EVERYONE has those nights – you lie in your bed for hours, tossing and turning, totally unable to fall asleep. You wish you could just turn your brain off as if it were a light. That would make things much easier, wouldn’t it?
Now it looks like you are one step closer to this wild dream of yours – scientists from Oxford University, UK have just discovered the “switch” that tells the brain to go to sleep, reported Forbes.
To understand the study, you first need to know that there are two mechanisms (機(jī)能) that regulate sleep. There’s one that we’re already familiar with – our body clock, which works in a 24-hour cycle based on the light changes throughout the day.
The other one is what scientists call the sleep “homeostat (動(dòng)態(tài)平衡系統(tǒng))”. This mechanism has nothing to do with daylight. Instead, it keeps track of the brain’s waking hours and urges it to rest if it has been awake for a long time. “It is similar to the thermostat (自動(dòng)調(diào)溫器) in your home. A thermostat measures temperature and switches on the heating if it’s too cold,” Professor Gero Miesenböck, who led the study, told The Telegraph.
Our bodies use both of the mechanisms to regulate sleep. “The body clock says it’s the right time, and the sleep thermostat has built up pressure during a long waking day,” explained Miesenböck.
There is no way that scientists can trick the body clock. But with the sleep homeostat, there might be something they can do.
The researchers found that the sleep homeostat works by activating a specific group of nerve cells, or neurons, in the brain. They tested their theory on fruit flies by removing the neurons from the insects’ brains. And as expected, they found that the flies without the homeostat neurons did not keep a regular sleep pattern anymore.
Now that scientists have pinpointed (定位) the exact place in the brain – or, the “switch” – that regulates sleep, they can begin investigating (研究) how to activate these cells at any given time so that people can be sent to sleep instantly.
More importantly, figuring out how sleep mechanisms work may also help us to one day unravel one of the oldest mysteries of all: why do we need to sleep in the first place?
【小題1】What is the article mainly about?

A．A new way to treat sleep disorders.

B．The discovery of the sleep “homeostat”.

C．Advice on what to do when you fail to fall asleep.

D．A comparison of the two mechanisms that regulate sleep.

【小題2】How does the author explain the function of the sleep homeostat?

A．Through examples.

B．With comparisons.

C．Through cause and effect analysis.

D．By presenting research findings.

【小題3】What can we conclude from the article?

A．Generally, the sleep homeostat has less effect on people during the day than at night.

B．There is little scientists can do to affect the way the sleep homeostat works.

C．What makes us go to sleep at night is probably a combination of the two mechanisms.

D．The more homeostat neurons there are in one’s brain, the more easily one can fall asleep.

【小題4】The underlined word “unravel” in the last paragraph is closest in meaning to ______.

A．put up with

B．figure out

C．keep track of

D．take notice of

IT’S never a real problem for us when the weather gets cold. We can put on more clothes, stay next to a fireplace, turn on the air conditioner or simply travel to a warmer city to spend the winter – people have many different ways of coping with the cold.
But things are not as easy for plants. Unlike humans, plants can’t move to escape the cold or generate heat to keep themselves warm. So how do they manage to survive the freezing winter?
It turns out that plants have their own strategies too, said a study published on Dec 22 in the journal Nature.
According to researcher Amy Zanne of George Washington University, US, the cold is a big challenge for plants. Their living tissues can be damaged when they freeze. “It’s like a plant’s equivalent to frostbite (凍瘡),” Zanne told Science Daily. Also, the process of freezing and thawing (解凍) can cause air bubbles to form in the plant’s water transport system. “If enough of these air bubbles come together as water thaws they can block the flow of water from the roots to the leaves and kill the plant,” she explained.
To live through cold weather, plants have developed three traits, according to the study. Some plants, such as oak trees, avoid freezing damage by dropping their leaves before the winter chill sets in – effectively shutting off the flow of water between roots and leaves – and growing new leaves and water transport cells when the warm spring returns.
Other plants, pine trees for example, protect themselves by narrowing their water transport cells, which makes it easier for cells to travel among air bubbles.
The third strategy is also the most extreme – some plants die on the ground in winter and start growing as new plants from seeds when conditions get warmer.
However, the study also found that these smart strategies were developed very slowly – over millions of years of evolution. This leads scientists to worry that plants may not be able to deal with human-caused climate change, which has only started occurring over the past few decades.
Scientists are hoping that this study can help people find possible ways to save plants from the threat of climate change.
【小題1】What is the article mainly about?

