It's a fact that we all dream. Some dreams seem to last for hours, others only for seconds. Some of us have strange dreams, some have interesting dreams, and some of us have unpleasant dreams. Tests in the 1980s showed that these dreams occur within 90-minute cycles, each cycle made up of six stages. In the last stage people experience rapid eye movement, known as REM, and it is in this stage that dreaming takes place. Eighty percent of people who were woken during this sixth stage could easily remember their dreams. On the other hand, when during the first five stages (NREM), only seven percent could describe a dream.
However, of these same people woken during the first five stages, 74% were able to remember thinking activity, although they would not call it a dream. NerysDee, who has written about dreams in a book called "Your Dreams and What They Mean" says: "Perhaps during NREM sleep we are sorting out our outer mundane problems, but in REM sleep we are dealing with inside matters." She also makes the following statement about 90-minute cycle: It may also prove the reason why insomniacs who wake in the middle of the night find it impossible to get to sleep again for at least an hour and a half. In other words, until they have missed out one complete 90-minute sleep period.Which of the following statements about dreams is TRUE?
| A．Everyone dreams but very few can recall what they dream. |
| B．Some people have long dreams and others have very short ones. |
| C．People can only remember unpleasant dreams. |
| D．More than eighty percent of people can remember their dreams. |
According to the tests in the 1980s, dreaming takes place______.
| A．between each 90-minute cycle |
| B．at any time during 90-minute cycles |
| C．during the first five stages of 90-minute cycles |
| D．in the last stage of 90-minute cycles |
People woken during REM sleep can______.
| A．hardly remember their dreams |
| B．easily remember their dreams |
| C．only remember their dreams |
| D．partly remember their thinking activity |
"Insomniacs" are persons who______.
| A．can always remember their dreams |
| B．have trouble getting into sleep at night |
| C．experience rapid eye movement |
| D．usually wake after each 90-minute sleep period |
ABOUT LIPITOR
Lipitor is a prescription medicine. Along with diet and exercise, it lowers "bad" cholesterol(胆固醇) in your blood. It can also raise "good" cholesterol.
Lipitor can lower the risk of heart attack in patients with several common risk factors, including family history of early heart disease, high blood pressure, age and smoking.
WHO IS LIPITOR FOR?
Who can take LIPITOR:
· People who cannot lower their cholesterol enough with diet and exercise.
· Adults and children over 10.
Who should NOT take LIPITOR:
· Women who are pregnant, may be pregnant, or may become pregnant. Lipitor may harm your unborn baby.
· Women who are breast-feeding. Lipitor can pass into your breast milk and may harm your baby.
· People with liver problems.
POSSIBLE SIDE EFFECTS OF LIPITOR
Serious side effects in a small number of people:
· Muscle problems that can lead to kidney problems, including kidney failure.
· Liver problems. Your doctor may do blood tests to check your liver before you start Lipitor and while you are taking it.
Call your doctor right away if you have:
· Unexplained muscle pain or weakness, especially if you have a fever or feel very fired.
· Swelling of the face, lips, tongue, and/or throat that may cause difficulty in breathing or swallowing.
· Stomach pain.
Some common side effects of LIPITOR are:
· Muscle pain.
· Upset stomach.
· Changes in some blood tests.
HOW TO TAKE LIPITOR
DO:
· Take Lipitor as prescribed by your doctor.
· Try to eat heart-healthy foods while you take Lipitor.
· Take Lipitor at any time of day, with or without food.
· If you miss a dose, take it as soon as you remember. But if it has been more than 12 hours since you missed dose, wait. Take the next dose at your regular time.
Don't:
· Do not change or stop your dose before talking to your doctor.
· Do not start new medicines before talking to your doctor.What is a major function of Lipitor?
| A．To help quit smoking. | B．To control blood pressure. |
| C．To improve unhealthy diet. | D．To lower "bad" cholesterol. |
If it has been over 12 hours since you missed a dose, you should ________.
| A．change the amount of your next dose |
| B．eat more when taking your next dose |
| C．have a dose as soon as you remember |
| D．take the next dose at your regular time |
Which of the following is a common side effect of taking Lipitor?
| A．Face swelling. | B．Upset stomach. |
| C．Kidney failure. | D．Muscle weakness. |
What is the main purpose of the passage?
| A．To teach patients ways for quick recovery. |
| B．To present a report on a scientific research. |
| C．To show the importance of a good lifestyle. |
| D．To give information about a kind of medicine |
Ever wonder how much a cloud weighs? What about a hurricane? A meteorologist has done some estimates and the results might surprise you.
