Birds do it. People do it. Owls do it in the daytime. Even Caenorhabditis elegans, a primitive roundworm made up of a few thousand cells, does something that looks an awful lot like it. Sleep is an ancient, universal experience.
But partly because it is so commonplace, for a long time sleep was a subject that scientists had not woken up to. It is only in the past half-century or so that it has attracted the attention of dedicated researchers. A new book from Kenneth Miller, a science journalist, sets out to elaborate the field’s short but fascinating history. The book is organized around the life and hard work of a scientist named Nathaniel Kleitman who set up a pioneering sleep-research programme at the University of Chicago.
The early pages of the book, before there is much in the way of established science to describe, are the weakest. A good deal of time is spent on biographical details and pen portraits of the world through which Kleitman moved. But the story soon picks up. It ranges from the discovery of rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep and circadian rhythms — the biological clocks that govern humanity’s days — to the effects of sleep deprivation (which can be fatal, at least in lab animals). It also probes the purpose, if any, of dreams.
Underlying it all is a sense of psychology's slow maturing as a science. New technologies such as electroencephalographs, which monitor electrical activity in the brain, have offered practitioners the ability to study brains directly, rather than trying to infer what they are doing from the behaviour of their owners.
Discoveries often lead to new questions in turn. That is why neat, tidy endings are hard to achieve in science books; this one is no difference. Despite all the progress of the past 50 years, scientists are still unsure what sleep is for. For anyone curious about asking the right questions, however, Mr. Miller’s book is a good place to start.
1. What is the book aimed at?| A．Setting up a pioneer programme. |
| B．Introducing the contribution of a scientist. |
| C．Attracting the attention of other researchers. |
| D．Recording the development of sleep research. |
| A．Recovers. | B．Refreshes. | C．Improves. | D．Accelerates. |
| A．Portraits of the author. | B．Sleep patterns and dreams. |
| C．The history of psychology. | D．The importance of the brain. |
| A．Favorable. | B．Disapproving. | C．Doubtful. | D．Ambiguous. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Matt Haig, the best-selling author of the novel “The Midnight”, recommends some books that offer wisdom or comfort in difficult times.
Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Rilke (1929). This is the ultimate comfort read. The book is what the title suggests: letters from an older poet to a younger one. The great thing about Rilke’s advice is that it acknowledges the darkness and suffering of existence, yet manages despite that—or maybe even because of that—to inspire.
When Things Fall Apart by Pema Chödrön(1996). I read this book during the first lockdown, and it was the perfect read for uncertain times. Chödrön is a Buddhist, but the advice and philosophy in these relatively few pages speaks universally. It’s a great book about embracing life in its totality, about seeing hope and suffering as part of a whole.
The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne(1928). The Winnie-the-Pooh stories really speak to people going through tough times. In many ways, each of the characters reflects a different mental state: Eeyore is depressed, Tigger is hyper-active, Piglet is anxious, and Pooh reflects a hope and optimism much needed in recovery. I reread this book when I was ill with a panic disorder, and it soothed me.
Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott (1994). In my opinion, this is the greatest book about writing ever written. But like Rilke, Lamott is offering far more than writing advice. She is offering wisdom on life and how to embrace its imperfect nature.
1. Which book came out first?| A．Bird by Bird. |
| B．The Midnight. |
| C．Letters to a Young Poet. |
| D．The House at Pooh Corner. |
| A．The tough times are everywhere. |
| B．Life consists of hope and suffering. |
| C．People have a variety of mental states. |
| D．The undesirable things of life can be ignored. |
| A．All contain inspiring advice. |
| B．They are based on true facts. |
| C．Matt Haig instructed their novelists. |
| D．Writing will be improved by reading them. |
【推荐2】Every day you have so much to read-official documents, friends' emails, textbooks, newspapers, and your favorite articles and an endless list.
| A．Remember, books are our best friends. |
| B．Different purposes, different reading speed. |
| C．So, take in the spirit within yourself slowly. |
| D．So, does that mean you have to read faster？ |
| E．So, why not follow tips given in this article？ |
| F．Be a better reader by absorbing the message given in the text being read. |
| G．One such technique is to use a finger to keep focusing on the line being read. |
【推荐3】Teens and younger children are reading a lot less for fun, according to a Common Sense Media report published Monday.
