Those who have suffered from insomnia know the sinking feeling of watching the clock tick.Now a new study in the Archives of Internal Medicine suggests that lying in bed awake may actually contribute to the problem of sleeplessness.
The study of 79 adults(average age 72)with insomnia aimed to determine whether brief behavioral interventions for insomnia would help.Traditional behavioral therapy(疗法)requires at least half a dozen hour-long sessions with a therapist — a costly commitment many patients either can't make or don't have access to.Other options include sleep-aiding medications or supplements.In the current study,the 39 participants in the behavioral therapy group received a 45- to 60-minute instructing session,plus a 30-minute follow-up session and two 20-minute phone calls.
Doctors offered the following behavioral interventions for improving sleep: reduce time in bed; get up at the same time every day,regardless of sleep duration; don't go to bed unless sleepy; and don't stay in bed unless asleep.
The other 40 participants in the study were given printed educational materials about insomnia,which included the same instructions given to the intervention group,but without the individualized sessions with a therapist.Two weeks later,the latter group also got a 10-minute follow-up phone call.
At the end of four weeks,the behavioral treatment group was significantly more likely to show improvements in sleep than the printed-materials group.By that time,55% of those who received behavioral treatment no longer met the criteria for insomnia,compared with 13% of the group that got educational brochures.
The good news comes at the same time as a report on the health effects of insomnia from the U.K.'s Mental Health Foundation.The report,Sleep Matters,suggests a link between insomnia and poor relationships,low energy levels and an inability to concentrate.Poor sleep has already been linked to depression,immune deficiency and heart disease.What is the meaning of the underlined word “ insomnia”?
A.sleeplessness | B.depression |
C.heart disease | D.immune deficiency |
What is the disadvantage of traditional behavioral therapy?
A.It can’t help. |
B.It costs a lot of money. |
C.It requires sessions with a therapist. |
D.It includes sleep-aiding medications. |
How to improve sleep according to the doctor?
A.Lying in bed awake. |
B.Get up early every day. |
C.Don’t go to bed late at night. |
D.Don’t stay in bed if you are not asleep. |
We can learn from the text that insomnia may cause the following results except________.
A.depression | B.concentration |
C.immune deficiency | D.heart disease |
It was a winter morning, just a couple of weeks before Christmas 2005. While most people were warming up their cars, Trevor, my husband, had to get up early to ride his bike four kilometers away from home to work. On arrival, he parked his bike outside the back door as he usually does. After putting in 10 hours of labor, he returned to find his bike gone.
The bike, a black Kona 18 speed, was our only transport. Trevor used it to get to work, putting in 60-hour weeks to support his young family. And the bike was also used to get groceries(食品杂货),saving us from having to walk long distances from where we live.
I was so sad that someone would steal our bike that I wrote to the newspaper and told them our story. Shortly after that, several people in our area offered to help. One wonderful stranger even bought a bike, then called my husband to pick it up. Once again my husband had a way to get to and from his job. It really is an honor that a complete stranger would go out of their way for someone they have never met before.
People say that a smile can be passed from one person to another, but acts of kindness from strangers are even more so. This experience has had a spreading effect in our lives because it strengthened our faith in humanity(人性)as a whole. And it has influenced(影响)us to be more mindful of ways we, too, can share with others. No matter how big or how small, an act of kindness shows that someone cares. And the results can be everlasting.
1. Why was the bike so important to the couple?
A. The man’s job was bike racing. B. It was their only possession.
C. It was a nice Kona 18 speed. D. They used it for work and daily life.
2. We can infer from the text that ____________.
A. the couple worked 60 hours a week. B. people were busy before Christmas
C. the stranger brought over the bike D. life was hard for the young family.
3. How did people get to know the couple’s problem?
A. From radio broadcasts. B. From a newspaper.
C. From TV news. D. From a stranger.
4 What do the couple learn from their experience?
A. Strangers are usually of little help. B. One should take care of their bike.
C. News reports make people famous. D. An act of kindness can mean a lot.
A month after Hurricace Katrina, I returned home in New Orleans. There lay my house,
reduced to waist-high rains, smelly and dirty.
Before the trip, I’d had my car fixed. When the office employee of the garage was writing up
the bill, she noticed my Louisiana license plate. “You from New Orleans?” she asked. I said I was,
“No charge.” She said, and firmly shock her head when I reached for my wallet. The next day I
went for a haircut, and the same thing happened.
