Csernókné Jezerniczky Éva

Study: Learning to Juggle Causes Changes in Brain

LONDON (Reuters) - It's a great party trick and useful for circus performers but scientists said Wednesday …1…learning to juggle can cause changes in areas of the adult brain.

Mastering the skill …2…the amount of gray matter in areas of the brain that process and store visual information, proving what was not thought …3…-- that new stimuli can alter the brain's structure.

A comparison of brain-imaging scans of non-jugglers and other volunteers …4…they learned to juggle and three months later, revealed an increase in gray matter in certain areas of the …5…trained jugglers' brains.

"Our results challenge our view of the human central nervous system. Human brains probably …6…be viewed as dynamic, changing with development and normal learning," said Arne May, of the University of Regensburg in Germany, who headed the research team.

Gray matter …7…to parts of the brain and spinal cord that are comprised of the tightly packed nuclei of nerve cells. In the brain it is mainly found in the outer layers of the cerebrum which is responsible…8… advanced mental functions.

In a report in the science journal Nature, May and his colleagues said brain scans done three months after the new jugglers …9…juggling showed the increase in gray matter had been reduced.

"I believe the challenge we face is...to be able to adapt and modulate this knowledge into disease management," May …10…in an email interview.

1. a that b. if c. so	2. a. increases b. makes c. growths	3. a. probably b. maybe c. possible	4. a. before b. since c. previous	5. a. fresh b. newly c. brand new
6. a. must b. has to c. ought	7. a. referring b. refers c. is referred	8. a. to b. for c. of	9. a. have stopped b. had stopped c. stopped	10. a. adding b. add c. added

10.

Off Key? Off Color? City Bans Karaoke Booths

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Karaoke singers in the California city of San Mateo can still sound as …1…as they want, but now they will have to do it in public.

The city council of San Mateo, located just south of San Francisco, voted unanimously on Tuesday in favor of a 45-day emergency ban on karaoke booths, …2…the sound-proofed rooms found in clubs a potential haven for prostitution, underage drinking, fights and robberies.

"Our police department thinks there …3…significant problems in the greater Bay area with private karaoke rooms," San Mateo council member John Lee said. "It is hard …4…the law in private rooms."

Karaoke,…5… popular in Asia where customers pack clubs offering private singing rooms, is starting to gain a big following in the United States.

The San Mateo ban does not affect the one public karaoke room operating in the city. Police …6…now decide how they want the city to address the private rooms …7…customers can sing without having to perform for others, Lee said.

A restaurant owner in San Mateo has applied…8… a permit to operate four private karaoke booths.

Some opponents of the ban …9…testified before Tuesday night's vote argued that the private rooms offered poor singers a chance to sing a love song without fear of embarrassment.

"My voice is terrible," Walter Lei, a San Francisco bus driver told the San Francisco Chronicle. "If I were singing here, everybody …10…off."

1. a worse b. bad c. terribly	2. a. called b. to call c. calling	3. a. have been b. should be c. has to be	4. a. to enforce b. enfocing c. we enforce	5. a. a lot b. hugely c. wide
6. a. might b. will c. would	7. a. where b. which c. in what	8. a. to b. of c. for	9. a. − b. who c. which	10. a. would run b. runs c. may run

Megoldások

1.

1. b, 2. c, 3. b, 4. b, 5. a, 6. c, 7. a, 8. c, 9. a, 10. a

2.

1. a, 2. b, 3. a, 4. c, 5. a, 6. c, 7. c, 8. b, 9. b, 10. b

3.

1. c, 2. b, 3. a, 4. b, 5. c, 6. b, 7. a, 8. b, 9. a. 10. b

4.

1. b, 2. c, 3. c, 4. b ,5. a ,6. a ,7. c, 8. c, 9. a, 10. c

5.

1. b, 2. c, 3. c, 4. b, 5. a, 6. a, 7. b, 8. c, 9. a, 10. a

6.