A．Why plants are not afraid of the winter chill.

B．The ways that plants survive cold weather.

C．Changes in plants’ water transport system in winter.

D．How plants evolve to keep up with climate change.

【小題2】According to the article, if a plant freezes in the winter, ______.

A．it produces more living tissues to stay alive

B．its leaves quickly fall out and its roots begin to die

C．lots of air bubbles form in its water transport system

D．its water transport system could be blocked in the spring

【小題3】How do oak trees usually survive the cold winters?

A．By dropping their leaves before winter.

B．By narrowing their water transport cells.

C．By widening their water transport cells.

D．By leaving only the seeds alive and growing from the seeds in the spring.

【小題4】What are scientists worried about when it comes to plants according to the article?

A．Plants may not be able to adapt to the increasingly cold climate.

B．Human activities might have a great impact on the pace of plants’ evolution.

C．Plants may not be able to evolve fast enough to adapt to human-caused climate change.

D．The strategies plants develop are not good enough to protect them against cold.

Julie was preparing for a trip when her phone slipped into a sink full of water. Panic moment! She quickly picked up the wet phone and tried to turn it on, but nothing worked. Her first reaction? She got dressed, drove to the nearest store, and bought a new model at full price.
A new study finds that fear of losing your phone is a common illness. About 66 percent of those surveyed suffer from nomophobia or “no mobile phone phobia”. Interestingly, more women worry about losing their phone than men.
Fortunately, there’s a solution.
The first step is to figure out if you have nomophobia. Checking your phone too often is one thing, but the true sign of a problem is that you can’t conduct business or go about your routine when the fear becomes so severe.
Do you go to unusual lengths to make sure you have your phone? That’s another sign of a problem. If you find you check your phone plenty of times per hour, or a total of an hour per day, there may be a problem.
Some of the treatments are similar to those for treating anxiety attacks: Leaving the phone behind and not checking e-mail or text messages, and then learning to tolerate the after anxiety. Even if this leads to a high level of worry and stress, the solution is to push through the fear and learn to deal with not having your phone. 
Of course, there are also technological alternatives. Luis Levy, a co-founder at Novy PR, says he uses an application called Cerberus that can automatically track the location of his phone. To find it, he can just go to a Web site and see the phone’s location.
He also insures his phone through a service called Asurion. The company’s description of its product reads like a prescription for anxiety: “60 million phones are lost, stolen or damaged each year. You’ll have complete peace of mind knowing that your phone is protected and you can quickly reconnect with family, friends and work, as soon as the very next day!”
【小題1】Why does the author mention Julie’s experience in the first paragraph?

A．To inform us that mobile phones are useful.

B．To introduce the topic for discussion.

C．To warn us that we should be careful.

D．To tell us we should get phones ready for a trip.

【小題2】The underlined word “nomophobia” in Paragraph 2 means ________.

A．Fear of losing mobile phones

B．Habits of using mobile phones

C．Eagerness for new mobile phones

D．Independence of mobile phones

【小題3】Which of the following is a way to treat nomophobia?

A．Avoiding using phone for some time

B．Learning more about modern technology.

C．Protecting one’s phone against any damage.

D．Not using a mobile phone in one’s daily work.

【小題4】Why can the service called Asurion help to treat nomophobia?

A．It lets you know other people also lose their phones.

B．It will give you a new phone through insurance.

C．It enables you to reconnect with your acquaintance.

D．It gives you a prescription to treat nomophobia.

【小題5】What is the passage mainly about?

A．Solutions to nomophobia.

B．New mobile phone technology.

