It sounds almost too good to be true,but a new study on sleeping brains suggests that listening to languages while you sleep can actually help you to learn them.
For the study,researchers played recordings of foreign words and their translations to subjects enjoying slow-wave sleep,a stage when a person has 1ittle consciousness of their environment.To ensure that the results were not compromised by foreign language words that subjects may have had some contact with at some point in their waking lives,researchers made up totally nonexistent foreign words.
When the subjects woke up,they were presented with the made-up words again without their translations.The subjects were then asked to imagine whether this made-up word indicated an object that was either smaller or larger.This vague(模糊的)way of testing their understanding of the words is an approach that is supposed to tap into the unconscious memory.
Unbelievably,the subjects were able to correctly classify the words in this way at an accuracy rate that was 10 percent higher than random chance.That’s not a rate high enough to have them suddenly communicating in a foreign tongue,but it is enough to suggest that the brain is still absorbing information on some level,even during sleep.
Researchers have long known that sleep is important for memory,but previously its role in memory was thought to relate only to the preservation and organization of memories acquired during wakefulness.This is the first time that memory formation has been shown to be active during sleep.
In other words,our brains are listening to the world,and learning about it,even when our conscious selves are not present.
The next step for researchers will be to see if new information can be 1earned quicker during wakefulness if it was already presented during sleep.If so,it could forever change how we train our brains to learn new things.Sleep learning might become a widespread practice.
12. Why did researchers use some made-up words in the study? A. To guarantee the accuracy of the test result. B. To increase the difficulty of testing information.
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C. To avoid the subjects cheating in the experiment. D. To test if our brain are good at learning something new. 13. What were the subjects asked to do in the study? A. Classify what they heard by size.
B. Make up a word to represent“large”or“small”. C. Repeat the words they heard in the sleep. D. Imagine the meanings of the made-up words.
14. What conclusion did researchers draw from this study? A. Sleep is necessary for a good memory. B. Memory formation goes on during sleep. C. Listening during sleep is good for our brain. D. Learning languages in sleep has better effects. 15. What will be the researchers’next plan? A. To train people how to learn during sleep. B. To prove the existence of unconscious memory. C. To dig out the reason for unconscious learning.
D. To study the effect of sleep learning on conscious learning. 【答案】12. A 13. A 14. B 15. D 【解析】
本文是一篇说明文。文章介绍了一项新的科学研究,研究发现在睡眠中人脑的记忆功能仍发挥着作用,他们会在潜意识中记住在睡眠中听到的语言。 【12题详解】
推理判断题。根据第二段中的第二句To ensure that the results were not compromised by foreign language words that subjects may have had some contact with at some point in their waking lives,researchers made up totally nonexistent foreign words.可知,研究人员使用虚构的词为的是让受试者不被所接触过的外语词汇影响,也就是为了保证实验结果的准确性。故选A。 【13题详解】
细节理解题。根据第三段第二句The subjects were then asked to imagine whether this made-up word indicated an object that was either smaller or larger.可知,这些受
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测试者在实验中被要求:去想象这些虚构的词汇所代表的物体是大还是小。故选A。 【14题详解】
推理判断题。根据倒数第三段最后一句This is the first time that memory formation has been shown to be active during sleep.可知,实验表明在睡眠期间记忆力仍然在形成。故选B。 【15题详解】
推理判断题。根据文章末段第一句The next step for researchers will be to see if new information can be 1earned quicker during wakefulness if it was already presented during sleep.可知,研究人员下一步要做的是测试潜意识中的学习是否能够提高清醒时的学习效率。故选D。
第二节(共5小题;每小题2分,满分10分)
根据短文内容,从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。
Is there a best way to pack clothes? The following ideas are of great help to those who are always on the way. Where to start?
___16___ Once you see how much you lay in front of you, be brave and reduce about a third. Because the truth is like your wardrobe, you never seem to use as much as you take.
How to deal with clothing?
Start with your shoes. Put underwear or socks inside them to hold the shape of your shoes. Thus, you can make use of every square inch of space. Once your shoes are firmly in place, fill small gaps with very soft items. ___17___ .
