Yawning sends out certain messages -either “Oh，this movie is so boring” or “I probably need to get some sleep”. But did you know that a yawn can also help your brain to cool down when it is overheated?
A new study, led by a research team at Princeton University, has indicated that yawning could be the brain’s natural way of regulating temperature. People yawn more often when the temperature outdoors is lower than their body temperature but are less likely to yawn when it is hotter outdoors, according to Sciencedaily. com.
The research team did an experiment on 160 people, 80 in summer and 80 in winter, to examine how often they yawned at different air temperatures. The study found that people yawned more often in winter than in summer. Scientists say that when the air temperature is lower outside the body, there is heat exchange between the overheated brain and the cool air. But when the air temperature is higher than or equal to the body, people are less likely to yawn because the hot air they breathe in will make the brain even hotter.
When people yawn, their jaw is also stretched，which increases blood flow and may also help cool the brain
The study showed that the amount someone yawned could be related to the amount of time they spent outside. The longer they spent outside in summer, the less they yawned. Nearly 40 percent of participants yawned within their first five minutes outside, but after that the percentage was reduced to less than 10 percent.
However, the result was the opposite in winter. The number of people who yawned increased when they spent more than five minutes outdoors. But the change was only slight compared to summertime.
According to Gallup, this is the first report to show that yawning frequencies change depending on season. This could help us to understand better the way our brains work. It may also help us understand the reason why frequent yawning can sometimes be a sign of brain disease.The purpose of the experiment is ______.
| A．to find the frequency of people’s yawning |
| B．to indicate brain can regulate temperature naturally |
| C．to prove people yawn in winter and in summer equally |
| D．to show the real reason why people yawn |
The information we get from Paragraphs 5 and 6 is that ______.
| A．longer outdoor summertime results in more yawns |
| B．yawning frequency increases with outdoor time |
| C．yawning frequency changes with outdoor time |
| D．longer outdoor wintertime leads to fewer yawns |
Acorrding to the text，people yawn more often ______.
| A．when the air temperature is equal to the body |
| B．when the hot air breathed in makes the brain hotter |
| C．when the air temperature is higher than the body |
| D．when the air temperature is lower outside the body |
What could be the best title for the text?
| A．Yawning Is A Sign of Brain Disease |
| B．Yawning Cools Your Brain |
| C．Yawning Benefits Your Body |
| D．Yawning Carries Some Information |
If you were walking around a supermarket and saw a woman with a shaved head, a ring through her nose, a tattoo（纹身）design on her arm and she has a small child in her shopping trolley, what would your opinion be? Do you think this kind of body decoration is attractive or ugly? Different people have different ideas. The following are some examples of body decoration from around the world.
In many parts of Africa, it is thought that an attractive girl should have really shinny skin.
On Bali, a little island in Indonesia, they believe that a beautiful woman or handsome man must have perfectly straight, flat teeth. The Balinese believe that teeth with pointed edges make you look like an ugly wild animal. So when a girl or boy becomes a teenager, he or she is taken to a special person in their village who will file off teeth points to make them smooth and flat. There is no anesthetic（麻药）and this tooth filing is really painful. It is a kind of test. If you can stand it without screaming or crying too much, then you are thought ready to become an adult.
In Myanmar, there is a small group of people who are called the “Papaung”. They believe that a woman can only be really beautiful if she has a long neck. I mean a VERY long neck. Now you might think that you are either born with a long or short neck and that there’s nothing whatever you can do about it. But you would be wrong! At around the age of 5, a Papaung girl has heavy metal rings fitted around her neck, tightly between the chin and shoulders. Each year more rings are added and very, very slowly their weight pushes the shoulders down, in this way making the neck look longer. A Papaung woman will wear her neck rings all her life, never once taking them off.
So now I’m sure you will all agree that different people have different ideas about what is beautiful. What is mainly talked about in paragraph one?
| A．Women’s design. | B．Beautiful body decoration. |
| C．Body decoration. | D．Attractive decoration. |
What does the underlined word “trolley” mean?
| A．schoolbag | B．luggage |
| C．basket | D．shopping cart |
On Bali, it is believed that _________.
| A．a person with straight, flat teeth looks ugly |
| B．a person with sharp teeth looks ugly |
| C．a teenager’s teeth points must be filed off with anesthetic |
| D．no one will scream or cry when having his teeth points filed off |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．Many people think that a woman with a ring through nose is neither attractive nor ugly. |
| B．Most African people think that a girl with shinny skin is beautiful. |
| C．It is thought that a beautiful woman should have straight, flat teeth on Bali. |
| D．Some people think it beautiful that a woman has a long neck in Myanmar. |
Running like the wind, roaring (咆哮) like thunder, tigers have long been feared and respected as a king of the animal world. But last week a report said that there are no more than 30 wild tigers left in south China.
