Video Games’ Unexpected Benefits to Human Brain
A
James Paul Gee, professor of education at the University of WisconsinMadison,played his first video game years ago when his six-year-old son Sam was playingPajama Sam: No Need to Hide When It’s Dark Outside. He wanted to play the game so he could support Sam’s problem solving. Though PajamaSam is not an “educationalgame”, it isreplete with the types of problems psychologists study when they study thinkingand learning. When he saw how well the game held Sam’s attention, he wondered what sortof beast a more mature video game might be.
B
Video and computer games, like many other popular, entertaining and addicting kid’s activities, are looked down upon by many parents as timewasters,and worse, parents thinkthat these games rot the brain. Violent videogames arereadily blamed by the media and some experts as the reason why someyouth becomeviolent or commit extreme anti-social behavior. Recent content analyses ofvideo games show that as many as 89% of games contain someviolent content, butthere is no form of aggressive content for 70% of popular games. Manyscientists and psychologists, like James Paul Gee, find thatvideo gamesactually have many benefits - the main one being making kids smart. Video gamesmay actually teach kids high-level thinking skills that they will need in the future.
C
“Video games change your brain,”according to University of Wisconsinpsychologist Shawn Green. Videogames change the brain’s physical structure the same way as do learning to read, playingthe piano, or navigating using a map. Much like exercise can build muscle, thepowerful combination of concentration and rewarding surges of neurotransmitterslike dopamine, which strengthens neural circuits, can build the player’s brain.
D
Video games give your child’s brain a real workout. In many video games, the skills required towin involve abstract and high level thinking. These skills are not even taughtat school. Some of the mental skills trained by video games include: followinginstructions, problem solving, logic, hand-eye coordination, fine motor andspatial skills. Research also suggests that people can learn iconic, spatial, and visual attention skills from video games. There have been even studies with adults showing that experience withvideo games is related tobetter surgical skills. Jacob Benjamin, doctor fromBeth Israel Medical CenterNY, found a direct link between skill at video gaming and skill at keyhole orlaparoscopic surgery. Also, a reason given by experts as to why fighter pilotsof today are more skillful is that this generation’s pilots are being weaned on videogames.
E
The players learn to manage resources that are limited, and decide the bestuse of resources, the same way as in real life. In strategy games, forinstance, while developing a city, an unexpected surprise like an enemy mightemerge. Thisforces the player to be flexible and quickly change tactics.Sometimes the player does this almost every second of the game giving the braina real workout. According to researchers at the University of Rochester, led byDaphne Bavelier, a cognitive scientist, games simulating stressful events suchas those found in battle or action games could be a training tool for realworldsituations. The study suggests that playing action video games primes the brainto make quick decisions. Video games can be used to train soldiers andsurgeons, according to the study. Steven Johnson, author of Everything Bad isGood For You: How Today’s Popular Culture, says gamers must deal with immediate problemswhile keeping their long-term goals on their horizon. Young gamers forcethemselves to read to get instructions, follow storylines of games, and getinformation from the game texts.
F
James Paul Gee, professor of educationat the University of WisconsinMadison, says thatplaying a video game is similarto working through a science problem. Like students in a laboratory, gamersmust come up with a hypothesis. For example, players in some games constantlytry out combinations of weapons and powers to use to defeat an enemy. If onedoes not work, they change hypothesis and try the next one. Video games aregoal-driven experiences, says Gee, which are fundamental to learning. Also,using math skills is important to win in many games that involve quantitativeanalysis like managing resources. In higher levels of a game, players usuallyfail the first time around, but they keep on trying until they succeed and moveon to the next level.
G
Many games are played online andinvolve cooperation with other online players in order to win. Video andcomputer games also help children gain self-confidence and many games are basedon history, city building, and governance and so on. Such games indirectlyteach children about aspects of life on earth.
H
In an upcoming study in the journal Current Biology, authors Daphne Bavelier,Alexandre Pouget, and C. Shawn Green report that video games could provide apotent training regimen for speeding up reactions in many types of real-lifesituations. The researchers tested dozens of 18- to 25-year-olds who were notordinarily video game players. They split the subjects group played 50 hours ofthe fast-paced action video games “Unreal Tournament,”and the other group played 50 hours of the slow-moving strategy game“The Sims 2.” After thistraining period, all ofthe subjects were asked to make quick decisions in several tasks designed bythe researchers. The action game players were up to 25 percent faster at comingto a conclusion and answered just as many questions correctly as their strategy game playing peers.
Questions 28-31.............................................................................
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
Write your answers in boxes 28-31 on your answer sheet.
28 What is the main purpose of paragraph ONE?
A Introduction of professor James PaulGee.
B Introduction of the video game
ajamas Sam.
C Introduction of types of video games.
D Introduction of the background of this passage.
29 What does the author want to express in the second paragraph?
A Video games are widely considered harmful for children’s brain.
B Most violent video games are the direct reason of juvenile delinquency.
C Even there is a certain proportion ofviolence in most video games; scientists
and psychologists see its benefits of children’s intellectual abilities.
D Many parents regard video games astime-wasters, which rot children’s brain.
30 What is correctly mentioned in paragraph four?
A Some schools use video games to teach students abstract and high level
thinking.
B Video games improves the brain abilityin various aspects.
C Some surgeons have better skillsbecause they play more video games.
D Skillful fighter pilots in thisgeneration love to paly video games.
31 What is the expectation of the experiment the three researchers did?
A Gamers have to make the best use of the limited resource.
B Gamers with better math skills willwin in the end.
C Strategy game players have better ability to make quick decisions.
D Video games help increase the speed of players’reaction effectively.
Questions 32-35.............................................................................
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage3?
In boxes 32-35on your answer sheet, write
TRUE if the sataement agrees with theinformation
FALSE if the statement contradicts theinformation
NOT GIVEN if there is no information onthis
32 Most video games are popular because of their violent content.
33 The action game players minimizedthe percentage of making mistakes in the
experiment.
34 It would be a good idea for schools to apply video games in theirclassrooms.
35 Those people who are addicted to video games have lots of dopamine in their
brains.
Questions 36-40 .............................................................................
Use the information in the passage to match the people (listed A-F) withopinions or
deeds below. Write the appropriate letters A-F in boxes 36-40 on your answersheet.
A The writer’s opinion
B James Paul Gee
C Shawn Green
D Daphne Bavelier
E Steven Johnson
F Jacob Benjamin
36 Video games as other daily lifeskills alter the brain’s physical structure.
37 Brain is ready to make decisionswithout hesitation when players are immersed
in playing stressful games.
38 The purpose-motivated experience that video games offer plays an essential
role in studying.
39 Players are good at tackling prompt issues with future intensions.
40 It helps children broaden their horizon in many aspects and gain selfconfidence.
答案：
28.D 29.C 30. B 31. D
32.F 33. F 34. N 35.T
36.C 37. D 38.B 39. E 40. A
Passage2: architecture 艺术和建筑
Passage3: the theory of evolution and modern business 达尔文进化论对现代商业和人们行为的影响
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发表于 2018-5-7 10:21:46
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