Let's start with a very simple white puffy cloud — a cumulus cloud（积云）. How much does the water in a cumulus cloud weigh? Peggy LeMone, senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, did the numbers. "The water in the little cloud weighs about 550 tons," she calculates. "Or if you want to convert it to something that might be a little more meaningful … think of elephants."
The thought of a hundred elephants-worth of water suspended in the sky begs another question — what keeps it up there?
"First of all, the water isn't in elephant sized particles（微粒）, it's in tiny tiny tiny particles," explains LeMone. And those particles float on the warmer air that's rising below. But still, the concept of so much water floating in the sky was surprising even to a meteorologist like LeMone. "I had no idea how much a cloud would weigh, actually, when I started the calculations," she says.
So how many elephant units of water are inside a big storm cloud—10 times bigger all the way around than the "puffy" cumulus cloud? Again, LeMone did the numbers: About 200,000 elephants.
Now, ratchet up the calculations for a hurricane about the size of Missouri and the figures get really massive. "What we're doing is weighing the water in one cubic meter theoretically pulled from a cloud and then multiplying by the number of meters in a whole hurricane," she explains.
The result? Forty million elephants. That means the water in one hurricane weighs more than all the elephants on the planet. Perhaps even more than all the elephants that have ever lived on the planet. The weight of is NOT mentioned in the passage.
| A．a cumulus cloud | B．a tornado | C．a hurricane | D．a storm cloud |
How did Peggy LeMone feel about the result of her calculations?
| A．She found it not convincing. |
| B．She thought it needed further calculations. |
| C．She was quite surprised at it. |
| D．She considered the calculations inaccurate. |
What can be inferred from the passage?
| A．A storm cloud weighs about 200,000 elephants. |
| B．The water in a hurricane weighs more than that in any other kind of cloud. |
| C．There are less than forty million elephants living on the earth. |
| D．The water in the cloud is in very tiny partials. |
Competition. It’s a simple word, yet a very complex word that covers many angles when it comes to how gasoline prices are determined. It seems so easy to explain, but don’t let that trick you—it’s incredibly difficult to explain and adequately understand.
Say you’re on a Sunday afternoon drive, and notice a gas station near you charging $3.50. Down the road a few miles, that price could easily be 10 or more cents higher or lower. The question is “how” or “why” is that? Think of it this way. Are you more likely to get a better deal on a car if there are two similar car dealers next to each other? Perhaps, because the dealers are too close. Say there is a third similar car dealer miles away. Is he going to be at the same level of competition and sell his cars for the same price as the two dealers next to each other? Likely not. He may charge more or less. Maybe people don't know there are two other dealers down the road. Maybe the dealer is almost outside of the city and the land value isn't as high, so his taxes aren't as high.
These situations do take place at gas stations. And more factors can impact what a station will charge. Timing can greatly impact what price a station charges as well! Many motorists fail to realize that the price a station pays for gasoline changes daily. If one station gets lucky and buys gas on Monday and the cost goes up Tuesday, the station that bought on Monday doesn’t necessarily have to raise prices like the station that bought on Tuesday. Maybe the station that got caught buying for a higher price on Tuesday will pass that higher cost on by raising its gas price.
Perhaps the difference is what brand the station is---branded stations usually pay a slightly higher cost for their gasoline. In return for paying a higher cost, those stations are guaranteed first supply in case of emergency situations. Independent stations don’t pay as much, but aren’t guaranteed supply.