C．Disadvantages of mobile phone.

D．Attitude toward mobile phone.

A blind baby is doubly handicapped. Not only is it unable to see, but because it cannot receive the visual stimulus（刺激）from its environment that a sighted child does, it is likely to be slow in intellectual development. Now the ten-month old son of Dr. and Mrs. Dennis Daughters is the subject of an unusual psychological experiment designed to prevent a lag（滯后）in the learning process. With the aid of a sonar-type electronic that he wears on his head, infant(嬰兒) Dennis is learning to identify the people and objects in the world around him by means of echoes(回聲).
The device is an improvement of the “Sonicguide”, an instrument produced by Telesensory Systems, Inc., of Palo Alto, Calif, and used by blind adults in addition to a smart or guide dog. As adapted for Dennis, it consists of a battery-powered system about the size of a half dollar that is on a headgear. A transmitter sends out an ultrasonic(超聲的) pulse that creates an 80 degree cone of sound at 6 feet. Echoes from objects within the cone are perceived (felt) as sounds that vary in pitch(音調(diào)) and volume(音量) with the size and distance of the object.
The closer an object is, the lower the pitch, and the larger the object, the louder the signal. Hard surfaces produce a sharp ping, while soft ones send back signals with a slightly fuzzy quality. An object slightly to the right of Denny’s sends back a louder sound to his right ear than to the left. Thus , by simply moving his head right and left and up and down, he can not only locate an object but also get some notion of its shape and size, thanks to the varying qualities of sounds reaching his ears as the cone of ultrasound(超聲波) passes its edges. Dennis likes to use the device to play a kind of peek-a-boo with his mother. Standing on her knee and facing her directly, he receives a strong signal in both ears. By turning his head away, he makes her seem to disappear. “From the first time he wore it,” says Mrs. Daughters, “it was like a light going on in his head.”
What remains to be determined is how well the device will help Dennis cope with his surroundings as he begins to walk and venture further into his environment.
Meanwhile, Telesensory, Inc, is working on the development of sonar(聲納) device with somewhat the same sensitivity as Dennis’s for use by school-age children.
【小題1】Dr. and Mrs. Daughters’ research is directed to ________.

A．helping the blind to see and learn as well as others

B．benefiting the learning process of blind children

C．solving blind children’s psychological problems

D．finding out how children develop intellectually

【小題2】Infant Dennis becomes the subject of the experiment most probably because ________.

A．he already lags behind the sighted children

B．he leads a life as normal as any other children

C．he is at the early stage of the learning process

D．he has the aid of a sonar-type electronic device

【小題3】What can we learn about infant Dennis’ device?

A．Its first design was designed for blind adults.

B．Its battery is as small as a half-dollar coin.

C．It is functionally similar to a sane and guide dog.

D．It has been improved by Telesensory Systems, Inc.

【小題4】In the third paragraph, “its edges” refers to ___________ .

A．the edge of an object

B．the edge of the device

C．the boundary of Dennis’ movement

D．the boundary of the sound pitch.

No one wants to be tested. We would all like to get a driver’s license without answering questionsabout rights of way or showing that we can parallel park a car. Many future lawyers and doctors probablywish they could join their profession without taking an exam. 
But tests and standards are a necessary fact of life. They protect us from unskilled drivers, harmful products and dishonest professionals. In schools too exams play a. constructive role. They tell public officials whether new school programs are making a difference and where new investments are likely to pay off.
They tell teachers what their students have learned--and have not. They tell parents how their children are doing compared with others their age. They encourage students to make more effort. 
It is important to recall that for most of century, educators used intelligence tests to decide whichchildren should get a high-quality education. The point of IQ testing was to find out how much children were capable of learning rather than to test what they had actually learned. Based on IQ scores, millions of children
were assigned to dumbed-down programs instead of solid courses in science, math, history, literature andforeign language. 
This history reminds us that tests should be used to improve education. Every child should have access to a high-quality education. Students should have full opportunity to learn what will be tested; otherwise theirscores will merely reflect whether they come from an educated family. 
In the past few years, we have seen the enormous benefits that flow to disadvantaged students because of the information provided by state tests. Those who fall behind are now getting extra instruction inafter-school classes and summer programs. In their efforts to improve student performance, states are
increasing teachers salaries, testing new teachers and insisting on better teacher education. 
Performance in education means the mastery of both knowledge and skills. This is why it is reasonable totest teachers to make sure they know their subject matter, as well as how to teach it to young children. And this is why it is reasonable to assess whether students are ready to advance to the next grade or graduate 
from high school.
【小題1】According to the passage, school exams enable ______. 

