首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
考研
The greatest devastation of old age is the loss of mental faculties, and with the near doubling of life expectancy in the past c
The greatest devastation of old age is the loss of mental faculties, and with the near doubling of life expectancy in the past c
admin
2015-02-12
28
问题
The greatest devastation of old age is the loss of mental faculties, and with the near doubling of life expectancy in the past century has come the mixed blessing of living longer and losing more. A few great thinkers and artists remained productive in their later years—Galileo, Monet, Shaw, Stravinsky, Tolstoy—but even they were not what they had been in their primes. In science, the boom falls sooner still: "A person who has not made his great contribution to science before the age of 30 will never do so," said Einstein.
Imagine if we could transplant old brains into younger bodies: would our minds stay young, or would we be senile teenagers, scaling mountains and skateboarding at 120, but forgetting where we put the car keys? Is the brain uniquely vulnerable to the ravages of time? Can anything be done?
Incontrovertible evidence from many studies shows that a higher level of education and greater mental activity throughout life correlate with lower cognitive losses in old age. These benefits apply to all sorts of cognitive losses, including those associated with Alzheimer’s. Some researchers believe that mental application in early life produces complex neural connections that provide a reserve later on; others argue that education merely gives people the means to cope with and compensate for their losses.
K. Warner Schaie, a professor of human development and psychology at Pennsylvania State University, has studied age-related change in more than 5,000 people, some for more than 40 years. Comparing earlier with later recruits, Mr. Schaie concludes that the rate of mental decline is slowing, a change he attributes to better education, healthier diet, lessened exposure to serious disease, and more mental activity. "You’ve got to practice," Mr. Schaie says. "If you don’t solve problems, you no longer can solve problems." Retirement can be particularly hard, he adds, because for many people, work is their most challenging activity. "Retirement is good for people who’ve had routine jobs—they may find something more stimulating. But it’s disadvantageous for people in high-level jobs, who are less likely to find something as stimulating as the job they had."
K. Anders Ericsson, a psychology professor at Florida State University, confirms Mr. Schaie’s emphasis on the virtue of practice. Initially interested in expert performers like musicians, he found that many ostensible geniuses aren’t really so different from everyone else—they just practice harder and longer, benefiting from sheer labor, rather than from some special gift. Professional musicians who continue to practice assiduously as they age continue to play well, while amateurs who just play for pleasure show age-related declines.
Mr. Ericsson’s studies failed to show significant generalized benefits from mental exercise. "If you play tennis, you improve your general fitness, but the greatest improvement is specific to tennis, not to other sports. It’s the same with cognitive exercise. You have to look at your life and pick what you want to improve."
In this text the author’s main intent is to______.
选项
A、underscore the difficulties related to aging
B、critique different theories of mental decline in old age
C、argue that old age need not be a barrier to great accomplishments
D、understand how people can counter the impacts of aging on mental faculties
答案
B
解析
属主旨思想题。题目考查的是作者的主要目的。文章开篇就指出“老龄对人最大的破坏就是脑力的丧失……”,第二段提出相关问题,第三段总体介绍一些研究发现,第四、五段分别介绍了夏伊教授和埃里克森教授的研究,最后一段进行总结。全文中没有一个定论,各种相关的研究各有千秋。这正是选项B的内容(critique意为“批评,评论”)。选项A只是文中细节,不是作者的主要目的(其中underscore意为“强调”);选项C与第一段内容相反;选项D只是第四段的内容,不能概括全文的目的。
转载请注明原文地址:https://jikaoti.com/ti/keFRFFFM
0
考研英语一
相关试题推荐
TheMenandWomenoftheUniversityLivingaRatioMargininAmericanTheprospectsforwomenwhoarescientistsandenginee
TheUncertaintyofChildBehaviorPerformanceHypothetically,let’ssayyouranafancyprivateelementaryschool.Likeothe
TheUncertaintyofChildBehaviorPerformanceHypothetically,let’ssayyouranafancyprivateelementaryschool.Likeothe
AmericanIncentiveStudentofUniversityEconomizesaCommissaryTheonce-seen-everywherecafeteriatray.withsomanyglass
AmericanIncentiveStudentofUniversityEconomizesaCommissaryTheonce-seen-everywherecafeteriatray.withsomanyglass
Youaregoingtoreadatextaboutthestateofcollegestudents’mentalhealth,followedbyalistofexamples.Choosethebest
Youaregoingtoreadatextaboutthestateofcollegestudents’mentalhealth,followedbyalistofexamples.Choosethebest
随机试题
而视茫茫,而发苍苍。茫茫:
泡沫炮系统是一种以泡沫炮为泡沫产生与喷射装置的低倍数泡沫系统,有固定式与移动式之分。下列属于泡沫炮系统作为主要灭火设施或辅助灭火设施适用的场所()。
下列哪些货物不列入我国海关统计:
甲企业系全民所有制工业企业。经厂长A某批准,2004年7月10日,甲企业与个体户M某签订了一份借款合同,由设备厂借给M某人民币lO万元,借款期限三个月。7月12日,M某持借款合同到设备厂会计科提款,会计科长B某以资金紧张、担心M某还款信誉等为由,于当
企业处于成熟阶段,应采取的财务战略包括()。
甲公司2012年初预计负债余额30万元,系销售商品确认的质量保修费用,按照销售收入的2%确认,当年实现收入1750万元,实际发生维修费用28万元,则当年末因该项业务导致的预计负债余额为()。
塑料垃圾因为难以被自然分解一直令人类感到头疼。近年来,许多易于被自然分解的塑料代用品纷纷问世,这是人类为减少塑料垃圾的一种努力。但是,这种努力几乎没有成效,因为据全球范围内大多数垃圾处理公司统计,近年来,他们每年填埋的垃圾中塑料垃圾的比例,不但没有减少,反
根据下列材料回答问题。2009年5月,就全国而言,关于31个大城市住宅价格指数表述正确的是()。
《天津学生联合会报》
根据刑罚的观念,对“没有造成损害的中止犯,免除处罚”进行辨析。
最新回复
(
0
)