This was the conclusion of a team of scientists from China's State Forestry Administration and the World Nature Fund.
The South China tiger, also known as the Chinese tiger, is native to southern China. In the 1950's, there were over 4000 tigers found in mountain forests in the country. But due to the destruction of their natural habitat and uncontrolled hunting, it has been pushed on to the list of the world's top ten most endangered species.
Sixtysix of the big cats can be found in the cages of a dozen zoos around China. But they are nothing like their wild cousins. They have lost their natural skills such as hunting and killing. If they were set free they could not look after themselves.
“Breeding has damaged the quality of the species”, said Pei Enle, deputy director of the Shanghai Zoo.
To reintroduce the species into the wild, the country started a programme to send five to ten young tigers to South Africa. Four of them have already arrived. Progress has been made as two elder tigers have recovered some of their instincts(本能) and can hunt wild animals by themselves at the African base.
“South Africans are very experienced in reintroducing big animals to the wild. The country has very good natural conditions for the tigers to learn in”, said Lu Jun, office director of the National Wildlife Research and Development Center. “We tried in Fujian Province, but it was not successful as there was not a complete ecochain(生物链) and there was a lack of space.”
The tigers should return to China in 2007 when the reservations in Fujian are ready.What is the main reason for the South China tiger becoming one of the world's top ten most endangered species?
| A．Because it has lost its natural instincts. |
| B．Because there is not a complete ecochain. |
| C．Because there is no space for it. |
| D．Because uncontrolled hunting has destroyed its natural living conditions. |
How is the programme of sending several tigers to South Africa getting on?
| A．Its effect still remains to be seen. |
| B．Two tigers can already compete with their wild cousins. |
| C．Some of the tigers are already on the road to recovering their natural skills. |
| D．The tigers should be able to recover their instincts completely by 2007. |
By saying “but they are nothing like their wild cousins”, the writer means that________.
| A．they are no longer feared by other wild animals |
| B．they don't know how to hunt or kill |
| C．a complete change has resulted in the species because of breeding |
| D．to reintroduce them into the wild has become an urgent task |
What is the purpose of sending young tigers to South Africa?
| A．To help the tigers recover their ability to live in the wild. |
| B．To provide them with a better environment. |
| C．To get the tigers to go on a tour. |
| D．To find a complete ecochain for them. |
My name is Clara.I still remember that chilly December day,sitting in science class.I’d finished a worksheet early and picked up a TIME for Kids magazine. A piece of news caught my eye:NASA was holding an essay contest to name its Mars rover(火星探测器).Before I even knew anything else about it,a single word flooded my 11-year-old mind,Curiosity.
I couldn’t want for the bell to ring so I could get started on my essay.That afternoon,I raced home,sat down at the computer,and typed until my fingers ached. “Curiosity is an everlasting flame that burns in everyone’s mind...”
Five months later, my mon received a phone call,and immediately, a wide smile spread across her face.
On August 5,2012,at 10:31 p.m,the rover named Curiosity touched down safely on the surface of Mars,and I was honored to have a front-row seat in NASA.
Curiosity is such an important part of who I am.I have always been fascinated by the stars,the planets,the sky and the universe. I remember as a little girl,my grandmother and I would sit together in the backyard for hours.She’d tell me stories and point out the stars,Grandma lived in China,thousands of miles away from my home in Kansas,but the stars kept us together even when we were apart.They were always there, yet there was so much I didn’t know about them.That’s what I love so much about space.
