Question

Motherhood may make women smarter and may help prevent dementia（癡呆） in old age by bathing the brain in protective hormones（荷爾蒙） , U．S．researchers reported on Thursday．
Tests on rats show that those who raise two or more litters of pups do considerably better in tests of memory and skills than rats who have no babies, and their brains show changes that suggest they may be protected against diseases such as Alzheimer’s（早老癡呆癥）．University of Richmond psychology professor Craig Kinsley believes his findings will translate into humans．“Our research shows that the hormones of pregnancy（懷孕） are protecting the brain, including estrogen（雌激素）, which we know has many neuroprotective （保護神經的） effects,” Kinsley said．
“It’s rat data but humans are mammals just like these animals are mammals,” he added in a telephone interview．“They go through pregnancy and hormonal changes．” Kinsley said he hoped public health officials and researchers will look to see if having had children protects a woman from Alzheimer’s and other forms of age-related brain decline．
“When people think about pregnancy, they think about what happens to babies and the mother from the neck down,” said Kinsley, who presented his findings to the annual meeting of the Society of Neuroscience in Orlando, Florida．
“They do not realize that hormones are washing on the brain．If you look at female animals that have never gone through pregnancy, they act differently toward young．But if she goes through pregnancy, she will sacrifice her life for her infant—that is a great change in her behavior that showed in genetic alterations（改變） to the brain．”
【小題1】How do scientists know “Motherhood may make women smarter”?

A．Some researchers have told them．

B．Many women say so．

C．They know it by experimenting on rats．

D．They know it through their own experience．

【小題2】What does the phrase “litters of pups” mean in the second paragraph?

A．Baby rats．

B．Animals．

C．Old rats．

D．Grown-up rats．

【小題3】What can protect the brain of a woman according to the passage?

A．Estrogen．

B．The hormones of pregnancy．

C．More exercise．

D．Taking care of children．

【小題4】“It’s rat data but humans are mammals just like these animals are mammals．” What does the sentence suggest?

A．The experiments on the rats have nothing to do with humans．

B．The experiments on the rats are very important for animals．

C．The experiments on the rats are much the same on humans．

D．The experiments on the rats are much the same on other animals．

【小題5】Which title is the best for this passage?

A．Do You Want to Be Smarter?

B．Motherhood Makes Women Smarter

C．Mysterious Hormones

D．An Important Study

Answer 1

【小題1】C
【小題2】A
【小題3】B
【小題4】C
【小題5】 B

解析試題分析：
【小題1】C 細節題。根據文章第二段前三行Tests on rats show that those who raise two or more litters of pups do considerably better in tests of memory and skills than rats who have no babies, and their brains show changes that suggest they may be protected against diseases such as Alzheimer’s（早老癡呆癥）．說明科學家是通過在老鼠身上進行是實驗得出的結果。故C正確。
【小題2】A 推理題。根據第二段1,2行Tests on rats show that those who raise two or more litters of pups do considerably better in tests of memory and skills than rats who have no babies說明這里的litters of pups就是老鼠的孩子，故A正確。
【小題3】B 細節題。根據文章第二段倒數2,3行Our research shows that the hormones of pregnancy（懷孕） are protecting the brain, including estrogen（雌激素）, which we know has many neuroprotective （保護神經的） effects說明是The hormones of pregnancy．在保護女性的大腦。故B正確。
【小題4】C 推理題。根據本句“It’s rat data but humans are mammals just like these animals are mammals,”指人和老鼠都是哺乳動物，有很多的相似之處，故這個實驗的結果也會同樣適用于人，故C正確。
【小題5】B 主旨大意題。文章主要講述了懷孕哺乳對女性的保護作用，可以讓女性更聰明，不容易患老年癡呆癥。故B正確。
考點：考查科普類短文閱讀
點評：文章主要講述了懷孕哺乳對女性的保護作用，可以讓女性更聰明，不容易患老年癡呆癥。以細節題和推理題的考查為主，細節題要求學生抓住題干文字信息，采用針對性方法進行閱讀，因為這類題的答案在文章中可以直接找到。