March 21 has been declared World Sleep Day, a time to recognize and celebrate the value of sleep. Many sleep experts hope it will be a wake-up call.
According to a poll (民意调查）by the National Sleep Foundation, nearly 4 in 5 Americans don’t get as much sleep as they should during the workweek. On average, adults are thought to need at least eight hours of sleep a night, although some can manage with less and some won’t do well without more. But the survey found that, on workdays, only 21% of Americans actually get a full eight hours of sleep, and another 21% get less than six.
To many of us, the thought of spending more time sleeping is, well, a big yawn. On the other hand, the thought of being smarter, thinner, healthier and more cheerful has a certain appeal. And those are just a few of the advantages that can be ours if we consistently get enough sleep, researchers say. Also on the plus side: We’re likely to have better skin, better memories, better judgment, and, oh, yes, longer lives.
“When you lose even one hour of sleep for any reason, it influences your performance the next day,” says Dr. Alon Avidan, director of the UCLA Sleep Disorders Center.
A study published last year found the same to be true even of children. When kids aged 8 to 12 slept for just one hour less for four nights, they didn’t function as well during the day.
But sleeping has an image problem. “We see napping or sleeping as lazy,” says Jennifer Vriend, a clinical psychologist in Ottawa, Canada, and the leading author of the study with children. “We put so much emphasis on diet, nutrition and exercise. Sleep is in the back seat.” In fact, she adds, no matter how much we work out, no matter how well we eat, we can’t be in top physical shape unless we also get plenty of sleep.
The underlined part in Paragraph 1 means _____.
| A．To wake up the sleepers |
| B．To draw people’s attention |
| C．To serve as a morning call |
| D．To declare the special day |
From Paragraph 3 we can infer that _______
| A．Being healthier is one of the advantages for us |
| B．Sleeping has nothing to do with one’s expectations |
| C．Spending more time on sleeping is a waste of time |
| D．Enough sleep is the guarantee of the appealing things |
What Jennifer Vriend said in the last paragraph implies that _______.
| A．Sleeping is an image problem |
| B．People care little about sleeping |
| C．Lazy people tend to sleep long |
| D．Sleeping is only part of our life |
What is the purpose of the passage?
| A．To talk about people’s sleeping problems. |
| B．To provide an investigation result of sleeping. |
| C．To arouse the awareness of enough sleeping. |
| D．To stress the function of sleeping at night. |
I know what you’re thinking : pizza? For breakfast? But the truth is that you can have last night’s leftovers in the a. m. if you want to.
I know lots of women who skip breakfast , and they have a ton of different excuses for doing it . Some say they don’t have time. others think they’re “saving” calories, still others just don’t like breakfast food .
But the bottom li
ne is that eating in the morning is very important when you’re trying to lose weight. “Eating just about anything from 300 to 400 calories would be better than nothing at all,” says Katherine Brooking , R , D , who developed the super-easy eating plan for this year’s “SELF CHALLENGE”. And even pizza can be healthy if it’s loaded with vegetables, and you stick to one small piece.
Breakfast is one meal I never miss, and the same goes for most weight loss success stories. Research shows that eating breakfast keeps you from overeating later in the day. Researchers at
the University of Southem California found that breakfast s
kippers have a bigger chance of gaining weight than those who regularly have a morning meal.
So eat something in the morning, anything. I know plenty of friends who end up having no breakfast altogether, and have just coffee or orange juice. I say, try heating up last night’s leftovers-it may sound crazy, but if it works for you, do it! I find if I tell myself, “You can always eat it tomorrow,” I put away the leftovers instead of eating more that night. Try it…you may save yourself some pre-bedtime calories. And watch your body gain the fat-burning effects.The word “leftovers” in Paragraph 1 probably means__________.
| A．things left undone | B．food remaining after a meal |
| C．meals made of vegetables | D．pizza topped with fruit |
What can we infer from the text?
| A．Working women usually have breakfast in a hurry. |
| B．There are some easy ways of cooking a meal. |
| C．Many people have wrong ideas about breakfast. |
| D．Eating vegetables helps save energy. |
According to the last paragraph, it is important to____________.
| A．eat something for breakfast | B．put away the leftovers instead of eating more. |
| C．heat up leftovers for breakfast | D．eat calorie-controlled food |
The text is written mainly for those_____________.
| A．who go to work early | B．who stay up late |
| C．who want to lose weight | D．who eat before sleep |
Sunday, October 5
Clear, 69°F
My wife, Eleanor , and I took the train from Paris to Strasbourg, where we were met by our driver and guide. And the minibus which goes along with the boat. We stopped off in Barn for an hour on the way. Then we were taken to Nancy where the boat was kept.