While the decline over the past decade is steep for teen readers, some data in the report shows that reading remains a big part of many children’s lives, and indicates how parents might help encourage more reading.
According to the report’s key findings, “the proportion (比例) who say they hardly ever” read for fun has gone from 8 percent of 13-year-olds and 9 percent of 17-year-olds in 1984 to 22 percent and 27 percent respectively today.
The report data shows that pleasure reading levels for younger children, ages 2 — 8, remain largely the same. But the amount of time spent in reading each session has declined, from closer to an hour or more to closer to a half hour per session.
When it comes to technology and reading, the report does little to counsel (建议) parents looking for data about the effect of e-readers and tablets on reading. It does point out that many parents still limit electronic reading, mainly due to concerns about increased screen time.
The most hopeful data shared in the report shows clear evidence of parents serving as examples and important guides for their kids when it comes to reading. Data shows that kids and teens who do read frequently, compared to infrequent readers, have more books in the home, more books purchased for them, parents who read more often, and parents who set aside time for them to read.
As the end of school approaches, and school vacation reading lists loom (逼近) ahead, parents might take this chance to step in and make their own summer reading list and plan a family trip to the library or bookstore.
1. What is the Common Sense Media report probably about?| A．Children’s reading habits. | B．Quality of children’s books. |
| C．Children’s after-class activities. | D．Parent-child relationships. |
| A．E-books are of poor quality. | B．It could be a waste of time. |
| C．It may harm children’s health. | D．E-readers are expensive. |
| A．Act as role models for them. | B．Ask them to write book reports. |
| C．Set up reading groups for them. | D．Talk with their reading class teachers. |
【推荐1】Here are two interesting questions. Are you very happy with your life now? Are people happier as they get older? A study found that people generally become happier and experience less worry after age 50. In fact, it-found that by the age of 85, people are happier with their life than they were at 18.
The finding came from a Gallup survey of more than 340,000 adults between the age of 18 and 85 in the United States.
Arthur Stone in. the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Stony Brook University in New York led the study. His team found that levels of stress were highest among adults between the ages of 22 and 25. Stress levels dropped sharply after people reached their fifties.
Happiness was highest among the youngest adults and those in their early seventies. But the people least likely to report feeling negative emotions were those in their seventies and eighties. The survey also found that men and women had similar emotional patterns as they grow older. However, women at all ages reported more sadness, stress and worry than men did.
The researchers also considered possible influences like. having young children, being unemployed or being single. But they found that influences like these did not affect the levels of happiness and well-being related to age.
So why would happiness increase with age? One theory is that, as people get older, they become more thankful for what they have and have better control of their emotions. They also spend less time thinking about bad experiences.
The original goal of the study was to confirm the popular belief that aging is connected with increased sleep problems. The survey did find an increase during middle age, especially in women. But except for that, people reported that they felt their sleep quality, improved as they got older.
1. Which age group of adults feel most stressful according to the study?| A．The adults in their twenties. | B．The adults in their fifties. |
| C．The adults in their seventies. | D．The adults in their eighties. |
| A．People in their seventies enjoy the highest level of happiness. |
| B．Stress levels will drop sharply when people are becoming older. |
| C．Young adults have low level of stress because they are healthier. |
| D．Women of all ages are more likely to be in negative emotion than men. |
| A．Because elder people have enough money to spend. |
| B．Because elder people are more thankful with their life. |
| C．Because elder people don't have to work hard every day. |
| D．Because elder spend more time considering bad experiences. |
| A．There is connection of sleep and happiness. |
| B．Aging is connected with increased sleep problems. |
| C．The older people are becoming, the worse sleep quality they have. |
| D．Sleep quality will drop during middle age but then will improve as they get older. |
Waste to Energy—JUST BURN IT!
