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With large and small keyboards everywhere, neither children nor adults need to write much of
anything by hand.That's a big problem.Study after study suggests that handwriting is important for brain
development-helping kids get fine motor skills and learn to express and create ideas.Yet the time devoted
to teaching penmanship (书法) in most schools has shrunk to just one hour a week.Is it time to give up
handwriting? Have a look at the link between the brain and penmanship, and you may get the answer.
A test among students in grades 2, 4 and 6 found that they not only wrote faster by hand than by
keyboard, but also created more ideas when composing essays with handwriting.And other research
shows that the finger movements required to write by hand activate brain areas involved with thought,
language, and shortterm memory.
A recent Indiana University study had one group of children practice writing letters by hand while a
second group just looked at those letters.Then, both groups of kids entered a functional MRI (核磁共
振) that scanned their brains as the researchers showed them the same letters.Researchers found that the
brain activity in the first group was far more advanced and "adultlike".
Handwriting also affects other people's way they think of adults and children.Several studies have shown
that the same average essay will score much higher if written with good penmanship and much lower if
written out in poor handwriting.These studies have also found that people judge the quality of a person's
ideas based on his or her handwriting.And the consequences are real: On standardized tests with
handwritten sections, like the SAT, all essay that is considered hard to recognize gets a big zero.
Studies show that this isn't only an Englishlanguage phenomenon.Chinese and Japanese youths are
suffering from "character amnesia". They can't remember how to write characters, thanks to computers
and text messaging.Some experts fear that Chinese writing and reading are so closely linked in the brain
that China's reading ability as a nation could suffer.
1. According to the passage, it can be learned that ________.
A. many researches have been done on handwriting
B. essays can't be composed without handwriting
C. all children write faster by keyboard than by hand
D. most schools are trying to teach more handwriting
2. What does the Indiana University study imply?
A. Children should practice writing letters.
B. Handwriting can increase brain activity.
C. It's good for children to enter a functional MRI.
D. Letters should often be shown to children.
3. What does Paragraph 4 mainly talk about?
A. Handwriting affects both adults and children.
B. Handwriting helps a person write better essays.
C. SAT should be done with good handwriting.
D. Good handwriting makes a person seem smarter.
4. Which of the following statements is TRUE?
A. Essays written with keyboards will get lower scores.
B. The quality of your ideas depends on your handwriting.
C. Chinese and Japanese youths don't know how to write.
D. Less handwriting may affect China's reading ability.
5. The passage tries to tell us that ________.
A. keyboards are more popular than handwriting
B. we shouldn't judge people by their handwriting
C. handwriting is of great importance
D. it's time to give up using keyboards
