Advice to "sleep on it" could be well founded, scientists say. After a good night's sleep a problem that couldn't be solved the night before can often appear more manageable. Researchers at the University of Luebek in Germany have designed an experiment that shows a good night's sleep can improve insight（顿悟）and problem-solving ability.
“If you have some newly-got memories in your brain, sleep acts on these memories and restructures them, so that after sleep the insight increases," said Dr Jan Born, a neuroscientist, at the University. To test the discovery, they taught volunteers two simple rules to help them turn a string of numbers into a new order. There was also a third, hidden rule, which could help them increase their speed in solving the problem. The researchers divided the volunteers into two groups: half were allowed to sleep after the training while the rest were forced to stay awake. Dr Jan Born and his team noticed that the group that had slept after the training were twice as likely to figure out the third rule as the other group. "Sleep helped," Born said in a telephone interview .¨The important thing is that you have to have a memory description of the problem you want to solve in your brain and then you sleep, so it can act on the problem."
But Born admitted that he and his team don't know how restructuring of memories occurs or what controls it. Pierre Maquet and Perrine Ruby of the University of Liege in Belgium said the experimental evidence supports the suggestion that sleep can help develop creative thinking. Although the role of sleep in human creativity will still be a mystery, the research gives people good reasons to fully respect their periods of sleep, they added.What is the purpose of the experiment?
| A．To test problem-solving ability in sleep. |
| B．To discover people's insight during sleep. |
| C．To prove a good sleep helps solve problems. |
| D．To discuss how to improve sleeping quality. |
How did Jan Born and his team carry out the experiement ?
| A．Through comparison. | B．Through interview. |
| C．Trough talking | D．Through imagination. |
What can be inferred from Paragraph 2 ?
| A．Sleep can help solve problems. |
| B．People should sleep as long as they want. |
| C．Different people have various periods of sleep. |
| D．Scientists know how sleep restructures memories from now. |
Which of the following is TRUE about the experiments evidence?
| A．It helps scientists control memories. |
| B．It explains the role of sleep in human. |
| C．It shows people's sleeping well helps a lot. |
| D．It shows how to develop creative thinking. |
Sharon called about four times today. At least it shows she’s trying to explain (解释) something to me. I feel a little better.
December 3
This morning Sharon said she had only told one person and had no idea why everyone seemed to know. Yes, I am an adopted daughter (养女) and my name was changed. But she had promised to keep it secret for ever!
December 5
I wish I had a friend I could really trust (信任) all of the time. I thought I found that friend, but I haven’t and it’s making me unhappy! It’s wrong to tell her all about it. She won my trust, then lost it.
December 7
I have a nice room and a big pool in my backyard and everything I’ve ever wanted. My adoptive parents will give me all the material things I’ve ever dreamed of. Yet all the money in the world can’t buy what I want now. I want Sharon to be my best friend again.
December 10
Sharon just called. She said she thought it might help if we spent more time together. She worried that I would go to another school. She is the best friend I’ve ever had. When I’m with Sharon, I can be myself. I need Sharon’s friendship. I need it more than I’ve ever known.
December 16
I just had the most fantastic two days of my life! This was the best time I’ve had for a long, long time. Yesterday, we walked five times around the park and today we ran slowly along the river for twenty minutes. I can’t describe how much fun I had. We talked so much. Sharon, Sharon, no brick wall between us now.
44. What does the author mainly care about?
A. Why she was adopted. B. Why she went to another school.
C. Her family life. D. Her friendship with Sharon.
45. Sharon lost the author’s trust because she ______.
A. didn’t keep the author’s secret B. didn’t like the author any more
C. often played a joke on the author D. often refused to help the author
46. The underlined word “fantastic” in the last paragraph probably means “______”.
A. funny B. wonderful C. sad D. lucky
47. What can we know about the author and Sharon from the passage?
A. They were not friends any more.
B. They became good friends again.
C. They would go to another school together.
D. They could hardly understand each other.
If you’re planning on traveling, there are a few simple rules about how to make life easier both before and after your journey.
