American researchers have discovered that human brains and sleep patterns are confused by devices(装置) that give out bright lights. Electronics, such as laptops, mislead our minds into thinking that it is still daytime, preventing sleep and increasing the risk of insomnia.
Sleep experts say human's natural body clock begins to rest and relax from the day between 9 and 10 pm but the use of computers confuses it.
A person's brain biologically becomes awake when the sun is out because bright light after dark causes the brain to stop producing the hormone (荷尔蒙) called melatonin that makes us sleepy.
Researchers say blue light from devices such as iPads, which is expected to become a popular reading tool when it comes out later this month, is particularly disruptive (干扰的)during the night when the brain thinks it should be dark.
Experts say a good book is a far better way of resting the brain and ensuring a good night's sleep because the bedside lamp(灯) light doesn't affect the brain as it does not look straight into a person's eyes.
“Potentially, yes, if you're using an iPad or a laptop close to bedtime... that light can be stimulating (刺激) to the brain to make it more awake and delay your ability to sleep,” Phyllis Zee, a professor at Northwestern University and director of the school's Centre for Sleep & Circadian Biology, told CNN.
“And I think more importantly, it could also be enough to affect your circadian (昼夜节律的) rhythm. This is the clock in your brain that determines when you sleep and when you wake up. ”
Alon Avidan, associate director of the Sleep Disorders Center at the University of California Los Angeles, added, “I wish people would just take a boring book — an oldfashioned book — and read by a lamp.”The underlined word “insomnia” in the first paragraph probably means “________”.
A.being unable to eat properly |
B.brain injury |
C.being unable to fall sleep |
D.lack of energy |
Melatonin is the hormone that ________.
A.makes us sleepy |
B.helps us relaxed |
C.prevents us from waking up |
D.makes us excited |
The bedside lamp light doesn't affect the brain because ________.
A.it doesn't give out blue light |
B.it's not as bright as your laptop |
C.it doesn't enter your eyes directly |
D.it is adjustable |
We can conclude from the passage that ________.
A.one who uses his laptop often before bedtime can have his body clock disturbed |
B.using a laptop before bedtime is more harmful than using an iPad |
C.we'd better not do anything before going to bed |
D.the best time to go to bed is before 9 pm |
In modern society there is a great deal of argument about competition. Some value it highly, believing that it is responsible for social progress and prosperity. Others say that competition is bad; that it sets one person against another; that it leads to unfriendly relationship between people. I have taught many children who held the belief that their self-worth relied on how well they performed at tennis and other skills. For them, playing well and winning are often life-and death affairs. In their single-minded pursuit of success, the development of many other human qualities is sadly forgotten. However, while some seem to be lost in die desire to succeed, others take an opposite attitude. In a culture which values only die winner and pays no attention to the ordinary players, they strongly blame competition. Among the most vocal are youngsters who have suffered under competitive pressures from their parents or society. Teaching these young people, I often observe in them a desire to fail. They seem to seek failure by not trying to win or achieve success. By not trying, they always have an excuse: “I may have lost, but it doesn’t matter because I really didn’t try.” What is not usually admitted by themselves is the belief that if they had really tried and lost, that would mean a lot. Such a loss would be a measure of their worth. Clearly, this belief is the same as that of the true competitors who try to prove themselves. Both are based on the mistaken belief that one’s self-respect relies on how well one performs in comparison with others. Both are afraid of not being valued. Only as this basic and often troublesome fear begins to dissolve can we discover a new meaning in competition.
65.What does this passage mainly talk about?
A.Competition helps to set up self-respect.
B.Opinions about competition are different among people.
C.Competition is harmful to personal quality development.
D.Failures are necessary experiences in competition.
66.Why do some people favor competition according to the passage?
A.It pushes society forward.
B.It builds up a sense of duty.
C.It improves personal abilities.
D.It encourages individual efforts.
67.The underlined phrase “the most vocal” means_______.
A.those who try their best to win.
B.those who value competition most highly.
C.those who are against competition most strongly.
D.those who rely on others most for success
68.what is the similar belief of the true competitors and those with a “desire to fail”
A.One’s worth lies in his performance compared with others.
B.One’s success in competition needs great efforts.
C.One’s achievement is determined by his particular skill.
D.One’s success is based on how hard he has tried.
III.阅读理解:(共20 小题,每小题2分,满分40分)
第一节:(共15小题,每小题2分,满分30分)
阅读下列短文,从每题所给的四个选项A、B、C、D中选出最佳选项。
Female Chinese space pioneers?
CHINA plans to recruit(招募) women astronauts thanks to the lobbying of the leading women’s organization. Gu Xiulian, president of the All-China Women’s Federation(ACWF) (全国妇联), said on Saturday that she put forward a proposal that women be trained for space missions after the manned space flight last October. And it was accepted by the central authorities, local media reported. But the plan to recruit female astronauts has yet to be worked out, according to sources close to the astronaut-training programme.
Beijing needs mental health care
MORE than 1,000 people committed suicide(自杀) in Beijing last year, and experts have been encouraging the capital to set up a mental health care system as soon as possible, local media reported last week. About 20 percent of the people of Beijing live in unhealthy conditions, with 3 percent of these suffering from affective disorder and 5 percent reporting symptoms of depression, according to the Beijing Mental Health Service Center.
