We’re all familiar with songs getting stuck in our head while we’re awake, but it turns out this can happen during sleep as well. A new study investigating the phenomenon indicates that earworms invading（侵入）our brains at night could cause problems in getting to sleep and staying asleep.
“Our brains continue to process music even when none is playing, including apparently while we are asleep,” says Michael Scullin.
He and his colleagues used surveys of 199 people, as well as a sleep lab test involving 50 volunteers, to measure how listening to music before bedtime affects sleep. In particular, the team focused on catchy earworms.
Earworms were reported throughout the night by participants, with those catching an earworm taking longer to fall asleep, spending more time in the light stages of sleep, and waking up more times during the night. Surprisingly, the instrumental versions of the songs caused about twice as many earworms and more subsequent sleep problems than the versions with vocal（声乐）
“We thought that people would have earworms at bedtime when they were trying to fall asleep, but we certainly didn’t know that people would report regularly waking up from sleep with an earworm,” says Scullin. “But we saw that in both the survey and experimental study”.
Past studies have linked late-night music listening with better sleep in those with insomnia（失眠）, perhaps because it can relax the body.
Scullin suggests avoiding listening to music right before bed to limit the chance of a catchy tune taking hold in our minds. Engaging in some other cognitive activity before sleeping, like making a list of jobs for the next day, might also help clear the mind, Scullin says.
“Everyone knows that music listening feels good,” says Scullin. “Adolescents and young adults routinely listen to music near bedtime. But sometimes you can have too much of a good thing.The more you listen to music, the more likely you are to catch an earworm that won’t go away at bedtime. When that happens, chances are your sleep is going to suffer.”
1. What may happen to us if we have earworms at night?| A．We may have a sound sleep. | B．We may fall asleep in no time. |
| C．We may wake up fewer times. | D．We may suffer a light sleep. |
| A．People have earworms at bedtime. |
| B．People wake up from sleep with an earworm. |
| C．People have more problems with vocal versions. |
| D．People suffer earworms after hearing instrumental songs. |
| A．List the songs we have listened to. | B．Avoid listening to music. |
| C．Listen to music to relax our body. | D．Count worms to fall asleep soon. |
| A．Late night music gets you to sleep soon. | B．Music can relax your body. |
| C．Earworms hurt you when you are asleep. | D．Many people have sleep problems at night. |
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【推荐1】What is the likelihood of you having someone who looks just like you? Would it be a good thing? And if you did have one, would you want to meet them?
Consider how often your facial features are used to identify you. Your passport, ID card and driving license all feature your face.
The word “doppelgänger” refers to a person who looks the same as you, essentially sharing your features; those that you thought were unique to you and your identity. Not identical twins, as a doppelgänger has no relation to you. The idea originated in German folklore.
So, let's get real. What are the chances of you having one in the first place? There's said to be a one in 135 chance of an exact match for you existing anywhere in the world, so the chances are pretty low, despite folk wisdom promising you otherwise. And the chances of meeting? The mathematical certainty of finding this particular person is supposedly less than one in a trillion.
That said, these statistics may be a good thing. Historically, having a double wasn't always a positive. Back in 1999, an innocent American man, indistinguishable from the real criminal, was sent to prison for robbery, where he stayed for 19 years.
| A．In the end, it turned out to be a case of mistaken identity. |
| B．Doppelgängers will also have some of the same DNA as you. |
| C．To enter your workplace, you likely need to be recognizable. |
| D．Why are people interested in finding their possible doppelgangers? |
| E．Eventually, discovering a person's doppelgänger might widen trust boundaries. |
| F．A doppelgänger was said to be a spirit-double that copied every human and beast on earth. |
【推荐2】“Inspector Sands to the control room, please.” If you ever hear that at a British train station, don’t panic. But you might appreciate knowing that this is a codeword meant to inform staff that there is an emergency somewhere in the building. The idea is to avoid causing alarm among commuters(通勤者), but still get the message out to those trained to deal with the problem.
The subject of secret codewords like this was raised this week on Reddit, and the discussion has attracted thousands of examples. But what codewords and signs are really out there in the wild?
A good place to start is hospital emergency codes. These are often colour-coded, and one health centre in Canada has published its list online. “Code red” announces a fire, “code white” indicates a violent person while “code black” means a bomb threat is active. It’s been reported that hospital staff sometimes refer to the morgue as “Rose Cottage”, in order to avoid upsetting relatives of a patient who has recently died.
“I can see very good reasons for having these codes,” says Paul Baker, a linguist at the University of Lancaster. “It may be that people are unsure when they’re giving the code so there’s no point upsetting members of the public.”
