Some people can stay up all night and still get work done the next day.I'm not one of them.After a night without enough sleep, I feel badtempered.I have trouble remembering things.And all I want to do is to crawl into bed and sleep.
How do you feel after you've stayed up late to finish schoolwork? Or the day after an overnight party? Scientists now say that your answers to these questions may depend on your genes.
New research suggests that a gene called “period 3” affects how well you function without sleep.The “period 3” gene comes in two forms：short and long.Everyone has two copies of the gene.So, you may have two longs, two shorts, or one of each.Your particular combination depends on what your parents passed on to you.
Scientists from the University of Surrey in England studied 24 people who had either two short or two long copies of “period 3”．Study participants had to stay awake 40 hours straight.Then，they took tests that measured how quickly they pushed a button when numbers flashed on screen and how well they could remember lists of numbers.
Results showed that the people with the short form of “period 3” performed much better on these tests than the people with the long form did.In both groups，people performed worst in the early morning.
After the first round of experiments，participants were finally allowed to sleep.People in the group that performed well on the tests (those with the short form of “period 3”) took about 18 minutes to nod off.
People with the long “period 3” gene, by contrast, fell asleep in just 8 minutes.They also spent more time on deep sleep.That suggests that people with the long form of the gene need more and deeper sleep to keep their brains working in top form.
I think I must have the long form of“period 3”．What about you?The purpose of this passage might be________.
| A．to tell us the importance of plenty of sleep |
| B．to tell the result of a research on sleepy gene |
| C．to inform the harm of lacking sleep |
| D．to announce the sleeping rules of humans |
Which of the following decides how well you perform without sleep?
| A．One short form. |
| B．One long copy. |
| C．One short and two long copies. |
| D．Period 3. |
What kind of people need less sleep according to the research?
| A．Those with two long copies of the gene. |
| B．Those with two short copies of the gene. |
| C．Those with one short and one long copy of the gene. |
| D．Those with three short copies of the gene. |
If one lacks enough sleep，one should avoid doing important or dangerous things ________.
| A．at dawn | B．at night |
| C．in the afternoon | D．at noon |
Here’s this week’s list of four open jobs throughout the local area. Whether you’re unemployed and need a job or you are just sick of the one you have, Roswell Patch wants to help. We know new jobs can be hard to come by these days, which is why we’ll try to post a selection of jobs we’ve found in the area on the site each week. Happy hunting!
Part-time Spanish Instructor-World Language Institute, Inc. – Roswell.
World Language Institute, Inc. in Roswell is currently hiring a part-time, native-speaking Spanish instructor. Applicants must be able to pass a background check and drive a 15-passenger bus to pick up students from several schools, from 2 p. m. – 6 p. m. Monday-Friday. The position pays $ 10 per hour. More information about the job is available online.
Experienced Servers – Chili’s – Alpharetta
Chili’s in Alpharetta is seeking experienced servers to add to its team. Qualifications will include being clean and neat and having great attitude and customer service skills. The pay is $ 2.13, plus tips. Stop by the store to fill out an application. More information about this position is available online.
Registered Nurse-North Fulton Regional Hospital-Roswell
North Fulton Regional Hospital is looking for a RN/Registered Nurse to fill a 12-hour night shift. Applicants must be registered and previous hospital experience is preferred. More information about the position is available online.
Software Engineer-ControlScan-Alpharetta
ControlScan in Alpharetta is hiring a software engineer. Applicants should have five or more years of relevant experience, as well as advanced knowledge of computer technology. Pay is commensurate（相称）with experience. More information about the position can be found online.Where can we most probably read the passage?
| A．On a website. | B．In a newspaper. |
| C．In a magazine. | D．In a textbook. |
What does the underlined word "sick" mean?
| A．Ill. | B．Bored. |
| C．Absent. | D．Unfamiliar |
World Language Institute, Inc. is looking for____.
A. a school bus driver. B. a full-time teacher.
C. a Spanish teacher. D a Spanish manager.Who will mainly work at night?
| A．Robert, hired by ControlScan. |
| B．John, hired by World Language Institute. Inc. |
| C．Jane, hired by North Fulton Regional Hospital. |
| D．Sally, hired by Chili’s. |
Humankind has tried to improve its standard of living since the very beginning of civilization. Back then, as well as today, providing food and security was the basic task for a person. However, nowadays the range of required goods has expanded significantly. People feel the need for not only some primary things, such as a piece of bread and a roof over their heads, but also for various facilities and luxuries. Providing humanity with these things is connected to the use of natural resources, which requires energy. In turn, the common sources of energy we use today cause pollution, so economic growth is almost inevitably(必然地) associated with environmental damage.
