Question

Chinese students aren’t the only ones who have a sleep loss problem. In Australia, teenagers are also missing out on, on average, one hour’s sleep every night during the school week.

   Organized activities and homework push bedtimes later, the first large-scale Australian study of children’s sleeping habits has revealed (顯示). Their sleep deprivation (剝奪) is enough to cause “serious drop-offs in school performance, attention and memory”, and governments should consider later or flexible school start times, said the study’s leader, Tim Olds.

   His survey, of more than 4,000 children aged 9 to 18, found those who slept least did not watch more television but spent their time socializing (相處) with family or friends or listening to music.

   “Almost all children get up at 7 or 7:15 — they have to get to school on time,” said Olds. He favors a later start over an earlier finish because he believes organized sports and activities would still consume the latter end of the day.

   Olds’ research also establishes lack of sleep as a cause of weight gain in children, and a possible source of future problems with depression, anxiety and increased susceptibility (易感性) to illness.

   It was already known that overweight children sleep less, but Professor Olds found sleep duration(時長) was strongly linked to weight across the full range of body sizes. The thinnest children sleep 20 minutes more than the obese. This showed being overweight had no specific effect on sleep patterns, and it was more likely that shorter sleep times stimulate (刺激) appetite and make kids hungry.

   The US National Sleep Foundation says teenagers aged 13 to 18 need eight to nine hours’ sleep a night. Younger school-aged kids need 9 to 11 hours.

   On that basis, Professor Olds said, half of Australian children are under-sleeping on weekdays and a quarter on weekends.

46. The Australian students surveyed don’t sleep enough because they spend more time on the following EXCEPT _____.

   A. organized activities and homework

   B. communication with friends and family

   C. watching television programs

   D. enjoying music 

47.  What effects does lack of sleep directly have on the students according to the survey?

   A. They become overweight but begin to eat less than before.

   B. They feel more depressed and anxious about their school work.

   C. They are more likely to be affected with illness in the future.

   D. They pay less attention in class and their memory declines.

48. Which of the following suggestions did Mr. Olds raise?

   A. The students should go to bed earlier to have longer sleeping time.

   B. The students should participate less in organized activities.

   C. The school should put off the start time in the morning.

   D. The school should finish earlier in the afternoon.

49. What does "obese" in the sixth paragraph mean?

A. average        B. fat        C. sleepless        D. overeating

50. Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A. Australian students usually take part in activities in the afternoon.

B. More students are short of sleep on weekends than on weekdays.

C. Being overweight has an effect on the length of the sleeping time.

D. The survey suggests that teenagers need 8-9 hours’ sleep a night.

Answer 1

46. C. 47. D. 48. C. 49.B. 50. A.

解析:

46. C. 此題歸納了澳洲學(xué)生睡眠不足的原因，文章第3段說這個調(diào)查“found those who slept least did not watch more television”，所以看太多電視并不是影響睡眠的原因。

47. D. 文章第2段提到 “sleep deprivation” 會造成“serious drop-offs in school performance, attention and memory”, 所以選項D是睡眠不足直接造成的結(jié)果。而選項A中提到的肥胖是睡眠不足引起的，但后半部分是錯的，學(xué)生并沒有因此而吃得更少，相反，第6段的最后一句告訴我們睡眠不足會刺激食欲，意味著會吃得更多。選項B、C 不是直接的結(jié)果，只是將來可能出現(xiàn)的情況。睡眠不足是“a possible source of future problems”。

48. C. 此題為推理題，判斷的關(guān)鍵依據(jù)是文章第4段講到Mr Olds “favors a later start over an earlier finish because he believes organized sport and activities would still consume the latter end of the day.”，他希望學(xué)校能推遲上課時間，而不要提早結(jié)束一天的活動上床睡覺，因為運動和活動還是要安排在“the latter end of the day”。在第2段Mr Olds 還說“governments should consider later or flexible school start times”，因此C項正確。

49.B. 詞義猜測題，可充分利用上下文來完成此題。第6段開頭就提出“overweight children sleep less”，瘦的孩子比“obese”的多睡20分鐘，可見“obese”和“overweight”意思是一樣的。

50. A. B項的錯誤在于講反了，更多澳洲學(xué)生平時比周末缺少睡眠。在文章最后一句話可找到論據(jù)。C項談的是肥胖和睡眠時間的關(guān)系，“being overweight had no specific effect on sleep patterns, and it was more likely that shorter sleep times triggered appetite-stimulating hormones”說明肥胖并不是睡眠時間少的原因，而是睡眠不足刺激食欲引起了肥胖，因此C項錯誤。青少年需要的睡眠時間是The US National Sleep Foundation提出來的，和此調(diào)查無關(guān)�！皁rganized sport and activities would still consume the latter end of the day”，從“still”可推測學(xué)生通常在一天的后半段時間進行活動和鍛煉，所以A項正確。