WHY BURN WASTE?
Waste-to-energy plants generate (产生) enough electricity to supply 2.4 million households in the US. But, providing electricity is not the major advantage of waste-to-energy plants. In fact, it costs more to generate electricity at a waste-to-energy plant than it does at a coal, nuclear, or hydropower plant.
The major advantage of burning waste is that it considerably reduces the amount of trash going to landfills. The average American produces more than 1,600 pounds of waste a year. If all this waste were landfilled, it would take more than two cubic yards of landfill space. That’s the volume of a box three feet long, three feet wide, and six feet high. If that waste were burned, the ashes would fit into a box three feet long, three feet wide, but only nine inches high!
Some communities in the Northeast may be running out of land for new landfills. And, since most people don’t want landfills in their backyards, it has become more difficult to obtain permits to build new landfills. Taking the country as a whole, the United States has plenty of open space, of course, but it is expensive to transport garbage a long distance to put it into a landfill.
TO BURN OR NOT TO BURN?
Some people are concerned that burning garbage may harm the environment. Like coal plants, waste-to-energy plants produce air pollution when the fuel is burned to produce steam or electricity. Burning garbage releases the chemicals and substances found in the waste. Some chemicals can be a threat to people, the environment, or both, if they are not properly controlled.
Some critics of waste-to-energy plants are afraid that burning waste will hamper (妨碍，阻碍) recycling programs. If everyone sends their trash to a waste-to-energy plant, they say, there will be little motive to recycle. Several states have considered or are considering banning waste-to-energy plants unless recycling programs are in place. Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York City have delayed new waste-to-energy plants, hoping to increase the level of recycling first.
So, what’s the real story? Can recycling and burning waste coexist? At first glance, recycling and waste-to-energy seem to be at odds (不一致), but they can actually complement (弥补) each other. That’s because it makes good sense to recycle some materials, and better sense to burn others.
Let’s look at aluminum, for example. Aluminum mineral is so expensive to mine that recycling aluminum more than pays for itself. Burning it produces no energy. So clearly, aluminum is valuable to recycle and not useful to burn.
Paper, on the other hand, can either be burned or recycled—it all depends on the price the used paper will bring.
Plastics are another matter. Because plastics are made from petroleum and natural gas, they are excellent sources of energy for waste-to-energy plants. This is especially true since plastics are not as easy to recycle as steel, aluminum, or paper. Plastics almost always have to be hand sorted and making a product from recycled plastics may cost more than making it from new materials.
To burn or not to burn is not really the question. We should use both recycling and waste-to-energy as alternatives to landfilling.
Waste to Energy—JUST BURN IT!
| WHY BURN WASTE? | Advantages of waste to Energy | ◆Though at a high |
| ◆Some communities | ||
| TO BURNOR NOTTO BURN? | ◆Burning garbage releases chemicals, which, if notproperly controlled, can be | |
| Coexistence of recycling and burning waste | Recycling and waste-to-energy can go well with each other in that some materials like aluminum are fit to recycle, while others like plastics are fit to | |
| Whether to burn or not to burn, we should | ||
【推荐3】Are you good with money? I learned to be careful with it during my childhood. My father would give me some pocket money and tell me it should last for a whole week. So, I learned I had to save some if I didn’t want to run out of cash quickly. No surprise there: my dad was an accountant!
It’s never too early to become money savvy. That’s what British personal finances expert Martin Lewis thinks. He is part of a successful campaign to include financial education on the school lessons in England. It will be planted in maths and citizenship education. This includes children from 5 to 16 years old. Lewis says: “We eagerly need to break the cycle of financial illiteracy(无知) in the UK” Lewis has made millions from his website which advises people to be saving and refuses any suggestion that he is tight. The expert says in an interview with the English newspaper the Daily Express: “The better you are with your cash, the better your life can be. People think I am telling them to stop spending money but I am simply telling them to spend it wisely.” The British say ‘take care of the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves’. It means you have to watch your daily expenses and not just the big purchases in your life such as houses.
