2017年职称英语综合类专项强化习题及答案

　　text one

Sleep Lets Brain File Memories1

To sleep. Perchance to file?2 Findings published online this week by the Proceedings3 of the National Academy of Sciences further support the theory that the brain organizes and stows memories formed during the day while the rest of the body is catching zzz’s4.

Gyorgy Buzsaki of Rutgers University5 and his colleagues analyzed the brain waves of sleeping rats and mice. Specifically, they examined the electrical activity emanating from6 the somatosensory neocortex7 (an area that processes sensory information) and the hippocampus8, which is a center for learning and memory. The scientists found that oscillations in brain waves from the two regions appear to be intertwined. So-called sleep spindles (bursts of activity from the neocortex) were followed tens of milliseconds9 later by beats in the hippocampus known as ripples. The team posits that this interplay between the two brain regions is a key step in memory consolidation. A second study, also published online this week by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, links age-associated memory decline10 to high glucose levels.

Previous research had shown that individuals with diabetes suffer from increased memory problems. In the new work, Antonio Convit of New York University School of Medicine and his collaborators studied 30 people whose average age was 69 to investigate whether sugar levels, which tend to increase with age, affect memory in healthy people as well. The scientists administered11 recall tests, brain scans and glucose tolerance tests, which measure how quickly sugar is absorbed from the blood by the body’s tissues. Subjects with the poorest memory recollection, the team discovered, also displayed the poorest glucose tolerance. In addition, their brain scans showed more hippocampus shrinkage than those of subjects better able to absorb blood sugar.

“Our study suggests that this impairment12 may contribute to the memory deficits13 that occur as people age.” Convit says. “And it raises the intriguing possibility that improving glucose tolerance could reverse some age-associated problems in cognition.14” Exercise and weight control can help keep glucose levels in check15, so there may be one more reason to go to the gym.

　　词汇:

perchance /pE(:)5tFB:ns/adv.(古)偶然;或许 somatosensory /7sEumEtE5sensEri/adj.(耳、目、口等spindle /5spindl/n.纺锤体 以外的 )体觉 online adj.& adv.在线的(地) shrinkage /5FrinkidV/n.收缩，减少 ripple /5ripl/n.脉动，波动 neocortex /7niEu5kC:teks/n.新(大脑)皮层 stow v.储藏，堆装 impairment /im5pZEmEnt/n.损伤，损害 diabetes /7daiE5bi:ti:z/n.糖尿病 oscillation /7Csi5leiFEn/n.振荡 emanate /5emEneit/v.发源(from) intrigue /in5tri:^/v.引起……兴趣 (或好奇心 ) recollection /7rekE5lekFEn/n.回忆;[常作～s] 回忆起intertwine /7intE(:)5twain/v.(使)缠结，(使)缠绕 的事物 cognition /kC^5niFEn/n.认知;认识的结果

　　注释：

1. file memories：归档并储存记忆。 file：意为 “to put or keep (papers，etc. ) in useful order for storage or reference”(把…归档)。

2. To sleep. Perchance to file?：从落士比亚笔下哈姆雷物的独白中的名句“ To sleep: perchance to dream. ”改编而来。

3. the Proceedings (科学文献、会议文献 )汇编，常用复数形式。

4. zzz：(拟声词)打鼾声

5. Rutgers University：美国新泽西州立大学 (the State University of New Jersey)。

6. emanating from：发源于。如：Delicious smells were emanating from the kitchen.香味从厨房传出来的。 The rumor emanated from their section. 谣言是从他们室里传出来的。

7. neocortex：新(大脑)皮质，尤指大的高等哺乳动物大脑中新生长的部分，也叫做 neopallium。neo-：前縀，意思是“新的”。

8. the hippocampus：大脑侧面脑室壁上的隆起物，也称“海马状突起”，在泛记过程中起主要作用。

9. tens of milliseconds：数十毫秒

10. age-associated memory decline：与年龄相关的记忆衰退

11. administer：实施

12. this impairment：指上句中 hippocampus shrinkage.

13. memory deficits：记忆衰退

14. … the intriguing possibility that improving glucose tolerance could reverse some age-associated problems in cognition：令人兴奋的可能性，即不断改善葡萄糖容许量可以完全改变对某些与年龄相关的认知问题。

15. keep glucose levels in check：限制葡萄糖水平。 in check：在控制中，被阻止。

　　练习：

1. Which of the following statements is nearest in meaning to the sentence “To sleep. Perchance to file?”? A Does brain arrange memories in useful order during sleep? B Does brain have memories when one is sleeping? C Does brain remember files after one falls asleep? D Does brain work on files in sleep?

2. What is the result of the experiment with rats and mice carried out at Rutgers University? A The electrical activity is emanating from the somatosensory neocortex. B Oscillations in brain waves are from hippocampus. C Somatosensory neocortex and hippocampus work together in memory consolidation. D Somatosensory neocortex plays it primary role in memory consolidation.

3. What is the relation of memory to glucose tolerance, as is indicated by a research mentioned in paragraph 4? A People with poor memory have high glucose tolerance. B People with good memory have low glucose tolerance. C Memory level has nothing to do with glucose tolerance. D The poorer the memory, the poorer glucose tolerance.

