Latihan TOEFL Reading 15: Neuroplasticity and Learning

1. What is the passage primarily about?

1. Arguing that children's brains cannot change
2. Comparing musicians and taxi drivers' personalities
3. Explaining neuroplasticity and its evidence, applications, and limitations
4. Describing the history of brain surgery

2. The word 'reorganize' in paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to

1. To duplicate exactly
2. To permanently damage
3. To restructure or rearrange
4. To shrink completely

3. According to paragraph 1, what did neuroscientists generally believe for much of the twentieth century?

1. That the adult brain's structure was essentially fixed after childhood
2. That neuroplasticity was already well established
3. That only children have brains capable of memory
4. That the brain never changes at any age

4. According to paragraph 2, what brain region was found to be larger in London taxi drivers?

1. The visual cortex
2. The cerebellum
3. The brainstem
4. The hippocampus

5. It can be inferred from paragraph 2 that hippocampal size in taxi drivers

1. Decreased the longer they drove
2. Was identical to that of non-drivers
3. Correlated with years of driving experience
4. Was unrelated to their profession

6. Why does the author mention London taxi drivers in paragraph 2?

1. To compare London's traffic to other cities
2. To argue that taxi driving is a dangerous profession
3. To criticize the taxi licensing exam
4. To provide concrete evidence supporting the concept of neuroplasticity

7. The word 'sustained' in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to

1. Accidental
2. Continued over time without stopping
3. Brief and occasional
4. Completely eliminated

8. According to paragraph 3, what does neuroplasticity suggest for brain injury rehabilitation?

1. That rehabilitation is impossible after injury
2. That the adult brain retains meaningful capacity for functional reorganization
3. That brain injury cannot be studied
4. That only children can recover from brain injury

9. It can be inferred from paragraph 3 that passive exposure to new experiences

1. Works better in older adults than younger ones
2. Is more effective than active practice
3. Is generally less effective than deliberate, repeated practice for producing cognitive change
4. Has no relationship to neuroplasticity at all

10. What is the function of paragraph 3 in relation to paragraph 2?

1. It contradicts the findings described in paragraph 2
2. It repeats paragraph 2 without adding new information
3. It extends the evidence to discuss broader implications and important limitations
4. It introduces an entirely unrelated topic

11. The word 'correlating' in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to

1. Being completely unrelated to
2. Causing directly and exclusively
3. Preventing entirely
4. Being statistically associated with

12. According to paragraph 3, what happens to neuroplasticity as people age?

1. It tends to decline
2. It remains completely constant
3. It increases significantly
4. It disappears entirely by age thirty

13. According to paragraph 2, besides taxi drivers, what other groups showed similar structural brain changes?

1. Musicians and individuals learning new languages
2. Only elderly individuals
3. Only professional athletes
4. No other groups were mentioned

14. It can be inferred that before neuroplasticity research, the 'critical developmental period' view implied

1. That adults learn faster than children
2. That all humans have identical hippocampal size
3. That learning-related brain changes were mainly limited to childhood
4. That brain injuries always heal completely

15. What is paragraph 1 mainly about?

1. Describing taxi driver training programs
2. Comparing musicians' brains to non-musicians'
3. Introducing the concept of neuroplasticity as a revision of earlier scientific belief
4. Explaining hippocampal anatomy in detail