Lay out the first clothes with one end inside the suitcase and the other end dropping over the edge. Put the next clothes on top of this, but place them the other way around. ___18___ In this way, you’ll get another flat layer soon Finally, one by one, fold the clothes back in. Where to put non-clothing?
___19___ These awkward shaped items are difficult to pack. You’d better put them towards the middle give maximum protection. Remember.to double bag your toiletries kit (洗漱袋) to avoid spotting your clothes.
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Top tips:
If you take a belt, slip them along the inside of your case. ___20___ That will take more space. Next, use the hard shape of the case to offer protection. Leave your toiletries kit in your suitcase, when you return home. It’s ready for the next time you travel.
A. Don’t roll belts up. B. Be sure to put away socks.
C. This idea will create a flat first layer. D. And then continue laying other clothes. E. That will make the job a whole lot easier.
F. Lay everything you want to take with you on the bed.
G. Non-clothing items are things like books, toothbrushes and cameras. 【答案】16. F 17. C 18. D 19. G 20. A 【解析】 【分析】
本文属于说明文,介绍打包行李的方法和注意事项。 【16题详解】
根据后一句Once you see how much you lay in front of you, be brave and reduce about a third.可知,当你看到你面前摆放的东西时,勇敢一点,减少三分之一的东西,故可知,需要把打包的东西放在床上,再决定最终打包的物品,故F选项,把你想带的东西放在床上,切题,引出后面的具体做法,故选F。 【17题详解】
根据前一句Once your shoes are firmly in place, fill small gaps with very soft items.可知,一旦把鞋子放置好之后,在这些狭小的空间里塞一些柔软的东西,C选项,这就设置好了第一次,表示这么做的目的,切题,故选C。 【18题详解】
根据前一句Put the next clothes on top of this, but place them the other way around.可知,在这上面放下一批衣服,但是放置的时候需要方向倒置一下,D选项,之后继续放置衣服,介绍放衣服的步骤,切题,故选D。 【19题详解】
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根据本段小标题Where to put non-clothing?可知,怎么放置非布料类的物品的技巧,G选项,非布料类物品指的是像书籍、牙刷以及相机之类的东西,具体解释这类物品是什么,切题,故选G。 【20题详解】
根据前一句If you take a belt, slip them along the inside of your case.以及后一句That will take more space.如果要用带子的话,就沿着箱子里面把东西捆起来,如果把带子卷起来的话,可能占用更多空间,切题,故选A。
【点睛】七选五做题技巧。做题的时候边读边做。各个问题附近的句子都需要重点阅读,圈画一些线索,再从选项中寻找相关的特征词用来判断正确答案。带入排除法也是一种很好的方法。另外,如果发现有一题拿不准的,先跳过,先做容易的能做出的题,直到读完整篇文章。至此,文章的要点和主旨、各个段落之间的逻辑关系应该基本就能清楚了。然后再回过去做之前不确定的题目。
比如小题4,根据本段小标题Where to put non-clothing?可知,怎么放置非布料类的物品的技巧,G选项,非布料类物品指的是像书籍、牙刷以及相机之类的东西,具体解释这类物品是什么,切题,故选G。
第二部分 语言知识运用(共两节,满分45分) 第一节(共20小题;每小题1.5分,满分30分)
阅读下面短文,从短文后各题所给的A、B、C和D四个选项中,选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。
I was often told that God loved me. I wanted to believe that so much. For nearly a ___21___ I was shuttled between adoptive families and group homes—14 of them. Some families were nice. Others were ___22___, like evils in a dark fairy tale. At the age of 12, I was finally ___23___, by Gay and Phil Courter, a couple with two adult sons. Gay said, “We lived for a ___24___, and we believe that reason is you.”
I’d been lied to by adults so many times in the past years. I wasn’t sure they ___25___ loved me. “There will be no ___26___. All those parents were pretty much the same,” I said to myself. I ___27___ to call them Mom and Dad. I was particular about the home-cooked meals Gay ___28___ prepared. I hid in my room as much as possible. I wanted to make them ___29___ so they’d show their true colors.
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