Section A: Banked Cloze

Directions: In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read the passage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.

Scientists have known that depriving adult mice of vision can increase the sensitivity of individual neurons in the part of the brain devoted to hearing. New research from biologists at the University of Maryland (26) ______ that sight deprivation also changes the way brain cells (27) ______ with one another, shifting the mice’s sensitivity to different frequencies.

“This study (28) ______ what we are learning about how manipulating vision can have a (29) ______ effect on the ability of an animal to hear long after the window for auditory learning was thought to have (30) ______,” said Patrick Kanold, senior author of the study.

It was once thought that the sensory regions of the brain were not (31) ______ after a critical period in childhood. This is why children learn languages much more (32) ______ than adults. Kanold’s earlier research disproved this idea by showing that depriving adult mice of vision for a short period increased the sensitivity of individual neurons in the auditory cortex, which is devoted to hearing.

Young brains wire themselves according to the sounds they hear frequently, assigning areas of the auditory cortex to (33) ______ frequencies based on what they are used to hearing. The researchers found that in adult mice, a week in the dark also changed the (34) ______ of space to different frequencies.

“We don’t know why we are seeing these patterns,” Kanold said. “We (35) ______ that it may have to do with what the mice are paying attention to while they are in the dark.”

Word Bank

A) adaptable

B) closed

C) distribution

D) interact

E) narration

F) neutral

G) permanently

H) prescribes

I) readily

J) registered

K) reinforces

L) revealed

M) significant

N) specific

O) speculate

Answers & Explanations

26. L (revealed)。解析：主语是 New research，且 that 从句用的是一般现在时 changes，说明这是一个客观真理或已经完成的研究结果。考虑到主句缺乏谓语动词，填入过去式动词。新研究“揭示/表明 (revealed)”了视觉剥夺也改变了脑细胞的交流方式。

27. D (interact)。解析：位于 the way 之后引导的定语从句中，主语是 brain cells（复数），需要填入动词原形。固定搭配 `interact with` 意为“与...互动/交流 (interact)”。

28. K (reinforces)。解析：主语是 This study（单数），缺少谓语动词，需要填入单数第三人称动词。这项研究“强化/巩固 (reinforces)”了我们目前所了解的关于视觉如何影响听觉的知识。

29. M (significant)。解析：位于不定冠词 a 和名词 effect 之间，需要填入辅音音素开头的形容词。操纵视觉能够对动物的听力产生“重大的/显著的 (significant)”影响。

30. B (closed)。解析：位于 have 之后，需要填入过去分词构成完成时。主语是 window for auditory learning（听觉学习的窗口），这里指即使在窗口被认为已经“关闭 (closed)”很久之后，仍然有影响。

31. A (adaptable)。解析：位于系动词 were not 之后，需要填入形容词。曾经人们认为，大脑的感觉区域在度过童年关键期后就不再具有“适应性/可塑性 (adaptable)”了。

32. I (readily)。解析：位于 much more 和 than 之间，修饰动词 learn，需要填入副词。这就是为什么儿童比成年人更“容易地/迅速地 (readily)”学习语言。

33. N (specific)。解析：位于介词 to 和名词 frequencies 之间，需要填入形容词作定语。根据经常听到的声音，将听觉皮层的区域分配给“特定的/具体的 (specific)”频率。

34. C (distribution)。解析：位于定冠词 the 和介词 of 之间，需要填入名词。且与前文的 assigning areas...（分配区域）呼应，这里指改变了空间向不同频率的“分配/分布 (distribution)”。

35. O (speculate)。解析：位于主语 We 和宾语从句 that... 之间，需要填入动词原形。由于前一句说了 "We don't know why..."，所以这里只能是“推测/猜测 (speculate)”这可能与小鼠在黑暗中关注什么有关。

核心搭配与高分句型

【核心搭配与高频短语】

• deprive sb. of sth.：剥夺某人某物（depriving adult mice of vision）
• be devoted to：专门用于，致力于（the part of the brain devoted to hearing）
• interact with：与...互动，相互作用（how brain cells interact with one another）
• have a significant effect on：对...有重大影响
• contrary to：与...相反（contrary to what many might assume，注：此处引用词库里的其他常见短语备考）
• be used to doing：习惯于做某事（what they are used to hearing）
• have to do with：与...有关（it may have to do with what the mice are paying attention to）

【亮点句型解析】

• This is why... (表语从句)：
  "This is why children learn languages much more readily than adults."
  （这就是为什么儿童学习语言比成年人容易得多的原因。）`This is why` 引导表语从句，用于在上文陈述事实或原因后，自然地引出结果。相比于 `Therefore`，这种句式更具口语化和强调的意味。
• By doing sth. 作方式状语：
  "Kanold’s earlier research disproved this idea by showing that depriving adult mice of vision for a short period increased the sensitivity..."
  （Kanold之前的研究通过展示短时间剥夺成年小鼠的视觉能增加敏感性，反驳了这一观点。）`by doing` 结构用来解释前一个动作（disproved）是如何完成的，逻辑非常严密，是学术和论述文的必备句型。