Motherhood may make women smarter and may help prevent dementia（痴呆） in old age by bathing the brain in protective hormones（荷尔蒙） , U．S．researchers reported on Thursday．
Tests on rats show that those who raise two or more litters of pups do considerably better in tests of memory and skills than rats who have no babies, and their brains show changes that suggest they may be protected against diseases such as Alzheimer’s（早老痴呆症）．University of Richmond psychology professor Craig Kinsley believes his findings will translate into humans．“Our research shows that the hormones of pregnancy（怀孕） are protecting the brain, including estrogen（雌激素）, which we know has many neuroprotective （保护神经的） effects,” Kinsley said．
“It’s rat data but humans are mammals just like these animals are mammals,” he added in a telephone interview．“They go through pregnancy and hormonal changes．” Kinsley said he hoped public health officials and researchers will look to see if having had children protects a woman from Alzheimer’s and other forms of age-related brain decline．
“When people think about pregnancy, they think about what happens to babies and the mother from the neck down,” said Kinsley, who presented his findings to the annual meeting of the Society of Neuroscience in Orlando, Florida．
“They do not realize that hormones are washing on the brain．If you look at female animals that have never gone through pregnancy, they act differently toward young．But if she goes through pregnancy, she will sacrifice her life for her infant—that is a great change in her behavior that showed in genetic alterations（改变） to the brain．”
【小题1】How do scientists know “Motherhood may make women smarter”?A．Some researchers have told them．B．Many women say so．C．They know it by experimenting on rats．D．They know it through their own experience．【小题2】What does the phrase “litters of pups” mean in the second paragraph?A．Baby rats．B．Animals．C．Old rats．D．Grown-up rats．【小题3】What can protect the brain of a woman according to the passage?A．Estrogen．B．The hormones of pregnancy．C．More exercise．D．Taking care of children．【小题4】“It’s rat data but humans are mammals just like these animals are mammals．” What does the sentence suggest?A．The experiments on the rats have nothing to do with humans．B．The experiments on the rats are very important for animals．C．The experiments on the rats are much the same on humans．D．The experiments on the rats are much the same on other animals．【小题5】Which title is the best for this passage?A．Do You Want to Be Smarter?B．Motherhood Makes Women SmarterC．Mysterious HormonesD．An Important StudyC
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(答案→)C
解析：
【小题1】C 细节题。根据文章第二段前三行Tests on rats show that those who raise two or more litters of pups do considerably better in tests of memory and skills than rats who have no babies, and their brains show changes that suggest they may be protected against diseases such as Alzheimer’s（早老痴呆症）．说明科学家是通过在老鼠身上进行是实验得出的结果。故C正确。
【小题2】A 推理题。根据第二段1,2行Tests on rats show that those who raise two or more litters of pups do considerably better in tests of memory and skills than rats who have no babies说明这里的litters of pups就是老鼠的孩子，故A正确。
【小题3】B 细节题。根据文章第二段倒数2,3行Our research shows that the hormones of pregnancy（怀孕） are protecting the brain, including estrogen（雌激素）, which we know has many neuroprotective （保护神经的） effects说明是The hormones of pregnancy．在保护女性的大脑。故B正确。
【小题4】C 推理题。根据本句“It’s rat data but humans are mammals just like these animals are mammals,”指人和老鼠都是哺乳动物，有很多的相似之处，故这个实验的结果也会同样适用于人，故C正确。
【小题5】B 主旨大意题。文章主要讲述了怀孕哺乳对女性的保护作用，可以让女性更聪明，不容易患老年痴呆症。故B正确。