选择知识点

    During an interview for one of my books, my interviewer said something I still think about often. Annoyed by the level of distraction(干扰)in his open office, he said, "Thatˈs why I have a membership at the coworking space across the street —so I can focus." His comment struck me as strange. After all, coworking spaces also typically use an open office layout (布局). But I recently came across a study that shows why his approach works.

    The researchers examined various levels of noise on participants as they completed tests of creative thinking. They were randomly divided into four groups and exposed to various noise levels in the background, from total silence to 50 decibels(分贝), 70 decibels, and 85 decibels. The differences between most of the groups were statistically insignificant; however,the participants in the 70 decibels group—those exposed to a level of noise similar to background chatter in a coffee shop-significantly outperformed the other groups. Since the effects were small, this may suggest that our creative thinking does not differ that much in response to total silence and 85 decibels of background noise.

    But since the results at 70 decibels were significant, the study also suggests that the right level of background noise—not too loud and not total silence—may actually improve oneˈs creative thinking ability. The right level of background noise may interrupt our normal patterns of thinking just enough to allow our imaginations to wander, without making it impossible to focus. This kind of "distracted focus" appears to be the best state for working on creative tasks.

    So why do so many of us hate our open offices? The problem may be that, in our offices, we canˈt stop ourselves from getting drawn into othersˈ conversations while weˈre trying to focus. Indeed, the researchers found that face-to-face interactions and conversations affect the creative process, and yet a coworking space or a coffee shop provides a certain level of noise while also providing freedom from interruptions.

Why does the interviewer prefer a coworking space?
A. It helps him concentrate. B. It blocks out background noise. C. It has a pleasant atmosphere. D. It encourages face-to-face interactions.
Which level of background noise may promote creative thinking ability?
A. Total silence. B. 50 decibels. C. 70 decibels. D. 85 decibels.
What makes an open office unwelcome to many people?
A. Personal privacy unprotected. B. Limited working space. C. Restrictions on group discussion. D. Constant interruptions.
What can we infer about the author from the text?
A. Heˈs a news reporter. B. Heˈs on office manager. C. Heˈs a professional designer. D. Heˈs a published writer.

   Some parents will buy any high﹣tech toy if they think it will help their child，but researchers said puzzles help children with math-related skills．

    Psychologist Susan Levine，an expert on mathematics development in young children at the University of Chicago，found children who play with puzzles between ages 2 and 4 later develop better spatial skills．Puzzle play was found to be a significant predictor of cognition（认知）after controlling for differences in parentsˈ income，education and the amount of parent talk，Levine said．

    The researchers analyzed video recordings of 53 child-parent pairs during everyday activities at home and found children who play with puzzles between 26 and 46 months of age have better spatial skills when assessed at 54 months of age．

    "The children who played with puzzles performed better than those who did not，on tasks that assessed their ability to rotate（旋转）and translate shapes，" Levine said in a statement．

    The parents were asked to interact with their children as they normally would， and about half of the children in the study played with puzzles at one time．Higher-income parents tended to have children play with puzzles more frequently，and both boys and girls who played with puzzles had better spatial skills．However，boys tended to play with more complex puzzles than girls，and the parents of boys provided more spatial language and were more active during puzzle play than the parents of girls．

    The findings were published in the journal Developmental Science．

In which aspect do children benefit from puzzle play？
A. Building confidence． B. Developing spatial skills． C. Learning self-control． D. Gaining high-tech knowledge．
What did Levine take into consideration when designing her experiment？
A. Parentsˈ age． B. Childrenˈs imagination． C. Parentsˈ education． D. Child-parent relationship．
How do boys differ from girls in puzzle play？
A. They play with puzzles more often． B. They tend to talk less during the game． C. They prefer to use more spatial language． D. They are likely to play with tougher puzzles．
What is the text mainly about？
A. A mathematical method． B. A scientific study． C. A woman psychologist． D. A teaching program．

    Challenging work that requires lots of analytical thinking，planning and other managerial skills might help your brain stay sharp as you age，a study published Wednesday in the journal Neurology suggests．

    Researchers from the University of Leipzig in Germany gathered more than 1，000 retired workers who were over age 75 and assessed the volunteersˈ memory and thinking skills through a battery of tests．Then，for eight years，the scientists asked the same group to come back to the lab every 18 months to take the same sorts of tests．

