Forget counting sleep. Next time you are having trouble going to sleep，try putting on a jazz CD.
Researchers have shown just 45 minutes of relaxing music before bedtime can make for a restful night.
The Taiwanese researchers studied the sleeping patterns of 60 elderly people with sleep problems. They told the Journal of Advanced Nursing how the technique was easy to learn and lacked the side effects of other treatments. The study participants were either given a choice of music to listen to before going to sleep or nothing at all. The music group were able to choose from six tapes that featured soft, slow music—around 60-80 beats per minute—such as jazz, folk or orchestral pieces.
Listening to music caused physical changes that aided restful sleep, including a lower heart and respiratory(呼吸的) rate, the researchers found.
The people in the music group reported a 35% improvement in their sleep, including better and longer night-time sleep and less dysfunction(机能障碍) during the day.
Lead author Professor Hui-Ling Lai, of the Buddhist Tzu-Chi General Hospital and the University of Taiwan, said, “The music group reported a 26% overall improvement in the first week and this figure continued to rise as they mastered the technique of relaxing into sedative(安神的) music.”
Professor Jim Horne, from the Sleep Research Centre at Loughborough University, said, “If anyone is a bit agitated before they go to bed, then anything that can help calm them down and relax is a good thing.”
“Some say making sure older people sleep less in the afternoon and get plenty of exposure to daylight can help them get a better night’s sleep.”Listening to music before going to sleep ________.
| A．is better than other treatments to help you sleep |
| B．can cure some diseases as well as sleeplessness |
| C．is a necessary step for the elder |
| D．can improve one's taste for music |
Listening to music has some help on the elder EXCEPT ________.
| A．sleep well |
| B．lower heart rate |
| C．increase blood cycle |
| D．lower breath rate |
The underlined word “agitated” means “________”．
| A．relaxed |
| B．disappointed |
| C．nervous |
| D．surprised |
What's the best title for the passage?
| A．People will benefit from music |
| B．The relation between sleeplessness and music |
| C．A research shocks the world |
| D．Listen to music to help you sleep |
Have you seen a yellow-and-black salamander (火蜥蜴)? How about a scarlet frog? Scientists haven’t spotted either species in more than 20 years. What happened to them? Are the creatures still out there, or are they extinct?
Those are questions that scientists hope to answer. They recently set out around the world in search of those and other long-missing amphibians. An amphibian is an animal that spends part of its life in water and part on land. Frog, toads(蟾蜍), and salamanders are amphibians.
The experts are looking for about 100 species. They are searching at least 14 countries on five continents. They will look for the salamander in North America. They hope to find the scarlet frog in South America. They’re also looking for species in Africa, Asia and Australia.
Scientists are hopeful that they’ll find the amphibians—and soon! If the creatures are out there, they may need help. Many amphibians are endangered. The animals face many dangers including pollution and diseases. People cut down the forests where they live.
“If researchers can find the missing creatures, they might be able to figure out how to save them,” explains expert Robin Moore. He began searching for the amphibians earlier this month.
“This search will tell us a lot about how amphibians are doing,” Moore told WR News. “I don’t know what we will find, but that makes the search even more exciting.”
Lost in the Wild
Scientists’ hunt for missing amphibians is under way. Read about some of the species they hope to find.
Turkestanian salamander
This salamander is a mystery to scientists. Experts found a few of them more than 100 years ago, but none have been seen ever since.
Gastric brooding frog
Experts first discovered this frog in 1914 in eastern Australia. It may be extinct because of disease and habitat loss.
Rio Pescado stubfoot toad
Last sighting: 1995, in South America
Scientists hope to find this spotted toad in rivers and rainforests in Ecuador. The animal faces threats including pollution and disease. Which of the following animals hasn’t been seen for over a century?
| A．Rio Pescado stubfoot toad. |
| B．Gastric brooding frog. |
| C．Turkestanian salamander. |
| D．Scarlet frog. |
It can be learned from the passage that _____.
| A．the scarlet frog used to live in Africa |
| B．researchers have no way to save amphibians |
| C．the scientists will search 14 countries at most |
| D．Robin Moore has begun his search for amphibians |
Why do the scientists want to find the missing amphibians?
| A．Because they want to rescue the missing amphibians. |
| B．Because they want to set up a scientific program. |
| C．Because they want to do a scientific research on the missing amphibians. |
| D．Because they want to publish a report about the missing amphibians on WR News. |
What does Moore think of the search for endangered amphibians?
| A．It’s hopeful. | B．It’s interesting. |
| C．It’s tiring. | D．It’s dangerous. |
What is Home stay? Literally it is a home for you to stay at when you are not at home. To be specific, home stay provides foreign language students with the opportunity to speak native language outside the classroom and the experience of being part of a British home. Here is what you will experience in our British Home-stay Program.
