As kids, my friends and I spent a lot of time out in the woods． “The woods” was our part-time address, destination, purpose, and excuse． If I went to a friends house and found him not at home, his mother might say, “Oh, he’s out in the woods, ” with a tone（语气） of airy acceptance． It is similar to the tone people sometimes use nowadays to tell me that someone I’m looking for is on the golf course or at the gym, or even “away from his desk．” For us ten-year-olds, “being out in the woods” was just an excuse to do whatever we feel like for a while．
We sometimes told ourselves that what we were doing in the woods was exploring（探索）． Exploring was a more popular idea back then than it is today． History seemed to be mostly about explorers． Our explorations, though, seemed to have less system than the historic kind: something usually came up along the way． Say we stayed in the woods, throwing rocks, shooting frogs, picking blackberries, digging in what we were briefly persuaded was an Indian burial mound．
Often we got “lost” and had to climb a tree to find out where we were． If you read a story in which someone does that successfully, be skeptical: the topmost branches are usually too skinny to hold weight, and we could never climb high enough to see anything except other trees． There were four or five trees that we visited regularly—tall beeches, easy to climb and comfortable to sit in．
It was in a tree, too, that our days of fooling around in the woods came to an end． By then some of us had reached seventh grade and had begun the rough ride of adolescence（青春期）． In March, the month when we usually took to the woods again after winter, two friends and I set out to go exploring． We climbed a tree, and all of a sudden it occurred to all three of us at the same time that we really were rather big to be up in a tree． Soon there would be the spring dances on Friday evenings in the high school cafeteria．
【小题1】The author and his friends were often out in the woods to _______．

Some people can stay up all night and still get work done the next day. I’m not one of them. After a night without enough sleep, I feel bad-tempered. I have trouble remembering things. And all I want to do is go to bed.

How do you feel after you’ve stayed up late to finish schoolwork or the day after an overnight party? Scientists now say that your answers to these questions may depend on your genes.

New research suggests that a gene called “period 3” influences how well you function without sleep. The “period 3” gene comes in two forms: short and long. Everyone has two copies of the gene. So, you may have two longs, two shorts, or one of each. Your particular combination depends on what your parents passed on to you.

Scientists from the University of Surrey in England studied 24 people who had either two short or two long copies of “period 3”. Study participants (参与者) had to stay awake for 40 hours straight. Then, they took tests that measured how quickly they pushed a button when numbers flashed (闪过) on a screen and how well they could remember lists of numbers.

Results showed that the people with the short form of “period 3” performed much better on these tests than the people with the long form did. In both groups, people performed worst in the early morning.

After the first round of experiments, participants were finally allowed to sleep. People in the group that performed well on the tests (those with the short form of “period 3”) took about 18 minutes to nod off.

While people with the long “period 3” gene fell asleep in just 8 minutes. They also spent more time on deep sleep. That suggests that people with the long form of the gene need more and deeper sleep to keep their brains working in top form.

I think I must have the long form of “period 3”. What about you?

The purpose of this passage might be ___________

A.   to tell us the importance of plenty of sleep.

B.   to tell the result of a research on sleepy gene.

C.    to inform the harm of lacking sleep.        

D.   to announce the sleeping rules of humans.

What kind of people need less sleep according to the research?

A.   Those with two short copies of the gene.

B. Those with two long copies of the gene. 

C. Those with one short and one long copy of the gene.

D. Those with three short copies of the gene.

If one lacks enough sleep, one should avoid doing important or dangerous things ___________.

A. at noon            B. at night    

C. in the afternoon        D. at dawn

Why did the writer think he or she had the long form of “period 3”?

A.   Because the writer could remain energetic without enough sleep.                 

B. Because the writer could do things correctly at dawn.   

C. Because the writer needed more sleep to keep energetic.

D. Because the writer recovered quickly after sleep.  

Some people can stay up all night and still get work done the next day. I’m not one of them. After a night without enough sleep, I feel bad-tempered. I have trouble remembering things. And all I want to do is go to bed.

How do you feel after you’ve stayed up late to finish schoolwork or the day after an overnight party? Scientists now say that your answers to these questions may depend on your genes.

New research suggests that a gene called “period 3” influences how well you function without sleep. The “period 3” gene comes in two forms: short and long. Everyone has two copies of the gene. So, you may have two longs, two shorts, or one of each. Your particular combination depends on what your parents passed on to you.

Scientists from the University of Surrey in England studied 24 people who had either two short or two long copies of “period 3”. Study participants (参与者) had to stay awake for 40 hours straight. Then, they took tests that measured how quickly they pushed a button when numbers flashed (闪过) on a screen and how well they could remember lists of numbers.

Results showed that the people with the short form of “period 3” performed much better on these tests than the people with the long form did. In both groups, people performed worst in the early morning.

After the first round of experiments, participants were finally allowed to sleep. People in the group that performed well on the tests (those with the short form of “period 3”) took about 18 minutes to nod off.

