It helps to speak more than one language—even if the benefits are unquantifiable. Just a few generations ago, speaking two langu

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问题     It helps to speak more than one language—even if the benefits are unquantifiable. Just a few generations ago, speaking two languages was supposed to be bad for you. Tests in America found that bilingual people had lower IQS, which seemed evidence enough.【T1】 Later it became clear that those surveys were really measuring the material poverty of immigrants; members of such families were more likely to be undernourished and understimulated, not to mention the obvious fact that they often sat the tests in a language that was not their best.
    How things have changed. In the past decade it has become almost common knowledge that bilingualism is good for you—witness articles such "Why Bilinguals are Smarter" and "The Amazing Benefits of Being Bilingual" by the New York Times and the BBC. 【T2】Most notably, they have shown that bilinguals get mental disorder on average four years later than monolinguals, and that they have an edge in "executive control"—a basket of abilities that aid people doing complex tasks.
    Why bilingualism would enhance these capabilities is unclear. 【T3】Researchers hypothesise that having two languages means suppressing one when speaking the other, a kind of constant mental exercise that makes the brain healthier. But as intellectual pendulums do, this one has begun to swing again, against the "bilingual advantage". Roberto Filippi of University College London and his colleagues have spent five years testing more than 600 people, from seven to 80 years old and including some who switch between two languages. They could find no statistically significant advantage in any age group.
    【T4】In response to the scepticism, researchers who believe in the advantage have refined their studies—now acknowledging that bilingual people use their languages in varying ways that may account for the inconsistent previous results. A second language expands the number of people you can talk to. It adds to the ways you can say things, and so offers a second point of view on the whole business of expression. 【T5】One study found that bilingual children are better at grasping other perspectives, perhaps because they are always keeping track of who speaks what, a regular reminder that everyone is different.
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答案作为对怀疑论的回应,相信这种优势的研究人员改进了其研究。他们现在承认,双语者使用其语言的方式不同,这可能是之前结果不一致的原因。

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