Not all codes are alphanumeric(字母数字混合的). Some are visual, intended to be hidden in plain sight. As BBC Future discovered earlier this year, many banknotes feature a specific pattern of dots placed there to prevent people from photocopying money. Many copiers and scanners are programmed to spot it.
And finally, the spray-painted squiggles(扭曲的线条) you see on pavements in towns and cities all over the world are codes understood by construction workers and engineers. For example, in UK, different colours are related to different types of cable or pipe. Blue meant a water system while yellow indicated gas lines and green labelled CCTV or data wiring.
All of these codes have a purpose — to avoid causing panic, to transmit subtle signals in social groups, or to provide technical information quickly and easily. “People don’t like secrets, do they?” says Baker. “There is a drive to have as much information as possible — we do live in the information age,” he adds.
1. The following are purposes of the secret codes except ________.| A．to avoid causing alarm and panic among the public |
| B．to send sensitive signals in social groups |
| C．to provide technical information quickly and easily |
| D．to make people believe you are wiser |
| A．where patients are treated |
| B．where dead bodies are kept |
| C．where a patient has an operation |
| D．where a surgeon cuts open the patient in case of emergency |
| A．2. | B．3. | C．4. | D．5. |
| A．The Secret Codes You Probably don’t know |
| B．Where to Find the Codes |
| C．The Origin of Different Codes |
| D．Secrets in the Modern Society |
【推荐3】What time of day do you feel most alert(清醒的)? Are you more of a morning person? Or does your brain need a few hours to get going? A lot of research suggests that we should pay attention to our body clock. It can tell us what time of day we are best able to perform, according to the Wall Street Journal.
When it comes to the human brain, many people work best later in the morning. This is because the body’s temperature takes time to rise through the day. Taking a warm shower when you wake up can help speed this up.
But everyone’s body clock is different. Morning people will rise early and work better early in the day. Evening people will wake later but their brain will work better toward the end of the day.
Research show that we’re better at some activities at certain times of the day. Physical performance is at its best between 3pm and 6pm, so it’s better to exercise later in the day.
Between noon and 4 pm, people begin to get distracted (思想不集中的). This is partly because our brain becomes less alert after we eat a big meal. Research also shows that we become sleepy around 2 pm.
Finally, it is best to eat during our active periods. This allows our body to burn calories better and stops our blood sugar levels from getting too high.
1. Many people perform best later in the morning because ________.| A．they can’t get up very early. |
| B．they have to take a shower first. |
| C．the body’s temperature needs time to rise. |
| D．that’s when the brain wakes up. |
| A．rise early and work in the morning. |
| B．wake later and work better in the evening. |
| C．rise late and work in the morning |
| D．wake later and work after midnight. |
| A．It’s better to do exercise in the afternoon. |
| B．We perform better after eating a big meal. |
| C．Sleeping at 2 pm is not good for our health. |
| D．Our body burns calories better at night. |
| A．Research about time. | B．The best time to do things. |
| C．Brain performance. | D．Different periods of a day. |
I know lots of women who skip breakfast, and they have a ton of different excuses for doing it. Some say they don’t have time, others think they’re “saving” calories (卡路里), still others just don’t like breakfast food.
But the bottom line is that eating in the morning is very important when you’re trying to lose weight. “Eating just about anything from 300 to 400 calories would be better than nothing at all,” says Katherine Brooking, R. D., who developed the super-easy eating plan for this year’s “SELF CHALLENGE”. And even pizza can be healthy if it’s loaded with vegetables, and you stick to one small piece.
Breakfast is one meal I never miss, and the same goes for most weight loss success stories. Research shows that eating breakfast keeps you from overeating later in the day. Researchers at the University of Southern California found that breakfast skippers have a bigger chance of gaining weight than those who regularly have a morning meal.
So eat something in the morning, anything. I know plenty of friends who end up having no breakfast altogether, and have just coffee or orange juice. I say, try heating up last night’s leftovers — it may sound crazy, but if it works for you, do it! I find if I tell myself, “You can always eat it tomorrow,” I put away the leftovers instead of eating more that night. Try it…you may save yourself some pre-bedtime calories. And watch your body gain the fat-burning effects.
