Are you sometimes a little tired and sleepy in the early afternoon? Many people feel this way after lunch.They may think that eating lunch is the cause of the sleepiness.Or,in summer,they may think it is the heat.However,the real reason lies inside their bodies.At that time—about eight hours after you wake up—your body temperature goes down.This is what makes you slow down and feel sleepy.Scientists have tested sleep habits in experiments where there was no night or day.The people in these experiments almost always followed a similar sleeping pattern.They slept for one long period and then for one short period about eight hours later.

In many parts of the world,people take naps in the middle of the day.This is especially true in warmer climates,where the heat makes work difficult in the early afternoon.Researchers are now saying that naps are good for everyone in any climate.A daily nap gives one a more rested body and mind and therefore is good for health in general.In countries where naps are traditional,people often suffer less from problems such as heart disease. Many working people,unfortunately,have no time to take naps.Though doctors may advise taking naps,employers do not allow it! If you do have the chance,however,here are a few tips about making the most of your nap.Remember that the best time to take a nap is about eight hours after you get up.A short sleep too late in the day may only make you feel more tired and sleepy afterward,This can also happen if you sleep for too long.If you do not have enough time,try a short nap—even ten minutes of sleep can be helpful.

1.Why do you sometimes feel sleepy in the early afternoon?

A.Because you eat too much for lunch.

B.Because it’s hot in summer.

C.Because your body temperature goes down at that time.

D.Because you didn’t have a good sleep last night.

2.What can we learn about“naps”according to the last paragraph?

A.All the people in warmer climates take naps in the middle of the day.

B.Doctors need to take naps while employers don’t.

C.If you take naps everyday,you’11 never suffer from heart disease.

D.Taking naps regularly is beneficial to people’s health.

3.What can we infer from the passage?

A.If you get up at 6:30 am,you’d better take a nap at about 1:30 pm.

B.Taking a nap whenever you want will do good to your health.

C.You will feel less sleepy if you sleep for a long time.

D.You’11 feel sleepy at regular intervals.

4.What would be the best title for the text?

A.Just for a Rest

B.A1l for a Nap

C.A Special Sleep Pattern

D.Taking Naps in Warmer Climate

As we grow old, we realize that we have so little time to read and there are so many great books that we’ve yet to get around to.Yet re readers are everywhere around us.For certain fans, re reading The Lord of the Rings is a conventional practice annually.One friend told me that Jane Austen’s Emma can still surprise him, despite his having read it over 50 times.

New sudden clear understandings can be gained from the process of re reading.Journalist Rebacca Mead, a long time Englishwoman in New York, first came across George Eliot’s Middlemarch at 17.Since then, she has read it again every five years.With each re reading, it has opened up further; in each chapter of her life, it has resonated (引起共鸣) differently.Mead evidenced the large number of ways in which really good books not only stand the test of repeat reads, but also offer fresh gifts each time we crack their spines.These kinds of books grow with us.

Scientists have also recognized the mental health benefits of re reading.Research conducted with readers in the US found that on our first reading, we are concerned with the “what” and the “why”.Second time round, we’re able to better appreciate the emotions that the plot continues to express.As researcher CristelRussell of the American University explained, returning to a book “brings new or renewed appreciation of both the great book and its readers.”

It’s true that we often find former selves on the pages of old books (if we’re fond of making notes on the pages).These texts can carry us back to a time and place, and remind us of the kind of person that we were then.We’re changed not only by lived experience but also by read experience – by the books that we’ve discovered since last reading the one in our hand.

More so than the movie director or the musician, the writer calls upon our imaginations, using words to lead us to picture this declaration of love or that unfaithfulness in life.A book is a joint project between writers and readers, and we must pour so much of ourselves into reading that our own life story can become connected with the story in the book.

Perhaps what’s really strange is that we don’t re read more often.After all, we watch our favourite films again and we wouldn’t think of listening to an album only once.We treasure messy old paintings as objects, yet of all art forms, literature alone is a largely one time delight.A book, of course, takes up more time, but as Mead confirms, the rewards make it adequately worthwhile.

1.The two books are mentioned in Paragraph 1 mainly to __________.

A.attract the attention of readers

B.introduce the topic of the passage

C.provide some background information

D.show the similarity between re readers

2.The underlined expression “crack their spines” in Paragraph 2 refers to ________.

A.recite them

B.read them

C.recall them

D.retell them

3.It can be learned from the passage that __________.

A.reading benefits people both mentally and physically

B.readers mainly focus on feelings on their first reading

C.we know ourselves better through reading experience

D.writers inspire the same imaginations as film directors do

4.The purpose of the passage is to __________.

A.call on different understandings of old books

B.focus on the mental health benefits of reading

C.bring awareness to the significance of rereading

D.introduce the effective ways of reading old books

Across the rich world, well-educated people increasingly work longer than the less-skilled. Some 65% of American men aged 62-74 with a professional degree are in the workforce, compared with 32% of men with only a high-school certificate. This gap is part of a deepening divide between the well-education well off and the unskilled poor. Rapid technological advance has raised the incomes of the highly skilled while squeezing those of the unskilled. The consequences, for individual and society, are profound.

The world is facing as astonishing rise in the number of old people, and they will live longer than ever before. Over the next 20 years the global population of those aged 65 or more will almost double, from 600 million to 1.1 billion. The experience of the 20th century, when greater longevity translated into more years in retirement rather than more years at work, has persuaded many observers that this shift will lead to slower economic growth, while the swelling ranks of pensioners will create government budget problems.

But the notion of a sharp division between the working young and the idle old misses a new trend, the growing gap between the skilled and the unskilled. Employment rates are falling among younger unskilled people, whereas older skilled folk are working longer. The divide is most extreme in America, where well-educated baby-boomers (二战后生育高峰期出生的美国人) are putting off retirement while many less-skilled younger people have dropped out of the workforce.

That even the better-off must work longer to have a comfortable retirement. But the changing nature of work also plays a big role. Pay has risen sharply for the highly educated, and those people continue to reap rich rewards into old age because these days the educated elderly are more productive than the preceding generation. Technological change may well reinforce that shift: the skills that complement computers, from management knowhow to creativity. Do not necessarily decline with age.

1.what is happening in the workforce in rich countries?

A. younger people are replacing the elderly

B. well-educated people tend to work longer

C. unemployment rates are rising year after year

D. people with no college degree do not easily find work

2.what has helped deepen the divide between the well-off and poor?

A. Longer life expectancies

B. Profound changes in the workforce

C. rapid technological advance.

D. A growing number of well-graduated.

3.what do many observers predict in view of the experience of the 20th century?

A. Economic growth will slow down.

B. Government budgets will increase.

C. More people will try to pursue higher education

D. There will be more competition in the job market.

4.What is the result of policy changes in European countries?

A. Unskilled workers may choose to retire early.

B. more people have to receive in-service training.

C. Even wealthy people must work longer to live comfortably in retirement.

D. People may be able to enjoy generous defined-benefits from pension plans.

5.What is characteristic of work in the 21st century?

A. Computers will do more complicated work.

B. More will be taken by the educated young.

C. Most jobs to be done will be creative ones.

D. Skills are highly valued regardless of age.

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