For many of us, a little time with our smartphones or iPads before sleep is the highlight of the night. But would you still think it is relaxing if you knew that it damages or destroys your sleep? Scientists say that's exactly what it does.
In ancient times, when there were no lamps, telephones or smartphones, the sun was the main source of light. When the sun went down, our brains took that as a signal to start producing melatonin(褪黑素), a chemical that helps us sleep.
However, a healthy amount of melatonin can only be produced in complete darkness.Any light in your bedroom—even the one on the alarm clock or the charging indicator on your cellphone—could disturb the process, not to mention something as bright as smartphone and iPad screens. We tend to hold these much closer than a television or laptop, which allows them to shoot far more light straight into our eyes.
“This is particularly worrisome in populations such as young adults and adolescents, who already tend to be night_owls，” said researcher Brittany Wood at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.“Lack of sleep among teens is leading to depression, selfharm, low concentration and poor performance at school，” she added.
While all lights are the enemy of sleep, not all colors of light have the same effect. Our eyes are particularly sensitive to blue light, which is common during the day. Most of the light coming from electronic screens is blue light and it fools our brain into thinking it's still daytime. By contrast, orange or red light has less influence on melatonin production, because our brains recognize it as a signal that the day is ending, according to The Telegraph.
Asking yourself to keep your hands off your smartphone before bedtime might seem unreasonable, but you should at least remember to dim the screen or hold it farther away from your eyes. You could also wear a pair of orange sunglasses that take away the harmful blue light.According to the passage, we can know ________.
| A．it's a good habit to play with smartphones or iPads late into night |
| B．scientists suggest we should avoid using smartphones or iPads |
| C．darkness makes a great impact on the amount of melatonin |
| D．the sun was the only source of light in ancient times |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The darker it is, the more melatonin will be produced. |
| B．The lighter it is, the more melatonin will be produced. |
| C．The more melatonin you have, the worse you'll sleep. |
| D．The more electrical equipment you have, the more melatonin will be produced. |
The underlined part in Paragraph 4 refers to those ________.
| A．who are young adults or adolescents |
| B．who don't perform well in school |
| C．who are addicted to a television or laptop |
| D．who are short of sleep at night and perform poorly in daily life |
In the writer's opinion, which is a correct suggestion?
| A．You should go to bed when the sun goes down. |
| B．You should use an orange or red light electronic screen. |
| C．You should wear a pair of blue sunglasses when sleeping. |
| D．You should avoid blue light as possible as you can before bedtime. |
The U.S. Department of Labor statistics (统计) show that there is an oversupply of college-trained workers and that this oversupply is increasing. Already there have been more than enough teachers, engineers, physicists, aerospace experts, and other specialists. Yet colleges and graduate schools continue every year to turn out highly trained people to compete for jobs that aren't there. The result is that graduates cannot enter the professions for which they were trained and must take temporary jobs which do not require a college degree.
On the other hand, there is a great need for skilled workers of all sorts: carpenters, electricians, mechanics, plumbers, TV repairmen.
These people have more work than they can deal with, and their annual incomes are often higher than those of college graduates. The old gap that white-collar workers make a better living than blue-collar workers no longer holds true. The law of supply and demand now favors the skilled workmen.
The reason for this situation is the traditional myth that college degree is a passport to a prosperous future. A large part of American society matches success in life equally with a college degree. Parents begin indoctrinating (灌输) their children with this myth before they are out of grade school. High school teachers play their part by acting as if high school education were a preparation for college rather than for life. Under this pressure the kids fall in line. Whether they want to go to college or not doesn't matter. Everybody should go to college, so of course they must go. And every year college enrollments (入学) go up and up, and more and more graduates are overeducated for the kinds of jobs available to them.
One result of this emphasis on a college education is that many people go to college who do not belong there. Of the sixty percent of high school graduates who enter college, half of them do not graduate with their class. Many of them drop out within the first year. Some struggle on for two or three years and then give up.
