Have you winterized your horse yet? Even though global warming may have made our climate more mild, many animals are still hibernating(冬眠) .It’s too bad that humans can’t hibernate. In fact, as a species, we almost did.

Apparently, at times in the past , peasants in France liked a semi-state of human hibernation . So writes Graham Robb, a British scholar who has studied the sleeping habits of the French peasants. As soon as the weather turned cold people all over France shut themselves away and practiced the forgotten art of doing nothing at all for months on end.

In line with this, Jeff Warren, a producer at CBC Radio’s The Current, tells us that the way we sleep has changed fundamentally since the invention of artificial(人造的) lighting and the electric bulb.

When historians began studying texts of the Middle Ages, they noticed something referred to as “first sleep”, which was not clarified, though.  Now scientists are telling us our ancestors most likely slept in separate periods. The business of eight hours’ uninterrupted sleep is a modern invention.

In the past , without the artificial light of the city to bathe in, humans went to sleep when it became dark and then woke themselves around midnight. The late night period was known as ”The Watch” It was when people actually kept watch against wild animals ,although many of them simply moved around or visited family and neighbours .

According to some sleep researchers, a short period of insomnia(失眠) at midnight is not a disorder .It is normal . Humans can experience another state of consciousness  around their sleeping, which occurs in the brief period before we fall asleep or wake ourselves in the morning .This period can be an extraordinarily creative time for some people .The impressive inventor, Thomas Edison , used this state to hit upon many of his new ideas.

Playing with your sleep rhythms can be adventurous  ,as anxiety may set in. Medical science doesn’t help much in this case. It offers us medicines for a full night’s continuous sleep, which sounds natural ; however, according to Warren’s theory,it is really the opposite of what we need.

67.The example of the French peasants shows the fact that________.

  A. people might become lazy as a result of too much sleep

  B. there were signs of hibernation in human sleeping habits

  C.people tended to sleep more peacefully in cold weather

  D. winter was a season for people to sleep for months on end

68. The late night was called “The Watch”because it was a time for people______.

  A. to set traps to catch animals

  B. to wake up their family and neighbours

  C. to remind others of the time

  D.to guard against possible dangers

69. What does the author advise people to do ?

  A. Sleep in the way animals do.

  B.Consult a doctor if they can’t sleep.

  C.Follow their natural sleep rhythm.

  D.Keep to the eight-hour sleep pattern.

70.What is the author’s purpose in writing the passage?

A.To give a prescription for insomnia.

B.To urge people to sleep less.

C.To analyze the sleep pattern of modern people.

D.To throw new light on human sleep.

New evidence shows that getting enough Vitamin D may be the most important thing you can do for your health.

You know the usual prescription for good health: a balanced diet with lots of fruits and vegetables, regular exercise, no smoking.Now add this: Spend a little more time in the sun.

    Huh? That may sound like medical heresy (反面观点).After all, we've been warned for decades about the dangers of the sun: wrinkles, age spots and the increasing threat of skin cancer.But new and impressive medical evidence suggests that sunlight is beneficial.The vitamin D it prompts our bodies to make may prevent cancer, protect against heart disease and ward off a long list of disorders such as multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes and gum disease.It is even showing promise as a treatment for heart disease and some cancers.

    Long recognized as vitally important for bone building (it's needed for calcium absorption), vitamin D has now achieved superstar status among nutrients.While all doctors may not agree, many experts are confident enough of its wide-ranging powers to urge that we get much more of it, from the sun and from supplements, as even the best diet in the world may not give us enough.

Which of the following is NOT the usual way of keeping healthy?

     A.To do exercise now and then.

     B.To eat plenty of fruits and vegetables.

     C.To avoid staying in the sun for a long time.

     D.To keep away from cigarettes.

What does the underlined word “prompts” in the third paragraph mean?

     A.causes              B.forces          C.motivates    D.encourages

According to the passage, vitamin D ________.

     A.can be got by doing regular exercise

     B.can be used to prevent some cancers

     C.can be got from the sunlight

     D.can be used to remove the wrinkles

The passage is most likely from a(an) ________.

