阅读试题

Passage6
Any brain exercise is better than being a total mental couch potato. But the activities with the most _1_ are those that require you to work beyond what is easy and comfortable. Playing _2_ rounds of games and watching the latest documentary marathon on the History Channel may not be enough. Just as your muscles grow stronger with use, mental exercise keeps your mental skills and memory in tone. But what kind of exercise is best for the brain? Here are some suggestions.
Be a lifelong learner. Continuing to learn new things can build and _3_ the connections between brain cells.
_4_ your brain. Think of all mental activities as a continuous whole. Watching a TV documentary would be on the passive, mildly challenging end of the _5_, while learning how to converse in a new language would be on the active, very challenging end. When it comes to cognitive reserve, _6_ challenging tasks have the biggest impact.
Get uncomfortable. One stereotype of aging is that young people are bold explorers but older I people are _7_ homebodies who “know what they like.” Getting out of your comfort zone from time to time challenges your mental skills. An example of this would be traveling to a city that you haven’t been to before, which forces you to _8_ unfamiliar surroundings.
Be social. Social _9_,aging researchers have discovered, puts people at risk of losing some of the brain reserves they have built up over a lifetime. There are many ways to be social. One good way is working as a volunteer in a social setting, which allows you to have contact with _10_ types of people and puts you in new situations.
A) endless B) isolation C) maintain D) spectrum
E) evidently F) navigate G) timid H) frantic
I) mentally J) diverse K) impact L) deprive
M) alternative N) excursion O) strain

解题思路

Passage 6
解题思路
1.[K]空格位于介词with之后，应为名词。第1句提到“任何”对脑力的训练活动都是有益的，第2句开头的But the activities with…表明本句会缩小“任何”脑力的训练活动的范围。句中的“要求超越那些简单轻松的活 动”提示，只有这样的活动才能“起作用”、“产生影响”，故选用impact一词最恰当。
2.[A]空格在动词和名词之间，应为修饰名词的定语。句中的documentary marathon具有提示作用，表明“打游戏”和“看纪录片”都持续很长的时间，endless符合语义。
3.[C]空格前的and提示此处需要与build并列的动词，该动词应包含积极意义并能与connections搭配。此处选用maintain最合适,表示不断学习新鲜事物不但能建立脑细胞之间的连接，而且还能“保持”这种连接。
4.[O]空格在句子的开头，后接your brain,故应填人动词，构成祈使句。根据该段其他句子的陈述可知，作者认为训练脑力的活动越具挑战性，对大脑就越有益，可见空格所在句应该是建议对大脑“严加训练”。动词库中strain一词最合适，strain your brain原意为“用尽脑筋”，此处指建议做一些要用脑力的事。
5.[D]空格在冠词 the 之后，应为名词。此句提到了 the mildly challenging end 和 the very challenging end, 这两处都是讲同一个范畴的两个极端，故此处选spectrum最合适。
6.[I]空格在形容词challenging(挑战性的)之前,应为修饰该形容词的副词。此处应选mentally,表示“考验智力的活动对于认知储备产生最大的影响”。
7.[G]空格位于be动词和名词之间，应为修饰homebodies的定语。该空格所在句由but连接两个分句构成,对young people和older people作了对比说明，根据前后分句的转折对比关系可推断, 空格处的词应与 bold意思相反,故选用timid。
8.[F]空格在不定式标记to之后,应为动词原形。到一个不曾去过的城市旅游，就需要自己去寻找方向，动词库中navigate正好符合语境，为本题答案。
9.[B]空格是句子的主语，且在形容词social之后，故应填入名词。句中的puts people at risk提示主语部分应为表示消极含义的词汇。名词库中isolation和strain都带有消极含义，结合本段中心意思be social(要合群)排除strain一词。isolation为本题答案。
10.[J]空格在介词with和名词types之间,应该是修饰types的定语。空格所在句列举了社交合群的方法，即去当志愿者。据此可知，在social setting中肯定会接触到各种各样的人，故diverse符合句意。