1. a, 2. b, 3. c, 4. b, 5. b, 6. a, 7. b, 8. a, 9. c, 10. a

7.

1. b, 2. a, 3. c, 4. a, 5. c, 6. c, 7. b, 8. a, 9. a, 10. b

8.

1. c, 2. c, 3. a, 4. b, 5. b, 6. c, 7 .a, 8. a, 9. c, 10. a

9.

1. a, 2. a, 3. c, 4. a, 5. b, 6. a, 7. b, 8. b, 9. b, 10. c

10.

1. b, 2. c, 3. a, 4. a, 5. b, 6. b, 7. a, 8. c, 9. b, 10. a

Tizenötből tíz

1.

High on Own Supply, Drug Smuggler Left Shirtless

BANGKOK (Reuters) - A 35-year-old Briton, high on his own supply, smuggled 9,000 ecstasy tablets past eight customs officials in Thailand before being stopped on the street the next day and arrested for not wearing a shirt.

Alan John Kiernan arrived…1… Thailand from Switzerland Friday and made it through customs with the ecstasy haul -- …2…5 million baht ($127,600) -- hidden in special panels sewn into his sweat pants.

If found guilty, he could face the death penalty.

Police said Kiernan, …3…travel documents said he came from Southampton in southern England, had told them he wanted to sell the pills to…4… in Bangkok.

"The pills were found wrapped neatly in a plastic bag and hidden in his sweat pants. They were …5…made with several layers," one police officer said.

Paraded in handcuffs before television …6…at a police news conference, Kiernan confessed to smuggling the tablets but said he had…7… been caught because he was walking around a park topless while trying to phone his local contact.

"They didn't catch me at the airport," he told Reuters Television. "I got through eight …8…without being stopped once.

"This morning that copper over there arrested me for not having a shirt on. The next thing you know, he's pulled out these ecstasy tablets," he said, …9…to his trousers.

He added he had taken a few pills himself and appeared to accept his fate relatively calmly. His only regret was not being able to see a bit more of the sprawling Thai capital, he said.

"I can't even get out …10…a look around," he complained.

a. specially

b. in

c. to have

d. only

e. worth

f. customs

g. while

h. cameras

i. habit

j. whose

k. teenager

l. foreigners

m. for

n. pointing

o. since

2.

Oh, Baby It's Cold Inside, Town Loses Heat

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) - What happens when it's -40 C (-40 F) outside and the heat goes off?

Residents in the small Canadian town of Stonewall, Manitoba, found out on Thursday morning after natural gas stopped…1… to the town's more than 1,500 homes and business overnight, leaving them …2…heat as the wind chill hit a bone-numbing -52 C.

"I think it's going to be more than a three-dog night tonight," Ross Thompson, …3…of Stonewall, told CBC Radio.

Emergency officials quickly …4…patients from the town's small hospital to heated hospitals in …5…towns, and were helping people find ways to stay warm, he said.

"Nobody's …6…panicking," Thompson said.

Natural gas supplier Manitoba Hydro said it …7…the reason for the gas disruption but expected to start relighting furnace pilot lights on Thursday afternoon.

It advised …8…to use electric heaters, wood fireplaces and even electric ovens …9…warm and keep their water pipes from freezing.

"I'm running the water, and my wife …10… have any dishes to do when she gets home, because I've had the dishwater going all morning," Stonewall resident Gerry Holmstrom said.

a. mayor

b. residents

c. won't

d. without

e. nearby

f. majority

g. to stay

h. moved

i. to run

j. really

k. to flow

l. thought

m. flowing

n. close

o. didn't know

3.

New Coins Being Gobbled Up

HANOI (Reuters) - New coins introduced by Vietnam's Central Bank are being gobbled up -- not by collectors, but rather by…1… who swallow them after mistaking them for sweets.

Since three coins were made available in mid-December after a …2…absence, doctors have treated at least 17 children for swallowing them.

