Can you believe your eyes? A recent experiment suggests that the answer to that question may depend on your age. Martin Doherty, a psychologist at the University of Stirling in Scotland, led the team of scientists. In this experiment, Doherty and his team tested the perception(观察力) of some people, using pictures of some orange circles. The researchers showed the same pictures to two groups of people. The first group included 151 children aged 4 to 10, and the second group included 24 adults aged 18 to 25. The first group of pictures showed two circles alone on a white background. One of the circles was larger than the other, and these people were asked to identify the larger one. Four-year-olds identified the correct circle 79 percent of the time. Adults identified the correct circle 95 percent of the time. Next, both groups were shown a picture where the orange circles, again of different sizes, were surrounded by gray circles. Here’s where the trick lies in. In some of the pictures, the smaller orange circle was surrounded by even smaller gray circles — making the orange circle appear larger than the other orange circle, which was the real larger one. And the larger orange circle was surrounded by even bigger gray circles — so it appeared to be smaller than the real smaller orange circle. When young children aged 4 to 6 looked at these tricky pictures, they weren’t fooled—they were still able to find the bigger circle with roughly the same accuracy as before. Older children and adults, on the other hand, did not do as well. Older children often identified the smaller circle as the larger one, and adults got it wrong most of the time.
As children get older, Doherty said, their brains may develop the ability to identify visual context. In other words, they will begin to process the whole picture at once: the tricky gray circles, as well as the orange circle in the middle. As a result, they’re more likely to fall for this kind of visual trick. 1. Doherty and his team of scientists did an experiment to evaluate________. A. children’s and adults’ eye-sight B. people’s ability to see accurately C. children’s and adults’ brains D. the influence of people’s age [解析] 考查细节理解能力。第二段第二行可以得出结论。 [答案] B 2. When asked to find the larger circle，________. A. children at 6 got it wrong 79 % of the time with no gray ones around B. only adults over 18 got it right 95% of the time with gray ones around C. children at 4 got it right about 79 % of the time with gray ones around D. adults got it right most of the time with gray ones around [解析] 考查细节理解能力。第三段清晰地说明了辨别圆圈的比例。 [答案] C 3. According to the passage, we can know that________. A. a smaller orange circle appears bigger on a white background B. an orange circle appears bigger than a gray one of the same size C. a circle surrounded by other circles looks bigger than its real size D. a circle surrounded by bigger ones looks smaller than its real size [解析] 考查细节理解能力，对第四段整体的理解和第五段最后一句可以得出答案。 [答案] D 4. Visual context may work when children get older than________. A. 4 B. 6 C. 10 D. 18 [解析] 考查推理判断能力。从第五段和第六段第一句判断得出答案。 [答案] B 5. Why are younger children not fooled? A. Because they are smarter than older children and adults. B. Because older people are influenced by their experience. C. Because people’s eyes become weaker as they grow older. D. Because their brain can hardly notice related things together. [解析] 考查推理判断能力。第四、五、六段提及到46岁小孩和6岁以上小孩的区别是判断的依据。 [答案] D
Bill Fulton doesn’ t remember losing his wallet, but its return helped him remember the past. The leather stayed smooth and the cowboy design unblemished (完美无缺的). And when he looked inside, the contents brought back memories from 1946, when he apparently dropped the wallet behind the balcony bleachers (露天看台) in the Baker Middle School gym. Fulton’ s Social Security Card and bicycle license, bearing the address where he lived during his teenage years, were positioned in their respective compartments, apparently untouched since the year after World War Il ended. Worker Nathan Osborne found the wallet — along with old homework, lost library books and a 1964 talent show program — while removing the bleachers for renovations on June 17. It was brought to Fulton’ s door the following day by Melanie Trindle, the Baker Middle School secretary. Middle School Principal Mindi Vaughan said the brown pine bleachers were connected to the gym balcony’ s brick wall and had remained in the same place since the school, known as the Helen M. Stack Building, opened in 1936. Fulton, 78, said he probably lost the wallet while cheering for the Baker High basketball team with a group of friends. Fulton said the bicycle ID was needed because he delivered medicine for Rodamar Drug.He was surprised, however, that his bicycle ID wasn’t inside. He said he always kept it there. But rather than focus on what was inside the wallet, Fulton said the recovery has led him to reflect on his life — one that took him to the Korean War and Berlin before the return to Baker City. He worked at Ellingson Lumber Company for 30 years, from March 1964 to April 1994. Since his retirement, Fulton has enjoyed spending time with his 11yearold black dog, Smokey. The two often hike the nearby mountains. Trindle’ s knock on the door, wallet in hand, induced a slight ripple in his life, prompting him to consider the times he hadn’t thought about in many years. “Where did all the times go？” Fulton said with a deep sigh. “It’ s hard to believe that the times have gone so fast.” [语篇解读] 本文是记叙文。一个丢失了几十年的钱包居然被找到，而且还给了失主。钱包勾起了失主对过去岁月的回忆。 1．When the wallet was found, it________. A. was still in good condition B. was a little damaged C. had just lost color D. was just repaired [解析] 细节理解题。从文章第一段第二句可知，钱包的皮还很光滑，上面的图案也保持完好，因此A项正确。 [答案] A 2．The wallet was important to Fulton because ________. A. he could get his bicycle ID back B. it called up his memories of the pas