While competition sounds easy to understand, there are always a large number of factors that could influence what one station charges. Keep in mind how many variables there are next time you fill up.What could be the best title for the passage?
| A．How Competition Impacts Gas Prices |
| B．Gas Prices Go Up or Down |
| C．Competition---a Very Complex Word |
| D．We Can’t Stress Enough the Need for Competition |
The example of car dealers is used to show _________.
| A．car prices are determined by car dealers |
| B．location is an important factor in pricing |
| C．the quality of service matters most |
| D．dealing strategy should be flexible |
The gas prices of a station always change partly because _________.
| A．a gas station always wants to charge more |
| B．the gasoline is in great demand |
| C．the cost of the gas the station buys varies daily |
| D．gas is in greater need on Monday |
According to the passage, branded stations _________.
| A．spend less money on their gasoline |
| B．have more staff than independent stations |
| C．charge less for high quality oil |
| D．offer a steady oil supply |
Goldie's Secret
She turned up at the doorstep of my house in Cornwall. No way could I have sent her away. No way, not me anyway. Maybe someone had kicked her out of their car the night before. "We're moving house. "No space for her any more with the baby coming. " "We never really wanted her, but what could we have done? She was a present. " People find all sorts of excuses for abandoning an animal. And she was one of the most beautiful dogs I had ever seen.
I called her Goldie. If I had known what was going to happen I would have given her a more creative name. She was so unsettled during those first few days. She hardly ate anything and had such an air of sadness about her. There was nothing I could do to make her happy, it seemed. Heaven knows what had happened to her at her previous owner's. But eventually at the end of the first week she calmed down. Always by my side, whether we were out on one of our long walks or sitting by the fire.
That's why it was such a shock when she pulled away from me one day when we were out for a walk. We were a long way from home, when she started barking and getting very restless. Eventually I couldn't hold her any longer and she raced off down the road towards a farmhouse in the distance as fast as she could.
By the time I reached the farm I was very tired and upset with Goldie. But when I saw her licking (舔) the four puppies (幼犬) I started to feel sympathy towards them. "We didn't know what had happened to her," said the woman at the door. "I took her for a walk one day, soon after the puppies were born, and she just disappeared. " "She must have tried to come back to them and got lost," added a boy from behind her.
I must admit I do miss Goldie, but I've got Nugget now, and she looks just like her mother. And I've learnt a good lesson: not to judge people. How did the author feel about Goldie when Goldie came to the house?
| A．Shocked | B．Sympathetic | C．Annoyed | D．Upset. |
In her first few days at the author's house, Goldie _______.
| A．felt worried | B．was angry | C．ate a little | D．sat by the fire |
Goldie rushed off to a farmhouse one day because she ________.
| A．saw her puppies | B．heard familiar barkings |
| C．wanted to leave the author | D．found her way to her old home |
The passage is organized in order of ________ .
| A．time | B．effectiveness | C．importance | D．complexity |
We all know that everyone becomes a little more forgetful as they get older, but men’s minds decline more than women’s, according to the results of a worldwide survey.
General differences seem to be natural in male and female brains: Men are better at maintaining and dealing with mental images (useful in mathematical reasoning and spatial skills), while women tend to excel be good at recalling information from their brain’s files. Many studies have looked for a connection between sex and the amount of mental decline people experience as they age, but the results have been mixed.
Some studies found more age-related decline in men than in women, while others saw the opposite or even no relationship at all between sex and mental decline.
Those results could be improper because the studies involved older people, and women live longer than men: The men tested are the survivors, “so they’re the ones that may not have shown such cognitive(认知的) decline,” said study team leader Elizabeth of the University of Warwick in England.
Scientists surveyed completed four tasks that tested sex-related cognitive skills: matching an object to its rotated form, matching lines shown from the same angle, typing as many words in a particular category as possible in the given time, e.g. “object usually colored gray”, and recalling the location of objects in a line drawing. The first two were tasks at which men are usually good; the latter are typically dominated by women. Within each age group studied, men and women performed better in their separate categories on average. And though performance declined with age for both genders, women showed obviously less decline than men overall.According to the passage, which of the following can NOT be typed into the same category?
| A．cloud | B．sheep | C．trees | D．goose |
Which of the following statements is true according the article? _______
| A．Men do better than women when it comes to learning English. |
| B．Women stand out at remembering people’s names. |
| C．Women do well in dealing mathematic problems. |
| D．Men excel at typing as many words as possible in the given time. |
One important factor that affects the correctness of the results is that ________.
| A．women live longer than men |
| B．people surveyed are all old |
| C．the old men tested may not have shown such cognitive decline |
| D．people taking part in this test came from all over the world |
The author aims to tell us that _________.
| A．women’s minds perform better than men’s |
| B．men’s minds decline more with age |
| C．everyone becomes a little more forgetful as they get older |
| D．a survey on human’s mind decline was done recently |