the brain that they are putting, the theory to work in their own lives. "The idea is not necessarily to learn to memorize enormous amounts of information." says James Fozard, associate director of the national Institute on Aging. "Most of us don't need that kind of skill. Such specific training is of less interest than being able to maintain mental alertness." Fozard and others say they challenge their brains with different mental skill, both because they enjoy them and because they are sure that their range of activities will help the way their brains work.
Gene Cohen, acting director of the same institute, suggests that people in their old age should engage in mental and physical activities individually as well as in groups. Cohen says that we are frequently advised to keep physically active as we age, but older people need to keep mentally active as well. Those who do are more likely to maintain their intellectual abilities and to be generally happier and better adjusted. "The point is, you need to do both," Cohen says. "Intellectual activity influences brain-cell health and size."
21. People who are cognitively healthy are those _____.
(A) who can remember large amounts of information (C) whose minds are alert and receptive
(B) who are highly intelligent (D) who are good at recognizing different sounds
22. According to Fozard's argument people can make their brains work more efficiently by _____.
(A) constantly doing memory work (C) going through specific training
(B) taking part in various mental activities (D) making frequent adjustments
23. The findings of James and other scientists in their work _____.
(A) remain a theory to be further proved (C) have been challenged by many other experts
(B) have been generally accepted (D) are practiced by the researchers themselves
24. Older people are generally advised to _____.
(A) keep fit by going in for physical activities
(B) keep mentally active by challenging their brains
(C) maintain mental alertness through specific training
(D) maintain a balance between individual and group activities
25. What is the passage mainly about?
(A) How biochemical changes occur in the human brain.
(B) Why people should keep active not only physically but also mentally.
(C) How intellectual activities influence brain-cell health.
(D) Why people should receive special mental training as they age.
Passage Two
Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage.
Attention to detail is something everyone can and should do——especially in a tight job market. Bob Crossley, a human-resources expert notices this in the job applications that come across his desk every day. "It's amazing how many candidates eliminate themselves." he says.
Resume (简历) arrive with stains. Some candidates don't bother to spell the company's name correctly. Once I see a mistake, I eliminate the candidate," Crossley concludes. "If they cannot take of these details, why should we trust them with a job?"
Can we pay too much attention to detail? Absolutely. Perfectionists struggle over little things at the cost of something larger they work toward, "To keep from losing the forest for the trees", says Charles Garfield, associate professor at the University of California, San Francisco, "We must constantly ask ourselves how the details we're working on fit into the larger picture. If they don't, we should drop them and move to something else".
Garfield compares this process to his work as a computer scientist at NASA. "The Apollo II moon launch was slightly off-course 90 percent of the time." Says Garfield, "But a successful landing was still likely because we knew the exact coordinates of our goal. This allowed us to make adjustments as necessary." Knowing where we want to go helps us judge the importance of every task we undertake.
Too often we believe what accounts for others' success is some special secret or a lucky break (机遇). But rarely is success so mysterious. Again and again, we see that by doing little things within our grasp well, large rewards follow.
26. According to the passage, some job applicants were rejected _____.
(A) because of their carelessness as shown in their failure to present a clean copy of a resume
(B) because of their inadequate education as shown in their poor spelling in writing a resume
(C) because they failed to give detailed description of their background in their applications
(D) because they eliminated their names from the applicants' list themselves
27. The word "perfectionists" (para. 3, Line) refers to those who _____.
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