Passage One

Questions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage.

There are hundreds of personality quizzes online that assert they can ascertain whether the right or left half of your brain is dominant. Left-brained people are supposedly logical and excel at language and math while right-brained people are more imaginative, emotionally intelligent and skilled with spatial reasoning. There's just one problem: That's not how brains work.

Popular science enthusiasts sort of took this idea and ran with it, and it's become woven in popular culture now, and it's not going away.

Despite this enduring belief, there's no such thing as being"right-brained" or"left-brained". Whether you' re someone who tends more towards creativity or logic has nothing to do with one hemisphere of your brain being dominant over the other. But the actual science of how the two halves of our brains work together is sometimes stranger than fiction.

The human brain is divided into two hemispheres, the left and right. In all vertebrate(脊椎的)animals,the right hemisphere controls the left side of the body and vice versa. And scientists have long known, thanks to the behaviors of patients who suffered brain injuries, that different areas of the brain do different things.

But many scientists struggled with this idea, because the very suggestion that the left and right halves of the brain operate differently disrupted the idea that nature tends toward perfect symmetry.

Work by neuroscientists(神经科学家)has revealed the importance of different hemispheres of the brain for different activities. However, their research quickly saw some misinterpretations in the general public:Some presumed creative people must be right-brained and logical people left-brained. It is proven that not only is personality unrelated to the different halves of the brain, but people aren't really right - or left-brained to begin with. The idea that we have left-dominant people and right-dominant people, and that this is related to personality, is categorically false. That's never been supported in the neuroscience community. Neuroscientists don't believe that and never have.

What scientists learned is that there are really important differences between the left hemisphere and the right hemisphere. It's just that they have nothing to do with personality or whether cognitive strategy is more logical or free spirited or creative. While researchers have shown the limitations of how the hemispheres of our brains influence our lives, it's not difficult to understand the appeal of such ideas. People are endlessly fascinated by themselves and their friends, and the subtle differences in how people think about the world are really meaningful to them. When you come up with an online quiz that tells us something about ourselves, we' re drawn to that. It's irresistible. But you have to take it with an enormous grain of salt.

46. What do numerous personality quizzes online claim they are able to do?

A) Distinguish between the two hemispheres of one's brain.

B) determine whether one is left-brained or right-brained.

C) Tell if one is more of a linguist or of a mathematician.

D) Ascertain how one's brain performs different tasks.

47. What does the author say is sometimes stranger than fiction?

A) How one hemisphere of the brain impacts creativity.

B) How the two halves of our brains work alternately.

C) How the two hemispheres of our brains cooperate.

D) How one half of the brain dominates the other.

48. Why did many scientists have difficulty endorsing the idea that different areas of the brain do different things?

A) It contradicts the assumption that the two hemispheres of the brain are symmetrical.

B) It dismisses the view that the universe has been evolving in a consistent manner.

C) It is in conflict with the suggestion that the left and right halves of the brain work together.

D) It disrupts the idea that the right hemisphere of the brain controls the left side of the body.

49. What belief have neuroscientists long rejected according to the passage?

A) There are left-dominant people and right-dominant people with different personalities.

B) There are noticeable differences between the left and right hemispheres of the brain.

C) One's personality is hardly related to the different halves of the brain.

D) Different areas of the brain are responsible for different activities.

50. What are we advised to do with an online quiz that tells us something about ourselves?

A) challenge its authority.

B) Scrutinize its originality.

C) Evaluate its popularity.

D) Question its reliability.

答案解析：

46. 由题干中的关键词“numerous personality quizzes online claim”定位到第一段第一句“There are hundreds of personality quizzes online that assert they can ascertain whether the right or left half of your brain is dominant.”，意思是网上有数百个性格测试声称能够确定你大脑的右半部分或左半部分是否占主导，也就是确定你是左脑型还是右脑型，所以选B。

47. 由题干中的关键词“sometimes stranger than fiction”定位到第三段最后一句“But the actual science of how the two halves of our brains work together is sometimes stranger than fiction.”，明确提到我们大脑两半球如何协同工作的实际科学有时比虚构更离奇，所以选C。

48. 由题干中的关键词“many scientists have difficulty endorsing”以及“different areas of the brain do different things”定位到第五段“But many scientists struggled with this idea, because the very suggestion that the left and right halves of the brain operate differently disrupted the idea that nature tends toward perfect symmetry.”，表明许多科学家难以认同大脑不同区域做不同事情这一观点，是因为它违背了自然趋向完美对称这一假设，所以选A。更多真题请微信搜索英语巴士小程序。

49. 由题干中的关键词“neuroscientists long rejected”定位到第六段“The idea that we have left - dominant people and right - dominant people, and that this is related to personality, is categorically false. That's never been supported in the neuroscience community.”，说明神经科学家一直拒绝的观念是我们有左脑占优和右脑占优的人且这与性格有关，所以选A。

50. 由题干中的关键词“an online quiz that tells us something about ourselves”定位到最后一段“When you come up with an online quiz that tells us something about ourselves, we' re drawn to that. It's irresistible. But you have to take it with an enormous grain of salt.”，“take it with an enormous grain of salt”意思是持怀疑态度，也就是要质疑它的可靠性，所以选D。