Learning to play a musical instrument can change your brain, with a US review finding musical training can lead to improved speech and foreign language skills.
Although it was suggested in the past that listening to Mozart’s music or other classical music could make you smarter, there has been little evidence to show that music can boost(使增長) brain power.
But a data-driven review by Northwestern University has pulled reaserch together that links musical training to learning that spills over into (波及) skills including language, speech, memory, attention and even vocal emotion.
Researcher Nina Kraus said the data strongly suggested that the nervous connections made during musical training also prepared the brain for other aspects of human communication.
“ The effect of musical training suggests that, like physical exercise and its effect on body fitness, music is a resource that tones the brain for auditory fitness and thus requires society to re-examine the role of music in shaping individual development, ” the researchers said in their study.
Kraus said learning musical sounds could improve the brain’s ability to adapt and change and also enable the nervous system to provide constructing patterns that are important to learning.
The study, published in Nature Review Neuroscience , looked at the explosion of research in recent years focusing on the effect of musical training on the nervous system which could have impacts for education.
The study found that playing an instrument prepares the brain to choose what is related in a complex process that may involve reading or remembering a score, timing issues and coordination with other musicians.

  1. 1.

    What is the text mainly about ?

    1. A.
      The effect of physical exercise.
    2. B.
      The researcher named Kraus.
    3. C.
      The benefit of musical training.
    4. D.
      Musicians’ improved skills.
  2. 2.

    The underlined word “ auditory ” in Paragraph 5 probably means “ __________”.

    1. A.
      of the body
    2. B.
      connected with seeing
    3. C.
      of the mind
    4. D.
      connected with hearing
  3. 3.

    It was believed but not proved that listening to classical music could __________.

    1. A.
      add to your intelligence
    2. B.
      improve your speech
    3. C.
      boost your memory
    4. D.
      make you think faster
  4. 4.

    According to Kraus, musical training contributes to the following EXCEPT __________.

    1. A.
      body fitness
    2. B.
      the way to speak
    3. C.
      langugage learning
    4. D.
      mental concentration
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科目：高中英語 來源：江西省吉水中學(xué)2010屆高三上學(xué)期第三次月考英語試題 題型：030

對話填空。閱讀下列對話，掌握其大意，并根據(jù)首字母的提示，寫出一個(gè)英語單詞的完整，正確形式，使對話通暢。

H－Henry　T－Tom

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H：That sounds exciting．I wonder what her everyday work is．

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May 22, 1844, and lived in Europe for several years as a child.

   Her family returned to the United States and, at age 16, Mary attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Four years later she decided she couldn't learn anything fresh and practical in Philadelphia, so she returned to Europe. There she studied the skills of the masters in Rome, Seville, Antwerp, and Paris.

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Mary left Pennsylvania for Europe at age 20 mainly because_____.

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   C. her desire for the learning wasn’t satisfied well

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Which year was the most critical to her career and life?

   A. 1860   B. 1864   C. 1877    D. 1914

Which of the statements about Mary Cassatt is supported by the passage?

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   B. Her painting featured scenes of everyday living

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Mary Cassatt stopping painting because of_____.

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We know the famous ones—the Thomas Edisons and the Alexander Graham Bells —but what about the less famous inventors? What about the people who invented the traffic light and the windshield wiper(雨刮器)？Shouldn’t we know who they are?
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【小題1】
By mentioning “traffic light” and “windshield wiper”, the author indicates that countless inventions are      .

A．beneficial, because their inventors are famous
B．beneficial, though their inventors are less famous
C．not useful, because their inventors are less famous
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【小題2】
Professor Joan McLean’s course aims to_____.
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B．inform students of the windshield wiper’s invention
C．carry out the requirements by Mountain University
D．prepare students to try their own invention
【小題3】
Tommy Lee’s invention of the unbreakable umbrella was _________.
A．not eventually accepted by the umbrella producer
B．inspired by the story behind the windshield wiperC．due to his dream of being caught in a rainstorm
D．not related to Professor Joan McLean’s lectures
【小題4】
Which 0f the following can best serve as the title of this passage?
A  How to Help Students to Sell Their Inventions to Producers?
B  How to Design a Built-in Device for Cleaning the Window?
C  Shouldn’t We Know Who Invented the Windshield Wiper?
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C. Satisfied and cheerful      D. Disappointed and helpless
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第三部分：閱讀 (共兩節(jié)，滿分40分)
第一節(jié)閱讀理解 (共15小題；每小題2分，滿分30分)
閱讀下列短文，從每題所給的A、B、C和D項(xiàng)中，選出最佳選項(xiàng)，并在答題卡上將該項(xiàng)涂黑。
A
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A. they love watching magicians make the impossible happen
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