1. The word “leftovers” in Paragraph 1 probably means __________.| A．pizza topped with fruit |
| B．things left undone |
| C．meals made of vegetables |
| D．food remaining after a meal. |
| A．eat something for breakfast |
| B．be careful about what you eat |
| C．heat up food before eating it |
| D．eat calorie-controlled food |
| A．Working women usually have breakfast in a hurry. |
| B．Many people have wrong ideas about breakfast. |
| C．There are some easy ways of cooking a meal. |
| D．Eating vegetables helps save energy. |
| A．who go to work early | B．who stay up late |
| C．who want to lose weight | D．who eat before sleep |
| A．Better eat up all the food at dinner in the night. |
| B．Better eat less in the night. |
| C．Better eat leftovers in the morning. |
| D．Better get up late and eat nothing in the morning in order to burn more calories. |
【推荐2】Recently, 14-year-old Harini Logan won the Scripps National Spelling Bee in the United States. She correctly spelled 22 words during 90 seconds. Most Americans, however, would find it difficult to spell any of these words!
From an early age, native English speakers know there are clear differences between how words are pronounced and how they are spelled. But they do not know that the difference is unique to English among major languages. Languages like Italian or Finnish can be spelled more easily because each letter matches to one sound. Students studying these languages can have 90 percent reading accuracy(正确率) after the first year.
In English, many letters have two or more sounds. This is why even after years of learning, students of English are still far below Italian or Finnish students in reading accuracy.
English started as a Germanic language. It is most closely connected to German and Dutch, especially in grammar and basic vocabulary. During the Norman attack in the 12th century, Old English was spoken but French was used in government and legal documents. As a result, more French and Latin words entered the English language.
The printing machine was invented in the late 1400s. This helped to establish English spelling and strengthen the connection between how English is spoken and how it is written. The English of today is how the language was written at the time.
However, the spoken language started to change in the 1500s with the pronunciation of all long vowels(元音), especially in southern England. For example, the word “bite” was pronounced closer to “beet” in 1400, before changing through the years to its present sound. The effect was that the English language had old spellings, but new sounds.
English has 26 letters, but over 44 different sounds depending on the difference of spoken English. There are several sounds from only one letter. For example, the letter “C” can sound like an “S” as in “city.” And it also sounds like a “K” as in “cat.”
1. What is the advantage of Italian compared with English?| A．It has simpler sentences. | B．It expresses more exactly. |
| C．It is easier to pronounce. | D．It’s made up of fewer letters. |
| A．It established today’s English. | B．It made written English simple. |
| C．It changed the spoken language. | D．It separated spellings from sounds. |
| A．Spellings matched sounds. | B．English was easier to learn. |
| C．Old spellings were changed. | D．New sounds were formed. |
| A．What Is the Best Way to Master English |
| B．Why Spelling in English Is so Difficult |
| C．How English Developed into Modern One |
| D．When Letters Started to Have Over One Sound |
【推荐3】Chung Sun-hee breaks eggshells into a powder, dries and saves her coffee grounds, and cuts large vegetable offcuts into smaller pieces. Later, the 5-year-old professional translator will bury them in her backyard, in plots of earth that are given plenty of time to compost before being reused. She will plant tomatoes and corn in the resulting soil. When we lived in an apartment, I would throw away all my food waste into the shared collection containers," Chung said. “But now, I compost almost all of it."
Chung is one of a growing number of city residents who are getting into urban farming, not just to grow their own vegetables, but also as an exercise in waste reduction. “Reducing food waste and the urban farming movement are very closely linked," said Chung. Her new habits reflect a larger change that is taking place in South Korea's heavily populated capital. The country's government banned sending food to landfills in 2005 and, in 2013, also prohibited pouring liquid garbage into the sea. Today, 95 percent food waste is recycled—a remarkable progress from less than 2 percent in 1995. Seoul has managed to cut the amount of food waste produced by 400 tons per day.
Walk along any residential street in Seoul and you'll see why. On Chung’ s street residents emerge at dusk to put small yellow bags in special waste collection containers. Since 2013, South Koreans have been required by law to throw food waste in these bags, priced according to volume and costing the average four person family about $6 a month. By purchasing them from the local convenience store or supermarket, residents are effectively paying a tax on their food waste ahead. In Seoul, this tax pays for about 60 percent of the cost of collecting and processing the city's food waste.
1. What does Chung do with her food waste now?| A．She buries it in her backyard. | B．She throws it into a container. |
| C．She uses it directly to plant crops. | D．She deals with it in a recyclable way. |
| A．South Koreans are accustomed to urban farming. |
| B．Chung's habits have great impacts on people in Seoul. |
| C．South Korea has made a big success in waste reduction. |
| D．Chung has to take further action to deal with food waste. |
| A．By buying small yellow bags. | B．By giving it to tax departments. |
| C．By purchasing food from supermarkets. | D．By spending money on collection containers. |
| A．How to Reduce Food Waste | B．Why We Shouldn’t Waste Food |
| C．The Woman Composting Food Waste | D．The Country Winning the Battle on Food Waste |
