Question

On May 23,1989, Stefania Follini came out from a cave at Carlsbad, New Mexico. She hadn’t seen the sun for eighteen and a half weeks. Stefania was in a research program, and the scientists in the program were studying body rhythms(节奏). In this experiment Stefania had spent 130 days in a cave, 30 feet in depth.

During her time in the cave, Stefania had been completely alone except for two white mice. Her living place had been very comfortable, but there had been nothing to tell her the time. She’d had no clocks or watches, no television or radio. There had been no natural light and the temperature had always been kept at 21℃.

The results were very interesting. Stefania had been in the cave for over four months, but she thought she had been there for only two. Her body clock had changed. She hadn’t kept to a 24-hour day, she had stayed awake for 20-25 hours and then had slept for 10 hours. She had eaten fewer meals and had lost 171bs in weight as a results! She had also become rather depressed（抑郁）.

How had she spent her time in the cave? As part of the experiment she’d done some physical and mental tests. She’d recorded her daily activities and the results of the tests on a computer. This computer had been specially programmed for the project. Whenever she was free, she’d played cards, read books and listened to music. She’d also learned French from tapes.

The experiment showed that our body clocks are affected by light and temperature. For example, the pattern of day and night makes us wake up and go to sleep. However, people are affected in different ways. Some people wake up naturally at 5:00 am, but others don’t start to wake up till 9:00 or 10:00 am. This affects the whole daily rhythm. As a result, the early risers, on the other hand, are tired during the day and only come to life in the afternoon or evening!

1. Stefania stayed in the cave for a long time because ______.

   A. she was asked to do research on mice

   B. she wanted to experience loneliness

   C. she was the subject of a study

   D. she needed to record her life

2. What is a cause for the change of Stefania’s body clock?

   A. Eating fewer meals.

   B. Having more hours of sleep.

   C. Lacking physical exercise.

   D. Getting no natural light.

3. Where does the text probably come from?

   A. A novel.   B. A news story.  C. A pet magazine.   D. A travel guide.

Answer 1

【小题1】C

【小题2】D

【小题3】B

解析:

【语篇解读】本篇文章为说明文。通过Stefania在山洞里度过130天的实验来证实，人体的节奏和生物钟受光和温度的影响。

【小题1】细节理解题。根据文章第一段可知Stefania呆在山洞里是因为她是实验的对象。因此正确答案为C。

【小题2】推理判断题。根据第二段“There had been no natural light and the temperature had always been kept at 21℃”和最后一段可知，Stefania在山洞里没有自然光，而且温度恒定。因此正确答案为D。

【小题3】推理判断题。本文讲述了一个实验的过程以及分析了实验的结果，因此可能选自一则新闻故事。因此正确答案为B。