单选题 If you want to stay young, sit down and have a good think. This is the research result of professor Faulkner, who says that most of our brains are not getting enough exercise and as a result, we are ageing unnecessarily soon.
Professor Faulkner wanted to find out why healthy farmers in northern Japan appeared to be losing their ability to think and to reason at a relatively early age, and how the process of ageing could be slowed down.
He set about measuring brain volumes of a thousand people of different ages and occupations.
Computer technology enabled him to obtain precise measurements of the volume of the front and side sections of the brain, which relate to intelligence and emotion, and determine the human character.
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.
Faulkner concluded from his tests that there is a simple way to slow the contraction--using the head.
The findings show that contraction of the brain begins sooner in people in the country than in the towns. Those least at risk, says Faulkner, are lawyers, followed by university professors and doctors. White--collar workers doing routine work are, however, as likely to have shrinking brains as the farm worker, bus driver and shop assistant.
Faulkner'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 Professor Faulkner wanted to find out ______.
A. how people's brains shrink
B. the way of making people live longer
C. the size of certain people's brains
D. why certain people aged sooner than others
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】本文介绍了一位教授对大脑萎缩的研究。从第一、二段可知,Faulkner教授做了一项研究,其结果是人的大脑没有得到充分的运动,因此人类早衰。他想找出减缓人类衰老速度的办法。
单选题 Faulkner's research findings are based on ______.
A. a survey of farmers in northern Japan
B. tests performed on a thousand old people
C. the study of brain volumes of different people
D. the latest development of computer technology
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】从第三段可知,他研究了上千个不同年龄、不同职业的人的大脑。
单选题 The professor's tests show that ______.
A. our brains shrink as we grow old
B. the front section of the brain does not shrink
C. seventy-year-olds have better brains than sixty-year-olds
D. brain contraction may vary among people of the same age
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】从第五、六、七段可知,通过对30岁的人测试(60、70岁不是很明显),教授发现减轻大脑萎缩的最简单的方法是:使用它。按照教授的研究结果:离大脑萎缩危险最远的人群是律师,其次是教授和医生,等等。同样的,年龄相同但职业不同的人大脑的萎缩状况不同。
单选题 According to the passage, which group of people seem to age slower than the others?
A. Farmers. B. Lawyers. C. Clerks. D. Shop assistants.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】根据第七段可知,大脑衰老最慢的人群是律师。