A Brown University sleep researcher has some advice for people who run high schools: Don’t start classes so early in the morning. It may not be that the students who nod off at their desks are lazy. And it may not be that their parents have failed to enforce (确保) bedtime. Instead, it may be that biologically these sleepyhead students aren’t used to the early hour.

“Maybe these kids are being asked to rise at the wrong time for their bodies,” says Mary Carskadon, a professor looking at problem of adolescent  (青春期的) sleep at Brown’s School of Medicine.

Carskadon is trying to understand more about the effects of early school time in adolescents. And, at a more basic level. she and her team are trying to learn more about how the biological changes of adolescence affect sleep needs and patterns.

Carskadon says her work suggests that adolescents may need more sleep than they did at childhood, no less, as commonly thought.

Sleep patterns change during adolescence, as any parent of an adolescent can prove. Most adolescents prefer to stay up later at nigh and sleep later in the morning. But it’s not just a matter of choice –their bodies are going through a change of sleep patters.

All of this makes the transfer from middle school to high school—which may start one hour earlier in the morning  ---- all the more difficult , Carskadon says. With their increased need for sleep and their biological clocks set on the “sleep late, rise late” pattern, adolescent are up against difficulties when it conics to trying to be up by 5 or 6 a.m. for a 7:30 a.m. first hell. A short sleep on a desktop may be their body’s way of saying. “I need a timeout.”

Carskadon suggests that high schools should not start classes so early in the morning because ________.

A. it is really tough for parents to enforce bedtime

B. it is biologically difficult for students to rise early

C. students work so late at night that they can’t get up early

D. students are so lazy that they don’t like to go to school early

The underlined phrase “nod off” most probably means “ _______”.

A. turn around    B. agree with others  C. fall asleep  D. refuse to work

What might be a reason for the hard transfer from middle school to high school?

A. Adolescents depend more on their parents.

B. Adolescents have to choose their sleep patterns.

C. Adolescents sleep better than they did at childhood.

D. Adolescents need more sleep than they used to.

What is the test mainly about?

A. Adolescent heath care.      B. Problems in adolescent learning.

C. Adolescent sleep difficulties.   D. Changes in adolescent sleep needs and patterns.

The triathlon(铁人三项运动) promises to be one of the most popular Olympic sports.Recently it has drawn huge crowds attracted by athletes swimming 1,500mcycling 40kmthen running 10km without stopping.But what makes an attractive 17?year?old girl give up everything for the doubtful pleasure it offers?

Melanie Sears has not yet learnt those often?repeated phrases about personal satisfactionmental challenge and higher targets that most athletes use when asked similar questions.“You swim for 1,500mthen run out of the water and jump on your bikestill wet.Of coursethen you freeze.When the 40km cycle ride is overyou have to run 10kmwhich is a long way when you’re feeling exhausted.But it’s great funand all worth it in the end” she says.

Melanie entered her first triathlon at 14 and she won the junior section.Full of confidenceshe entered the National Championshipsand although she had the second fastest swim and the fastest runshe came nowhere.“I was following this man and suddenly we came to the sea.We realised then that we had gone wrong.I ended up cycling 20 kilometres too far.I cried all the way through the running.”

But she did not give up and was determined that she never will.“Sometimes I wish I could stopbecause then the pain would be overbut I am afraid that if I let myself stop just onceI would be tempted(诱惑) to do it again.”Such doggedness draws admiration from Steve Trewthe sport’s director of coaching.“I’ve just been testing her fitness” he says, “and she worked so hard on the running machine that it finally threw her off and into a wall.She had given it everythingand she just kept on.”

Melanie was top junior in this year’s European Triathlon Championshipsfinishing 13th.“I was almost as good as the top three in swimming and runningbut much slower in cycling.That’s why I’m working very hard at it.” She is trying to talk her long?suffering parentswho will carry the 1,300 cost of her trip to New Zealand for this year’s world championshipsinto buying a 2,000 bikeso she can try 25km and 100km races later this year.