A．governments to make right policieshave made efforts

B．students to meet their teachers' requirements

C．teachers to understand if their students

D．parents to compare their kids' behavior across schools

【小題2】"Dumbed - down programs" in Paragraph 3 refer to the programs which       .

A．lead to high-quality education

B．a(chǎn)re less academically challenging

C．a(chǎn)re intended for intelligent students

D．enable children to make steady progress

【小題3】Which of the following does the author probably agree with?

A．Disadvantaged students can benefit from state tests.

B．Tests should focus on what students have actually learned.

C．Intelligent tests decide if children should get a high - quality education.

D．Intelligent tests are helpful in separating excellent students from poor ones.

【小題4】What is the purpose of the passage?

A．To re-assess the value of IQ testing.

B．To defend the role of testing in education.

C．To explain what high-quality education means.

D．To call for thorough and complete reform in education.

Using too much water or throwing rubbish into our rivers are clear ways that humans can put our water supply in danger, but we also affect our water supply in less obvious ways. You may wonder how paving(鋪砌) a road can lead to less useable fresh water. A major part of the  water we use every day is groundwater. Groundwater does not come from lakes or rivers.It comes from underground. The more roads and parking lots we pave, the less water can flow into the ground to become groundwater.
Human activity is not responsible for all water shortages. Drier climates are of course more likely to have droughts than areas with more rainfall，but in any case, good management can help to make sure there is enough water to meet our basic needs.
Thinking about the way we use water every day can make a big difference, too. In the United States, a family of four can use 1.5 tons of water a day! This shows how much we depend on water to live，but there's a lot we can do to lower the number.
You can take steps to save water in your home.To start with, use the same glass for your drinking water all day. Wash it only once a day. Run your dishwasher only when it is full. Help your parents fix any leaks in your home. You can even help to keep our water supply clean by recycling batteries instead of throwing them away.
【小題1】Which of the following is most likely to lead to less groundwater?

A．Using river water.	B．Throwing batteries away.
C．Paving parking lots.	D．Throwing rubbish into lakes.

【小題2】What can be inferred from the text?

A．All water shortages are due to human behavior.

B．It takes a lot of effort to meet our water needs.

C．There is much we can do to reduce family size.

D．The average family in America makes proper use of water.

【小題3】The last paragraph is intended to________.

A．show us how to fix leaks at home

B．tell us how to run a dishwasher

C．prove what drinking glass is best for us

D．suggest what we do to save water at home

【小題4】The text is mainly about________.

A．why paving roads reduces our water

B．how much we depend on water to live

C．why droughts occur more in dry climates

D．how human activity affects our water supply

If you think English means endless new words, difficult grammar and sometimes strange pronunciation, you are wrong. Haven’t you noticed that you have become smarter since you started to learn a language?
According to a new study by a British university, learning a second language can lead to an increase in your brain power. Researchers found that learning other languages changes grey matter. This is the area of the brain which processes information. It is similar to the way that exercise builds muscles.
The study also found the earlier people learn a second language, the greater the effect is.
A team led by Dr. Andrea Mechelli, from University College London(UCL), took a group of Britons who only spoke English. They were compared with a group of“early bilinguals(通兩種語(yǔ)言的人)”, who had learnt a second language before the age of five, as well as a number of later learners.
Scans showed that grey matter density in the brain was greater in bilinguals than in people without a second language. But the longer a person waited before mastering a new language, the smaller the difference was.
“Our findings suggest that the structure of the brain is changed by the experience of learning a second language,”said the scientists.
It means that the change itself increases the ability to learn.
Professor Dylan Vaughan Jones of the University of Wales, has researched the link between bilingualism and maths skills.
“Having two languages gives you two windows on the world and makes the brain more flexible,”he said,“You are actually going beyond language and have a better understanding of different ideas.”
The findings were matched in a study of native Italian speakers who had learned English as a second language between the ages of 2 and 34. Reading, writing and comprehension were all tested. The results showed that the earlier they started to learn, the better.“Studying a language means you get an entrance to another world,”explained the scientists.
【小題1】What does the underlined part“grey matter”(in paragraph 2) refer to?

