没有提到。
单选题
All of the following statements are true EXCEPT that ______.
A. many factors account for learning disorder
B. a learning-disabled person shows no outward signs
C. reading disabilities are a common problem that affects 10 percent of the
population
D. the brain activity of learning-disabled children is different from that
of normal children
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】[考点] 细节排除
[解析] 线索：文章的第1段提到“They affect perhaps 10 percent of all children. ”很清楚是占据了所有孩子的10%，所以选项C是答案。A选项在原文的第2段“...and that they are caused by many different things. ”明确提到。B选项在原文第3段“There is no outward sign of the disorder. ”明确提到。D选项在原文第4段“They found two unusual things...”明确提到。
单选题
Doctor Duffy believed that ______.
A. he found the exact cause of learning disabilities
B. the problem of learning disabilities was not limited to the left side of
the brain
C. the problem of learning disabilities resulted from the left side of the
brain
D. the problem of learning disabilities did not lie in the left side of the
brain
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[考点] 细节判断
[解析] 线索：文章的最后一段提到“Doctor Duffy said his research is evidence that reading disabilities involve damage to a wide area of the brain, not just the left side. ”表明选项B是正确答案。选项C在文章中第4段提到了，但不是达菲说的。
单选题
According to the passage we can conclude that further researches
should be made ______.
A. to investigate possible influences on brain development and
organization
B. to study how children learn to read and write, and use numbers
C. to help learning-disabled children to develop their intelligence
D. to explore how the left side of the brain functions in language
learning