19.Believe it or not but it is true.There are people who lose the ability to understand or use words due to brain damage.But they become extremely good at something else.They become experts at spotting liars.The condition in which people lose their power to understand or use words due to brain damage are called aphasia(失語癥).A study conducted in Massachusetts,U.S.,has clearly proved that aphasics make good lie detectors(測(cè)謊儀).
In the last 100years,many doctors studying the brain have mentioned examples of this amazing power of patients suffering from aphasia.Recently,scientists conducted tests to see if all that was said about aphasics was true.They studied the powers of a mixed group of people.Some were normal; others were aphasic.And it was proved clearly that the normal volunteers still got fooled by words.The aphasics were far ahead of them in recognizing false speech.The results of the study were reported in the magazine Nature.
′Fourteen years ago,famous American doctor,Dr.Oliver Sacks,wrote about his experiences with aphasic patients in a book.He remembered a particular incident in a hospital.Patients from the aphasia room were watching TV.Their president,Ronald Reagan,was giving a speech.He was trying to put feelings into each and every word of his speech.But his speech had an opposite effect on the patients.They were not impressed.On the contrary,the whole room shook with their laughter.The aphasics knew that he did not mean a word of what he was saying.
Dr.Sacks saw aphasics as more gifted than normal people.Normal people"get carried away"by words.An aphasic cannot understand words.But he or she can still understand what is being said.He said most of the aphasics had this superior understanding.So,while normal people think of aphasic patients as brain damaged,they actually seem to understand human expressions better.
24.We can know from the first paragraphB.
A.how aphasics get their special ability
B.that aphasics can tell if you are lying
C.that aphasics are good at telling lies
D.why aphasics are experts at spotting liars
25.The phrase"get carried away"in the last paragraph meansA.
A.get fooled
B.get excited
C.get misunderstood
D.get discouraged
26.Dr.Oliver Sacks thinks that aphasicsC.
A.can be cured totally
B.can not understand what is being said
C.a(chǎn)re specially gifted in a way
D.should be treated equally and nicely
27.Which would be the best title of the passage?B
A.A great discovery
B.The great lie detectors
C.Why aphasics can't talk
D.A special way of understanding.