When older honeybees take on tasks usually handled by younger bees, aging of their brains is effectively

changed, a new study finds. The discovery suggests that in humans, social involvement ought to be considered

in addition to drugs as a way to treat age-related dementia(癡呆).

    “We knew from previous research that when bees stay in the nest and take care of larvae—the bee

babies---they remain mentally able as long as we observe them,” explained Gro Amdam, who led the research

at Arizona State University. “However, after a period of nursing, bees fly out gathering food and begin aging

very quickly.”

     “After just two weeks, foraging(覓食的)bees have worn wings, hairless bodies, and more importantly,

lose the brain function—-basically measured as the ability to learn new things,” Amdam said in a statement.

     Amdam and his colleagues wanted to find out what would happen if they “asked” the foraging bees to

take care of larval babies again. To find out, they removed younger nurse bees from a nest, leaving the older

foraging bees to face a choice: forage or care for the larvae. Some of the older returned to searching for food,

and others switched to caring for the nest and larvae. After ten days, about fifty percent of the older bees that

had chosen to care for the nest and larvae had “greatly improved their ability to learn new things.”

    The researchers also discovered changes in the proteins in the brains of the bees whose learning ability had

improved. One of the proteins that changed, called Prx6, is also found in humans and is known to help protect

against dementia.

    “Maybe social involvement is something we can do today to help our brains stay younger,” Amdam says.

“Since the proteins being researched in people are the same proteins bees have, these proteins may be able to

respond to specific social experiences.”

     Other studies have shown several non-drug methods can help improve brainpower in older people,

including going for walks and taking music lessons.

     The findings, announced this week, are detailed in the journal Experimental Gerontology.

81．What does the underlined word “they” in Paragraph 4 refer to? （No more than 5 words）

82．When do the brains of older bees age very fast? （No more than 9 words）

83．What is Amdam’s suggestion for old people to prevent dementia? （No more than 6 words）

84．What is the best title for the text? （No more than 6 words）

81.Amdam and his colleagues.

82.When they go out to search for food.

83.Taking part in social activities./Social involvement.

84.Social involvement can improve brainpower.

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Prolonging human life has increased the size of the human population. Many people alive today would have died of childhood diseases if they had been born 100 years ago. Because more people live longer, there are more people around at any given time. In fact, it is a decrease in death rates, not an increase in birthrates, that has led to the population explosion.

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C. When they reach a certain age, compulsory retirement is necessary and beneficial.

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A．a(chǎn)n increase in birthrates B．the industrial development
C．a(chǎn) decrease in death ratesD．human beings’ cultural advances
【小題2】It can be inferred from the passage that in hunting and gathering cultures _______.
A．it was a moral responsibility for the families to keep alive the aged people who could not work
B．the survival of infants was less important than that of their parents in times of starvation
C．old people were given the task of imparting the cultural wisdom of the tribe to new generations
D．death was celebrated as a time of rejoicing for an individual freed of the hardships of life
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A．Many of them live on social security money which is hardly enough.
B．Minority of them remain in a state of near poverty after their retirement.
C．When they reach a certain age, compulsory retirement is necessary and beneficial.
D．With the growing inflation, they must suffer more from unbearable burdens than ever.
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B．reducing the problems caused by the retired people
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D．taking care of the sick or weak people
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A．it was a moral responsibility for the families to keep alive the aged people who could not work

B．the survival of infants was less important than that of their parents in times of starvation

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A．prolonging the dying old people’s lives

B．reducing the problems caused by the retired people

C．making profits through caring for the sick or weak people

D．taking care of the sick or weak people

4.According to the passage, which of the following statements about the old people in the United States is true?

A．Many of them live on social security money which is hardly enough.

B．Minority of them remain in a state of near poverty after their retirement.

C．Many nursing homes are sponsored by religious and nonprofit groups.

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Prolonging human life has increased the size of the human population. Many people alive today would have died of childhood diseases if they had been born 100 years ago. Because more people live longer, there are more people around at any given time. In fact, it is a decrease in death rates, not an increase in birthrates, that has led to the population explosion.

Prolonging human life has also increased the dependency load. In all societies, people who are disabled or too young or too old to work are dependent on the rest of society to provide for them. In hunting and gathering cultures, old people who could not keep up might be left behind to die. In times of famine, infants might be allowed to die because they could not survive if their parents starved, where as if the parents survived they could have another child. In most contemporary(當(dāng)代的) societies, people feel a moral obligation to keep people alive whether they can work or not. We have a great many people today who live past the age at which they want to work or are able to work; we also have rules which require people to retire at a certain age. Unless these people were able to save money for their retirement, somebody else must support them. In the United States many retired people live on social security checks which are so little that they must live in near poverty. Older people have more illnesses than young or middle-aged people; unless they have wealth or private or government insurance, they must often “go on welfare” if they have a serious illness.

When older people become senile (衰老的) or too weak and ill to care for themselves, they create grave problems for their families. In the past and in some traditional cultures, they would be cared for at home until they died. Today, with most members of a household working or in school, there is often no one at home who can care for a sick or weak person. To meet this need, a great many nursing homes and convalescent (療養(yǎng)的) hospitals have been built. These are often profit making organizations, although some are sponsored by religious and other nonprofit groups. While a few of these institutions are good, most of them are simply “dumping (倒垃圾的) grounds” for the dying in which “care” is given by poorly paid, overworked, and under skilled personnel.

1.The author believes that the population explosion results from _______.

A．a(chǎn)n increase in birthrates

B．the industrial development

C．a(chǎn) decrease in death rates

D．human beings’ cultural advances

2.It can be inferred from the passage that in hunting and gathering cultures _______.

A．it was a moral responsibility for the families to keep alive the aged people who could not work

B．the survival of infants was less important than that of their parents in times of starvation

C．old people were given the task of imparting the cultural wisdom of the tribe to new generations

D．death was celebrated as a time of rejoicing for an individual freed of the hardships of life

3.According to the passage, which of the following statements about the old people in the  United States is true?

A．Many of them live on social security money which is hardly enough.

B．Minority of them remain in a state of near poverty after their retirement.

C．When they reach a certain age, compulsory retirement is necessary and beneficial.

D．With the growing inflation, they must suffer more from unbearable burdens than ever.

4. The phrase “this need” in paragraph 3 refers to ________.

A．prolonging the dying old people’s lives

B．reducing the problems caused by the retired people

C．making profits through caring for the sick or weak people

D．taking care of the sick or weak people

5.Which of the following best describes the author’s attitude toward most of the nursing homes and convalescent hospitals?

A．Sympathetic.

B．Approving.

C．Optimistic.

D．Critical.

 

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