    Those who had held mentally stimulating（刺激），demanding jobs before retirement tended to do the best on the tests．And they tended to lose cognitive（认知）function at a much slower rate than those with the least mentally challenging jobs．The results held true even after the scientists accounted for the participantsˈ overall health status．

    "This works just like physical exercise，" says Francisca Then，who led the study．"After a long run，you may feel like youˈre in pain，you may feel tired．But it makes you fit．After a long day at work—sure，you will feel tired，but it can help your brain stay healthy．"

    Itˈs not just corporate jobs，or even paid work that can help keep your brain fit．Then points out．A waiterˈs job，for example，that requires multitasking，teamwork and decision-making could be just as stimulating as any high-level office work．And "running a family household requires high-level planning and coordinating（协调），" she says．"You have to organize the activities of the children and take care of the bills and groceries．"

    Of course，our brains can decline as we grow older for lots of reasons—including other environmental influences or genetic factors．Still，continuing to challenge yourself mentally and keeping your mind busy can only help．

Why did the scientists ask the volunteers to take the tests？
A. To assess their health status． B. To evaluate their work habits． C. To analyze their personality． D. To measure their mental ability．
How does Francisca Then explain her findings in paragraph 4？
A. By using an expertˈs words． B. By making a comparison． C. By referring to another study． D. By introducing a concept．
Which of the following is the best title for the text？
A. Retired Workers Can Pick Up New Skills B. Old People Should Take Challenging Jobs C. Your Tough Job Might Help Keep You Sharp D. Cognitive Function May Decline As You Age

So long as you do what you can, no one will blame you ____________ you might fail in the future.

A. as though    B. in case

C. now that    D. even if

A survey _____ now about whether students should have extra lessons during the holidays.

A.is being carried out B.has carried out

C.has been carried out D.had been carried out

The outbreak of Covid-19 has meant an _____ change in our life and work.

This actor often has the first two tricks planned before performing, and then goes for ______.

You have probably heard of the Mozart effect． It's the idea that if children or even babies listen to music composed by Mozart， they will become more intelligent． A quick Internet search reveals plenty of products to assist you in the task． Whatever your age is there are CDs and books to help you taste the power of Mozart's music， but when it comes to scientific evidence that it can make you more clever， the picture is more mixed．
The phrase "the Mozart effect" was made up in 1991， but it was a study described two years later in the journal Nature that sparked real media and public interest about the idea that listening to classical music somehow improves the brain． It is one of those ideas that sound reasonable． Mozart was undoubtedly a genius himself； his music is complex and there is a hope that if we listen to enough of it， we'll become more intelligent．
The idea took off，with thousands of parents playing Mozart to their children， and in 1998 Zell Miller， the Governor of the state of Georgia in the US， even asked for money to be set aside in the state budget so that every newborn baby could be sent a CD of classical music． It was not just babies and children who were exposed to Mozart's music on purpose， even an Italian farmer proudly explained that the cows were played Mozart three times a day to help them produce better milk．
I'll leave the debate on the impact on milk yield to farmers， but what about the evidence that listening to Mozart makes people more intelligent？ More research was carried out but an analysis of sixteen different studies confirmed that listening to music does lead to a temporary improvement in the ability to handle shapes mentally， but the benefits are short-lived and it doesn't make us more intelligent．



What can we learn from Paragraph 1？ ______

A. Mozart composed many musical pieces for children．
B. Children listening to Mozart will be more intelligent．
C. There are few products on the Internet about Mozart's music．
D. There is little scientific evidence to support the Mozart effect．

Why did many people believe in the idea of the Mozart effect？ ______

A. Because a study described it in the journal Nature．
B. Because Mozart himself was a genius．
C. Because Mozart's music is enjoyable．
D. Because Mozart's music makes people relaxed．

The underlined sentence in Paragraph 3 suggests that ______ ．

A. people were strongly against the idea
B. the idea was accepted by many people
C. Mozart played an important part in people's life
D. the US government helped promote the idea

What is the author's attitude towards the Mozart effect？ ______

A. Favorable．
B. Objective．
C. Doubtful．
D. Positive．

All color fades，____ under the impact of direct sunlight．（　　）

They went to the street to ____to the whole city to help the poor boy．（　　）