While people with the long “period 3” gene fell asleep in just 8 minutes. They also spent more time on deep sleep. That suggests that people with the long form of the gene need more and deeper sleep to keep their brains working in top form.

I think I must have the long form of “period 3”. What about you?

1.The purpose of this passage might be ___________

A.    to tell us the importance of plenty of sleep.

B.    to tell the result of a research on sleepy gene.

C.     to inform the harm of lacking sleep.           

D.    to announce the sleeping rules of humans.

2.What kind of people need less sleep according to the research?

A.    Those with two short copies of the gene.

B. Those with two long copies of the gene. 

C. Those with one short and one long copy of the gene.

D. Those with three short copies of the gene.

3.If one lacks enough sleep, one should avoid doing important or dangerous things ___________.

A. at noon               B. at night      

C. in the afternoon           D. at dawn

4.Why did the writer think he or she had the long form of “period 3”?

A.    Because the writer could remain energetic without enough sleep.                

B. Because the writer could do things correctly at dawn.    

C. Because the writer needed more sleep to keep energetic.

D. Because the writer recovered quickly after sleep.  

As kids, my friends and I spent a lot of time out in the woods. “The woods” was our part-time address, destination, purpose, and excuse. If I went to a friends house and found him not at home, his mother might say, “Oh, he’s out in the woods, ” with a tone(语气) of airy acceptance. It is similar to the tone people sometimes use nowadays to tell me that someone I’m looking for is on the golf course or at the gym, or even “away from his desk.” For us ten-year-olds, “being out in the woods” was just an excuse to do whatever we feel like for a while.
We sometimes told ourselves that what we were doing in the woods was exploring(探索). Exploring was a more popular idea back then than it is today. History seemed to be mostly about explorers. Our explorations, though, seemed to have less system than the historic kind: something usually came up along the way. Say we stayed in the woods, throwing rocks, shooting frogs, picking blackberries, digging in what we were briefly persuaded was an Indian burial mound.
Often we got “lost” and had to climb a tree to find out where we were. If you read a story in which someone does that successfully, be skeptical: the topmost branches are usually too skinny to hold weight, and we could never climb high enough to see anything except other trees. There were four or five trees that we visited regularly—tall beeches, easy to climb and comfortable to sit in.
It was in a tree, too, that our days of fooling around in the woods came to an end. By then some of us had reached seventh grade and had begun the rough ride of adolescence(青春期). In March, the month when we usually took to the woods again after winter, two friends and I set out to go exploring. We climbed a tree, and all of a sudden it occurred to all three of us at the same time that we really were rather big to be up in a tree. Soon there would be the spring dances on Friday evenings in the high school cafeteria.
【小题1】The author and his friends were often out in the woods to _______.

As kids, my friends and I spent a lot of time out in the woods. “The woods” was our part-time address, destination, purpose, and excuse. If I went to a friend’s house and found him not at home, his mother might say, “Oh, he’s out in the woods, ” with a tone(语气) of airy acceptance. It’s similar to the tone people sometimes use nowadays to tell me that someone I’m looking for is on the golf course or at the gym, or even “away from his desk.” For us ten-year-olds, “being out in the woods” was just an excuse to do whatever we feel like for a while.

We sometimes told ourselves that what we were doing in the woods was exploring(探索). Exploring was a more popular idea back then than it is today. History seemed to be mostly about explorers. Our explorations, though, seemed to have less system than the historic kind: something usually came up along the way. Say we stayed in the woods, throwing rocks, shooting frogs, picking blackberries, digging in what we were briefly persuaded was an Italian burial mound.

Often we got “lost” and had to climb a tree to find out where we were. If you read a story in which someone does that successfully, be skeptical: the topmost branches are usually too skinny to hold weight, and we could never climb high enough to see anything except other trees. There were four or five trees that we visited regularly----tall beeches, easy to climb and comfortable to sit in.

It was in a tree, too, that our days of fooling around in the woods came to an end. By then some of us has reached seventh grade and had begun the rough ride of adolescence（青春期）. In March, the month when we usually took to the woods again after winter, two friends and I set out to go exploring. We climbed a tree, and all of a sudden it occurred to all three of us at the same time that were really were rather big to be up in a tree. Soon there would be the spring dances on Friday evenings in the high school cafeteria.

52. The author and his fiends were often out in the woods to _______.

   A. spend their free time

   B. play gold and other sports

   C. avoid doing their schoolwork

   D. keep away from their parents

53. What can we infer from Paragraph 2?

   A. The activities in the woods were well planned.

   B. Human history is not the result of exploration.

   C. Exploration should be a systematic activity.

   D. The author explored in the woods aimlessly.

54. The underlined word “skeptical” in Paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to ______.

   A. calm

   B. doubtful

   C. serious

   D. optimistic

55. How does the author feel about his childhood?

   A. Happy but short.

   B. Lonely but memorable.

   C. Boring and meaningless.

   D. Long and unforgettable.