But there is another price to pay.“I don’t have a social life”she says.“After two hours’ hard swimming on Friday nightI just want to go to sleep.But I phone and write to the other girls in the team.” What does she talk aboutBoysClothes“Nowhat sort of times they are achieving.”

1.How does Melanie differ from other athletesaccording to the writer?

AShe worries less than they do.

BShe expresses herself differently.

CHer family background is not like theirs.

DHer aims are different from theirs.

2.What upset Melanie during the National Championships?

AShe was tricked by another competitor.

BShe felt she had let her team?mates down.

CShe made a mistake during part of the race.

DShe realized she couldn’t cycle as fast as she thought.

3.What is Melanie trying to persuade her parents to do?

ABuy an expensive bike for her.

BGive her half the cost of a bike.

CLet her compete in longer races.

DPay for her to go to New Zealand.

4.What does Melanie say about her relationships with her team?mates?

AShe would like to see them more often.

BShe only discusses the triathlon with them.

CShe thinks they find her way of life strange.

DShe dislikes discussing boys or clothes with them.

 

On August 5 at 10:31 p.m. PST, a rover(探测器)named Curiosity touched down safely on the surface of Mars, and I was lucky enough to have a front-row seat.

My name is Clara, and when I was in Grade 6, I won the essay contest NASA held to name its next Mars rover. The essay I wrote was not even 250 words long, but somehow it was enough to change my life.

I still remember that cold December day, sitting in a science class. I’d finished a worksheet early and decided to get a Time for Kids magazine off Mrs. Estevez’s bookshelf. It was the 2008 Invention Issue, but that wasn’t the only thing that caught my eye. In the magazine, there was an article about a girl who named the Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity. The article also talked about the essay contest NASA was holding to name its next Mars rover. Before I even knew anything else about it, a single word flooded my 11-year-old mind: Curiosity.

I couldn’t wait for the bell to ring so I could get started on my essay. That afternoon, I raced home from the bus stop, sat down at the computer and typed until my fingers ached. It turned out that I was just in time. A few days later, and the contest would have closed.

Five months later, shortly after I had turned 12, I was watching a National Geographic special on mammoths when the phone rang. My mom answered, and immediately, a wide smile spread across her face. When she told me that I had won, I was happier than I could ever remember being, I screamed and ran up and down the stairs and all around the house. I completely forgot about the mammoths and did not even remember to turn off the TV until it was really late.

Curiosity is such an important part of who I am. I have always been fascinated by the stars, the planets, the sky and the universe. I remember as a little girl, my grandfather and I would sit together in the backyard for hours. He’d tell me stories and point out the stars.

My grandfather lived in China, thousands of miles away from my home in Kansas. I loved the stars because they kept us together even when we were apart. They were always there, yet there was so much I didn’t know about them. That’s what I love so much about space. No matter how much we learn, it will always possess some mystery.

In the past, space exploration may have been a competition to see who got somewhere first or the fastest. But now, it is one of the few things that bring people together. Science is a language that needs no translation. It doesn’t matter where you’re from or what you look like – you just have to have a thirst for knowledge and a passion for learning in order to succeed.

People often ask me why we go to faraway places like Mars. Why do we explore? My answer to that is simple: because we can; because we’re curious; because we as human beings do not just stay holed up in one place. We are constantly wondering and trying to find out what’s over the hill and beyond the horizon.

The curiosity rover is more than just a robot. It is more than just a titanium body and aluminum wheels. Curiosity represents the hard work, passion, love and commitment of thousands of people from all over the world who were brought together by science. Science is so awesome. It is breathtaking and mind-blowing; and sometimes, it’s just a little bit crazy. The discoveries we make about our world are incredibly humbling. They move us forward and have the potential to benefit all of mankind.

This December it will be four years of my life that have been tied to Curiosity in some way. I’ve met so many amazing people through this experience, from scientists to engineers to administrators to volunteers. Their devotion and enthusiasm inspire me greatly. My journey with Curiosity and the MSL mission team has shaped the person that I am today, as well as the person I would one day like to become.

