When a big exam is coming up, you probably feel anxious about any wasted time and want to begin school as soon as you probably can.
But tens of thousands of British high school students will soon be getting up later. They’re taking part in a new experiment by Oxford University to see if later classes can improve their exam results.
Grades 10 students in the UK have to take the nationwide General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) exams. They have to pass these exams in order to study more advanced courses, and later apply for universities.
The Oxford University project means that GCSE students from more than 100 schools across England will start school at 10 am, more than one hour later than the current start time (8:50 am).
The project is based on scientific evidence that teenagers are “out of sync(同步)” with traditional school hours, the Telegraph reported. And what they need is more sleep in the morning.
“We know that something funny happens when you’re a teenager, in that you seem to be out of sync with the world,” said professor Colin Epsie, who is leading the study. “Your parents think it’s because you are lazy and opinionated（固执己见的）and everything will be OK if you could get to sleep earlier. But science is telling us that teenagers need to sleep more in the mornings.”
Everyone follows a natural cycle of sleep and wakefulne ss. Biology has decided that teenagers go to sleep around midnight and don’t feel fully awake until 9-10 am, according to scientists. That’s two hours later than adults. And their body clocks stay like this until the age of around 21 for males, and 19 for females.
“Society provides school for learning, but the brain provides sleep. So we are exploring the possibility that if you delay the schools start time until 10 am, that will improve learning performance,” said Epsie.
The results could be positive, based on previous studies.
An early study at the UK’s Monkseaton High School in 2009 found that starting an hour later improved grades in core subjects by 19 percent.
The Oxford project is expecting to publish the results in 2018. It’s time to wait and see whether scientists will give us an excuse to get up late.
According to the article, students who take part in the Oxford University project _________.
| A．will start school one hour earlier |
| B．will no longer have to take GCSE exams |
| C．will perform better academically than those who don’t participate |
| D．will be guaranteed more sleeping time in the morning |
The underlined phrase “out of sync”in Paragraph 5 probably means _____________ .
| A．breaking the habit of doing something |
| B．getting used to doing something |
| C．having no idea of something |
| D．having trouble keeping up with something |
We can infer from the article that _______________ .
| A．the Oxford University project is targeted at all British high schools |
| B．getting up late is a sign of laziness in the eyes of most British parents |
| C．children and adults have different natural cycles of sleep and wakefulness |
| D．there is still no scientific evidence that supports a late school start time |
What is the author’s attitude toward the Oxford University project ?
| A．Critical | B．Optimistic |
| C．Doubtful | D．Uninterested |
What’s the best title of the article ?
| A．Wake up late to excel |
| B．It’s never too late to learn |
| C．The later you get up, the better you’ll learn |
| D．An excuse to get up late |
Parents whose children show a special interest in a sport feel very difficult to make a decision about their children’s careers．Should they allow their children to train to become top sportsmen and sportswomen? For many children it means starting schoolwork very young．And going out with friends and other interests have to take a second place．It’s very difficult to explain to a young child why he or she has to train five hours a day, even at the weekend, when most of his or her friends are playing．
Another problem is of course money, In many countries money for training is available from government for the very best young sportsmen and sportswomen．If this help can not be given, it means that it is the parents who have to find the time and the money to support their child’s development and sports clothes, transport to competitions, special equipment, etc．All can be expensive．
Many parents are worried that it is dangerous to start serious training in a sport at an early age．Some doctors agree that young muscles may be damaged by training before they are properly developed．Professional trainers, however, believe that it is only by training when young that you can reach the top as successful sports person．It is clear that very few people do reach the top, and both parents and children should be prepared for failure even after many years of training．Where can we most probably find this passage?
| A．An advertisement． | B．A diary． |
| C．A newspaper． | D．A notice board． |
What does the underlined phrase “to take a second place ”in the first paragraph mean?
| A．to become less important |
| B．To put it at another place |
| C．To happen again |
| D．They are the most important of all the things |
Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
| A．It’s easy to make a decision when your children want to take up sports． |
| B．Most of the students may become top sports men after a long period of training． |
| C．Early training may damage young muscles． |
| D．It’s not very expensive for parents to support their children’s development in sports． |
There is a joke among flu researchers: “If you've seen one flu season, you've seen one flu season.” The joke is about the unpredictable nature of the flu virus．Every year it looks different, and every strain (类型) follows its own pattern — it's the reason why new strains like H1N1 are extremely difficult to predict.
Dr．Michael Osterholm is a former adviser to the U.S．Department of Health and Human Services．“I know less about influenza today than I did 10 years ago,” he says in a joking way．“Every stone we've turned over, we get more questions.”