After the other passengers arrived, we had our first dinner on the boat. After dinner we walked into downtown Nancy, a village with a large square and wooden houses.
Monday, October 6
Rained last night, cloudy in the morning, 69°F
We spent about two hours in Nancy, then sailed on the Canal de la Marne au Rhine. Kind of a lazy day. Eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner, after dinner we watched a tape on Baccarat, where we will visit tomorrow.
It was pleasant to sit out on deck （甲板）and watch the scenery go by at about 3 mph.
Tuesday, October 7
Light rain, 64°F
This morning we drove over to Baccarat and toured its museum and the church , which has this unbelievable lamp that is going on a world tour the next day. We did lots of shopping , then walked across the bridge to see a very , very modern Catholic church with special Baccarat windows.
We drove to the top of the Voges Mountains and started down t
he eastern side. Later we drove to Sorrenbourg to see the 13th century church at the Cordeliers. It contains the largest window by Marc Chagall — 24 feet wide by 40 feet high.
Wednesday, October 8
Cloudy, 65 °F
Today we sailed from Schneckenbush to Saverne. We went through two caves, an extremely unusual part of the journey. This river scenery is very different. We were in a mountain valley with grassland on one side and a forest beginning to show some color on the other.
Thursday, October 9
Cloudy, 66°F
Our dependable minibus was waiting to load the luggage and take us to the hotel where everyone went their separate ways. Our boating days are over until next time.Where did the author get off the train?
| A．Paris | B．Strasbourg | C．Nancy | D．Barn |
On which days did the tourists spend most of their time on the boat?
| A．Monday and Tuesday | B．Tuesday and Wednesday |
| C．Monday and Wednesday | D．Wednesday and Wednesday |
From the text, we learn that Baccar
at and Sorrenbourg are the names of_________.
| A．churches | B．towns | C．museums | D．mountains |
What does the author think of the tour?
| A．Tiring | B．Expensive | C．Enjoyable | D．Quick |
Societies all over the world name places in similar ways. Quite often there is no official naming ceremony but places tend to be called names as points of reference by people. Then a
n organized body steps in and gives the place a name. Frequently it happens that a place has two names: One is named by the people and the other by the government. As in many areas, old habits died hard, and the place continues to be called by its unofficial name long after the meaning is lost.
Many roads and places in Singapore are named in order that the pioneers will be remembered by future generations. Thus we have names such as Stamford Road and Raffles Place. This is in keeping with traditions in many countries ---- in both the West 
and the East.
Another way of naming places is naming them after other places. Perhaps they were named to promote friendships between the two places or it could be that the people who used to live there were originally from the places that the roads were named after. The mystery is clearer when we see some of the roads named in former British bases. If you step into Selector Airbase you will see Piccadilly Circus ---- obviously named by some homesick Royal Air Force personnel.
Some places were named after the activities that used to go on at those places. Bras Basah Road is an interesting example, “Base Basah” means “wet rice” in Malay（马来语）. Now why would anyone want to name a road “Wet Rice Road”? The reason is simple. During the pioneering days, wet rice was laid out to dry along this road.
A few roads in Singapore are named by their shapes. There is “Circular Road” for one. Other roads may have part of their names to describe their shapes, like “Paya Lebar Crescent”. This road is called a crescent（月牙） because it begins on the main road, makes a crescent and comes b
ack to join the main road again.We learn from Paragraph 1 that _____.
| A．the government is usually the first to name a place |
| B．a ceremony will be held when a place is named |
| C．many places tend to have more than one name |
| D．people prefer the place names given by the government |
What does the underlined phrase “die hard” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?
| A．Change suddenly. | B．Change significantly. |
| C．Disappear mysteriously. | D．Disappear very slowly. |
Which of the following places is named after a person?
| A．Raffles Place. | B．Selector Airbase. |
| C．Piccadilly Circus. | D．Paya Lebar Crescent. |
Bras Basah Road is named _______.
| A．after a person | B．after an activity | C．after a place | D．by its shape |
Young people and older people do not always agree. They sometimes have different ideas about living, working and playing. But in one special program in New York State, adults and teenagers live together in a friendly way.
