Most people today think of sleep as one continuous period of downtime．This is not the way people used to sleep．According to researchers，in earlier times，people divided sleep by first sleeping a few hours，waking up，then going back to sleep．In the first period，you would typically sleep until midnight or shortly afterwards．Halfway through the night，you came out of first sleep，you would stay in bed and relax quietly．It was called the watching period．Then you would start to feel sleepy．so would return to bed and tall asleep again for your second sleep．This period would continue until early morning when daylight arrived．With no artificial lighting in homes，people naturally woke up early to take advantage of sunlight．
Before the 18th century, people had no gas or electricity in their homes．Fire，candles，or oil lamps were the common forms of lighting．This lack of artificial lighting in homes contributed to people’s sleep patterns．It made sense for people to go to bed early．
Today，human may consider divided sleep a strange habit，but sleep researchers say that it is actually a more natural sleep pattern．Dr．Thomas Wehr of the U．S．National Institute of Mental Health has studied human sleep．He thinks that modern sleep problems occur because the older, natural way of sleep is breaking through the more recent continuous sleep pattern．Wehr and other scientists believe that artificial lighting has altered the way people sleep．In a research study，he asked 15 adults to rest and sleep in darkness for 14 hours(from 6：00 P．M．to 8：00 A．M．)．At first，the subjects took a few hours to get to sleep，and then slept 11 hours a night．Then overtime，they switched to divided sleep．They fell asleep for about three to five hours in the evening，stay awake for an hour or two，and then slept again for four hours till early morning．
We modern humans generally do not practice divided sleep．However, many of us have the experience of waking up in the middle of the night．We usually consider this a sleeping“problem”．but perhaps we should look at it as natural behavior．Divided sleep may be the way we should all be sleeping．A first sleep followed by a relaxation period and a second period of sleep could help all of us to beat the stress of our fast-paced lives．According to the first paragraph，we know the people in the past ____________．
| A．did not sleep as well as people today |
| B．divided their sleep into two parts |
| C．woke up and went out during the night |
| D．fell asleep easily because of hard work |
In Paragraph 3，what does the research study suggest?
| A．Divided sleep is a strange way to sleep． |
| B．Divided sleep means sleeping 11 hours in one period． |
| C．Divided sleep is a natural sleep pattern for humans． |
| D．Divided sleep occurs when people sleep with artificial lights． |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the text?
| A．People had a divided sleep pattern only in the 18th century． |
| B．It may be natural to wake up in the middle of the night． |
| C．Scientists agree that artificial lighting has changed the way people sleep． |
| D．Some of the people today are not familiar with the practice of divided sleep． |
What conclusion does the author make about divided sleep?
| A．It is one type of sleeping problems． |
| B．It is not the best sleep pattern for everyone． |
| C．It shouldn’t be accepted by modern humans． |
| D．It could be helpful for people to handle daily stress． |
Daniel Defoe (about 1660—1731) was an important novelist in the English literature. When he was young, he served as a soldier and had been to Spain, Italy, France and Germany. At the same time, he went in for politics. He cared much about the development of capitalism(资本主义). He had written a lot of articles against it and he was put into prison twice for that. It was not until that he was nearly sixty that he began to write the famous novel “Robinson Crusoe”, which was published in May, 1709. It spread so rapidly that the story was known to every household very soon.
“Robinson Crusoe” can be divided into three parts. The first part is about Crusoe’s three voyages, the second part about his hunting, hiding in caves farming and his hard struggles against nature on a small island, the third about the things which happened after his return from the island. The second part is the body of the novel, in which Robinson’s characters are clearly shown. Defoe wrote his novel in a simple style and his language is easy to understand. His novel writing set a milestone of the modern English novel. In his later part of life, He was in poor health and lived very poorly. He died on April 24, 1731.Deniel Defoe was _______ and the writer of _______.
| A．an Englishman, “A Tale of Two Cities” |
| B．an American, “A Million Pound Note” |
| C．a French, “The Lost Necklace” |
| D．an English, “Robinson Crusoe” |
How old was he when he began to write his famous novel Robinson Crusoe?
| A．He was in his sixties. |
| B．He was in his fifties. |
| C．He was over 60. |
| D．He was sixty. |
Robinson Crusoe can be divided into ______ parts and the first is about _______.
| A．three, his journeys by sea |
| B．three, his characters |
| C．two, his lonely life |
| D．four, his fame |
“Every household” in this passage means ________.
| A．all members of a family |
| B．all people |
| C．every building |
| D．persons living in the same house |
What was Defoe’s contribution(贡献) to the English literature?
| A．He wrote a very interesting story. |
| B．He made people happy while reading his story. |
| C．He set a milestone of the modern English novel. |
| D．He was active in politics and was against capitalism. |
Organic food, once considered something that only health fanatics desired, is now a regular feature at most supermarkets. And that has created a bit of a dilemma. On the one hand, you have a conventionally grown apple. On the other, you have one that’s organic. Both apples are firm, shiny and red. Both provide vitamins and fiber, and both are free of fat, sodium and cholesterol.
