首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
It is generally believed that the greatest damage of old age is the loss of mental faculties. With the near doubling of life exp
It is generally believed that the greatest damage of old age is the loss of mental faculties. With the near doubling of life exp
admin
2010-05-25
41
问题
It is generally believed that the greatest damage of old age is the loss of mental faculties. With the near doubling of life expectancy in the past century has come a mixed blessing. A few great thinkers and artists remained productive in their later years—Galileo, Monet, Shaw, Stravinsky, Tolstoy—but even they were not what they bad been in their primes. In sciences, the boom falls sooner still: "A person who has not made his great contribution to science before the age of 30 will never do so," said Einstein.
Imagine if we could transplant old brains into younger bodies: would our minds stay young, or would we be senile teenagers, scaling mountains and skateboarding at 120, but forgetting where we put the car’s keys. Is the brain uniquely vulnerable to the ravages of time? Can anything be done?
Indisputable evidence from many studies shows that a higher level of education and greater mental activity throughout life correlated with lower cognitive losses in old age. These benefits apply to all sons of cognitive losses, including those associated with dementia. Some researchers believe that mental application in early life produces complex neural connections that provide a reserve later on; others argue that education merely gives people the means to cope with and compensate for their losses.
K. Warner Shay, a professor of human development and psychology at Pennsylvania State University, has studied age-related change in more than 5,000 people, some for more than 40 years. Comparing earlier with later recruits, Mr. Shay concludes that the rate of mental decline is slowing, a change he attributes to better education, healthier diet, lessened exposure to serious disease, and more mental activity. "You’ve got to practise," Mr. Shay says. "If you don’t solve problems, you no longer can solve problems." Retirement can be particularly hard, he adds, because for many people, work is their most challenging activity. "Retirement is good for people who’ve had routine jobs—they may find something more stimulating. But it’s disadvantageous for people in high-level jobs, who are less likely to find something as stimulating as the job they had."
K. Anders Ericsson, a psychology professor at Florida State University, confirms Mr. Shay’s emphasis on the virtue of practice. Initially interested in expert performance like musicians, he found that many geniuses aren’t really so different from everyone else—they just practise harder and longer, benefiting from sheer labor, rather than from some special gift. Professional musicians who continue to practise assiduously as they age continue to play well, while amateurs who just play for pleasure show age-related declines.
Mr. Ericsson’s studies failed to show significant generalized fitness from mental exercise. If you play tennis, you improve your general fitness, but the greatest improvement is specific to tennis, not to other sports. It’s the same with cognitive exercise. You have to look at your life and pick what you want to improve.
According to the context, "a mixed blessing" (Para. 1) most probably means ______.
选项
A、living longer and losing more
B、living shorter and getting more
C、having a long life and making great contributions
D、achieving success both in young age and in old age
答案
A
解析
词义理解题。根据上下文可知,此处说人年龄增长了一倍,但同时又说随着年龄的增长人的脑力会衰退,所以说,年龄越大丧失的脑力越多。可以推知a mixed blessing指的是喜忧参半。所以选择living longer and losing more。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/Gc2K777K
0
专业英语四级
相关试题推荐
【C1】______snakes,lizards,andcrocodiles,turtlesbelongtotheclassofanimalscalledreptiles.Theearliestfossilsrecogni
Inbringing【C1】______children,everyparentwatcheseagerlythechild’sacquisitionofeachnew【C2】______--thefirstspokenwo
Islanguage,likefood,abasichumanneedwithoutwhichachildatacriticalperiodoflifecanbestarvedanddamaged?Judgin
"Asapracticalmatterhehadnopastonlyafuture.That’swhenhereallycamealivewhenyougothimonthesubjectofwhatwa
California,bysomemeasuresAmerica’smost【C1】______state,isatthesametimeitsmostagriculturalstate【C2】______totalfar
Thescientistshaveabsolutefreedomastowhatresearchtheythinkisthebestto______
GeorgeWashingtonwasthefirstmannotakingwhosebirthdaywaspubliclycelebratedduringhislifetime.Beforethecolonies
WhatdoesMarythinkissoincredibleandwonderful?
Iam______gratefulforthemanykindnessesyouhaveshowntomyson.
Iam______gratefulforthemanykindnessesyouhaveshowntomyson.
随机试题
下列关于期权合约的要素的说法不正确的是()。
心音
女性,24岁,已婚,月经周期正常,近三个月经期延长,持续10天左右,无腹痛。妇科检查无异常发现,拟行诊断性刮宫术,手术日期应选择为
受到社会尊重理解是免除或部分免除健康时的社会责任是
宜用醋水提取,加碱调至碱性后可从水中沉淀析出的成分是()。
约翰是一家公司的职员,在业余时间创办了Kitty玩具公司。Kitty玩具公司的雏形是约翰在1980年开张了的乔记精品商店。后来的生意越做越大,约翰终于辞去工作全心投入公司,并把店名正式定名为Kitty玩具公司。Kitw玩具公司的生意蒸蒸日上,目前已有7家连
(2019年)下列各项中,对企业会计核算资料的真实性、合法性和合理性进行审查的会计职能是()。
下列茶叶中,按加工工艺依次为不发酵、半发酵和全发酵的是()。
十二音技法:
页岩气燃料因价格便宜和洁净,现已成为许多国家政府、石油公司以及地质勘探和开采公司的重点研究目标。预计中国未动用的页岩气储量比普通天然气多10倍,比美国的储量还高。美国对页岩气的使用已走在了前面,一些专家表示,页岩气可能帮助美国摆脱对进口能源的依赖。21世纪
最新回复
(
0
)