Over the…3… Lunar New Year holidays, six children aged between two and 10 …4…in the central province of Quang Nam after swallowing coins, the Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reported Thursday.

Money is a…5… good luck gift for children during the festival.

The mishaps are an unforeseen headache for Vietnam's central bank, which …6…the coins would promote the use of vending machines …7…other conveniences.

The launch of Vietnam's new money has faced other glitches.

Polymer-based, counterfeit proof banknotes that were also introduced last month were hit …8…rumors that the bills would be withdrawn because they had no year of issue …9…on them.

Then jewelry shops complained that their counting machines couldn't read the new notes.

The central bank has been forced to issue stern admonitions.

"Any individual …10…refuses to circulate the bank notes issued by the State Bank of Vietnam will be named as a lawbreaker and will face tough punishments," deputy governor Nguyen Thi Kim Phung said last month.

In addition to a new 500,000 dong ($32) note, Vietnam also circulated a new design of its 50,000-dong note.

a. two-decade

b. and

c. with

d. traditional

e. were treated

f. who

g. printed

h. little boy

i. by

j. children

k. twenty years

l. recent

m. was given

n. so

o. had hoped

4.

Badly Behaved American Kicked Out of Brazil

SAO PAULO, Brazil (Reuters) - An American tourist who splashed a cup of water …1…a crying baby on a flight from the United States headed back home two days after being barred from entering Brazil, police said on Friday.

Ronald Duffy, a 35-year-old from Pennsylvania, had been denied …2…to the country on Wednesday morning because of the incident and was then kicked off another flight back to Miami on Thursday after he began …3…again before take-off.

He eventually left just before midnight on Thursday after spending …4…of the day in police custody, a police spokeswoman said.

Duffy had planned …5…Carnival in the northern city of Salvador with his Brazilian girlfriend. His woes …6…in Miami on Tuesday.

American Airlines refused to board him on its flight to Sao Paulo …7…of his behavior at check-in. He got on a TAM airlines flight and found himself sitting by a couple with a baby.

Annoyed by the toddler's crying, he asked for a cup of water then doused the baby with it. He said he …8…to sleep. Police said later he was drunk.

Duffy narrowly avoided being beaten up by other passengers and was arrested -- to applause -- when the plane landed in Sao Paulo.

"He can try and …9…another visa but he might find it difficult as his last one was canceled for bad behavior," the spokeswoman said."

It was the …10…incident involving a U.S. citizen at Sao Paulo airport this month. Two weeks ago, an American Airlines pilot was arrested and fined almost $13,000 after making an obscene gesture while being photographed by immigration officials.

a. began

b. moment

c. over

d. get

e. entry

f. because

g. was trying

h. second

i. had wanted

j. to apply for

k. misbehaving

l. most

m. entering

n. to spend

o. following

5.

Dingo Howls His Way Into History

CANBERRA (Reuters) - A howling success in outback Australia, Dinky, a singing and piano-playing dingo, is about…1… immortalized in a board game.

The three-year-old native wild dog has won a …2…competition to identify the Australian with the most trivial feat, to star in a question in a 20th anniversary …3…of the local version of the board game Trivial Pursuit.

The dingo was saved from a wild dog culling program …4…a six-week-old pup by Jim Cotterill, the owner of a roadhouse in central Australia, who…5… discovered his new pet had talent.

Dinky began impromptu performances whenever Jim's two daughters played the piano and, with a little encouragement, …6…also strut across the keyboard.

His act has become a …7…attraction at Jim's Place Roadhouse at Stuart's Well, 61 miles south …8…Alice Springs in the red center of Australia.

"He'll sing to …9…really but he prefers a happy song, something …10…and high," Carole Levesque, the manager of Jim's Place, told Reuters Friday.

a. sad

b. as

c. tourist

d. like

e. nationwide

f. from

g. to be

h. of

i. soon

j. anything

k. getting

l. edition

m. gay

n. would

o. international

6.