As my wife was studying in Florida, we decided to move there and tried to find a rental house that we could afford while also paying off a mortgage(抵押贷款)on our ruined house. We looked at many places, but none was satisfactory. We’d began to accept that we’d have to live in extremely reduced circumstances for a while, when I got a very curious e-mail from a James Kemmedy in California. He’d read some pieces I’d written about our sufferings for state, the online magazine and wanted to give us (“no conditions attached”) a new house across the lake from New Orleans. It sounded a good to her return, but I replied, thinking him for his exceptional generosity, then we to go back. Then the University of Florida offered to let him house to me. While he want to England on his one year, paid leave. The rent was rather reasonable. I mentioned the poet’s offer to James Kemdedy, and the next day he sent a check covering our entire rent for eight months. Throughout this painful experience , the kindness of strangers back my faith in humanity .It’s almost worth losing you wordy possessions to be reminded that people really when given had a channel.
1.The garage employee’s attitude toward the author was that of
A.unconcern B.sympathy
C.doubt D.tolerance
2.What do we know about James Kemnedy?
A.He was a written of an online magazine.
B.He was a poet at the University of Florida
C.He offered the author a new house free of charge.
D.He learned about the author’s sufferings.
3.It can be inferred from the text that
A.the author’s family was in financial difficulty
B.rents were comparatively reasonable despite the disaster
C.houses were difficult to find in the hurricane0stricken area
D.the mortgage on the ruined house was paid off by the bank
4.The author learned from his experience that
A.worldly possessions can be given up when necessary
B.generosity should be encouraged in some cases
C.people benefit from their sad stories
D.human beings are kind after all.
Charles Blackman:Alice in Wonderland
An Exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV),Australia
June —12 August 2007
Venue (地点) The Ian Potter Centre
Admission Free entry
Charles Blackman is famous for his beautiful painting of dreams. In 1956, he heard for the first time Lewis Carroll’s extraordinary tale of Alice in Wonderland –the story of a Victorian girl who falls down a rabbit hole, meets a lot of funny characters and experience all kinds of things .At that time, Blackman’s wife was suffering form progressive blindness. The story of Alice moving through the strange situations, often disheartened by various events ,was similar to his wife’s experiences. It also reflected so much of his own life. All this contributed to the completion of the Alice in Wonderland paintings.
Illustrator Workshop
Go straight to the experts for an introductory course in book illustration. The course includes an introduction to the process of illustration and its techniques, workshop exercise and group projects.
Dates Sunday 17 June &Sunday 5Aug.10am—1pm
Venue Gas Works Arts Park
Wonderful World
Celebrate the exhibition and Children’s Book Week with special activities just for the day, including a special visit from Alice and the White Rabbit
Date Sunday 24 June ,11am—4pm
Venue Exhibition Space .Level 3
Topsy-Turvy
Visit the exhibition or discover wonderful curiosities in artworks in the NGV Collection and make a magic world in a box. Alice and the White Rabbit will be with you. Walt Disney’s Alice in Wonderland will be screened.
Dates Sunday 8,15,22,29 July, and Tuesday 24-Friday 27 July, 12noon—3pm
Venue Theatre, NGV Australia
Drawing Workshop
Distortions of scale ( 比例失真) can make artworks strange but interesting .Find out how Charles Blackman distorted scale in his paintings to create a curious world .then experiment with scale in your own drawings. More information upon booking.
Date Friday 27 July,10:30am-3pm
Venue Foryer, Level 3
1. Charles Blackman’s paintings come from ________.
A. his admiration for Lewis Carrioll
B. his dream of becoming a famous artist
C. his wish to express his own feelings
D. his eagerness to cure his wife’s illness
2. Which two activities can you participate in on the same day?
A. Illustrator Workshop and Wonderful World
B. Illustrator Workshop and Drawing Workshop.
C. Wonerful World and Topsy –Turvy.
D.Topsy-Turvy and Drawing Workshop.
3. To understand the Alice in Wonderland paintings, you should go to ________.
A. Exhibition Space .Level 3 B. Gas Works Arts Park
C. Theatre ,NGV Australia D. Foyer, Level 3
4. Activities concerning children’s books are to be held
A. on June 24,2007 B. on July15,2007
C. on July 24,2007 D. on August 5,2007
阅读理解(共20小题;每小题2分,满分40分)
阅读下列短文,从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中,选出最佳选项。
The city of Rome has passed a new to prevent cruelty to animals. All goldfish bowls are no longer allowed and dog owners must walk their dogs.
