Question

If you want to stay young, sit down and have agood think. This is the research finding of a team of Japanese doctors who say that most of our brains are not getting enough exercise and as a result, we are aging unnecessarily soon.

    Professor Taiju Matsuzawa wanted to find out why otherwise healthy farmers in northern Japan appeared to be losing their ability to think and reason at a relatively early age, and how the

process of aging could be slowed down.With a team of colleagues at Tokyo National University,

he set about measuring brain volumes of a thousand people of different ages and jobs.

Computer technology enabled the researchers to get right measurements of the volume of the front and side sections of the brain, which relate to intellect and emotion, and determine the human character. Contraction (收縮) of the front and side parts as cells died was observed in some subjects in their thirties, but it was still not clear in some sixty and seventy-year-olds.Matsuzawa concluded from his tests that there is a simple remedy (補救) to the contraction normally associated with age using the head.

    The findings show in general terms that contraction of the brain begins sooner in people in the country than in towns. Those least at risk, says Matsuzawa, are lawyers, followed by university professors and doctors. White collar workers doing routine work in government offices are, however, as likely to have shrinking (萎縮) brains as farm workers, bus drivers and shop assistants.

    Matsuzawa'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 keep good blood circulation is through using the brain," he says, "Think hard and engage in conversation. Don't rely on pocket calculators."w

The team of doctors wanted to find out ______.

A. why certain people age sooner than others   B. how to make people live much longer

C. the size of certain people's brains          D. the people with more intelligence

On what are their research findings based?

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.

Matsuzawa thinks that _______.

A. our brains grow as we grow older

B. the front section of the brain does not shrink

C. sixty-year-old people have better brains than thirty-year-olds

D. the contraction of brains is connected with brain exercise

According to the passage, which people seem to age slower than others?

A. Farmers.     B. Lawyers.     C. Government workers.     D. Shop assistants.w

Answer 1

【小題1】A

【小題2】C

【小題3】D

【小題4】B

解析:

略