2017年高考英语一轮复习 Unit 5 The power of nature单元检测卷 新人教版选修6.docVIP

Unit 5 The power of nature Ⅰ.阅读理解 The new findings hold that less demanding activities, such as listening to classical music, probably won’t bring noticeable benefits to an aging mind.“It seems it is not enough just to get out and do something—it is important to get out and do something that is unfamiliar and mentally challenging, and that provides broad stimulation（刺激）mentally and socially,” said lead researcher Denise Park of the University of Texas at Dallas.The new findings provide much-needed insight into the factors of everyday activities that contribute to cognitive vitality（认知活力） as we age. “We need, as a society, to learn how to maintain a healthy mind, just like we know how to maintain physical health with diet and exercise,” said Park, “We know so little right now.” “This is an assumption, but what if challenging mental activity slows the rate at which the brain ages? Every year that you save could be an added year of high-quality life and independence.” For their study, Park and colleagues randomly assigned 221 adults, aged 60 to 90, to engage in a particular type of activity for 15 hours a week over the course of three months. Some participants were assigned to learn a new skill—digital photography, quilting, or both—which required active engagement and tapped working memory, long-term memory and other high-level cognitive processes. Other participants were instructed to engage in more familiar activities at home, such as listening to classical music and completing word puzzles. And, to account for the possible influence of social contact, some participants were assigned to a social group that included social interactions, field trips, and entertainment. At the end of three months, Park and colleagues found that the adults who were productively engaged in learning new skills showed improvements in memory compared to those who engaged in social activities or non-demanding mental activities at home. The three learning groups were pushed very hard to