Advice to “sleep on it” could be well founded, scientists say. After a good night’s sleep a problem that seemed impossible to solve the night before can often appear easier, although no evidence has proved this by now. But researchers at the University of Luebek in Germany have designed an experiment that shows a good night sleep can improve insight and problem-solving. “If you have some newly acquired memories in your brain, sleep acts on these memories, restructures(重建) them, so that after sleep the insight into a problem which you could not solve before increases,” said Dr. Jan Born, a neuroscientist, at the university. To test the theory, they taught volunteers two simple rules to help them put a string of numbers into a new order. There was also a third , hidden rule, which could help them increase their speed in solving the problem. The researchers divided the volunteers into two groups, half were allowed to sleep after the training while the remainders were forced to stay awake. Born and his team noticed that the group that had slept after the training were twice as likely to figure out the third rule as the other group . “sleep helped,” Born said in a telephone interview. “the important thing is that you have to have a memory representation in your brain of the problem you want to solve and then you sleep, so it can act on the problem .” But Born admitted that he and his team don’t know how restructuring of memories occurs or what governs it or in which stage of sleep it works. Pierre Marquette and Pierre Ruby of the University of Liege in Belgium and the experimental evidence supports the suggestions that sleep can promote creative thinking . Although the role of sleep in human activity will still be a mystery, the researcher gives good reason to fully respect their period of sleep, they added.

50. The underline phrase “sleep on it ” in the first line probably means _______ .

   A. to put something aside to be solved until the next day

   B. to get as much sleep as possible

   C. to go on sleeping without being disturbed

   D. to sleep till you get up the next morning

51. Jan Born and his team carried out the experiment through ________.

   A. comparison    B. interview     C. survey       D. imagination

52. It can be inferred from the passage that _______.

   A. people should sleep so long as they have time

B. sleep is the only way to solve hard problems

C. people have various periods of sleep

D. people know how sleep restructures memories

53. What would be the best title for the passage ?

   A. How Sleep Works                B. Sleep Helped Solve Problem

C. No Evidence , But Well Founded    D. Born’s Discovery On Sleep

54. Where is the passage most likely to have been taken from ?

   A. A science fiction     B. A book review     C. An advertisement      D. A newspaper.

   

阅读理解

　　For most of us, body weight goes up with age－an average of one pound a year after 25, according to the American Medical Association. What’s more, added weight is likely to be composed primarily of fat, not muscle. The reasons are as follows.

　　1)As we age, most of us become less active, and the body’s basal metabolism(基础代谢) rate slows a little each year. So our food-energy requirements－the number of calories needed to maintain weight-decrease. For example, a man might require 2500 calories a day at age 20, 2000 at 35 and only 1800 at 15.

　　2)Starting in our 20s, the proportion of muscle mass to body fat tends to decline. The body of an average 20-year-old woman is 26.5 percent fat. By 35, it is 33 percent, at 50, 42 percent.

　　3)As we grow older, we shrink-not from side to side, unfortunately, but from top to bottom. In our mid-30s, we begin to lose more bone than we make. One result: less height to hang our weight on, which makes us look thicker than we once did.

　　4)Exercising becomes harder with age. Our muscles can begin to lose strength and elasticity (弹性) as early as age 20. By 40, heart and lung power has begun to drop, and the body becomes more likely to be injured.

1．What is the passage about?

[　　]

A．The reason why old people usually weigh more than they once did.

B．The reason why added weight is likely to be composed primarily of fat, not muscle.

C．The reason why we become less active when we age.

D．The reason why our body weight goes up one pound: a year after 25.

2．What does the writer mean by“As we grow older, we shrink”?

A．As we grow older, we become shorter.

B．As we grow older, we become thinner.

C．As we grow older, we become more depressed.

D．As we grow older, we become more active.

3．Why does exercising become harder with age?

[　　]

A．Our muscles are older and weaker.

B．The possibility of injury increases.

C．Heart and lung don’t work as well as before.

D．All of the above.

4．Which of the following is true according to the passage?

[　　]

A．The body weight increases as one grows older.

B．The basal metabolism rate of an active person is always very high.

C．The food-energy requirement for one certain person is fixed.

D．We need less calories to maintain our weight as we grow older.

5．Where is this passage likely to appear?

[　　]

A．In a newspaper.

B．In a magazine.

C．In a novel.

D．In an advertisement.

New fast food debuts in U.S. fairs—fired Coke

A new fast food is making its debut(首次演出) at U.S. fairs this fall----fried Coke. Abel Gonzales, 36, a computer analyst from Dallas, tried about 15 different varieties before coming up with his perfect recipe----a batter mix made with Coca-Cola syrup, a drizzle of strawberry syrup, and some strawberries.

Balls of the batter are then deep-fried, ending up like ping-pang ball sized doughnuts（面团）which are then served in a cup, topped with Coca-Cola syrup, whipped cream, cinnamon(桂皮)sugar and a cherry on the top.

“It tastes great,” said Sue Gooding, a spokeswoman for the State Fair of Texas where Gonzales’ fried Coke made its debut this fall. “It was a huge success.”

Gonzales ran two stands at the State Fair of Texas and sold up to 35,000 fried Cokes over 24 days for 4.50 dollars each –and won a prize for coming up with “most creative” new fair food.

Ray Crockett, a spokesman for Coca-Cola Co., said: “we’re constantly amazed at the creative ways folks find to enjoy their Coke and make it part of celebrations like fairs and festivals. This is one is definitely different!”

16. The passage is likely to           .

A. be an advertisement                  B. appear in a newspaper

C. make a comment on a new food         D. give us some advice

17. The new fast food probably is the computer analyst’s ____________.

A. 15th  attempt                  B. disliked food

C. most creative food               D. excellent recipe

18. We are sure that ____________.

A. this new kind fast food will be popular in the future

   B. this new food has been sold 157500 dollars

   C. the food was bought by Coca-Cola Co.

   D. this is a new kind of Coke

19. According to Ray Crockett, ___________.

   A. fried Coke is a completely different form of Coca-Cola.

   B. fried Coke is a very creative use of Coca-Cola.

   C. folks enjoy this new kind of food very much.

   D. he is amazed at the U.S. fairs this fall.