Being careful with money pays off. Banks in Britain recently found themselves having to make up for a large number of people who were persuaded to part with their cash and buy insurance policies (保单)they didn’t need. Many wasted their money on investments(投资) which were not for them. Few have the patience to read the small print.
1. The underlined words “money savvy” in Paragraph 2 refers to _______.| A．a person who is crazy about money |
| B．a person who is good with money |
| C．a person who is careless with money |
| D．a person who has nothing to do with money |
| A．It’s no good. | B．It is never too late. |
| C．The earlier, the better. | D．It’s not helpful. |
| A．Martin Lewis is a maths teacher good at financial education. |
| B．Martin Lewis is a successful personal finances expert. |
| C．Martin Lewis is an expert making his fortune in interviews. |
| D．Martin Lewis is careful with his pennies in purchasing houses. |
| A．Banks in Britain were eager to have people part with their cash. |
| B．Buying insurance policies means you are careful with money. |
| C．People are unwilling to spend their money on some investments. |
| D．People are easy to miss the small print on insurance policies. |
【推荐1】According to cognitive scientist Ben Goertzel, the world is experiencing a historic moment in artificial intelligence (AI) technology. Goertzel acknowledges that there is plenty of hype (炒作) surrounding the technology but believes that the new large language models that power generative AI have the potential to change the world.
Goertzel believes that generative AI models — like the one that powers ChatGPT-have the potential to replace many tasks currently performed by human workers. Fast-food workers and news copy editors, for example, are impacted by AI.
“Tools like Grammarly decrease the need for human editors,” Goertzel said. “They don’t entirely eliminate the job but they decrease that need. Automatic tools can be used for writing journalistic articles. They’ve been writing. . . sports score summaries and weather reports for a long time.”
Despite this, he identifies two main areas AI will not replace: jobs that rely on human interaction and require groundbreaking creativity.
“So one class of things that won’t be eliminated are jobs where the essence is human contact,” like preschool teachers, political strategists, and artists.
Generative AI chatbots are so powerful that it’s difficult to avoid wondering whether the system is conscious.
Goertzel says it doesn’t matter.
“I don’t think we need to resolve the open questions in the philosophy of consciousness to build human-level or even superhuman thinking machines,” he said. “But I think we can make these questions feel irrelevant.”
Goertzel’s insights open a door to understanding the future of AI, and his optimism about the potential of AI to revolutionize the world serves as a powerful reminder of the impact AI may have on society. Whether viewed with excitement or caution, the advancements in AI will surely cause deep thought and discussion for years to come.
1. What does the underlined word “eliminate” in paragraph 3 mean?| A．Remove. | B．Repeat. | C．Improve. | D．Solve. |
| A．Artists. | B．Fast-food workers. |
| C．Preschool teachers. | D．Political strategists. |
| A．He likes it. | B．He thinks it puzzling. |
| C．He doesn’t accept it as part of his life. | D．He suggests putting its philosophical questions aside. |
| A．A World-Changing Breakthrough in AI | B．The Potential of AI in Fast-food Industry |
| C．Ben Goertzel’s Opinions on the Impact of AI | D．The Advancements in Generative AI |
【推荐2】Electronic sensors built into paper could be used in a range of ways from information storage to touch screens and more.
Electronic sensors built into cartons（纸盒）may make it easier to tell when it’s time to throw out rotten milk or orange juice. And that’s just the start. At least that’s the goal for researchers working on putting electronics into paper. They’re trying to figure out how to combine the flexibility, low-cost and recyclability of paper with the information-carrying ability of electronics.
Daniel Torbjork, a physics graduate student in Finland, has been working on the problem. He’s published a review of the field in the journal Advanced Materials.
Much research has been focused in this area. While most electronic applications require patterned conducting structures, conductive paper could be used in applications such as energy storage devices, sensors, electric heaters and others, according to Torbjork.
“You could even have some interactive functions in magazines,” Torbjork said, “You could put a simple game in a package. If you want a touch screen, press a button and then something happen. Sensors in paper could tell us when something has gone bad.”