Economic growth is the increase in numbers of goods and services produced over time by an economy, and it's calculated in terms of real Gross Domestic Product（GDP）. Before growth is calculated, inflation （通货膨胀） is adjusted in order to take into account its misleading effect on the price of goods and services. Economic growth can also be explained as the increase in expected output, which results from an increase in actual output, or total demand.
There are certain aspects of economic growth which affect the environment. The first of these is the fact that in order to produce more goods and products, at a faster rate, the construction of large industrial plants is required. These plants produce a lot of waste, leading to the pollution of water and the atmosphere, which may cause negative long term health effects to nearby populations of animals, or people. They also lead to global warming.
Industrial manufacturing leads to the constantly increasing energy consumption. The traditional energy sources, which are commonly used nowadays, are considered to be the greatest polluters to the environment. There also exist so-called eco-friendly sources of energy. They are sometimes preferred but replacing the traditional sources with them also requires time, during which people have to make some sacrifices to support these undertakings.
In order to produce economically practical energy, a sometimes significant transformation of the natural site is often inevitable（必然的，不可避免的）. This is expensive and, has harmful effects on the environment. Application of wind energy would block airflows' natural speed, which is the reason for their decrease in strength, after crossing the windmill. Consequently, the pressure balance that is brought about by this current will be affected, and it is important to remember that the environment and weather conditions are directly affected by atmospheric pressure.
For these reasons, bringing about economic growth without any resulting environmental damage, whatsoever, is impossible.What does the passage mainly talk about?
| A．Pollution caused by plant construction |
| B．Effects of windmills on the environment |
| C．Economic growth and human civilization |
| D．Economic growth and environmental damage |
What does the underlined word "They" in the third paragraph refer to?
| A．Goods and products | B．The industrial plants |
| C．Water and atmosphere | D．Negative health effects |
According to the passage, the author holds the opinion that ____.
| A．economic growth should be calculated in terms of GDP |
| B．use of natural resources causes no damage to the environment |
| C．industrial manufacturing may cause damage to the environment |
| D．a windmill is a perfect way to produce economically practical energy |
Which of the following shows the structure of the passage?
Did you know that women’s brains are smaller than men’s? The average women’s brain weighs 10% less than men’s. Since research has shown that the bigger the brain, the cleverer the animal, men must be more intelligent than women. Right? Wrong. Men and women always score similarly on intelligence tests, despite the difference in brain size. Why? After years of study, researchers have concluded that it’s what’s inside that matters, not just the size of the brain. The brain consists of “grey matter” and “white matter”. While men have more of the latter, the amount of “thinking” brain is almost exactly the same in both sexes.
It has been suggested that smaller brain appears to work faster, perhaps because the two sides of the brain are better connected in women. This means that little girls tend to learn to speak earlier, and that women can understand sorts of information from different sources at the same time. When it comes to talking to the boss on the phone, cooking dinner and keeping an eye on the baby all at the same time, it’s women who come out on top every time.
There are other important differences between two sexes. As white matter is the key to spatial（空间的） tasks, men know better where things are in relation to other things. “A great footballer always knows where he is in relation to the other players, and he knows where to go,” says one researcher. That may explain one of life’s great mysteries: why men refuse to ask for direction and women often need to!
The differences begin when fetuses（胎儿） are about nine weeks old, which can be seen in the action of children as young as one. A boy would try to climb a barrier before him or push it down while a girl would attract help from others. These brain differences also explain the fact that more men take up jobs that require good spatial skills, while more women speech skills. It may all go back to our ancestors, among whom women needed speech skills to take care of their babies and men needed spatial skills to hunt, according to one research.
If all this disappoints you, it shouldn’t. “The brain changes throughout our lives according to what we do with it.” says a biologist.The passage mainly tells us ________.
| A．the difference between men’s and women’s brains |
| B．the changes in brain throughout our lives |
| C．that men are better at spatial tasks |
| D．that brain differences are related to our ancestors |
Which of the following is true according to the first paragraph?
| A．Women’s grey matter is 10% less than men’s. |
| B．Grey matter plays the same role as white matter. |
| C．Grey matter controls thinking in the brain. |
| D．Both sexes have the same amount of white matter. |
Which of the following do you agree with according to the fourth paragraph?
| A．Young boys may be stronger than young girls. |
| B．More women take up jobs requiring speech skills. |
| C．Women may have stronger feelings than men. |
| D．Our ancestors needed more spatial skills. |
What is the writer’s attitude in writing this passage?
| A．Defensive. | B．Persuasive. |
| C．Supportive. | D．Objective. |
Nelson Mandela is respected and admired across the world. And to South Africans he is a superstar. He is a hero who shocked the world by fighting for peace between races, despite the 27 years he spent in the prison of the South Africa’s white, racist regime(政权).
