1 . Becoming a real runner

I would never use the word “athletic” to describe myself. To me, athletes are people who really enjoy working out. I remember crying in middle school when I had to run a mile during gym class. I huffed and puffed as I jogged. As I grew up, I would go to the gym, but I never enjoyed working out. That, I thought, was for real runners.

In June 2017, my friend sent me an email that would forever change my attitude towards running. He was training for a 200-mile relay (接力赛) and wanted me to be on his team. I would run three legs between four and six miles each over the course of two days. Figuring that I would never again have the chance to work with some top runners, I immediately agreed, and started running outside to prepare.

That first run was hard. I purposefully avoided Central Park in order to stay away from real runners. After a few blocks, I was already winded, and ran the rest of the way home. I called my mom, choked up, to say I had no hope at all of running this relay. But she encouraged me to keep at it, so I didn't quit. I went from running four miles a week to eight within one month before my advanced training began.

I was frightened going into the first training session with the team as everyone else was super “athletic”. We ran for five miles, and I was significantly slower. However, my teammates were so supportive that I felt the runner’s high, which I had never believed existed.

One day, about two weeks into training, my ankle gave out while I was running in Central Park. I was diagnosed with a stress fracture (应力性骨折). The doctor told me to stop running for two months. It took me a while to face the fact that I was out of the race. My doctor told me that he too had once been struck down with a stress fracture, and the following year, he beat his best running time in a half-marathon. That brought me hope.

I made it through the next two months by picturing myself running again. Just yesterday, for the first time since that fateful day, I took my outdoor run with my physical therapist. I mentioned that I might run a half-marathon the next year. Now I wake up excited for the days I get to run. Maybe I am a “real runner” after all.

1. According to the article, when did the author start to feel passion for running?

A．After she got into the habit of working out.

B．After she got the courage to run outdoors on her own.

C．After she ran with some top runners and got their encouragement.

D．After she broke her ankle in training and stayed in bed for two months.

2. The underlined word in the passage refers to her doctor’s _________.

A．helpful advice.

B．immediate treatment.

C．experience in the marathon.

D．personal experience with an injury.

3. What can we infer from the article about the author?

A．She didn’t take the relay seriously.

B．She had a strict and overprotective mother.

C．She felt disappointed about withdrawing from the race.

D．She would have expected to run a half-marathon if she had won the race.

4. The author’s purpose of writing the article was to _________.

A．urge readers to exercise regularly.

B．share with readers the fun of running.

C．warn readers to be careful about running.

D．encourage readers to pursue their hobbies.

2 . Folk tales have saddled the moon with major responsibilities: moods, increases in crime and even mental disorders are blamed on the Earth's only constant natural satellite. But could the "lunar effect" disturb sleep?

Scientists have long understood that human activity is facilitated by light, be it sunlight, moonlight or artificial light. But a recent study suggests our ability to sleep is distinctly affected by the lunar cycle, even when taking into account artificial sources of light.

Using wrist monitors, researchers tracked sleep patterns in 98 individuals living in three local communities in Argentina over the course of one to two months. One rural community had no electricity access, a second rural community had limited access to electricity, while a third community was located in an urban setting and had full access to electricity.

Participants in all three communities showed the same pattern of sleep oscillations as the moon progressed through its 29.5-day cycle, with sleep duration changing by between 20 and more than 90 minutes, and bedtimes varying by 30 to 80 minutes.

In each community, the peak of participants sleeping less and staying up later occurred in the three-to-five-day period prior to full moon nights, and the opposite occurred on the nights before the new moon, the authors found.

Unsurprisingly, data showed the "lunar phase effect" on sleep appeared to be stronger the more limited access to electricity was.

“The result strongly suggests that human sleep is synchronized with lunar phases regardless of ethnic and socio-cultural background and of the level of urbanisation," the researchers wrote in the journal Science Advances.

De la Iglesia added: “We humans tend to believe that we managed to somehow control nature, and the use of artificial light is a great example of that. But it turns out that there are some forces of nature that we cannot get away from.”

Derk-Jan Dijk, a professor of sleep and physiology and the director of a sleep research centre at the University of Surrey, described the study as exciting but noted that the researchers had not addressed internal influences such as body clocks that could affect sleep patterns.

1. What is the recent study mainly about?

A．The harm of lunar effect.	B．The reliability of folk tales.
C．The function of artificial light.	D．The effect of the lunar cycle on sleep.

2. When did the participants in the experiment sleep least?

A．On the full moon night.	B．On the new moon night.
C．On the night after the new moon.	D．On the night before the full moon.

3. What does the underlined word "that" in the last paragraph but one refer to?

A．Controlling nature.	B．The level of urbanisation.
C．The escape from forces of nature.	D．Synchronizing with lunar phases.

4. What did Derk-Jan Dijk think of the research findings?

A．Groundless.

B．Persuasive.

C．Incomplete.

D．Impressive.