No need to fear your licence plate
CAR licence plates in Shenzhen and Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, will not have the number “four” from this month on ---a move that has led to heated discussion among officials, schools and residents. The word for “four” sounds like “death” in Cantonese. The number has been cleared away from the computer data banks that generate the six-digit licence numbers for local cars. Some say that, for the first time, a public agency service has considered local customs and bans. Others worry it will encourage superstitious(迷信的) beliefs.
61.We can infer from the news that ____.
A.there are several female astronauts in China now
B.people in Guangdong province hate number “four”
C.the mental disorder concerns everybody all over the country
D.the city government of Beijing has promised to set up a mental health care system
62.The underlined sentence in the third news means that __ __.
A.there is no number “four” in the computers in Shenzhen
B.computer is used to print six-digit car licence numbers
C.local cars will be protected to use six-digit car licence numbers
D.number “four” will no longer appear in the six-digit car licence numbers
63.What is the message of the first news?
A.China only needs male astronauts.
B.Gu Xiulian wants to be the first space woman.
C.Society doesn’t discriminate(歧视) against women in China.
D.The astronaut-training programme hasn’t been planned.
64.Which word has the same meaning as the underlined word “symptoms”?
A.signals B.signs C.sorts D.shocks
People with bigger brains tend to score higher on standardized tests of intelligence, according to new study findings.
However, Dr. Michael A.McDaniel emphasized that these findings represent a general trend, and people with small heads should not automatically believe they are less intelligent. For instance, Albert Einstein’s brain was “ not particularly large,” McDaniel noted “ There’s some relationship between brain size and intelligence on average, but there’s plenty of room for exceptions,” he said.
Interest in the relationship between brain size and intelligence grew in the 1830s, when German anantomist(解剖学家)Frederick Tidemann wrote that he believed there was “ a natural connection between the size of the brain and the mental energy displayed by the individual man.” Since that statement, scientists have conducted numerous studies to determine if Tidemann’s idea was , in fact, correct. Most studies have investigated the link between head size and intelligence .More recently, however, researchers have published additional studies on intelligence and brain size, measure using MRI scans.
For his study, McDaniel analyzed more than 20 studies that investigated the relationship between brain size and intelligence in a total of 1,530 people. The studies showed that on average, people with larger brain volume tended to be more intelligent. The relationship was stronger in women that men, and adults than children ,McDaniel noted.
In an interview, McDaniel noted that he’s not sure why the relationship was stronger for adults and women. Previous research has shown that women, on average, tend to have smaller brains that men, but score just as well--- if not higher--- in tests of intelligence he said.
McDaniel insisted that the relationship between brain size and intelligence is not a “perfect” one. “One can certainly find lots of examples of smaller-brained people who are highly intelligent,” he said” But , on average, the relationship holds.”
73.What does the passage mainly tell us?
A.The success of using MRI scans for studies on man’s intelligence.
B.On average bigger brains mean higher IQ.
C.The importance of our brain volume.
D.Dr. Michael succeeded in his studies on man’s intelligence.
74.By mentioning Albert Einstein, the writer wanted to show ___.
A.what Albert Einstein achieved had nothing to do with his brain size
B.probably the studies on man’s intelligence are not worth believing
C.why hard working is more important than intelligence.
D.the results of these studies are not true for everyone
75.The underlined word “investigated “ could be replaced by ____.
A.worked our B.guessed C.study D.imagined
It is now commonly known that AIDS is a deadly disease. It does great damage to human beings’ immune system, weakening resistance to disease and leading to death due to utter weakness. To this day, there are no existing drugs that can kill AIDS virus. It is a deadly battle between science and AIDS.
This is only one side of the story. Although it can not be cured, AIDS is preventable. For those who have not caught the disease, the knowledge of preventive measures seems to be the most powerful weapon at hand.
Since the discovery of the first AIDS patient in 1985, the number of HIV carriers is on an alarming rise in China and statistics show that young people are the more likely victims of AIDS. Nationwide there are 214 million people between the ages of 13 and 22, most of whom are students. If no measures are taken to protect these young people, it is almost certain that the threat of AIDS will be very real to them. There has been a great deal of misinformation concerning the transmission of AIDS.
One of the most misleading myths is that AIDS can be transmitted by casual physical contact such as kissing, shaking hands or sharing food container. Surveys and investigations conducted in some universities and colleges show that half of those people questioned are not clear about how AIDS is transmitted, not to mention how it is prevented.
This is the driving force behind the State Education Department’s decision to spread AIDS awareness information among college students and later to high school students and primary school students.
69.Why does the passage say that AIDS is a deadly disease?
A.Because it destroys the immune system of the human body.
B.Because the AIDS patients cannot resist the disease and will die.
C.Because the doctors now find no medicine to cure AIDS.
D.All of the above.
70.By writing “This is only one side of the story”, the author suggests that_____.
A.although we can’t cure AIDS, we can manage to prevent it.
B.AIDS is very dangerous, but we should not be scared of it.
C.AIDS is not curable, but doctors should not give up fighting against it.
D.although the doctors cannot cure the disease, they can help improve the patients’ health.
71.What can be concluded from the surveys and investigations mentioned in the passage?
A.No college students know how people become AIDS victims.
B.50 percent of college students do not know how to prevent AIDS.
C.Many college students are not aware how people become AIDS victims.
D.Many college students did not mention AIDS prevention in the surveys and investigations.
72.What is the best title of this passage?
A.China Fights AIDSB.Young People—Most likely AIDS Victims
C.AIDS Information Is Necessary D.AIDS—A Deadly Disease
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