BlueSkyRestaurantTelephone：444-优题课

If your head is overheating, you are very likely to yawn(打哈欠) soon, according to a new study that has found the main purpose of yawning is to control brain temperature. The study explains several mysteries about yawning, such as why it’s most commonly done just before and after sleeping, why certain diseases lead to too much yawning, and why breathing though the nose often stops yawning.
“Brains are like computers,” Andrew Gallup, a researcher in the department of Biology at Binghamton University who led the study, said. “They operate best when cool.”
He and his co-workers Micheal Miller and Anne Clark did researches on yawning in parakeets(长尾小鹦鹉) , which have relatively large brains, live wild in Australia, often experience temperature changes, and, most importantly, do not yawn when others yawn, as humans and some other animals do.
For the study, the scientists put parakeets under three different conditions: increasing temperature, high temperature and normal temperature. While the frequency(频率) of yawns did not increase under the latter two conditions, it increased greatly when the researchers increased the temperature.
It’s now believed yawning operates like a radiator(散热器).
If air in the atmosphere is cooler than the brain and body temperatures, taking it in quickly cools blood, which in turn cools the brain. The new findings also explain why tired people often yawn. Both tiredness and sleep loss can increase brain temperature, while yawning can cool down the brain.
In the future, researchers may focus more on brain temperature and its role in diseases and their symptoms. But the new study on yawning changes the popular idea that yawns are just signs of getting tired of something.
49. What’s the best title for the passage?
A. Why don’t people yawn at normal temperature?
B. The yawn explained—it cools your brain.
C. Yawning operates like a radiator.
D. The cause of yawning—finally found out.
50. The main reason why researchers chose parakeets to do the research is that parakeets______.
A. have very large brains
B. live wild in Australia
C. are not affected by others’ yawning
D. experience frequent temperature changes
51. The writer may suggest doing all of the following to stop yawning EXCEPT______.
A. breathing through the nose
B. turning up the heat
C. enjoying some cool wind
D. putting a cold towel on your forehead
52. In which section of a newspaper would you most probably read this passage?
A. Discovery. B. Education. C. Health. D. Mystery.

In order to protect valuable energy, snails(蜗牛) basically play a game of follow-the-leader, a new study finds. Snails create trails of mucus(黏液) to help them move smoothly across the ground, mainly in search of food or a partner, but making all that mucus uses up a lot of energy.
“Snails use a lot of energy, probably a third, creating mucus,” said Mark Davies of the University of Sunderland, lead author of the study published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society. “This process is very tiring indeed— much more so than walking, swimming or flying.”
Davies and his workmates studied marine snails off the coast of Britain and discovered that to save some of this important energy, the snails sometimes follow the existing mucus trails laid down by other snails to get around and so only have to create a small part of the mucus needed to make a new trail.
“The fact that they can make savings has an effect on as much as they have to save more energy to do other things like reproducing,” Davies said.
The energy saving may also help snails which live in environments where food is not enough, making the energy harder to replace.
Biologists had long guessed that snails behaved this way, but this is the first study to directly observe it. Davies said that it is likely that all snails use this means of cutting energy as they work hard through life.
45. What’s the function of mucus that snails create?
A. To find their food B. To find their way back
C. To save their energy D. To help them move smoothly
46. According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?
A. The snail’s life is very hard.
B. The snails don’t need much to reproduce.
C. This is the first time to do the guess.
D. The snails will replace more energy in places lacking food.
47. From the passage we know that ______.
A. snails’ trails are sometimes reused
B. snails’ food is difficult to find
C. snails can live a long life
D. only marine snails have the ability
48. What does the passage mainly talk about?
A. How snails move and work.
B. Snails save energy by reusing mucus trails.
C. A new study finds the mysteries of snails.
D. Snails make full use of their energy.

第二部分　阅读理解（共25小题；第一节每小题2分，第二节每小题1分；满分45分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项中选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将
该项涂黑。
It was the old lady’s eightieth birthday. She was sureMyra wouldn’tforget her mother’sbirthday,even if she was busy.After all,eightywas a special birthday. Perhaps Myra mightcome. Evenif Myra did notcome,shewouldsenda present.The old lady was sure of that. Two spots of colourbrightenedher cheeks. She was excited like a child.
Mrs. Morrisonhad brought a card and a bunch of flowers when she came to do the breakfast. Mrs.Grantdownstairs hadmade a cake. Johnnie, the little boy next door, was now up with her with a packet of sweets.
“I guess you’llget lots andlots of presents,” he said. “I did last week when I was six.”
What would shelike?A pair of slippersperhaps.Ablue new cardigan. Or a table lamp. Or a little clock, with clear black numbers. So many lovely things.
She stood bythe window,watching. The postmanturnedroundthe corner on his bicycle. Her heart beat fast. Johnnie had seen him too and ran to the gate.
“Granny, granny,” Johnniereturned. “I’ve got your post!”
Hegaveherfourenvelopes.Threewerefromold friends. The fourth was in Myra’s writing.
“No parcel, Johnnie?”
“No, granny.”
Almost reluctantly,she tore the fourth envelope open.Folded in the card was a check. Written on the card was a message: Happy Birthday—Buyyourselfsomethingnicewith thecheck,Myraand Harold.
The six-figure checkfell tothefloor like a birdwith a broken wing. Slowly the old lady bent to pick it up.Her present,her lovely present. With trembling fingers she tore it into little bits.
41. As can be inferred from the passage, ______.
A. the neighbours cared little about the old lady in daily life
B. the friends sent the old lady many lovely presents by post
C. Myra was stopped by her husband from seeing her mother
D. the old lady lived alone in a flat away from her daughter
42. The old lady felt ______ when she saw the fourth envelope in her daughter’s writing.
A. excitedB. disappointed C. happy D. impatient
43. The reason the old lady tore the check into small pieces was that______.
A. she was sure her daughter would come, not the check
B. she didn’t notice there were six figures on the check
C. she would prefer a present with love from her daughter
D. she didn’t think the check was large enough for a present
44. Which of the following might serve as the best title for the passage?
A. The Present. B. The Check. C. The Birthday. D. The Daughter.