Conventionally grown food generally costs less, but is organic food a better choice? The advantages claimed for such foods over conventionally grown and sold food products are now being debated on a large scale. Supporters of organic foods ― a term whose meaning varies greatly ―are frequently telling the world that such products are safer and more nutritious than others.
The growing interest of consumers in the safety and nutritional quality of daily foods is a welcome development. However, much of this interest has been aroused by sweeping claims that the conventional food supply is unsafe or inadequate in meeting nutritional needs.
Almost daily, the public is surrounded by claims for “no-aging” diets, new vitamins and other wonder foods. There are numerous unsubstantiated(没证实的) reports that natural vitamins are superior to man-made ones, that fertilized eggs are nutritionally superior to unfertilized eggs, that untreated grains are better than those treated with insect spray and the like.
Although most of these claims are not supported by scientific evidence, large amounts of written material about the benefits of organic foods makes it difficult for people to separate fact from fiction. As a result, claims that eating a diet consisting of organically grown foods prevents or cures disease or provides other benefits to health have become widely advertised and form the basis for people’s opinion.
One thing that most organically grown food products seem to have in common is that they cost more than conventionally grown foods. But in many cases consumers are misled if they believe organic foods can maintain health and provide better nutritional quality than conventionally grown foods. So there is real cause for concern if consumers, particularly those with limited incomes, distrust the conventional food supply and buy only expensive organic foods instead.According to Paragraph 2, which of the following statements about organic food is true?
| A．It hasn’t been used until recent years. |
| B．It has no agreed definition. |
| C．It is popular among producers. |
| D．It is accepted by most nutritionists. |
In Paragraph 4, treated grains are examples of ________.
| A．healthier food | B．organic food |
| C．conventionally grown food | D．expensive food |
It can be inferred from the passage that ________.
| A．most doctors believe organic foods prevent disease or provide other benefits to health |
| B．organic foods are actually less nutritious than conventionally grown foods |
| C．people cannot separate fact from fiction because of the TV advertisements |
| D．organic foods cost more but are not necessarily better than conventionally grown foods |
According to the passage, many consumers are attracted by organic foods because they _____.
| A．want to try something new |
| B．have carefully researched the products |
| C．value food safety and nutrition |
| D．expect to save some money |
What is the author’s attitude towards the claims of organic foods?
| A．Doubtful. | B．Enthusiastic. |
| C．Supportive. | D．Uninterested. |
English is an important global language, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to learn. Many experts have tried to make English easier for students to learn―but they weren’t always successful.
In 1930, Professor CK Ogden of Cambridge University invented Basic English. It had only 850 words (and just eighteen verbs) and Ogden said most people could learn it in just thirty hours. The problem was that people who learned Basic English could write and say simple messages, but they couldn’t understand the answers in “real” English! It was also impossible to explain a word if it wasn’t in the Basic English word list. For example, if you wanted a watermelon, you asked for “a large green fruit with the form of an egg, which has a sweet red inside and a good taste”!
RE Zachrisson, a university professor in Sweden, decided that the biggest problem for learners of English was spelling, so he invented a language called Anglic. Anglic was similar to English, but with much simpler spelling. “Father” became “faadher”, “new” became “nue’ and “years” became “yeerz”. Unfortunately for some students of English, Anglic never became popular.
Even easier is the language which ships’ captains use: it’s called “Seaspeak”. Seaspeak uses a few simple phrases for every possible situation. In Seaspeak, for example, you don’t say, “I’m sorry what did you say?” or “I didn’t understand, can you repeat that?” It’s just “Say again.” No more grammar!
In the age of international communication through the Internet who knows? ... a new form of English might appear. A large number of the world’s e-mails are in English and include examples of “NetLingo” like OIC (Oh, I see) and TTYL (Talk to you later). In another fifty years, English might not exist ... we will probably all speak fluent Internetish!The best title for the passage would be ______.
| A．Seaspeak | B．Basic English |
| C．Internetish | D．Easy English |
It will take a person about ______ weeks to learn Basic English if he spends two hours
learning it every day.
| A．six | B．four | C．two | D．three |
According to Professor Zachrisson, what was the biggest problem for learners of English?
| A．Grammar. | B．Vocabulary. |
| C．Speaking. | D．Spelling. |
Which of the following is likely to be Anglic?
| A．IOU | B．A graet batl. |
| C．Long time no see. | D．Two five, no lights. |
What might happen to English in another fifty years?
| A．It might be replaced by Internetish. |
| B．It might become a global language. |
| C．It might take the place of all other languages. |
| D．It might become more and more difficult. |
Ask someone what they have done to help the environment recently and they will almost certainly mention recycling. Recycling in the home is very important, of course. However, being forced to recycle often means we already have more material than we need. We are dealing with the results of that over-consumption in the greenest way possible, but it would be far better if we did not need to bring so much material home in the first place.