What to Expect
The host will provide accommodation and meals. Rooms will be cleaned and bedcovers changed at least once a week. You will be given the house key and the host is there to offer help and advice as well as to take an interest in your physical and mental health.
Accommodation Zones
Homestays are located in London mainly in Zones 2, 3 and of the transport system. Most hosts do not live in the town centre (Zone 1) as much of central London is commercial and not residential(居住的). Zones 3 and 4 often offer smaller accommodation in a more crowded area. It is very convenient to travel in London by underground.
Meal Plans Available
• Continental Breakfast
• Breakfast and Dinner
• Breakfast, Packed Lunch and Dinner
It’s important to note that few English families still provide a traditional cooked breakfast. Your accommodation includes Continental Breakfast which normally consists of fruit juice, cereal(谷物类食品), bread and tea or coffee. Cheese, fruit and cold meat are not normally part of a Continental Breakfast in England. Dinners usually consist of meat or fish with vegetables followed by desert, fruit and coffee.
Friends
If you wish to invite a friend over to visit, you must first ask your host’s permission. You have no right to entertain friends in a family home as some families feel it is an invasion of their privacy.
Self-Catering Accommodation in Private Homes
Accommodation on a room-only basis includes shared kitchen and bathroom facilities and often a main living room. This kind of accommodation offers an independent lifestyle and is more suitable for the long-stay student. However, it does not provide the same family atmosphere as an ordinary homestay and may not benefit those who need to practise English at home quite as much. The passage is probably written for _____.
| A．host willing to receive foreign students |
| B．foreigners hoping to build British culture |
| C．travellers planning to visit families in London |
| D．English learners applying to like in English homes |
Which of the following will the host provide?
| A．Medical care. | B．Room cleaning. |
| C．Free transport. | D．Physical training. |
What can be inferred from Paragraph 3?
| A．Zone 3 is more crowded than Zone 2. |
| B．The business centre of London is in Zone 2. |
| C．Hosts dislike travelling to the city centre. |
| D．Zone 1 offers bigger accommodation. |
According to the passage, what does Continental Breakfast include?
| A．Dessert and coffee. | B．Fruit and vegetables. |
| C．Bread and fruit juice. | D．Centre and cold meat. |
Modern science suggests that a healthy lifestyle matters much to how long you can live and how well you live. Here are some tips for you to form a healthy lifestyle.
Keep a scientific diet. Keep in mind that sugar can be removed from our diet completely. Over intake of sugar is one of the main reasons for getting fat. Over intake of protein or fat and low intake of fiber can also lead to getting fat. We need only a few grams of protein every day to keep our body in order. Like rain to crops, not the more the better.
Be always in a good mood. There is a relation- ship between the mood and health. A good mood keeps you in high spirits. Thanks to the internet, we can enjoy and learn much without going out. Take a look at some online shops and pick up some bargains, enjoy music and movies and chat with some good friends. Just keep happy.
Enough sleep. Two studies show the reasons why teens and adults don’t have enough sleep. With teens, a major reason is mobile phone use; with adults, it’s work. Meanwhile, a third study of young children shows that a lack of sleep in early life may lead to serious problems in future. Everyone needs at least 8-hour sleep to recover from tiredness and the hurt caused by hard work in the daytime.
Proper exercise. Do exercise to keep away from fatness. Because of the quick pace of modern life, you don’t have time to do exercise every day, but at least three times a week and 45 minutes each time. The author wrote the passage to _____.
| A．tell the readers how to take proper exercise every day |
| B．provide some advice on how to form a healthy lifestyle |
| C．ask people to care about their health rather than their work |
| D．make some surveys among those who have health problems |
Which of the following can lead to getting fat according to the passage?
| A．low intake of protein. | B．low intake of fat. |
| C．over intake of fiber. | D．over intake of sugar. |
The main reason why teenagers don’t have enough sleep is that they _____.
| A．use mobile phones too much |
| B．have too much homework |
| C．eat too much sugar every day |
| D．don’t have enough exercise |
How many minutes do you need to do exercise at least every week?
| A．45 minutes. | B．90 minutes. |
| C．115 minutes. | D．135 minutes. |
IMAGINE that you are in school, giving a speech to your class.