45. It's implied but not stated in the passage that .
A. many other countries are facing the same problem
B. white-collar workers in the US used to make more money than blue-collar workers
C. fewer students will prefer to go to college in the future
D. the law of supply and demand has a strong effect on American higher education
46. Which of the following is NOT a reason why college enrollments go up every year?
A. Many people believe that the only way to success is a college education.
B. Many parents want their children to go to college.
C. High school teachers urge their students to go to college.
D. Every young man and woman wants to go to college.
47. By saying that“many people go to college who do not belong there,” the author means that .
A. many people who are not fit for college education go to college
B. many people who do not have enough money go to college
C. many people who go to college drop out within the first year
D. many people who go to college have their hopes destroyed
48. We can infer from the passage that the author believes that .
A. every young man and woman should go to college
B. college education is a bad thing
C. people with a college education should receive higher pay
D. fewer people should go to college while more should be trained for skilled jobs
Let's pretend we're sailing down the Rhine River on a pleasure boat. The Rhine is one of the main waterways of Germany, and the river traffic is heavy. It's interesting to watch the many boats going up and down the river. But the river traffic is not nearly so interesting as the beautiful scenery along the banks and hillsides. The boat is passing many old castles. We can see people working in the vineyards (葡萄园) on the hillsides. There are vineyards as far as the eye can see. Wine from the Rhine Valley is famous all over the world.
Suddenly our boat slows down and begins to turn a little. We are coming to a sharp bend in the river. On our right we can see a rocky cliff over 400 feet high. At first it looks quite ordinary, but there is nothing ordinary about it. There are many stories, poems, and songs about the cliff. We are looking at the Lorelei.
The someone on the boat begins to sing in German, the song of the Lorelei. It is a song about a beautiful siren (美女) who has lured many sailors to their deaths.
The siren is supposed to sit on the rock combing her long golden hair and singing. The sailors who hear her forget to steer, and the current of river hurls their boats on the rocks and dashes them to pieces.
Soon other people on the boat begin to sing. The beautiful song adds to special magic to the moment, and you begin to realize why so many people have made this trip down the Rhine to see the rock of the Lorelei.
41.The more interesting thing to those who are sailing down the Rhine River on a pleasure boat is .
A. to watch many boats going up and down the river
B. to see the beautiful scenery along the banks and hillsides
C. to hear a song about beautiful siren
D. to see a beautiful siren combing her golden hair
42. Which of the following is famous all over the world?
A. The Rhine River. B. The River Traffic.
C. Wine from the Rhine Valley. D. The Lorelei.
43. We can see a rocky cliff over 400 feet high .
A. on our right when coming to a sharp bend B. on the Rhine hillsides
C. from the Rhine Valley D. on the boat
44. The song of the Lorelei is about .
A. The Rhine wine B. a rocky cliff
C. the beautiful scenery along the Rhine River
D. a beautiful and dangerous woman genie
The common cold is the world's most widespread illness, which is plagues (瘟疫) that flesh receives.
The most widespread fallacy (谬误) of all is that colds are caused by cold. They are not. They are caused by viruses passing on from person to person. You catch a cold by coming into contact, directly or indirectly, with someone who already has one. If cold causes colds, it would be reasonable to expect the Eskimos to suffer from them forever. But they do not. And in isolated arctic regions explorers have reported being free from colds until coming into contact again with infected people from the outside world by way of packages and mail dropped from airplanes.
During the First World War soldiers who spent long periods in the trenches (战壕) cold and wet, showed no increased tendency to catch colds.
In the Second World War prisoners at the notorious Auschwitz concentration camp (奥斯维辛集中营), naked and starving, were astonished to find that they seldom had colds.
At the Common Cold Research Unit in England, volunteers took part in Experiments in which they gave themselves to the discomforts of being cold and wet for long stretches of time. After taking hot baths, they put on bathing suits, allowed themselves to be dipped with cold water, and then stood about dripping wet in drafty room. Some wore wet socks all day while others exercised in the rain until close to exhaustion. Not one of the volunteers came down with a cold unless a cold virus was actually dropped in his nose.
If, then, cold and wet have nothing to do with catching colds, why are they more frequent in the winter? Despite the most pains- research, no one has yet found the answer. One explanation offered by scientists is that people tend to stay together indoors more in cold weather than at other times, and this makes it easier for cold viruses to be passed on.
No one has yet found a cure for the cold. There are drugs and pain-killer pills such as aspirin, but all they do is relieve the symptoms.