The total amount of packaging has increased by 12% between 1999 and 2005. It now makes up a third of a typical household's waste in the UK. In many supermarkets nowadays food items are packaged twice with plastic and cardboard.
Too much packaging is doing serious damage to the environment. The UK, for example, is running out of it for burying this unnecessary waste. If such packaging is burnt, it gives off greenhouse gases which go on to cause the greenhouse effect. Recycling helps, but the process itself uses energy. The solution is not to produce such items in the first place. Food waste is a serious problem, too. Too many supermarkets encourage customers to buy more than they need. However, few of them are coming round to the idea that this cannot continue, encouraging customers to reuse their plastic bags, for example.
But this is not just about supermarkets. It is about all of us. We have learned to associate packaging with quality. We have learned to think that something unpackaged is of poor quality. This is especially true of food. But it is also applied to a wide range of consumer products, which often have far more packaging than necessary.
There are signs of hope. As more of us recycle, we are beginning to realize just how much unnecessary materials are collected. We need to face the wastefulness of our consumer culture, but we have a mountain to climb.What does the underlined phrase "over-consumption" refer to?
| A．Using too much packaging. |
| B．Recycling too many wastes. |
| C．Having more material than is needed. |
| D．Making more products than necessary. |
The author uses figures in Paragraph 2 to show_______.
| A．the tendency of cutting household waste |
| B．the increase of packaging recycling |
| C．the fact of packaging overuse |
| D．the rapid growth of supermarkets |
According to the text, recycling_________.
| A．means burning packaging for energy |
| B．helps control the greenhouse effect |
| C．is the solution to gas shortage |
| D．leads to a waste of land |
What can be inferred from Paragraph 4?
| A．Unpackaged products are of bad quality. |
| B．Supermarkets care more about packaging. |
| C．Other products are better packaged than food. |
| D．It is improper to judge quality by packaging. |
What can we learn from the last paragraph?
| A．Needless material is mostly recycled. |
| B．Fighting wastefulness is difficult. |
| C．People like collecting recyclable wastes. |
| D．The author is proud of their consumer culture. |
The day when the jobs were handed out was one of the most exciting moments for all the children in the class. It took place during the first week of the term. Every kid was given a job for which they would be responsible for the rest of that school year.
Some jobs were more interesting than others, and the children were eager to be given one of the best ones. When giving them out, the teacher took into account which pupils had been most responsible during the previous year. During the previous year Rita had carried out the teacher’s instructions perfectly. All the children knew Rita would be given the best job.
But there was a big surprise. Each child received a normal job. But Rita’s job was very different. She was given a little box containing some sand and one ant. Though the teacher insisted that this ant was very special, Rita felt disappointed. Most of her classmates felt sorry for her. Even her father became very angry with the teacher and he encouraged Rita to pay no attention to this insignificant pet. However, Rita preferred to show the teacher her error by doing something special with that job of little interest.
Rita started investigating all about her little ant and gave the ant the best food, and it grew quite a bit bigger.
One day, a man, who looked very important, came into their classroom and declared, “Your class has been chosen to accompany me, this summer, on a journey to the tropical rainforest, where we will investigate all kinds of insects. Among all the schools of this region, your class has best cared for the little ant.”
That day the school was filled with joy and celebration. Everyone thanked Rita for having been so patient and responsible. And many children learnt that to be given the most important task you have to know how to be responsible even in what are the smallest tasks.What did the teacher base her decision on when giving out jobs to the children?
| A．Their ability of managing their accounts during the previous year. |
| B．Their characters and interests. |
| C．Their class performance during the previous year. |
| D．Their working performance during the previous year. |
What does the underlined sentence “But there was a big surprise.”mean?
| A．The most responsible student got the job of least interest. |
| B．Each child got an important job. |
| C．Each child got an interesting job. |
| D．The perfect student got the job of everyone’s preference． |
What is Rita’s attitude to her father’s suggestion?
| A．Acceptive. | B．Negative. |
| C．Uncertain. | D．Totally positive. |
We can infer that the man who made the declaration is a _________.
| A．principal | B．hunter |
| C．director | D．biologist |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Responsibility And Intelligence Bring Good Luck |
| B．Never Complain About Life |
| C．Small Tasks Can Lead To Fortunes |
| D．Men Are Best Known By Their Friends |
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