Question

  Failing to drink enough water can make our brain shrink (萎縮) ，experts have warned. Re?search showed that dehydration not only affects the size of the brain but also how it works. Just 90 minutes of steady sweating (出汗) can shrink the brain as much as a year of aging,research?ers believe.

  Being short of water,the brain is also forced to work harder to process the same informa?tion. Over days and weeks,lack of liquids could have an impact on performance at work and school,causing exam results to fall. But there is no need to panic,because after a glass of water or two,the brain quickly returns to normal.

  A team of scientists from around the UK scanned the brains of teenagers after an hour and a half of cycling. Some exercised in three layers of clothing. Others were much more lightly dressed in shorts and T-shirts. The brain tissue (組織) of those who were wrapped up had shrunk away from their skulls (頭骨) .

  Researchers Dr. Matthew Kempton and Ulrich Ettinger,of the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London,said; "It's clear that we saw a general shrinking of the brain tissue. Liquidfilled space in the middle of the brain expanded and there was a comparative shrinking of the brain tissue. The people who lost the most weight had the most shrinkage of the brain. " On average,the amount of shrinkage equated to 14 months of agerelated wear and tear,or the brain shrinking matched two and a half months of Alzheimer's disease (老年癡呆癥) .

  The sweaty students did just as well when they were asked to play a computer game that tests the ability to plan and solve problems. But the scans showed they used more of their brain to do it,the journal Human Brain Mapping reports.

  Professor Ben McGannan of the study's funder,water cooler firm of Water for Work and Home,said：" We strongly believed loss of water was an issue affecting students' performance,but we offered financial support for this research to give us clear evidence. Most importantly,we're seeking a way to get rid of the undesirable impacts and make up enough water effectively,such as drinking beers."

(   ) 5. What does the underlined word "dehydration" probably mean?

   A. Plenty of water.

   B. The inappropriate way to drink water.

   C. Great damage done to the brain.

   D. Dryness resulting from lack of water.

(   ) 6. Without enough water,          .

   A. it is hard for the brain to think normally

   B. the body can't sweat in time

   C. people will suffer from ageing

   D. the liquidfilled space will disappear

(   ) 7. What do Professor Ben McGannan's words suggest?

   A. We should make effort to take good care of our brain.

   B. More research is needed to solve the brain's loss of water.

   C. Drinking beers is the best way to make up water in the body.

   D. Students must drink enough water to improve their performance.

(   ) 8. What subject is talked in the passage?

   A. The brain structure. B. Exercise and the brain.

   C. Lack of water in the brain. D. The importance of water.

Answer 1

5-8 DABC

B篇：人體缺水有何后果？英國一項(xiàng)最新研究顯示，青少年的大腦在缺水狀態(tài)下會(huì)出現(xiàn)萎縮現(xiàn)象。因此，青少年應(yīng)該經(jīng)常補(bǔ)充水分，善待大腦。

5. D if義猜測題。根據(jù)前文"Failing to drink enough water can make our brain shrink,ex?perts have warned."可知，大腦未能及時(shí)補(bǔ)水會(huì)引起大腦萎縮。此處緊承上文，告訴讀者大腦缺水不僅影響其大小，還會(huì)影響其運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)。故可推測"dehydration"意為"脫水，缺水"。

6. A推理判斷題。根據(jù)第二段"Being short of water,the brain is also forced to work harder to process the same information. Over days and weeks,lack of liquids could have an impact on performance at work and school,causing exam results to fall."可知，大腦在缺水時(shí)和正常狀態(tài)相比，需要更努力地處理相同的信息。長此以往，缺水會(huì)影響工作和學(xué)習(xí)效率,影響學(xué)習(xí)成績。由此可以推斷，沒有足夠的水，大腦很難正常思考。

7. B推理判斷題。根據(jù)最后一段"Most impor?tantly,we're seeking a way to get rid of the undesirable impacts and make up enough water effectively,such as drinking beers."可知，Pro?fessor Ben McGannan說，研究人員正在設(shè)法研究解決缺水帶來的不良影響，并有效補(bǔ)充足夠水分的方法，例如喝啤酒。由此可推知，如何解決大腦缺水的問題還需要進(jìn)一步研究。

8. C主旨大意題。根據(jù)全文可知，本文講述的核心問題是大腦的缺水問題。