Now think what it feels like when stammering(口吃)makes it a struggle to communicate your thoughts and feelings to other people.
The King’s Speech, which won the best picture at
the Academy Awards, highlights(突出) stammering along with other speech-related problems. The movie tells the story of Britain’s King George Ⅵ, who became king after his brother Edward Ⅷ gave up the crown to marry an American woman.
As a result of British actor Colin Firth’s performance, people are starting to realize that stammering can damage a person’s self-confidence and cause him/her to escape from life.
“The problem is unseen and unheard,” said Norbert Lieckfeldt, an expert at the British Stammering Association, in an interview with The Guardian newspaper.
“Stammering masks(遮盖) your ability,” he said, “It's a serious disability(残疾).”
Most stammerers face bullying(欺负) in school, something that is “usually carried over into the workplace”.
George Ⅵ’s stammer took away his confidence as a speaker. But Samantha Mesango, a speech coach based in the UK, believes that speech problems are more common than most people realize. “Some simply don't like the sound of their own voice; others are scared of speaking in public,” she said.
Travis Treats from Saint Louis University’s department of communication sciences in the US, praised The King’s Speech. He said it shows that “how one’s speech does not mean what one is inside”.
He also added that people who stammer need to be heard and our society should recognize that they have a lot to give to the world. What is the point of the first two paragraphs?
| A．To tell readers about speech speaking. |
| B．To show how harmful a stammer is. |
| C．To draw the attention of readers to the problem of a stammer. |
| D．To show how a stammer makes a person popular |
According to the article, King George Ⅵ _____.
| A．was a hero during World War Ⅱ |
| B．took the place of his brother |
| C．married a divorced American woman |
| D．was a failure because of his stammer |
What is Norbert Lieckfeldt’s view of the challenge of a stammer?
| A．A stammer can destroy a person’s self-confidence. |
| B．A stammer is a serious problem for many people but it is often ignored. |
| C．People who stammer need to have their own voice. |
| D．People who stammer do better in work than in school. |
Sometimes you’ll hear people say that you can’t love others until you love yourself. Sometimes you’ll hear people say that you can’t expect someone else to love you until you love yourself. Either way, you’ve got to love yourself first and this can be tricky. Sure we all know that we’re the apple of our parents’ eyes, and that our Grandmas think we’re great talents and our Uncle Roberts think that we will go to the Olympics. But sometimes it’s a lot harder to think such nice thoughts about ourselves. If you find that believing in yourself is a challenge, it is time you build a positive self-image and learn to love yourself.
Self-image is your own mind’s picture of yourself. This image includes the way you look, the way you act, the way you talk and the way you think. Interestingly, our self-images are often quite different from the images others hold about us. Unfortunately, most of these images are more negative than they should be. Thus changing the way you think about yourself is the key to changing your self-image and your whole world.
The best way to defeat a passive self-image is to step back and decide to stress your successes. That is, make a list if you need to, but write down all of the great things you do every day. Don’t allow doubts to occur in it.
It very well might be that you are experiencing a negative self-image because you can’t move past one flaw or weakness that you see about yourself. Well, roll up your sleeves and make a change of it as your primary task. If you think you’re silly because you aren’t good at math, find a tutor. If you think you’re weak because you can’t run a mile, get to the track and practice. If you think you’re dull because you don’t wear the latest trends, buy a few new clothes. But remember, just because you think it doesn’t mean it’s true.
The best way to get rid of a negative serf-image is to realize that your image is far from objective, and to actively convince yourself of your positive qualities. Changing the way you think and working on those you need to improve will go a long way towards promoting a positive self-image. When you can pat (拍) yourself on the back, you’ll know you’re well on your way. Good luck! You need to build a positive self-image when you _____.
| A．dare to challenge yourself |
| B．feel it hard to change yourself |
| C．are unconfident about yourself |
| D．have a high opinion of yourself |
How should you change your serf-image according to the passage?
| A．To keep a different image of others. |
| B．To make your life successful. |
| C．To understand your own world. |
| D．To change the way you think. |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．How to prepare for your success. |
| B．How to face challenges in your life. |
| C．How to build a positive self-image. |
| D．How to develop your good qualities. |
粤公网安备 44130202000953号