大学英语六级分类模拟题452.docVIP

大学英语六级分类模拟题452 Reading Comprehension Section A Why Teenagers Act Crazy ? ?A. Adolescence is practically synonymous in our culture with risk taking, emotional drama and all forms of strange behavior. Until very recently, the widely accepted explanation for adolescent angst has been psychological. Developmentally, teenagers face a number of social and emotional challenges, like starting to separate from their parents, getting accepted into a peer group and figuring out who they really are. It doesnt take a psychoanalyst to realize that these are anxiety-provoking transitions. ? ?B. But there is a darker side to adolescence that, until now, was poorly understood: a surge during teenage years in anxiety and fearfulness. Largely because of a quirk (古怪) of brain development, adolescents, on average, experience more anxiety and fear and have a harder time learning how not to be afraid than either children or adults. ? ?C. Different regions and circuits of the brain mature at very different rates. It turns out that the brain circuit for processing fear—the amygdala (杏仁核)—is precocious (早熟的) and develops way ahead of the prefrontal cortex (前额皮质), the seat of reasoning and executive control. This means that adolescents have a brain that is wired with an enhanced capacity for fear and anxiety, but is relatively underdeveloped when it comes to calm reasoning. ? ?D. You may wonder why, if adolescents have such enhanced capacity for anxiety, they are such novelty seekers and risk takers. It would seem that the two traits are at odds. The answer, in part, is that the brains reward center, just like its fear circuit, matures earlier than the prefrontal cortex. That reward center drives much of teenagers risky behavior. This behavioral paradox also helps explain why adolescents are particularly prone to injury and trauma. The top three killers of teenagers are accidents, homicide and suicide. The brain-development lag has huge implications for how we think about anxiety and how