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It’s well known that being bilingual has cognitive benefits: switching between two languages has been compared to mental gymnast

admin2019-08-08  30
问题    It’s well known that being bilingual has cognitive benefits: switching between two languages has been compared to mental gymnastics. 【F1】But now, research suggests that mastering two languages can fundamentally alter the structure of your brain, rewiring it to work differently than the brains of those who only speak one language.
   "Bilinguals are really a model of cognitive control," Pennsylvania State University cognitive scientist Judith F. Kroll told Quartz, citing bilinguals’ ability to both hold two languages in their head and expertly switch between them at the right times. Kroll presented her work at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting held in Washington, DC last weekend. 【F2】If you speak two languages and have ever found this task to be difficult—choosing the "right" tongue based on the context you’re in—it’s because both languages are always "on" in the brains of bilinguals. as Kroll and other cognitive scientists have seen. In other words, the brain is continually processing information in both languages.
   The mental struggle of selecting and switching between two languages actually helps reshape the brain’s networks, according to Kroll. One study looked at four-month old, eight-month old, and one-year old infants—60 of whom were bilingual and 60 monolingual—and found that, 【F3】as they grew older, infants who were exposed to both Spanish and Romanian started looking at speakers’ mouths instead of their eyes when listening to someone talk. The monolingual infants, however, only looked at mouths more than eyes when they were listening to someone speak their native tongue.
   Kroll told Quartz this study is a great example of how being bilingual can improve speakers’ cognitive abilities. (4) "Babies who are growing up with two languages become attuned to those two languages right away, so bilingual is not confusing them or messing them up developmentally—the opposite is true." said Kroll.
   This rewiring doesn’t happen the same way in every bilingual brain—it’s different for each person, just as each person has their own language experience. 【F5】But Kroll’s research demonstrates that no matter how effortlessly other bilinguals may seem to switch between their two tongues, there’s a lot going on under the hood. That should come as a small relief for anyone attempting to pick up a new language. There is no rest for the monolingual, so as the bilingual—they are struggling to deal with the two languages in the beginning.
【F3】
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答案随着年龄的增长，那些处于西班牙语和罗马尼亚语双语环境下的婴儿，在聆听他人说话时，开始看他们的嘴巴，而不是眼睛。
解析 ①本句是复合句。②as引导时间状语从句，表示“随着年龄的增长”。③who were exposed to…为修饰infants的定语从句，限定说明此处的婴儿特指处于西班牙语和罗马尼亚语双语环境下的婴儿。④start doing sth．表示“开始做某事”；instead of表示“不是……”；when listening to…为主句的时间状语，表示“当……时”。
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