First of all, always check and double-check departure (行程) time. It is amazing how few people really do this carefully. Once I arrived at the airport a few minutes after ten. My secretary had got the ticket for me and I thought she had said that the plane left at 10:50. When I arrived at the airport, the clerk at the departure desk told me that my flight was closed. Therefore, I had to wait three hours for the next one and missed an important meeting.
The second rule is to remember that even in this age of credit cards, it is still important to have at least a little of the local currency (货币) with you when you arrive in a country. This can be necessary if you are flying to a place few tourists normally visit. A few years ago I was sent to Tulsa, Oklahoma. I flew there from London via (经由) Dallas, with very little time to change planes in between. I arrived there at midnight and the bank at the airport was closed. The only way to get to my hotel was by taxi and because I had no dollars, I offered to pay in pounds instead.
“Listen! I only take real money!” the driver said angrily. Luckily I was able to borrow a few dollars from a clerk at the hotel, but it was very embarrassing (令人难堪的).
The third and last rule is to find out as much as you can about the weather at your destination before you leave. I feel sorry for some of my workmates who travel in heavy suits and raincoats in May, when it is still fairly cool in London or Manchester, to places like Athens, Rome or Madrid, where it is already beginning to get quite warm during the day.
40. According to the passage, it’s obvious that ______.
A. the author learns some rules of traveling from his own experience
B. the author doesn’t plan his trips or journeys carefully
C. Englishmen like to wear heavy suits wherever they travel
D. the American taxi driver never travels to England
41. What should you make sure first before setting off?
A. When you will leave. B. Where you will go.
C. How you will travel. D. Whom you will go with.
42. What does the underlined word “there” in Paragraph 3 refer to?
A. London. B. Manchester. C. Tulsa. D. Dallas.
43. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A. The author tells people to choose warm places as their travel destinations.
B. You should remember to take credit cards when traveling.
C. You should know more about the weather of the place you’ll visit.
D. You should take enough change when you travel to another country.
第二部分：阅读理解（共20小题; 每小题2分,满分40分）
Around six weeks ago, Kaileen came running into the house, just getting off the bus from school. She was all excited about a story about homeless pets because of Hurricane (飓风) Katrina and all that was going on to help them. She said that this information came from her animal newspaper (your KIND News). Kaileen has a great love and compassion (同情心) for animals, so her excitement did not surprise me. Her next ideas, however, did. She said that we should go around right then to our neighbors and collect all their change to send to the animal shelters (保护所).
I thought this was a school project, but in fact, it was not. This was what Kaileen wanted to do on her own! Well, it warmed me all over. To see your child so willing to help others just lets you feel that maybe you had done something right in raising (养育) her.
Anyway, I told her to make a card and send it out to our neighbors first. With the help of her older brother, Kaileen soon made a lovely card that asked our neighbors to help these pets by giving their spare change. She gave them a few days and a date she would come by to pick up any donations (捐赠).
Well, I had to go out and buy a donation box. Kaileen collected $279.50!!! I just thought you would like to know how KIND News had touched a little one’s heart and given her the idea to show her compassion for animals. Thank you — we really enjoy your paper.
36. The passage is probably taken from ______.
A. a report about a warm-hearted girl
B. an advertisement for an animal shelter
C. a thank-you letter to a newspaper
D. a donation program for homeless pets
37. What was the author’s feeling about Kaileen’s idea?
A. Pleased and excited.
B. Surprised and moved.
C. Tired and sad.
D. Worried and angry.
38. From the passage we learn that KIND News ______.
A. collects donations for homeless people
B. sets up many shelters for homeless animals
C. tells children how to keep pets healthy
D. encourages children to help homeless pets
39. We can infer that the passage is written by Kaileen’s ______.
A. parent B. teacher C. brother D. neighbor
Making lists is relaxing. It dictates the shape of the immediate future; it calms you down (it’s OK, it’s on a list somewhere) and it makes you feel good when you cross something off List-making is standard practice in therapy for depression). It might even help you to get things done too. The more you have to do, the more you need a list and few people with high-powered jobs get by without them. Women always think they’re better at lists than men. Men tend to have tasks which they assemble ’into Action Plans whereas women just have lists of Things To Do.