Each summer 200 teenagers and 50 adults live together for eight weeks as members of a special work group. Everyone works several hours each day. They do so not just to keep busy but to find meaning and fun in work. Some teenagers work in the forests or on the farms near the village. Some learn to make things like tables and chairs and to build houses. The adults teach them these skills.
There are several free hours each day. Weekends are free, too. During the free hours some of the teenagers learn photo-taking or drawing. Others sit around and talk or sing. Each teenager chooses his own way to pass his free time.
When people live together, they should have rules. In this program the teenagers and the adults make the rules together. If someone breaks a rule, the problem goes before the whole group. They talk about it and ask, “Why did it happen? What should we do about it?”
One of the teenagers has said something about it, “You have to stop thinking only about yourself. You learn how to think about the group.” In one special program in New York State, young and older people_______.
| A．don’t work well together | B．teach each other new ways of building houses |
| C．are friendly to each other | D．spend eight weeks together, working as farmers |
All the members work some time every day mainly to________.
| A．lead a busy life | B．find useful things and pleasure in work |
| C．get used to the life on the farms | D．learn new skills of farming |
Living together,________.
| A．the teenagers don’t have to obey the rules |
| B．the members have to obey the regulations the adults make |
| C．the members have no free time but on weekends |
| D．the members should not break the regulations they make together |
The best title for the passage is________.
| A．The Rules of Living Together | B．Teenagers and Adults Together |
| C．Life in New York State | D．Free Hours in the Special Work Group |
A growing number of consumers, especially young people , are a
dopting more Western habits when it comes to spending money—by favoring credit cards over savings.
A survey of 11,500 people in 18 cities by The Nielson Company found the credit card market had witnessed a major change in recent years.
“Today’s consumer is clearly not interested in saving for a rainy day, as may have been the case in the past,” Bega Ng, director of financial services research with the company said. “Consumers have been adopting Western habits and attitudes in almost every way—including saving and spending habits. Consumers in their 20s spend tomorrow’s cash to fund today’s needs.”
The report found consumers aged 18 to 24 were the most eager credit card users.
Although the report did not give the amounts credit card users in each of the 18 cities spent, it mentioned the example of Xiamen, a coastal city in Fujian Province, where consumers put an average of 50 percent of their monthly incomes into their credit card accounts to indulge(沉湎于) in cashless shopping.
Included in the survey for the first time, Xiamen is reported to have a fast growing penetration rate(渗透率) for credit cards, with four out of ten consumers now owning at least one card. With more than half of cardholders in Xiamen owning two or more cards, it is catching up with key “tier one” cities, the report said. The report did not make known the figures in major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.
Last year, the same Nielson survey showed Shanghai had the biggest population of credit card holders, with citizens owning 1.8 credit cards on average. Half of them use credit cards at least once a week, the survey said.
Yunfei, 30, from Beijing, said she spent at least 2,000 yuan a month by credit cards, most of which went on daily necessities and dining out.Which of the following best shows the young urbanites’ idea of consumption?
| A．Using credit cards in every way. |
| B．Spending tomorrow’s cash for today’s needs. |
| C．Owning more cards for cashless shopping. |
| D．Saving money for future use. |
How is the situation of credit card use in Xjamen?
| A．Forty percent of the consumers own at least one card. |
| B．Credit card users use up most of their monthly income. |
| C．The number of credit card users is larger than that in Guangzhou. |
| D．Over half of the consumers use two or more cards. |
Which city had the largest number of credit card users according to a previous survey?
| A．Xiamen. | B．Beijing. | C．Shanghai. | D．Guangzhou. |
What is the main idea of the survey reported by Nielson Company?
| A．Most credit card users are young people aged 18 to 24. |
| B．Western habits have a big influence on the Chinese people. |
| C．The number of credit card users is growing rapidly in Chinese cities. |
| D．Chinese consumers are no more interested in saving money. |