The flu rectums every season and the world experiences terrible pandemics (全国或全世界范围流行的疾病), but researchers still do not understand why some strains infect people and others do not; they are not entirely sure about how the flu is transmitted; nor do they understand why some patients become seriously ill while others develop mild symptoms (症状)．As a result, when a new strain shows up — like H1N1 — they often have little information to fall back on, and the lessons of previous pandemics are only somewhat helpful．While researchers are still putting together a complete picture of H1N1, for example, its most striking difference with the seasonal flu is that the elder1y are not the most vulnerable (易受攻击的) population.
Influenza's unpredictable nature makes it a moving target for researchers, says researcher Allison Aiello
at the University of Michigan．“Even if we had complete seasonal flu data from the past, it wouldn't be much helpful for a new strain of influenza,” she explains.
Whi1e researchers are frustrated by the holes in their knowledge, they say, however, that the pub1ic--health community is generally doing a very good job responding to H1N1 with seasonal flu data that do exist．Studying influenza, says Osterholm, is “like looking through the windows of a house you can't get into because the door is locked.” Gathering the data researchers do have is like “looking through the windows to get a pretty good picture of what the inside looks like.”
One thing researchers do know for sure: the best way for people to protect against H1N1 is to get the vaccine once it becomes available to them.What do we learn about H1N1 from the passage?
| A．In fact it is not a kind of influenza virus. |
| B．It is quite possible to predict it in theory. |
| C．Old people are more likely to contract it than kids. |
| D．Receiving vaccines will be effective to protect against it. |
The underlined phrase
“fall back on” in Para．3 probably means .
| A．rely on | B．pass on | C．col1ect | D．exchange |
What do we know about p
revious seasonal flu data?
| A．It is useless to study them. |
| B．It is still necessary to study them. |
| C．They are misleading most of the time. |
| D．They are much more helpful than expected. |
Which of the following could be the best title for the passage?
| A．Outbreaks of the flu | B．Symptoms of the flu |
| C．Mysteries of the flu | D．Risks of the flu |
Rare birds in the UK have been living far better than the more common birds over the last decade due to the efforts of conservation organisations, according to a new assessment．
The research shows 
almost 60% of the 63 rare birds that live in the UK have increased over the last 10 years.
By contrast, only about one third of common species have increased over the same period．Just 28% of rare birds have decreased over the same period, compared with four out of every 10 common birds．The rare birds described in the assessment with increasing populations include the osprey (鹗) and corncrake (秧鸡)．All of these birds are subject to conservation action.
The declining common birds include the nightingale, swift (雨燕), house sparrow and red grouse (苏格兰雷鸟)．These are suffering declines for a variety of reasons, including changes in farming practices.
Dr David Noble, from the British Trust for Ornithology, said: “That some of our rarer birds have responded to targeted conservation action is great news．It shows just what can be achieved．What we need to do now is to continue the good work and use some of the lessons we have learned to help our more common birds.”
Dr Mark Avery, the conservation director of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), said: “Over the last decade we've enjoyed some great conservation successes, including removing some threatened species from the World Conservation Union's Red List of Thratened Animals and increasing the populations of red kite, osprey, etc．However, these successes are countered (抵消) by continued declines of some widespread species.”
The overview of 210 native birds has been produced by a group of conservation organisations, to mark the publication of The State of the UK's Birds report, which is in its l0th year．The report was published by the RSPB for a group of conservation organisations.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The decline of widespread birds is not worrying for the UK. |
| B．The UK has got some practical experience of bird conservation. |
| C．Changes in farming practices contribute to the increase of rare birds. |
| D．Half of common birds have decreased in the past ten years in the UK. |
We can learn from the passage that Dr David Noble .
| A．hopes that conservation organisations will change the way they work |
| B．is quite disappointed with the result of the new assessment |
C．is losing confide nce in conservation organizations’ action |
| D．has high hopes for the increase in bird population in Britain |
Which of the following can best explain Dr Mark Avery's words?
| A．The UK should not be satisfied with what they have achieved. |
| B．The UK should share their experience with other countries. |
| C．What conservation organisations do is far from satisfactory. |
| D．The RSPB is responsible for the decrease of common birds. |
The passage is most likely to be found in a book about .
| A．popular science | B．historical events |
| C．nature | D．society |
The author's purpose of writing this article is to tell people .
| A．some good ways to protect rare birds |
| B．the differences between rare birds and common birds |
| C．the number of rare birds has increased over the last decade |
| D．some widespread birds in the UK are in great need of help |
Hummingbirds have got their name from the distinct “hum” sound made by their rapidly flapping (拍打) wings．The size of the bird decides the number of flaps it can do．The average lifetime of a hummingbird is 3 or 4 years, but some of them have lived beyond 12 years also．They are unique in many ways．Besides th
e number of rapid flaps they can do per second, they can also fly backwards.