Mandela who won the nation’s first all-race elections after the fall of apartheid (种族隔离) in 1994, retired 1999.
But he remains as popular as ever.
“He’s loved by all people, whether you’re white or black, whether you’re young or old,” said Ali Bacher, South
Africa’s former cricket (板球) chief.
His popularity has inspired an entire national industry. His portrait(肖像) has appeared at many places, including
on some goods. His face has appeared on a South African coin, a metropolitan area was named in his honour and
some business leaders hope to build a massive, rotating statue in his likeness --- the Statue of Freedom. It would
stand taller than New York’s Statue of Liberty.
His popular appeal is similar to that of John F. Kennedy with US or Winston Churchill in Britain, but few
politicians in this times have achieved his level of admiration, said Tom Lodge, head of the political science
department of the University of the Witwatersrand.
“Sometimes it isn’t completely appreciated what a skilled performer Mandela has been throughout his political
career. He’s a very, very clever man.” However, he is far from perfect.
Most articles for his birthday, which appeared in every major South African newspaper on the day, brief
mentioned that Mandela did have his shortcomings.
Then they returned to their flowing praises.
“Through the ages, the human race has had its icons (偶像) --- men and women who rose above ordinary people
to inspire their generations,” The Mail and Guardian Weekly said. “In our generation, the gods presented us Nelson
Mandela.”Nelson Mandela is loved by all the people of South Africa because _____.
| A．he’s as popular as Kennedy and Churchill |
| B．he spent 27 in prison |
| C．he’s a great fighter against the racialism |
| D．he’s the first all-race elections president |
Which of the following statements about Mandela’s portrait is true?
| A．It helps develop business. |
| B．It appears on the Statue of Freedom. |
| C．It is used to raise money for the Statue of Freedom. |
| D．It is similar to that of John F. Kennedy or Winston Churchill. |
The underlined sentence in the last paragraph means “________.”
| A．Mandela is as great as a god |
| B．We are proud to live in Mandela’s time |
| C．Mandela lives together with us all |
| D．We are proud to know Mandela |
What can we infer from the text?
| A．Mandela is very skilled politician. |
| B．Most articles specially stressed Mandela’s shortcomings. |
| C．The Statue of Freedom is a present for Mandela’s birthday. |
| D．The article may have appeared in a newspaper on Mandela’s birthday. |
On Nov.18th, 1908, three men went up in a balloon. They started early in London. The headman was Augusta Gaudron, and the other two men were Tannar and Maitland. They had a big balloon and they were ready for a long way.
Soon they heard the sea. They were carrying the usual rope, and it was hanging down from the basket of the balloon. At the end of the rope they had tied a metal box. This could hold water, or it could be empty. So they were able to change its weight. It was for use over the sea. They were also carrying some bags of sand.
After the sun rose, the balloon went higher. It went up to 3,000 meters, and the air was very cold. The water in the balloon became ice. Snow fell past the men's basket, and they could see more snow on the ground. The men tried to throw out some more sand, but it was hard. They tried to break the icy sand with their knives, but it was not easy. The work was slow and they were still falling, so they had to drop some whole bags of sand. One of them fell on an icy lake and made a black hole in the ice.
At last they pulled the box into the basket. It was still snowing; so they climbed up to get away from the snow. They rose to 5,100 meters! Everything became icy. They were so cold that they decided to land. They came down in Poland heavily but safely. They had travelled 1,797 kilometers from London!The metal box was used for ________.
| A．carrying the bags of sand |
| B．keeping drinking-water |
| C．carrying ropes of the basket |
| D．changing weight |
The balloon landed ________.
| A．in London | B．on the sea |
| C．on a lake | D．in a foreign country |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．The three men started their journey before the sun rose. |
| B．The balloon began to go up when they threw bags of sand out of the basket. |
| C．When they pulled the box into the basket, the balloon began to climb up. |
| D．The three men had to land because they felt cold. |