A．Grey hair.	B．Material of the brain.
C．Intelligence.	D．Difficult situations.

【小題2】The experience of learning a second language can        .

A．change one’s brain completely

B．improve one’s maths skills

C．make one smarter than others

D．increase the ability to learn

【小題3】We can learn from the passage that        .

A．the researchers from UCL did another study in Italy

B．a(chǎn) similar study was done on native Italian speakers who learn English as a second language

C．the research done on the Italians showed a totally different result

D．it will be easier for one to travel around the world by learning a second language

【小題4】What’s the main idea of the passage?

A．Learning a second language can help improve your brain power.

B．You should learn a second language in English that is not your native language.

C．If you want to learn a second language, you should do it at a certain age.

D．The research done by the researchers from UCL is very successful.

Did you know that there are actually people who have paid for a flight to the moon? In the future, there will be a lot more opportunities to travel to faraway places than now… perhaps even as far as the moon. As people adventure further and further away and as planes, trains, cars, and rocket ships become faster, is it safer to have these vehicles controlled by humans or by computers?
While many flights by plane are controlled automatically by machines, most people today wouldn’t let their car drive itself. That’s because currently the autopilot function on your car can only keep it on the same course you are travelling on. It won’t turn the car right or left. It won’t stop if an animal jumps in the way. However, cars today can sense when something is too close and warn the driver with flashing lights and alarms. Many cars also have GPS（global positioning systems） that tell drivers which road to take and when to turn. These systems, unlike human drivers, never get lost. In the future, it is easy to believe that your car will be better able to drive itself with the aid of computers that can determine the position of your car and the speed it should travel at.
In addition to computers being ‘smarter’ than people regarding the best way to go or knowing how close another vehicle is, computers don’t get sick, tired, or angry. This means they won’t make the same mistakes that people make when they are not having a good day. While responding with emotion is a good thing when choosing the best way to deal with a friend’s personal problem, it may not be such a good thing when deciding what to do at the wheel of a fast-moving vehicle.
So what are the disadvantages of autopilot systems? Maybe one disadvantage is that a small computer problem could cause a serious accident. It could also be argued that in unexpected situations, computers might not be able to respond appropriately; some decisions require human emotions. Another problem might be that if everything were controlled by computers or robots, people wouldn’t have any jobs.
【小題1】What is the best title for the passage?

A．The Development of Autopilot

B．Technology of Future Travel

C．A New Driving System

D．Computerized Cars

【小題2】Which of the following is the disadvantage of an autopilot system?

A． It won’t make the same mistakes as people do.

B． It can point out the best route for the driver.

C． It might not respond properly to unexpected situations.

D．It does not have human emotions to influence its function.

【小題3】If some falling rocks roll down toward your car, the autopilot on your car will_______.

A．inform you of the danger

B．turn the car right or left

C．do nothing about it

D．stop the car

【小題4】What’s the author’s attitude towards the autopilot?

A．Approving.

B．Objective.

C．Negative.

D．Doubtful.

