C

In the kitchen of my mother’s houses there has always been a wooden stand(木架)with a small notepad(记事本)and a hole for a pencil.

I’m looking for paper on which to note down the name of a book I am recommending to my mother. Over forty years since my earliest memories of the kitchen pad and pencil, five houses later, the current paper and pencil look the same as they always did. Surely it can’t be the same pencil? The pad is more modern, but the wooden stand is definitely the original one.

“I’m just amazed you still have the same stand for holding the pad and pencil after all these years.” I say to her, walking bank into the living-room with a sheet of paper and the pencil. “You still use a pencil. Can’t you afford a pen?”

My mother replies a little sharply. “It works perfectly well. I’ve always kept the stand in the kitchen. I never knew when I might want to note down an idea, and I was always in the kitchen in these days.”

Immediately I can picture her, hair wild, blue housecoat covered in flour, a wooden spoon in one hand, the pencil in the other, her mouth moving silently. My mother smiles and says, “One day I was cooking and watching baby Pauline, and I had a brilliant thought, but the stand was empty. One of the children must have taken the paper. So I just picked up the breadboard and wrote it all down on the back. It turned out to be a real breakthrough for solving the mathematical problem I was working on.”

This story—which happened before I was born—reminds me how extraordinary my mother was, and is, as a gifted mathematician. I feel embarrassed that I complain about not having enough child-free time to work. Later, when my mother is in the bathroom, I go into her kitchen and turn over the breadboards. Sure enough, on the back of the smallest one, are some penciled marks I recognize as mathematics. Those symbols have traveled unaffected through fifty years, rooted in the soil of a cheap wooden breadboard, invisible(看不到的)exhibits at every meal.

36. Why has the author’s mother always kept the notepad and pencil in the kitchen?

A. To leave messages.               B. To list her everyday tasks.

C. To note down maths problems.      D. To write down a flash of inspiration.

37. What is the author’s original opinion about the wooden stand?

A. It has great value for the family.

B. It needs to be replaced by a better one.

C. It brings her back to her lonely childhood.

D .It should be passed on to the next generation.

38. The author feels embarrassed for _________

A. blaming her mother wrongly.

B. giving her mother a lot of trouble.

C. not making good use of time as her mother did.

D. not making any breakthrough in her field.

39. What can be inferred from the last paragraph?

A .The mother is successful in her career.

B. The family members like traveling.

C. The author had little time to play when young.

D. The marks on the breadboard have disappeared.

40. In the author’s mind,　her mother is____

A. strange in behavior.             B. keen on her research.

C. fond of collecting old things.     D. careless about her appearance.

D

If English means endless new words, difficult grammar and sometimes strange pronunciation, you are wrong. Haven’t you noticed that you have become smarter since you started to learn a language?

According to a new study by a British university, learning a second language can lead to an increase in your brain power. Researchers found that learning other languages changes grey matter. This is the area of the brain which processes information. It is similar to the way that exercise builds muscles.?

The study also found the effect is greater, the younger people learn a second language.?

A team led by Dr Andrea Mechelli, from University College London, took a group of Britons who only spoke English. They were compared with a group of “early bilinguals” who had learnt a second language before the age of five, as well as a number of later learners.

Scans showed that grey matter density(密度)in the brain was greater in bilinguals than in people without a second language. But the longer a person waited before mastering a new language, the smaller the difference.?

“Our findings suggest that the structure of the brain is changed by the experience of learning a second language,” said the scientists.?

It means that the change itself increases the ability to learn.?

Professor Dylan Vaughan Jones of the University of Wales, has researched the link between bilingualism and maths skills. “Having two languages gives you two windows on the world and makes the brain more flexible(灵活的),”he said. “You are actually going beyond language and have a better understanding of different ideas.”

The findings were matched in a study of native Italian speakers who had learned English as a second language between the ages of two and 34. Reading, writing, and comprehension were all tested. The results showed that the younger they started to learn, the better. “Studying a language means you get an entrance to another world,” explained the scientists.?

41. The main subject talked about in this passage is_____________.?

A. science on learning a second language?

B. man's ability of learning a second language?

C. language can help brain power?

D. language learning and maths study?

42. In the second paragraph, the writer mentions “exercise” in order to________.

A. say language is also a kind of physical labor?

B. prove that one needs more practice when he (she) is learning a language?

C. to show the importance of using the language when you learn the language?

D. make people believe language learning helps grey matter work well?

43. The underlined word “bilingual” probably means_____________.?

A. a researcher on language learning B. a second language learner?

C. a person who can speak two languages     D. an active language learner ?

44. We may know from the scientific findings that_____________.?

A. the earlier you start to learn a second language the higher the grey matter density is

B. there is no difference between a later second language learner and one who doesn't know a second language?

C. the experience of learning a second language has bad effect on people's brain

D. the ability of learning a second language is changing all the time?

45. In the last two paragraphs, the author wants to tell us that_____________.?

A. learning a second language is the same as studying maths

B. Italian is the best choice for you as a second language?

C. you’d better choose the ages between 2 and 34 to learn a second language

D. early learning of a second language helps you a great deal in study other subjects