2015职称英语考试理工类阅读理解练习（6）

　　When Karl Kim immigrated to the United States from Korea as a teenager, he had a hard time learning English. Now he speaks it fluently, and he had a unique opportunity to see how our brains adapt to a second language. As a graduate student, Kim worked in the lab of Joy Hirsch, a

　　neuroscientist in New York. 1 They found evidence that children and adults dont use the same parts of the brain when they learn a second language.

　　The researchers used an instrument called an MRI scanner to study the brains of two groups of bilingual people 2 . The other consisted of people who, like Kim, learned their second language later in life.People from both groups were placed inside the MRI scanner. This allowed Kim and Hirsch to see which parts of the brain were getting more blood and were more active. They asked people from both groups to think about what they had done the day before, first in one language and then the other. They couldnt speak out loud because any movement would disrupt the scanning.

　　Kim and Hirsch looked specifically at two language centers in the brain, Brocas area, which is believed to control speech production, and Wernickes area, which is thought to process

　　meaning. Kim and Hirsch found that both groups of people used the same part of Wernickes area no matter what language they were speaking. 3

　　People who learned a second language as children used the same region in Brocas area for both their first and second languages. People who learned a second language later in life used a different part of Brocas area for their second language. 4 Hirsch believes that when

　　language is first being programmed in young children, their brains may mix the sounds and

　　structures of all languages in the same area. Once that programming is complete, the processing of a new language must be taken over by a different part of the brain.

　　A second possibility is simply that we may acquire languages differently as children than we do as adults. Hirsch thinks that mothers teach a baby to speak by using different methods involving touch, sound, and sight. 5

　　注释：

　　1.Now he speaks it fluently，and he had a unique opportunity to see how our brains adapt to a

　　second language：现在他英语讲得很流利，并且有一个独特的机会来审视我们的大脑是如何适应第二语言的。adapt to：适应。

　　2.MRI：核磁共振成像

　　3.BrocaS areaWernickeS area：Brocas area,即布洛卡区，也译为布罗卡区，是大脑的一区，它主管语言信息的处理、话语的产生。Wemickes area，即韦尼克区，也译为威尼克区，是大脑写中枢，视觉性语言中枢。Brocas area与Wernickes area共同形成语言系统。布洛卡区与韦尼克区通常位于脑部的优势半脑，这是由于大多数人是右利的缘故。1861年法国神经学家兼外科医生保罗?布洛卡对一些失语症患者进行研究及治疗时发现此一区域，位于大脑皮层额下回后部的441区,45区，故以发现者的名字命名为布洛卡区。

　　练习：

　　A But their use of Brocas area was different.

　　B One group consisted of those who had learned a second language as children.

　　C How does Hirsch explain this difference?

　　D We use special parts of the brain for language leaming.

　　E And that is very different from learning a language in a high school or college class.

　　F Their work led to an important discovery.

　　答案与题解：

　　1.F根据本空的后一句：They found evidence that children and adults dont use the same parts of the brain when they learn a second language.其中they found evidence与discovery相呼应。

　　2.B 依据本空的后一句The other consisted of people wh0，like Kim，learned their second language later in life.onethe other是固定搭配，用来比较同类事物。

　　3.A整段讲的是对大脑的两个语言中心的分析，得出两组测试人员都使用WernickeS area中同一部位，紧接着即谈到测试者们使用BrocaS area的情况。

　　4.C本段的开头谈到孩子学习第一和第二语言都用BrocaS area相同的部位;而成人学习第二语言时使用Brocas area不同的部位。后面都是Hirsch对这一现象的解释;Hirsch believes...根据上下文C是恰当的。

　　5.E该句是全文的结束语。本段前两句都讲成年人与小孩习得语言方式的不同，Hirsch认为，母亲教小孩说话是通过使用不同的方法，涉及触觉、听觉和视觉。different是关键词，所以，我们在高中或大学的课堂上学习语言的方法和母亲教孩子的方法是不同的。