We are not born doubting ourselves. We learn to do it. In fact, we are usually taught to doubt ourselves. We can learn some ways that allow us to become more accepting of ourselves. Following are two behaviors that might explain the reasons why you can’t move towards greater self-acceptance.
One thing that might cause you not to accept yourself is over-generalizing about something you've done that you don’t like．For example, if you fail a test you might generalize and say, “I’m really a stupid person.” When you do this you are making a statement about all of you all of the time and not just about this one situation at this time. Instead, you might decide that your grade on this test in this subject at this time was indeed poor, and then go on to decide what you want to do about your poor grade, if anything. Getting stuck in over-generalizing discourages you from taking steps that might allow you to do better on the next exam and to build an expectation of future failure.
Having standards that are impossibly high is a second way you can not accept yourself. It may not come as a surprise to you that most of us are more demanding of ourselves than we are of others. Somehow we can tolerate the fact that other people fail, that they aren’t always kind, that they’ve done things they aren’t proud of, but we have difficulty accepting those very human aspects of ourselves. The need to be perfect is another way to set yourself up for failure and enhance the feeling that you are not acceptable. We all make mistakes. Accepting less than perfection simply means recognizing the limitations natural in being born a human being. Learn to value who you are rather than who you could become. Wouldn’t it be overpowering if we always had to do what we imagine we could do? Nobody has the time and energy to do all of that. We must make choices about what we will pursue and do them the best we can under the circumstances, which aren’t always ideal, by the way.
60．Which of the following is true according to the passage?
A. We can feel that we are perfect when we set ourselves up for success.
B. We can tolerate the fact that we’ve done things we aren’t proud of.
C. Over-generalizing might encourage you to expect the future.
D. Over-generalizing might cause you not to accept yourself.
61．What is the author’s attitude according to the passage?
A. It’s necessary for people to be perfect.
B. It’s acceptable for people to be imperfect.
C. It’s strange for people to be born with limitation.
D. It’s possible for people to do what they imagine.
62．What has caused the lack of self-acceptance?
A. Tolerance and high-level.
B. Limitation and expectation.
C. Over-generalization and high-standard.
D. Extreme difficulty and complete failure.

Claude and Louris are “giraffes”. So are police officers Hankins and Pearson. These men and women don’t look like giraffes; they look like you and me. Then, why do people call them “giraffes”?
A giraffe, they say, is an animal that sticks its neck out, can see places far away and has a large heart. It lives a quiet life and moves about in an easy and beautiful way. In the same way, a “giraffe” can be a person who likes to “stick his or her neck out” for other people, always watches for future happenings, has a warm heart for people around, and at the same time lives a quiet and beautiful life himself or herself.
“The Giraffe Project” is a 10-year-old group which finds and honors “giraffes” in the US and in the world. The group wants to teach people to do something to build a better world. The group members believe that a person shouldn’t draw his or her head back; instead, they tell people to “stick their neck out” and help others. Claude and Louris, Hankins and Pearson are only a few of the nearly 1,000 “giraffes” that the group found and honored.
Claude and Louris were getting old and they left their work with some money that they saved for future use. One day, however, they saw a homeless man looking for a place to keep warm and they decided that they should “stick their neck out” and give him some help. Today, they lived in Friends’ House, where they invite twelve homeless people to stay every night.
Police officers Hankins and Pearson work in a large city. They see crimes every day and their work is sometimes dangerous. They work hard for their money. However, these two men put their savings together and even borrowed money to start an educational center to teach young people in a poor part of the city. Hankins and Pearson are certainly “giraffes”.
56. Which of the following is true?
A. Some of the people around us look like giraffes.
B. Giraffes are the most beautiful animal in the world.
C. “Giraffes” is a beautiful name for those who are ready to help other people.
D. A “giraffe” is someone who can stick his neck out and see the future.
57. “The Giraffe Project” is a group _____.
A. of police officers B. which appeared ten years ago
C. of ten-year-old children D. which takes care of children
58. People call Claude and Hankins “giraffes” because they _____.
A. do what is needed for a good world B. are not afraid of dangerous work
C. found a home for some homeless people D. made money only for other people
59. The passage mainly tries to tell us _____.
A. what giraffes are like
B. what the Giraffe Project is
C. why Claude, Louris, Hankins and Pearson are called “giraffes”
D. what we should do for a better world