A Computer in Your Head Quiz

According to “A Computer in Your Head?,” how do both brains and computers send information?

• through language

• through nerve cells

• through electrical signals

• through on and off switches

Which of the following describes the process by which brains and computers receive energy, according to “A Computer in Your Head?”

• Computers get energy from synapses, while brains get energy from receptors.

• Computers receive more energy the more they are used, while brains receive more energy through sleep.

• Computers get energy by plugging into a source of electricity, while brains get energy from glucose in food.

• Computers receive energy and then store it for long periods of time, while brains receive energy from neurons.

According to “A Computer in Your Head?,” why are some messages not sent through the brain?

• When a neuron is turned on, it either sends electrical signals or it does not.

• Synapses are sometimes too far apart to allow a message to continue.

• Neurons may get thousands of messages at once, and the total signal for a message must exceed a certain level before it can continue in the brain.

• If the synapses and receptors in the brain do not match up, the electrical switch turns off and the message stops.

Based on the information in “A Computer in Your Head?,” which of the following is an example of a function that a brain can perform, but a computer cannot?

• use energy to recharge

• respond to signals

• store memories

• rewire itself

If a satellite is sent into space to transmit signals, what is the satellite doing?

• sending messages

• sorting data

• gathering evidence

• interpreting information

Which of these is the best synonym for monitor, based on the following sentence? Laura logged on to the school website to monitor her son’s progress in math class.

• question

• change

• check

• report

When a medical student is studying neurological disorders, what part of the body is she learning about?

• bones

• nerves

• muscles

• hormones

• limbs

8A. How does the following passage in “A Computer in Your Head?” work to affect the reader?

• It encourages the reader to feel emotions such as joy and fear.

• It prompts the reader to question the author.

• It fills the reader with a sense of wonder.

• It gives the reader a reason to act.

8B. What is the most likely reason that the author might have chosen to include this passage in “A Computer in Your Head?”

What has billions of individual pieces, trillions of connections, weighs about 1.4 kilograms, and works on electrochemical energy? If you guessed a minicomputer, you're wrong. If you guessed the human brain, you're correct!

• to clearly state the main purpose of the article

• to describe the full range of what the brain can do

• to show the differences between brains and computers

• to impress upon the reader the sheer power of the brain

What is the underlying message of the following excerpt from "A Computer in Your Head?"

Although computers can perform extraordinary computational feats at astounding speeds, they do not experience the emotions, dreams, and thoughts that are an essential part of what makes us human.

• It would be beneficial for humans if computers could experience things like dreams and emotions.

• While computers have many capabilities, there are some important ways in which human brains are unique.

• The speed with which computers operate is one of the reasons they have not yet developed the capacity for thought.

• Even though the human brain has some special abilities, the power of computers to solve problems is far superior to anything the brain can do.