The £109 Nest Protect Smoke Alarm promises Internet alerts（警報(bào)）and an end to the low battery chirp（短而尖的叫聲）. Besides, it uses a voice to tell you where the fire is.
The alarm is the first UK product from Nest, which is run by iPod-inventor Tony Fadell. The company claims the device’s batteries will last for up to seven years. The device will offer a spoken warning before it sounds a major alarm. Also it will use text messages and apps on your phones to alert users to low-level risks.
The present smoke alarms constantly alert users to non-existent threats, which will make many users annoyed and finally remove their batteries altogether. “We’ve all experienced the smoke alarm going off while we’re cooking. Sometimes, we need to search for the source of that non-stop low-battery chirp at midnight,” said Fadell. “Therefore, every time a smoke alarm cries wolf, we trust it a little less, and then — in a moment of frustration — we take the batteries out to stop the beep（嘟嘟聲）. And that leaves us and our families at risk.”
If the Protect smoke alarms are used, they can be set up in up to ten zones, so that the clear warnings tell users where the risk has been detected.
“Safety shouldn’t be annoying,” said Matt Rogers, Nest founder and vice president of engineering. “It was unacceptable to us that one in eight houses in the UK has a non-functioning smoke alarm. These products are required by law and are supposed to keep us safe, yet people hate them. We wanted to change that.”
【小題1】For what purpose did Nest create the Protect Smoke Alarm?

A．To predict low-level fire risks.	B．To experiment with a new battery.
C．To improve present smoke alarms.	D．To avoid the low-battery chirp.

【小題2】What did Tony Fadell really want to tell us in Paragraph 3?

A．One of his cooking experiences.

B．Disadvantages of present smoke alarms.

C．His growing distrust of smoke alarms.

D．His source of annoyance to crying wolf.

【小題3】Which of the following are the advantages of the Protect Smoke Alarm?
a. Rechargeable batteries         b. A talking smoke alarm
c. Longer battery life            d. Going off constantly
e. Internet connection

A．a(chǎn), b, c

B．c, d, e

C．a(chǎn), c, e

D．b, c, e

【小題4】What can we know from the last paragraph?

A．In the UK people seldom set up smoke alarms.

B．Matt Rogers didn’t like the safety requirements.

C．Non-functioning smoke alarms make people annoyed.

D．The government should pay attention to safety issues.

Technology and the present generation of kids go hand in hand. Taking advantage of this factor, Lim Hojoon, the designer from South Korea, has come up with an educational gadget (小裝置) especially for children. 
Kidget, as the name suggests, is a combination of two words – kid and gadget. This kid-friendly gadget has various uses. When your child is in a mood to read, it takes the form of a storybook. When the mood is to draw and color this wonder gadget turns into a perfect canvas (畫(huà)布). Your child can freely give color to all his/her imaginations. Should he or she wish to have some fun, see this device change into a musical instrument. You too would enjoy doing activities with your loved one using this gadget. This touch screen device will definitely prove to be an ideal friend.
As many parents agree, in this age of technological advancements it is much easier to introduce children to new gadgets than adults. While many adults refrain (克制) from trying out something new, kids are more than prepared to take the leap. Keeping this fact in mind, Kidget is the perfect gift for the child of the 21st century. You will be surprised to see how fast your little one gets acquainted with the device. You might even find yourself lagging (落后) behind at times.
Kidget has another hidden advantage. It helps take the load off young shoulders. With three things rolled into one, a child has much less books, stationary items and related goods to carry. It comes with a promise to make life simpler for kids. Not only is it simple to use but also easy to carry along. The stylish protective case comes with a belt attached to it. Children up to 14 years of age, the targeted audience, enjoy the freedom that comes with it.
【小題1】The Kidget probably can’t serve as a ______.

A．storybook	B．perfect canvas
C．musical instrument	D．television

【小題2】We learn from the second paragraph that Kidget ______.

A．has many functions

B．is only suitable for kids

C．can make kids addicted if not properly used

D．can change its shape and color

【小題3】A hidden advantage of Kidget is that ______.

A．it can be put into a schoolbag

B．children can carry much less with it

C．it has a stylish protective case

D．it contains all the textbooks

【小題4】We can infer from the text that Kidget ______.

A．has both advantages and disadvantages

B．hasn’t been put into use

C．needs to be further improved

D．is a perfect gift for kids