James Oliver, psychologist, has created his own “time management matrix (模式)”. He writes a list of things to do and then organizes them into categories: things that have to be done straight away, other things that it would be good to do today, things that are important but haven’t got to be done immediately and things that are less urgent but that he doesn’t want to forget. “Using categories to order the world is the way the human mind works,” he says. “After that, you should divide things into levels of importance.” But he also warns, “If people get too absorbed in making lists, it doesn’t work. They have too many categories and lose their ability to decide which is the most important.”
It’s all a question of what works best for you, whether it’s a tidy notebook, a packet of Post-it notes or the back of your hand. Having tried all these, student Kate Rollins relies on a computerized list, which is printed out each morning. “My electronic organizer has changed my life,” she says. “Up to now, I’ve always relied on my good memory, but now that I’m working and studying, I find I’ve got too much to keep in my head.”
So what are you waiting for? No, you’re not too busy to make today the first day of your upgraded time-managed life. In fact, there’s no better time than the present to begin to take increased control of your work and life. So, get out your pencil and pen and make a list. The main purpose of making lists is to .
| A．help map out one’s future | B．divide things into levels of importance |
| C．treat certain diseases such as depression | D．organize one’s work and life reasonably |
We can learn from the passage that .
| A．good memory helps in list making | B．too much listing might be misleading |
| C．women usually make a lot more lists than men | D．people with high-powered jobs make lists most |
In this passage the author intends to .
| A．suggest a way of raising one’s living standard | B．introduce some ways of business management |
| C．urge people to develop the habit of listing | D．warn people not to rely on their memory |
The oldest and hardest cow beef may be made as tender and tasty as young and choice met. ”This declaration was made by the French physicist Denis Papin in book published in 1681, which described his “New Digester” or pressure cooker. It was a cast iron pot with an air-tight lid, which allowed liquids to boil at a higher temperature than usual, and so it cooked food in a quarter of the time. The food was cooked by pressurized steam being forced through it at about 121℃. All pressure cookers were made of cast iron until 1905, when the first aluminum model was made in America. In 1938, Alfred Vischer, a man from Chicago, U. S. A., designed a simple interlocking pan and lid, and an improved pressure-tight seal（密封）—a replaceable rubber sealing ring. When Vischer’s patent（专利）expired in 1954, many companies entered the field, and the rapid pressure cooker became popular with people with people who had little time to cook or had to supply food for unexpected guests. From the passage we can learn pressure cooker made of cast iron lasted at least ____years.
| A．300 | B．200 | C．90 | D．60 |
Which of the following shows the correct order?
a. Denis Papin called his invention “New Digester”.
b. It began to be widely used by common families.
c. Instead of cast iron, it was first made of aluminum.
d. The first pressure cooker was invented in France.
e. Alfred Vischer greatly improved its design.
f. Vischer’s patent came to an end.
g. Many other companies began to produce it.
| A．d, a, e, c, g, f, b | B．a, d, c, b, e, f, g |
| C．d, a, c, e, f, g, b | D．g, e, a, e, d, f, b |
In the writer’s opinion, the best advantage of a pressure cooker is that_______.
| A．the oldest and hardest cow beef can be made tender and tasty |
| B．it allows liquids to boil at a higher temperature than usual |
| C．it can help people to supply food for unexpected guests |
| D．it helps people to spend much less time in cooking |
The best title of this passage may possibly be _______.
| A．New Digester | B．Pressure Cooker | C．Favorite Cook | D．The History of Cooker |
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