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阅读理解 When learning a foreign language, most people fall back on traditional methods: reading, writing, listening and repeating. But if you also gesture with your arms while studying, you can remember the vocabulary better. Linking a word to brain areas responsible for movement strengthens the memory of its meaning. This is the conclusion a research team in Leipzig reached after using magnetic pulses to deliberately disrupt these areas in language learners. "Our results provide neuroscientific evidence for why learning techniques that involve the body's motor system should be used more often," neuroscientist Brian Mathias, said in a news release. As Mathias and his colleagues describe in the Journal of Neuroscience, they had 22 German-speaking adults learn a total of go invented artificial words (such as "lamube" for "camera", and "atesi" for "thought") over four days. While the test subjects first heard the new vocabulary, they were simultaneously shown a video of a person making a gesture that matched the meaning of the word. When the word was repeated, the subjects performed the gesture themselves. Five months later, they were asked to translate the vocabulary they had learned into German in a multiple-choice test. At the same time, they had an apparatus (装置)attached to their heads that sent weak magnetic pulses to their primary motor cortex——the brain area that controls voluntary arm movements. When these interfering signals were active, the subjects found it harder to recall the words that were accompanied by gestures. When the apparatus sent no interfering signals (but still appeared to the subjects to be active), they found it easier to remember the words. The researchers concluded that the motor cortex contributed to the translation of the vocabulary learned with gestures. This applied to concrete words, such as "camera", as well as abstract ones, such as "thought." "There's now quite a lot of literature showing that gestures play a role in learning. I think where this study takes it a step further is trying to understand why," says Susan Goldin-Meadow, a psychologist who studies the effects of gestures on learning but was not involved in the new study. Research like this, as well as brain imaging, suggests the activation of the brain's motor areas could be a factor. "It's not necessarily the only reason why," Goldin-Meadow adds, "but it's probably a contributor." The effect did not occur when the test subjects were only presented with matching pictures instead of gestures when learning vocabulary. In an experiment published in 2020, the Leipzig research team found that the adult brain uses motor areas to remember foreign-language words. But it is not only the motor component itself that promotes learning. The meaning of the gesture also figures in ——gestures particularly promote the memory of words if they represent the meaning of the word pictorially. "I think we underuse gesture in our classrooms," Goldin-Meadow says. "People use it spontaneously (自发地), if they're good teachers and good listeners. We don't necessarily bring it into the class if we don't think about it, but it could be used more often and more effectively." （1） What did the subjects do during their four-day learning of artificial words? A . They tried their best to invent go artificial words. B . They figured out the meaning of different gestures. C . They showed researchers videos of making gestures. D . They repeated gestures to learn the meaning of words. （2） In the study, weak magnetic pulses were sent to the subjects' primary motor cortex in order to________. A . control the brain area where voluntary arm movements occurred B . help researchers confirm the role of gestures in learning a language C . interfere with the active signals contributing to the recalling of words D . make it easier for them to pass the multiple-choice test of new words （3） According to Goldin-Meadow, what could be a reason for why gestures play a role in learning a language? A . Gestures activate the brain's motor areas. B . Understanding gestures takes further steps. C . More literature about gestures were studied. D . Gestures make brain imaging more detailed. （4） We may conclude from the passage that ________. A . language learners should be more deliberate about the gestures they choose to use B . new words can be more easily remembered in combination with meaningful gestures C . traditional language learning methods are not enough for learners D . good teachers and good listeners don't necessarily underuse gestures 答案： D B A B

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