首页
登录
职称英语
The greatest devastation of old age is the loss of mental faculties, and wit
The greatest devastation of old age is the loss of mental faculties, and wit
游客
2025-04-08
17
管理
问题
The greatest devastation of old age is the loss of mental faculties, and with the near doubling of life expectancy in the past century has come the mixed blessing of living longer and losing more. A few great thinkers and artists remained productive in their later years — Galileo, Monet, Shaw, Stravinsky, Tolstoy — but even they were not what they had been in their primes. In science, the boom falls sooner still: " A person who has not made his great contribution to science before the age of 30 will never do so," said Einstein.
Imagine if we could transplant old brains into younger bodies: would our minds stay young, or would we be senile teenagers, scaling mountains and skateboarding at 120, but forgetting where we put the car keys? Is the brain uniquely vulnerable to the ravages of time? Can anything be done?
Incontrovertible evidence from many studies shows that a higher level of education and greater mental activity throughout life correlate with lower cognitive losses in old age. These benefits apply to all sorts of cognitive losses, including those associated with Alzheimer’s. Some researchers believe that mental application in early life produces complex neural connections that provide a reserve later on; others argue that education merely gives people the means to cope with and compensate for their losses.
K. Warner Schaie, a professor of human development and psychology at Pennsylvania State University, has studied age-related change in more than 5,000 people, some for more than 40 years. Comparing earlier with later recruits, Mr. Schaie concludes that the rate of mental decline is slowing, a change he attributes to better education, healthier diet, lessened exposure to serious disease, and more mental activity. "You’ve got to practice," Mr. Schaie says, "If you don’t solve problems, you no longer can solve problems. " Retirement can be particularly hard, he adds, because for many people, work is their most challenging activity. "Retirement is good for people who’ve had routine jobs — they may find something more stimulating. But it’s disadvantageous for people in high-level jobs, who are less likely to find something as stimulating as the job they had. "
K. Anders Ericsson, a psychology professor at Florida State University, confirms Mr. Schaie’s emphasis on the virtue of practice. Initially interested in expert performers like musicians, he found that many ostensible geniuses aren’t really so different from everyone else — they just practice harder and longer, benefiting from sheer labor, rather than from some special gift. Professional musicians who continue to practice assiduously as they age continue to play well, while amateurs who just play for pleasure show age-related declines.
Mr. Ericsson’s studies failed to show significant generalized benefits from mental exercise. "If you play tennis, you improve your general fitness, but the greatest improvement is specific to tennis, not to other sports. It’s the same with cognitive exercise. You have to look at your life and pick what you want to improve. " [br] According to the text, most great thinkers and artists______.
选项
A、were productive even in their later years
B、were most successful before the age of 30
C、made contributions regardless of age
D、contributed the most before old age
答案
D
解析
事实细节题。信息定位在文章首段第二句,原文提及为数很少的思想家和艺术家在他们的晚年会继续保持创造力,但相比之下远远不及他们的盛年时代。选项D与此信息对应。故答案为D。
转载请注明原文地址:https://tihaiku.com/zcyy/4032401.html
相关试题推荐
Theworld’sgreatestsportingevent,theOlympicGames,upholdstheamateuridea
ExxonMobilhasspentDollars3.5bnontheclean-up,environmental_____andcompen
OneofthegreatestmysteriesinthestudyofCetacea[aquaticmammals]hasal
OneofthegreatestmysteriesinthestudyofCetacea[aquaticmammals]hasal
OneofthegreatestmysteriesinthestudyofCetacea[aquaticmammals]hasal
Arithmeticisonefundamentalscience,_____allotherphysicalsciences.A、undermi
Tosomepeople,thegreatestpleasureoflifeistospendtheirtimeathomewatc
Forgatheringdataaboutindividualsorgroupsatdifferentdevelopmentalle
Thegreatestdevastationofoldageisthelossofmentalfaculties,andwit
Thegreatestdevastationofoldageisthelossofmentalfaculties,andwit
随机试题
Completethetablebelow.WriteNOMORETHANTWOWORDSAND/ORANUMBERforeach
[img]2018m9s/ct_etoefz_etoeflistz_201808_0016[/img][br]Whatistheprofessor’s
Throughoutthehistoryofmankind,peoplehavebeenasking,"Canitreallyh
对于子宫内膜癌,下列哪项恰当A.阴道排液早期为浆液性或浆液血性 B.单纯放射治
肝硬化A.血清铁降低,总铁结合力增高B.血清铁增高,总铁结合力降低C.血清铁、总
对某高层办公建筑的消防给水系统进行维护保养的下列做法,不符合现行国家标准《消防给
下列关于现代企业计划职能的重要作用,说法不正确的是()。A.使决策目标具体化
美国教育学家布卢姆提出了“教育认知目标分类学”。将认知目标由低到高分为若干个层次
目前我国日用品行业产品成熟、产品差异化很小、产品质量与技术提升的空间都非常有限,
医务人员的医德修养不属于医德的A.自律 B.自我陶冶 C.自我锻炼 D.自
最新回复
(
0
)