AccordingtoanewstudybyaBritishuniversity,learningasecondlanguagecanleadtoanincreaseinyourbrainpower.Researchersfoundthatlearningotherlanguageschangesgreymatter.Thisistheareaofthebrainwhichprocessesinformation.Itissimilartothewaythatexercisebuildsmuscles.Thestudyalsofoundtheeffectisgreaterwhentheyoungerpeoplelearnasecondlanguage.AteamledbyDr.AndreaMechelli,fromUniversityCollegeLondon,tookagroupofBritonswhoonlyspokeEnglish.Theywerecomparedwithagroupof“earlybilinguals”whohadlearntasecondlanguagebeforetheageoffive,aswellasanumberoflaterlearners.Scansshowedthatgreymatterdensity(密度)inthebrainwasgreaterinbilingualsthaninpeoplewithoutasecondlanguage.Butthelongerapersonwaitedbeforemasteringanewlanguage,thesmallerthedifference.“Ourfindingssuggestthatthestructureofthebrainischangedbytheexperienceoflearningasecondlanguage,”saidthescientists.Itmeansthatthechangeitselfincreasestheabilitytolearn.ProfessorDylanVaughanJonesoftheUniversityofWales,hasresearchedthelinkbetweenbilingualismandmathsskills.“Havingtwolanguagesgivesyoutwowindowsontheworldandmakesthebrainmoreflexible(灵活的),”hesaid.“Youareactuallygoingbeyondlanguageandhaveabetterunderstandingofdifferentideas.”ThefindingswerematchedinastudyofnativeItalianspeakerswhohadlearnedEnglishasasecondlanguagebetweentheagesoftwoandthirty-four.Reading,writing,andcomprehensionwerealltested.Theresultsshowedthattheyoungertheystartedtolearn,thebetter.“Studyingalanguagemeansyougetanentrancetoanotherworld,”explainedthescientists.56.Themainsubjecttalkedaboutinthispassageis________.A.scienceonlearningasecondlanguageB.man’sabilityoflearningasecondlanguageC.thatlanguagecanhelpbrainpowerD.languagelearningandmathsstudy57.Theunderlinedword“bilingual”probablymeans_______.A.aresearcheronlanguagelearningB.asecondlanguagelearnerC.apersonwhocanspeaktwolanguagesD.anactivelanguagelearner58.Wemayknowfromthescientificfindingsthat________.A.theearlieryoustarttolearnasecondlanguage,thehigherthegreymatterdensityisB.thereisnodifferencebetweenalatersecondlanguagelearnerandonewhodoesn’tknowasecondlanguageC.theexperienceoflearningasecondlanguagehasbadeffectonpeople’sbrainD.theabilityoflearningasecondlanguageischangingallthetime59.Inthelasttwoparagraphs,theauthorwantstotellusthat_________.A.learningasecondlanguageisthesameasstudyingmathsB.earlylearningofasecondlanguagehelpsyouagreatdealinstudyingothersubjectsC.ItalianisthebestchoiceforyouasasecondlanguageD.you’dbetterchoosetheagesbetween2and34tolearnasecondlanguage