People often ask me why we go to faraway places like Mares.My answer is simple because we’re curious.We human beings do not just hole up in one place.We are constantly wondering and trying to find out what’s over the hill and beyond the horizon.How did Clara get the new about the essay contest?( no more than 10 words)
Why did Clara have a front-row seat in NASA?( no more than 10 words)
What does Clara remember about the time spent with Grandma?( no more than 15 words)
What does the underlined phrase “hole up”mean?(1 word)
In your opinion,why is curiosity important?( no more than 20 words)
Here is an astonishing and significant fact: Mental work alone can’t make us tire. It sounds absurd. But a years ago, scientists tried to find out how long the human brain could labor without reaching a stage of fatigue (疲劳). To the amazement of these scientists, they discovered that blood passing through the brain, when it is active, shows no fatigue at all! If we took a drop of blood from a day laborer, we would find it full of fatigue toxins(毒素) and fatigue products. But if we took blood from the brain of an Albert Einstein, it would show no fatigue toxins at the end of the day.
So far as the brain is concerned, it can work as well and swiftly at the end of eight or even twelve hours of effort as at the beginning. The brain is totally tireless. So what makes us tired?
Some scientists declare that most of our fatigue comes from our mental and emotional(情绪的) attitudes. One of England’s most outstanding scientists, J.A. Hadfield, says, “The greater part of the fatigue from which we suffer is of mental origin. In fact, fatigue of purely physical origin is rare.” Dr. Brill, a famous American scientist, goes even further. He declares, “One hundred percent of the fatigue of sitting worker in good health is due to emotional problems.”
What kinds of emotions make sitting workers tired? Joy? Satisfaction? No! A feeling of being bored, anger, anxiety, tenseness, worry, a feeling of not being appreciated---those are the emotions that tire sitting workers. Hard work by itself seldom causes fatigue. We get tired because our emotions produce nervousness in the body.What surprised the scientists a few years ago?
| A．Fatigue toxins could hardly be found in a laborer’s blood. |
| B．Albert Einstein didn’t feel worn after a day’s work. |
| C．The brain could work for many hours without fatigue. |
| D．A mental worker’s blood was filled with fatigue toxins. |
According to the author, which of the following can make sitting workers tired?
| A．Challenging mental work. | B．Unpleasant emotions. |
| C．Endless tasks. | D．Physical labor. |
What’s the author’s attitude towards the scientists’ idea?
| A．He agrees with them. | B．He doubts them. |
| C．He argues against them. | D．He hesitates to accept them. |
We can infer from the passage that in order to stay energetic, sitting workers need to ___________.
| A．have some good food. | B．enjoy their work |
| C．exercise regularly | D．discover fatigue toxins |
I heard many parents complaining that their teenage children are rebelling(叛逆). I wish it were so. At your age you ought to be growing away from your parents. You should be learning to stand on your own feet. But take a good look at the present rebellion. It seems that teenagers are taking the same way of showing that they disagree with their parents. Instead of striking out boldly on their own, most of them are clutching(紧握)at one another’s hands for reassurance(安慰).
They claim they want to dress as they please. But they all wear the same clothes. Then set off in new directions in music. But somehow they all end up with listening to the same record together. Their reason for thinking or acting in thus-and-such a way is that many people are doing it. They have come out of their cocoon(茧)into a larger cocoon.
It has become harder and harder for a teenager to stand up against the popularity wave and go his or her own way. Industry has firmly carved out a teenage market. These days every teenager can learn from the advertisements what a teenager should have and be.
And many of today’s parents have come to award high marks for the popularity of their children. All this adds to a great barrier(障碍)for the teenager who wants to find his or her own path.
But the barrier is worth climbing over. The path is worth following. You may want to listen to classical music instead of going to a party. You may want to collect rocks when everyone else is collecting records. You may have some thoughts that you don’t care to share with your classmates at once, well, go to it. Find yourself. Popularity will come with the people who respect you for who you are. That is the only kind of popularity that really counts. In this passage, the author wants to tell.
| A．teenagers how to learn to decide things for themselves |
| B．readers how to be popular with people around |
| C．parents how to control and guide their children |
| D．people how to understand and respect each other |
According to the author, many teenagers think they are brave enough to act on their own, but in fact, most of them.
| A．have much difficulty understanding each other |
| B．lack confidence |
| C．dare not cope with problems single-handed |
| D．are much afraid of getting lost |
What does the author think of advertisements?
| A．Convincing. | B．Influential. |
| C．Instructive. | D．Authoritative(权威的). |
During the teenage years, one should learn to.
| A．differ from others in as many ways as possible |
| B．get into the right reason and become popular |
| C．find one’s real self |
| D．rebel against parents and the popularity wave |