2016 年 06 月大学英语四级考试真题（第 2 套）

Contrary to popular belief, older people generally do not want to live with their children. Moreover, most adult children __26__ every bit as much care and support to their aging parents as was the case in the "good old days", and most older people do not feel __27__ .

About 80% of people 65 years and older have living children, and about 90% of them have __28__ contact with their children. About 75% of elderly parents who don't go to nursing homes live within __30__ minutes of at least one of their children.

However, __29__ having contact with children does not guarantee happiness in old age. In fact, some research has found that people who are most involved with their families have the lowest spirits. This research may be __30__ , however, as ill health often makes older people more __31__ and thereby increases contact with family members. So it is more likely that poor health, not just family involvement, __32__ spirits.

Increasingly, researchers have begun to look at the quality of relationships, rather than at the frequency of contact, between the elderly and their children. If parents and children share interests and values and agree on child-rearing practices and religious __33__ , they are likely to enjoy each other's company. Disagreements on such matters can __34__ cause problems. If parents are agreed by their daughter's divorce, dislike her new husband, and disapprove of how she is raising their grandchildren, __35__ are that they are not going to enjoy her visits.

Declining mental function is often seen as a problem of old age, but certain aspects of brain function actually begin their decline in young adulthood, a new study suggests.

The study, which followed more than 2,000 healthy adults between the ages of 18 and 60, found that certain mental functions—including measures of abstract reasoning, mental speed and puzzle-solving—started to dull as early as age 27.

Dips in memory, meanwhile, generally became apparent around age 37.

On the other hand, indicators of a person's accumulated knowledge—like performance on tests of vocabulary and general knowledge—kept improving with age, according to findings published in the journal Neurobiology of Aging.

The results do not mean that young adults need to start worrying about their memories. Most people's minds function at a high level even in their later years, according to researcher Timothy Salthouse.

"These patterns suggest that some types of mental flexibility decrease relatively early in adulthood, but that the amount of knowledge one has, and the effectiveness of integrating it with one's abilities, may increase throughout all of adulthood if there are no diseases," Salthouse said in a news release.

The study included healthy, educated adults who took standard tests of memory, reasoning and perception at the outset and at some point over the next seven years.

The tests are designed to detect subtle (细微的) changes in mental function, and involve solving puzzles, recalling words and details from stories, and identifying patterns in collections of letters and symbols.

In general, Salthouse and his colleagues found, certain aspects of cognition (认 知能力) generally started to decline in the late 20s to 30s.

The findings shed light on normal age-related changes in mental function, which could aid in understanding the process of dementia (痴呆), according to the researchers.

"By following individuals over time," Salthouse said, "we gain insight in cognition changes, and may possibly discover ways to slow the rate of decline."

The researchers are currently analyzing the study participants' health and lifestyle to see which factors might influence age-related cognitive changes.

The most important thing in the news last week was the rising discussion in Nashville about the educational needs of children. The shorthand (简写) educators use for this is "pre-K"—meaning instruction before kindergarten—and the big idea is to prepare 4-year-olds and even younger kids to be ready to succeed on their K-12 journey.

But it gets complicated. The concept has multiple forms, and scholars and policymakers argue about the shape, scope and cost of the ideal program.

The federal Head Start program, launched 50 years ago, has served more than 30 million children. It was based on concepts developed at Vanderbilt University's Peabody College by Susan Gray, the legendary pioneer in early childhood education research.

A new Peabody study of the Tennessee Voluntary Pre-K program reports that pre-K works, but the gains are not sustained through the third grade. It seems to me this highlights quality issues in elementary schools more than pre-K, and indicates longer-term success must connect pre-K with all the other issues related to educating a child.

Pre-K is controversial. Some critics say it is a luxury and shouldn't be free to families able to pay. Pre-K advocates insist it is proven and will succeed if integrated with the rest of the child's schooling. I lean toward the latter view.

This is, in any case, the right conversation to be having now as Mayor Megan Barry takes office. She was the first candidate to speak out for strong pre-K programming. The important thing is for all of us to keep in mind the real goal and the longer, bigger picture.

The weight of the evidence is on the side of pre-K that early intervention (干预) works. What government has not yet found is the political will to put that understanding into full practice with a sequence of smart schooling that provides the early foundation.

For this purpose, our schools need both the talent and the organization to educate each child who arrives at the schoolhouse door. Some show up ready, but many do not at this critical time when young brains are developing rapidly.