4. In what way is memory related to hippocampus shrinkage? A There is no relation between memory and hippocampus shrinkage. B The more hippocampus shrinks, the poorer one’s memory. C The more hippocampus shrinks, the better one’s memory. D The less hippocampus shrinks, the poorer one's memory.

5. According to the last paragraph, what is the ultimate reason for going to the gym? A To prevent hippocampus shrinkage. B To control weight. C To exercise. D To control glucose levels.

　　答案与解释 :

1. A文章第一段告诉我们，科学新发现进一步支持了一种理论，即，当人体进入睡眠状态时，大脑对在白天形成的记忆进行组织和储存。 To sleep. Perchance to file?见注释 1和注释 2。

2. C 第二段告诉我们，科学家分析了老鼠的脑电波，尤其是从 somatosensory neocortex和 hippocampus两个区域发出的脑电波。该段是后两句指出，这两个大脑区域的活动是互相作用的。第二段并没有说 somatosensory neocortex或 hippocampus起主导作用。

3. D 该段倒数第二句提供了答案。

4. B 第四段昀后一句中 their brain scans，指上句中的 subjects with the poorest memory recollection的大脑扫描，所以选择 B。

5. D 锻炼身体和体重控制能保持葡萄糖水平，闲此，去健身房就有了另外一个理由。

　　text two

Hurricane Katrina

A hurricane is n fiercely powerful , rotating form of tropical storm that can be 124 to 1,240 miles in diameter. The term hurricane is derived from Hurican, the name of 8 native American storm god1. Hurricanes are typical of2 a calm central region of low pressure between 12 to 60 miles in diameter, known as the eye. They occur in tropical regions. Over its lifetime3, one of these storms can release as much energy as 10,000 nuclear bombs4.

The seed for hurricane formation5 is a cluster of thunderstorms over warm tropical waters. Hurricanes can only form and be fed6 when the sea-surface temperature exceeds 270C and the surrounding atmosphere is calm. These requirements are met between June and November in the northern hemisphere.

Under these conditions, large quantities of water evaporate and condense into clouds and rain — releasing heat in the process. It is this heat energy, combined with the rotation of the Earth, that drives a hurricane.

When the warm column of air7 from the sea surface first begins to rise, it causes an area of low pressure. This in turn creates wind as air is drawn into the area. This spinning wind drags up more moisture-laden air from the sea surface in a process that swells the storm8. Cold air falls back to the ocean surface through the eye9 and on the outside of the storm.

Initially, when wind speeds reach 23 miles per hour, these mild, wet and grey weather systems are known as depressions10. Hurricane Katrina formed in this way over the southeastern Bahamas on 23 August 2005. Katrina has had a devastating impact on the Gulf Coast of the US, leaving a disaster zone of 90,000 square miles in its wake11 — almost the size of the UK. Thousands have been killed or injured and more than half a million people have been displaced in a humanitarian crisis of a scale not seen in the US since the great depression.12 The cost of the damage may top13 $ 100 billion.

　　词汇:

hurricane / 5hQrikEn /n.飓风 evaporate /i5vApEreit/v.(使)蒸发，(使)挥发 rotate / rEu5teit /v.旋转，转动 condense /kEn5dens/v.使冷却凝结;使浓缩 cluster /5klQstE/n.一群,一束 moisture-laden adj.充满水分的，充满湿度的 thunderstorm n.雷暴 sustain /sEs5tein/v.保持，持续 hemisphere /5hemisfiE/n.(地球的)半球 humanitarian / hju(:)7mAni5tZEriEn/adj.人道主义的

　　注释:

1. storm god:风暴之神。原为加勒比海 (Caribbean-Sea)地区加勒比人心目中的“罪恶之神” (the god of evil)。

2. are typical of:以……为特征，有……特点。

3. over its lifetime:在(飓风)肆虐的整个过程中

4. release as much energy as 10,000 nuclear bombs:释放相当于 l万颗核弹的能量

5. The seed for hurricane formation: 飓风形成的原因。 seed原义为“种子”，在这里的意思是“原因”。

6. ... be fed: feed在这里的'意思是 : to supply with something essential for growth, maintenance, or operation (为生长、维持或运行提供某些必要的物质条件 )，在此可理解为“引发”。

7. the warm column of air:柱状暖气流

8. a process that swells the storm:增大暴风雨威力的变化过程。 swell:在此作动词用，意思是 to cause to increase in volume, size, number, degree, or intensity (增强体积、尺寸、数量、程度或强度 )。

9. the eye:指第一段中提到的“飓风中心”。

10. depressions:低气压区

11. in its wakes在……之后。例如 : The car left clouds of dust in its wake.车后扬起了一阵尘土。

12. … more than half a million people have been displaced in a humanitarian crisis of a scale not seen in the US since the great depression:五十多万人被迫离开家园，如此大规模的人道主义危机是美国自大萧条以来还未经历过的。 be displaced:被迫离开某地。 the great depression:大萧条，指从 1929年开始、持续至大约 1939年在北美洲、欧洲和世界其他工业化地区发生的经济衰退。

13. top:在此作动词用，意思是 to exceed or surpass(多于，越过 )。