This comes after a national law was passed to give prison sentences to people who desert cats or dogs.
“The civilization of a city can be measured by this,” said Monica Carina, the councilor (议员) behind the new law.
“It’s good to do whatever we can for our animals who in exchange for a little love fill our existence with their attention,” she told a Rome newspaper.
The newspaper reported that round bowls don’t give enough oxygen for fish and may make them go blind.
“Rome has tried to protect fish more than anywhere else in the world .It stands out for recognizing that fish are interesting animals who deserve(值得)over respect and compassion every bit as much as dogs and cats and other animals,” said Karin Robertson, a director of the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
Last year a law was passed in Italy that gives people who desert pets big fines (罚款)and prison sentences. Since then local governments have added their own animal protection rules.
The northern city of Turin passed a law in April to give pet owners fines of up to $598 if they do not walk their dogs three times a day.
The new law in Rome also says that owners mustn’t leave their dogs in hot cars or cut their dogs’ tails to make them look lovelies. The law also gives legal recognition to the “cat ladies” who feed homeless cats. The cats live all over the city from ancient ruins to modern office car parks.
1.The new law passed in Rome will __________.
A.help improve fishing environment
B.guarantee better conditions for goldfish
C.stop people from catching goldfish
D.discourage keeping goldfish at home
2.People in Rome believe that the civilization of a city can be judged by its __________.
A.exchanges with other cities
B.protection for ancient ruins
C.awareness of animal protection
D.recognition of animal lovers
3.The underlined word “compassion” in Paragraph 6 is the closest in meaning to _______.
A.pity
B.praise
C.support
D.popularity
4.People may break the law in Turin if they _________.
A.keep their dogs or cats in cars
B.feed homeless animals in car parks
C.raise their cats near ancient ruins
D.shut their dogs home all day long
The year was 1932.Amelia Earhart was flying alone from North America to England in a small single—engined aeroplane.At midnight, several hours after she had left Newfoundland, she ran into bad weather.To make things worse, her altimeter (高度表) failed and she didn't know how high she was flying.At night, and in a storm, a pilot is in great difficulty without an altimeter.At times, her plane nearly plunged (冲) into the sea.
Just before dawn, there was further trouble.Amelia noticed flames (火焰) coming from the engine.Would she be able to reach land? There was nothing to do except to keep going and to hope.
In the end, Amelia Earhart did reach Ireland, and for the courage she had shown, she was warmly welcomed in England and Europe.When she returned to the United States, she was honored by President Hoover at a special dinner in the White House.From that time on, Amelia Earhart was famous.
What was so important about her flight? Amelia Earhart was the first woman to fly the Atlantic Ocean alone, and she had set a record of fourteen hours and fifty—six minutes.
In the years that followed, Amelia Earhart made several flights across the United States, and on each occasion (时刻) she set a new record for flying time.Amelia Earhart made these flights to show that women had a place in aviation (航空) and that air travel was useful.
Which of the following statements is NOT the difficulty which Amelia Earhart met in her flight from north America to England?
A.She was caught in a storm. | B.The altimeter went out of order. |
C.Her engine went wrong. | D.She lost her direction. |
When Amelia Earhart saw flames coming from the engine, what did she do?
A.She did nothing but pray for herself. |
B.She changed her direction and landed in Ireland. |
C.She continued flying. |
D.She lost hope of reaching land. |
According to the passage, what was Amelia Earhart’s reason for making her flights?
A.To set a new record for flying time. |
B.To be the first woman to fly around the world. |
C.To show that aviation was not just for men. |
D.To become famous in the world. |
Which of the following statements was NOT mentioned?
A.She was the first woman who succeeded in flying across the Atlantic Ocean alone.
B.She showed great courage in overcoming the difficulties during the flight.
C She was warmly welcomed in England, Europe and the United States.
D.She made plans to fly around the world.Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
A.Amelia Earhart—First Across the Atlantic. |
B.Amelia Earhart—Pioneer in Women’s Aviation. |
C.A New Record for Flying Time. |
D.A Dangerous Flight from North America to England. |