     A.advertisement       B.news report        

       C.magazine             D.medical prescription

I love charity shops and so do lots of other people in Britain because you find quite a few of them on every high street. The charity shop is a British institution, selling everything from clothes to electric goods, all at very good prices. You can get things you won’t find in the shops anymore. The thing I like best about them is that your money is going to a good cause and not into the pockets of profit-driven companies, and you are not damaging the planet, but finding a new home for unwanted goods.

The first charity shop was opened in 1947 by Oxfam. The famous charity’s appeal to aid postwar Greece had been so successful it had been flooded with donations(捐赠物). They decided to set up a shop to sell some of these donations to raise money for that appeal. Now there are over 7,000 charity shops in the UK. My favourite charity shop in my hometown is the Red Cross shop, where I always find children’s books, all 10 or 20 pence each.

Most of the people working in the charity shops are volunteers, although there is often a manager who gets paid. Over 90% of the goods in the charity shops are donated by the public. Every morning you see bags of unwanted items outside the front of shops, although they don’t encourage this, rather ask people to bring things in when the shop is open.

The shops have very low running costs: all profits go to charity work. Charity shops raise more than £110 million a year, funding(资助)medical research, overseas aid, supporting sick and poor children, homeless and disabled people, and much more. What better place to spend your money? You get something special for a very good price and a good moral sense. You provide funds to a good cause and tread lightly on the environment.

The author loves the charity shop mainly because of _______.

   A. its convenient location

   B. its great variety of goods

   C. its spirit of goodwill

   D. its nice shopping environment

The first charity shop in the UK was set up to ____.

   A. sell cheap products

   B. deal with unwanted things

   C. raise money for patients

   D. help a foreign country

Which of the following is TRUE about charity shops?

   A. The operating costs are very low.

   B. The staff are usually well paid.

   C. 90% of the donations are second-hand.

   D. They are open twenty-four hours a day.

Which of the following may be the best title for the passage?

   A. What to Buy a Charity Shops.

   B. Charity Shop: Its Origin & Development.

   C. Charity Shop: Where You Buy to Donate.

   D. The Public’s Concern about Charity Shops.

A rainforest is an area covered by tall trees with the total high rainfall spreading quite equally through the year and the temperature rarely dipping below l6℃. Rainforests have a great effect on the world environment because they can take in heat from the sun and adjust the climate. Without the forest cover,these areas would reflect more heat into the atmosphere,warming the rest of the world. Losing the rainforests may also influence wind and rainfall patterns,potentially causing certain natural disasters all over the world.
In the past hundred years,humans have begun destroying rainforests in search of three major resources(资源):land for crops,wood for paper and other products,land for raising farm animals. This action affects the environment as a whole. For example,a lot of carbon dioxide(二氧化碳)in the air comes from burning the rainforests. People obviously have a need for the resources we gain from cutting trees but we will suffer much more than we will benefit.There are two main reasons for this. Firstly,when people cut down trees,generally they can only use the land for a year or two. Secondly,cutting large sections of rainforests may provide a good supply of wood right now,but in the long run it actually reduces the world’s wood supply.
Rainforests are often called the world’s drug store. More than 25% of the medicines we use today come from plants in rainforests. However,fewer than l%of rainforest plants have been examined for their medical value. It is extremely likely that our best chance to cure diseases lies somewhere in the world’s shrinking rainforests.
【小题1】Rainforests can help to adjust the climate because they      

A.reflect more heat into the atmosphere
B.bring about high rainfall throughout the world
C.rarely cause the temperature to drop lower than l6℃
D.reduce the effect of heat from the sun on the earth
【小题2】What does the word “this” underlined in the third paragraph refer to?
A.We will lose much more than we can gain.
B.Humans have begun destroying rainforests.
C.People have a strong desire for resources.
D.Much carbon dioxide comes from burning rainforests.
【小题3】It can be inferred from the text that
A.we can get enough resources without rainforests
B.there is great medicine potential in rainforests
C.we will grow fewer kinds of crops in the gained land
D.the level of annual rainfall affects wind patterns
【小题4】What might be the best title for the text?
A.How to Save Rainforests
B.How to Protect Nature
C.Rainforests and the Environment
D.Rainforests and Medical Development

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