题目内容
American society is not nap (午睡)friendly . In fact , says David Dings , sleep specialist at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine , “There’s even a prohibition (禁止) against admitting we need sleep”. Nobody wants to be caught napping or found asleep at work . To quote a proverb : “Some sleep five hours , nature requires seven , laziness nine and wickedness(淘气的) eleven.”
The way not to fall asleep at work is to take naps when you need them . “We have to totally change our attitude toward napping ,” says Dr. William Dement of Stanford University , the godfather of sleep research .
Last year a national commission led by Dement identified(发现) an “American sleep debt” which one member said was as important as the national debt . The commission was concerned about the dangers of sleepiness : people causing industrial accidents or falling asleep while driving . This may be why we have a new sleep policy in the White House . According to recent reports , President Clinton is trying to take a half---hour snooze (瞌睡) every afternoon .
About 60 percent of American adults nap when given the opportunity . We seem to have “a mid afternoon quiet phase ,” also called “a secondary sleep gate .” Sleeping 15 minutes to two hours in the early afternoon can reduce stress and make us refreshed . Clearly , we were born to nap .
We superstars of snooze don’t nap to replace lost shut--eye or to prepare for a night shift . Rather , we “snack” on sleep ,whenever , wherever and at whatever time we feel like it . I myself have napped in buses , cars , planes and on boats ; on floors and beds ;and in libraries , offices and museums .
1.The research done by the Dement Commission shows that Americans .
A.don’t like to take naps |
B.are terribly worried about their national debt |
C.think that lack of enough sleep causes many accidents |
D.have caused many industrial and traffic accidents |
2.The purpose of this article is to .
- warn us of the wickedness of napping
B. explain the danger of sleepiness
C. discuss the side effects of napping
D. convince the reader of the necessity of napping
3.The “American sleep debt”(Line 1 , Para .3) is the result of .
- the traditional misconception the Americans have about sleep
- the new sleep policy of the Clinton Administration
- the rapid development of American industry
- the Americans’ worry about the danger of sleepiness
4.The second sentence of the last paragraph tells us that it is .
- preferable to have a sound sleep before a night shift
- good practice to eat something light before we go to bed
- essential (基本的) to make up for lost sleep
- natural to take a nap whenever we feel the need for it
1.C
2.D
3.A
4.D
【解析】略
In Daniel Gilbert’s 2006 book "Stumbling(跌撞) on Happiness," the Harvard professor of psychology looks at several studies and concludes that marital(婚姻的) satisfaction decreases after the birth of the first child and increases only when the last child has left home. He also declares that parents are happier grocery shopping and even sleeping than spending time with their kids.
The most recent comprehensive study on the emotional state of those with kids shows us that the term "bundle of joy" may not be the most accurate way to describe our kids. "Parents experience lower levels of emotional well-being, less frequent positive emotions and more frequent negative emotions than their childless peers," says Florida State University’s Robin Simon, a sociology professor.
Simon received plenty of hate mail in response to her research,which isn’t surprising. Her findings shake the very foundation of what we’ve been raised to believe is true. In a recent NEWSWEEK Poll, 50 percent of Americans said that adding new children to the family tends to increase happiness levels. But which parent is willing to admit that the greatest gift life has to offer has in fact made his or her life less enjoyable?
Is it possible that American parents have always been this disillusioned(有幻觉的)? In pre-industrial America, parents certainly loved their children, but their kids also served a purpose—to work the farm, contribute to the household. Today, we have kids more for emotional reasons, but an increasingly complicated work and social environment has made finding satisfaction far more difficult. Raising children has not only become more complicated, it has become more expensive as well. The National Marriage Project’s 2006 report says that parents have significantly lower marital satisfaction than nonparents because they experienced more single and child-free years than previous generations.
As for those of us with kids, all the news isn’t bad. Parents still report feeling a greater sense of purpose and meaning in their lives than those who’ve never had kids. And there are other rewarding aspects of parenting that are impossible to quantify.
【小题1】.
What’s the main idea of the book Stumbling on Happiness?
A.Parents are happier shopping than looking after their children. |
B.Once they have children, the couples can never be as happy as before. |
C.Compared with their childless peers, parents are leading a sad life. |
D.The adding of children at home brings down marital satisfaction. |
. What can we infer from Para.3?
A.The Newsweek Poll shows that people think Prof. Simon’s finding is right. |
B.Many people can’t accept the fact that they are not happy with their children. |
C.It isn’t surprising that Professor Simon’s controversial research made her famous. |
D.Simon’s findings are based on the belief passed down from generation to generation. |
What can we learn about American’s families in the past?
A.People had very good parents-children relationship in the family. |
B.Having children could be partly out of some practical purposes. |
C.Parents loved their children but they still asked them to work a lot. |
D.Children had to work very hard to make their parents love them. |
What’s the author’s opinion about having children?
A.The author doesn’t think having children is a good thing to the family. |
B.The author feels children make the life of a family happy. |
C.The author thinks parenting can still be rewarding in a certain way. |
D.The author believes that parents sacrifice a lot for having children. |