Additional applications, such as information storage and security paper, have been suggested for magnetic papers containing magnetite. In Massachusetts, researchers have figured out how to post a video of such a device put into a paper airplane.
German researchers have also put electronic chips in paper bank notes to defend counter-feiters（造伪币者）. Paper is a good material but printing electronics also requires low-cost manufacturing. As many US and European paper makers lose market share to cheaper paper from China, these big paper companies are looking for added value products. That’s where electronic paper devices could make a difference.
“The major obstacles are paper’s large surface roughness and chemical impurities.” Torbjork says. But others in the field think that electronic sensors in paper are still far from the consumer marketplace.
“I don’t think it’s going to happen.” said Roy Horgan. “You need a conductive surface. It could be 10 years out. What we are looking for are solutions that you can commercialize today.”
Solar Print is partnering with Italian automaker Fiat to develop a unique auto-glass with tiny photostatic cells（光电）that can capture electricity from the sun. In the meantime, using paper to conduct electricity is still a “blue-sky” project.
“I would love to see someone prove me wrong, because that means that it’s actually happening.” Horgan said. “If someone comes up with conductive paper, then that’s a very interesting technology.”
1. Putting electronics into paper will ________.| A．cut the cost and impurity of paper |
| B．depend on flexible conductive structure |
| C．help consume rotten milk or orange juice |
| D．combine the advantages of paper and electronics |
| A．practical use | B．theories |
| C．structures | D．design process |
| A．put an end to fake money | B．make the paper smoother |
| C．add more value to paper | D．improve the printing technology |
| A．has a burning desire to make a great profit |
| B．showed much interest in Solar Print industry |
| C．is not confident about the conductive paper |
| D．started a “blue-sky” project to study paper |
【推荐3】When 62-year-old fisherman Kpana Charlie finished the day’s catch, he liked to settle into a wooden chair, thinking about his childhood. Back then, his life on Sierra Leone’s Nyangai Island seemed excellent. He spent endless hours playing with his friends on the island’s white beaches. Whenever he wanted to avoid having to do his housework, he could simply disappear into the forest that covered much of the island. He remembers as recently as ten years ago, it still measured some 2, 300 feet from end to end.
Today, Nyangai is disappearing before his very eyes, covered by the endless sea. The forests are gone. And the land on which Charlie’s family home once stood, has long since disappeared beneath the waves.
In fact, the local government has responded to the sharp increase of sea level by building a concrete (混凝土制的) seawall along the length of the town. But in the many smaller coastal towns and villages in the area, there simply aren’t the resources. Then, the government made a project to protect some of the settlements by planting trees, but this has had limited success. With the population relying on woods for building and smoking-fish, few trees lived longer than the project, which ended in 2021.
Sierra Leone has been identified as one of the world’s most weak countries to the effects of climate change, despite having little influence on global CO2 emissions (排放). “Weak countries should be getting some support from wealthy nations to strengthen their climate defenses (防御),” says Gabriel Kpaka, the head of the country’s Meteorological Agency. “But we’re not really seeing that.”
With global sea level expected to rise by anywhere between 1 and 3 feet by the end of the century, along with an increase in extreme weather events, the experience of this West African island offers an understanding of the possible future of countless other low-lying areas around the world.
1. Why does the author tell Charlie’s story in paragraph 1?| A．To describe his wonderful life at present. | B．To offer-readers-background information |
| C．To call on local people to protect the seen | D．To attract more visitors to Nyangai Island. |
| A．The reasons for the changes on the island. | B．The rich natural species in coastal areas. |
| C．The measures taken to deal with rising sea level. | D．The way to build a concrete seawall on the island. |
| A．Local government should build a stronger seawall. |
| B．Local people on the island limit their CO2 emissions. |
| C．Countries in low-lying areas work together for their rights. |
| D．Rich countries should offer support about climate defenses. |
| A．Concerned. | B．Doubtful. | C．Uncertain. | D．Positive. |