I am deeply grateful to everyone who made it possible for me to have this amazing adventure.

And to you, I hope your curiosity takes you far.

1. The method the writer uses to begin the passage is _____.

A.telling a story                          B.giving an example

C.offering an explanation                   D.describing a scene

2.Why did the writer hurry home to finish the essay for the contest NASA held?

A.She had just gathered enough information from Time for Kids

B.She wanted to write down what flashed through her mind in time.

C.She knew from Mrs. Estevez the deadline for the contest was approaching.

D.She was afraid she might miss the chance to compete with the former winner.

3. The writer mentions her grandfather in order to show that ______.

A.she missed him very much.

B.he knew a great deal about space

C.he influenced her to love the stars

D.she treasured their happy moments

4.Which of the following serves as a summary of Paragraph 11?

A.The writer was inspired to be a volunteer by the people she met.

B.The writer owed her success to her team members’ encouragement.

C.The writer met many difficulties in her four-year life with Curiosity.

D.The writer has benefited a lot from her experience tied to Curiosity.

5.Which best describes the writer’s tone in the passage?

A.Sharp.            B.Proud.            C.Aggressive.        D.Enthusiastic.

6.What is conveyed in the passage?

A.Curiosity is important to human beings.

B.A thirst for knowledge helps one grow up.

C.Entering a contest is a way to achieve success.

D.Curiosity changes people’s attitude towards science.

 

Ginny Ruffner is one of the best-known glass artists in the United States. Her one-of-a-kind pieces are colorful, detailed and often humorous. Over the years, she became famous for a method called lamp working, also known as flame working. It involves using a torch to melt and shape the glass instead of blowing on it.

Ginny Ruffner almost died in a three-car accident in 1991. No one thought the Seattle-based artist would ever walk or talk again. An award-winning(优等的) film documentary explores that period of her life. "It's scary when you can't talk, you can't do... all your life." said Ruffner.

Ms. Ruffner was in a coma(昏迷) for five weeks and a wheelchair for five years. But she overcame her injuries. And although she still has difficulty walking and talking, she has willed herself back to work. Now, she has a team that helps bring her dream to life.

Her team recently finished an eight point five meter-high flowerpot made of steel and aluminum. It is now in downtown Seattle. Ms. Ruffner was recently honored in Washington, DC.  The Renwick Gallery presented a special showing of the film, "A Not So Still Life, the Ginny Ruffner Story."

Ms. Ruffner says “it has been a long battle, but the hardest part has not been the physical problems. I hate being taken for granted, being ignored. The way I talk, people assume that I'm either really old, or kind of retarded(智力迟钝的), and that is so frustrating."

But she is firm. She says "Fortunately I've done a lot of stuff in my life, so I know that the best thing is to be open to the mystery, who knows what great things will happen. I'm sure they're many more to come."

Ginny Ruffner's art can be seen in more than forty museums around the world. Her work and her life continue to motivate people of all ages.

1.Within five years after a car accident, Ginny Ruffner _____.

A.was unconscious of everything

B.had trouble walking and talking

C.got over injuries completely

D.went back to her work

2.From this passage we can learn _____.

A.Ginny Ruffner finished an eight point five meter-high flowerpot made of steel and aluminum himself

B.The Renwick Gallery made him a the film documentary , "A Not So Still Life, the Ginny Ruffner Story."

C.Ginny Ruffner's art is shown in more than forty museums in the United States

D.Ginny Ruffner’s story has encouraged people to do what they want to

3.What was the most difficult to accept for Ginny Ruffner?

A.The physical disabilities

B.Being considered old andstupidity

C.Being looked down upon

D.Being mistaken as a useless man

4.The best title of this passage is _____.

A. A New Exhibit of Bright Life

B.The Life of a Glass Artist

C. A New product of a glass artist

D.The Introduction of a Great Glass Artist

5.From this passage we can know Ginny Ruffner is _____.

A.determined and optimistic

B.ambitious and stubborn

C.hopeful and energetic

D.devoted and active

 

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