Hummingbirds have an amazing sense of assessing the amount of sugar in the nectar (花蜜) they eat．They feed on the nectar of flowers．Hummingbirds do not feed on flowers whose nectar contains less than 10% sugar．Talk about a sweet tooth! As they cannot sustain themselves on nectar alone because of its poor nutritional value, they also feed on insects and spiders, and hummingbird food mixture that one can make at home.
Attracting hummingbirds to your garden will require a little planning．Plant butterfly bush, mimosa, coral bells, foxglove, morning glory, etc．These flowers attract the hummingbirds due to their high visibility (可见性) and nectar production．Avoid using pesticides (杀虫剂), as it will not only kill the insects around the flowers, but hurt the hummingbirds as well.
A common food for these birds is the sweettasting sugar syrup (糖浆)．Hummingbird food ingredients are just two: sugar and water．Take a large clean bowl, pour in it four cups of hot water, and dissolve one cup of table sugar in it．Stir slowly until all sugar has dissolved．
Hummingbirds, tiny as they are, collect a lot of nutrition．Providing them with hummingbird food mixture made of sugar water is a sure way to get all these beauties humming in your garden.Hummingbirds will have some little animals for their meal when .
| A．they can't find any green plants |
| B．they can't take in enough nutrition |
| C．they are bored with eating nectar |
| D．they are too old to fly |
In order to attract hummingbirds, you should .
| A．plan high trees |
| B．grow plants with small flowers |
| C．grow plants whose flowers are bright in color |
| D．grow plants coming into flower in the morning |
The main idea of the fourth paragraph is .
| A．how to prepare food for hummingbirds |
| B．where hummingbirds can find delicious food |
| C．hummingbirds can't live for long without sugar |
| D．hummingbirds like manmade food better than nectar |
COOL INVENTIONS
From school to band Practice, the Venturi Eclectic is an Earth-friendly way to get Where you want to go．This battery-powered, zero-emission (meaning it doesn't pollute the air) vehicle runs mainly on renewable energy．Solar panels on the Eclectic's roof absorb sun rays when you're driving．On windy days, you can connect a machine to the car's roof that collects energy from the wind while you're parked．The Eclectic's top speed is 28 miles an hour; the battery lasts for 31 miles before it needs to be recharged．Zipping (迅速行进) around the neighborhood has never been better.
Here's an eco-friendly way to tell time: Simply fill the Bedol Water-powered Clock's tank (箱) with water, add some lemon juice, and the clock will display the time without the need for environmentally harmful batteries．There are two sets of metal electrodes (电极) inside the water tank．Water contains ions (离子) that carry negative and positive charges．These ions complete a charge between the electrodes, creating enough energy to power the clock．Just refill the tank every few weeks, and this clock will keep on 
ticking.
Bloodhound SuperSonic Car (SSC) will be the first car to attempt to break the l,000-mile-an-hour barrier．(The current record is 763 miles an hour.) A concept for now, the rocket-shaped car gets its initial push to 350 miles an hour from a jet engine．Then a rocket fires up, pushing the SSC past 1,000 miles an hour．In order to keep the car streamlined (流线型的), the driver lies back at a 45-degree angle.
You're having a blast at your friend's birthday party．But when it's time to bring out the cake, everyone crowds around, blocking your view．No worries．Throw the Triops into the air, and this clever camera captures the view from above．The Triops can take three pictures at once, each from different angles．You can also record sounds and command the Triops to start shooting whenever it hears that noise．That's one smart camera.According to the passage, the Venturi Eclectic .
| A．is popular with businessmen | B．is suitable for a long trip |
| C．can turn wind into energy | D．has only a little gas emission |
What is the common characteristic of the Venturi Eclectic and the Bedol Water-powered Clock?
| A．They don't need batteries. | B．They are difficult to operate. |
| C．They can be powered by water. | D．They are environmentally friendly. |
The underlined phrase “having a blast” in the last paragraph probably means .
| A．looking at a picture | B．enjoying yourself |
| C．blowing out a candle | D．recording sounds |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The Triops is sensitive to sounds. |
| B．The driver of the SSC must be of great size. |
| C．The color of the Bedol Water-powered Clock is like that of lemon. |
| D．The SSC doesn’t have anything to do with a rocket actually. |
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