36. The writer offered examples to support his argument.
A. 4 B. 5 C. 6 D. 3
37. Which of the following does not agree with the chosen passage?
A. The Eskimos do not suffer from colds all the time.
B. Colds are not caused by cold.
C. People suffer from colds just because they like to stay indoors.
D. A person may catch a cold by touching someone who already has one.
38. Arctic explorers may catch colds when .
A. they are working in the isolated arctic regions
B. they are writing reports in terribly cold weather
C. they are free from work in the isolated arctic regions
D. they are coming into touch again with the outside world
39. Volunteers taking part in the experiments in the Common Cold Research Unit .
A. suffered a lot B. never caught colds
C. often caught colds D. became very strong
40. The passage mainly discusses .
A. the experiments on the common colds B. the fallacy about the common cold
C. the reason and the way people catch colds
D. the continued spread of common colds
Where to stay in Boswell? The following are some choices for you:
| First Hotel. 222 Edward Road. Tel. 414-6433. Number of Rooms: 120. Price: Single: $ 25; Doulbe $ 35; Special attractions: Airconditioned rooms, French restaurant, Night club, Swimming pool, Shops; Coffee shop and bar, Telephone, Radio and TV in each room, close to the city center. |
| Fairview Hotel. 129 North Road. Tel. 591-5620. Number of Rooms: 50. Price: Single:$ 12; Double: $ 18; Special Attractions: Close to the airport, Telephone in each room, Bar, Restaurant, Garage, Swimming-pool. |
| Orchard Hotel. 233 Edward Road. Tel.641-6641. Number of Rooms: 150. Price: Single: $ 15; Double: $ 20; Special Attractions: Facing First Hotel, European restaurant, Coffee shop, Dry-cleaning, Shops, TV, Night-club. |
| Osaka Hotel. 1264 Venning Road. Tel. 643-8206. Number of Rooms: 180. Price: Single: $ 30; Double: $ 50. Special Attractions: Air-Conditioned rooms, Japanese and Chinese restaurant, Shops, Swimming pool, Large garden. |
49. The number of the room in Osaka Hotel is :
A. 50 B. 120 C. 150 D. 180
50. If a Japanese traveller likes to eat in French restaurant, _______ is the right place for him to go to.
A. 233 Edward RoadB. 1264 Venning Road
C. 222 Edward Road D. 129 North Road
51. Which hotel faces the Orchard Hotel?
A. The First Hotel B. The Osaka Hotel
C. The Fairview HotelD. No Hotel
52. If you want to book a cheapest single room, which number will you call?
A. 414-6433 B. 591-5620 C. 641-6641 D. 643-8206
A gentleman put an advertisement in a newspaper for a boy to work in his office. Out of the nearly fifty men who came to apply, the man selected one and dismissed(解散) the others.
“I should like to know,” said a friend, “the reason you preferred that boy, who brough not a single letter—not a recommendation(介绍信）.”
“You are wrong,” said the gentleman. He had a great many. He wiped his feet at the door and closed the door after him, indicating that he was careful. He gave his seat immediately to the crippled (跛的) old man, showing that he was kind and thoughtful. He took off his cap when he came in and answered my questions immediately, showing that he was polite and gentlemanly.
“All the rest stepped over the book which I had purposely put on the floor. He picked it up and placed it on the table; and he waited quietly for his turn instead of pushing and crowding.
When I talked to him, I noticed his tidy clothing, his neatly brushed hair, and his clean fingernails(指甲). Can’t you see that these things are excellent recommendations? I consider them more significant(明显的) than letters.”
45. A gentleman put an advertisement in a newspaper _____
A. in order to hire an office boy
B. so as to dismiss the others
C. in order to select one among the fifty applicants
D. so as to select one and dismiss the others
46. The underlined word “indicatiing” probably means _______
A. drawing B. saying C. showing D. speaking
47. _______ was the very person the gentleman preferred.
A. He who had many letters
B. He who had no letters
C. He who wiped his feet
D. He who was careful,kind, polite and thoughtful
48. According to the passage, we know that the gentleman hired the boy by________
A. his good manners B. the relationships between them
C. by the feelings D. his letters