I was born legally blind. Of all the sto...

    The Hotel Wake-up Call Gets Personal

Here’s a wake-up call: The hotel front desk will do one better than ringing your phone in the morning. They’ll send an actual human being to your room. Don’t worry. They won’t come in and kiss you good morning. 1.

Never mind that most travelers nowadays have smart phones with built-in alarm clocks. 2. Here are some examples. At the Wolcott Hotel, if a wake-up call is unanswered, they will send an employee to your door. At Las Ventanas al Paraiso, an employee shows up at your room to wake you up with tea, coffee and breakfast bread. At the Mandarin Oriental, a person rather than an automated system will call to wake you up. 3.

Hotels have always taken the wake-up call seriously. 4. If you don’t get your call within five minutes of the requested time, you won’t have to pay for your room. Travelers, too, still want to have an option of a wake-up call. A study of 285 guests at Crown Plaza found that 53% considered a wake-up call very important.

5. In the late 1980s, hotels turned to automated systems. Then all you’d get was a ring and silence. In the ever-competitive race for loyal customers, however, many hotels are now getting creative with the wake-up call. Some hotels even have recordings of celebrity voices. And more hotels will go back to the old in-person system of wake up calls.

A. But they might bring you coffee.

B. If you don’t answer, you’ll get a wake-up knock.

C. Crown Plaza, for instance, has a wake-up call guarantee.

D. But the wake-up call became less personal over the years.

E. The hotel gets 15 to 30 requests for wake-up calls each day.

F. The human wake-up call is a way to personalize a guest's stay.

G. Some guests sleep through the call, while others turn their phone ringers off.

    Sleep, considered a luxury by many, is essential for a person's wellbeing. Researchers have found that insufficient sleep and tiredness increase a person's risk of developing severe medical conditions, such as obesity (being very overweight), high blood sugar levels, and heart disease. Now, a new study has found that getting sufficient sleep is also the key to improving academic performance.

Jeffrey Gross, the university science professor who led the research, was not trying to find the relationship between sleep and grades when he handed out smart watches to the 100 students in his chemistry class. Instead, the professor hoped the wrist-worm devices, which track a person's physical activity, would show a connection between exercise and academic achievement.

While Gross's data showed no relationship between these two factors, the study found something surprising. As the researchers were analyzing their data, they noticed that there was a straight-line relationship between the average amount of sleep a student got and their results in the course's 11 quizzes, three midterm tests, and the final exam.

Even more interesting, it was not sufficient for students to just head to bed early the night before a test. Instead, it's the sleep you get during the days when learning is happening that matters most.

The time students went to bed each night was similarly important. Those who went to bed in early hours of the morning performed poorly, even if the total sleep time was the same as a higher-performing student. "When you go to bed matters," Gross says, "If you go to bed at 10, or 12, or 1 at night, and sleep for seven hours, your performance is the same. But if you go to bed after 2, your performance starts to go down even if you get the same seven hours. So, quantity isn't everything."

Perhaps the most interesting was the huge impact that small differences in sleep patterns had on the students' grades. The overall course grades for students averaging six and a half hours of sleep each night were 25% lower than students who averaged just one hour more sleep. Similarly, students who varied their bedtime by even one hour each night had grades that dropped 45% below those with more regular bedtimes.

Who knew getting A's just required some extra ZZZ's?

1.Based on his original objectives, which best describes Professor Gross's research findings?

A.Accidental. B.Complete. C.Convincing. D.Doubtful.

2.Who were the people taking part in the study?

A.Middle school chemistry students. B.Volunteers from different universities.

C.Professor Gross's own students. D.University student athletes.

3.How did Professor Gross's team measure academic performance?

A.Making the students wear a special watch.

B.Using students' university entrance test results.

C.Giving the students regular after class quizzes.

D.Using the students' normal test and quiz grades.

4.Based on the study's findings, who is likely to perform best academically.

A.A person who has a good night's sleep the night before an important test.

B.A person whose normal bedtime varies between 9 p.m. and 12 p.m.

C.A person who sleeps from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. each day.

D.A person who sleeps for a total of 7 hours each night.

    Today's world is not an easy adjustment for young adults. Key skill set for success is persistence (毅力), a characteristic that researchers say is heavily influenced by fathers. Researchers from Brigham Young University discovered that fathers are in a unique position to help their adolescent children learn persistence.

BYU professors Laura Padilla-Walker and Randal Day arrived at these findings after following 325 American families over several years. And over time，the persistence gained through fathers led to higher achievement in school.

"There are relatively few studies that stress the unique role of fathers，"Padilla-Walker said. "This research also helps to prove that characteristics such as persistence-which can be taught-are key to a child's life success.”

Researchers determined that dads need to practice an "authoritative" parenting style. Authoritative parenting is not authoritarian:rigid，demanding or controlling. Rather，an authoritative parenting style includes some of the following characteristics:children feel warmth and love from their father；responsibility and the reasons behind rules are stressed children are given an appropriate level of autonomy(自主权).

In the study，about 52 percent of the dads exhibited above-average levels of authoritative parenting. A key finding is that over time，children raised by an authoritative father were significantly more likely to develop persistence，which leads to better outcomes in school.

This particular study examined 11 to 14-year-olds living in two-parent homes. Yet the researchers suggest that single parents still may play a role in teaching the benefits of persistence，which is an avenue of future research.

1.What is special about the BYU professors' study?

A.It centered on fathers' role in parenting.

B.It was based on a number of large families.

C.It analyzed different kinds of parenting styles.

D.It aimed to improve kids' achievement in school.

2.What would an authoritative father do when raising his children?

A.Ignore their demands. B.Make decisions for them.

C.Control their behaviors. D.Explain the rules to them.

3.Which group can be a focus of future studies according to the researchers?

A.Single parents.

B.Children aged from 11 to 14.

C.Authoritarian fathers.

D.Mothers in two-parent homes.

4.Which of the following is the best title for the text?

A.Three Characteristics of Authoritative Fathers.

B.Key Skills for Young Adults to Succeed in Future.

C.Children Tend to Learn Determination from Father.

D.Family Relationship Influences School Performance.

    Many shopping malls now have special areas that offer shoppers their first chance to experience “VR technology”. You may have entered one out of curiosity, or you may think it is just another piece of useless technology. Whatever your opinion, VR, or virtual (虚拟的) reality, is going to become a big part of our lives very soon.

2016 saw the introduction of many fancy products in the world of VR, including Microsoft’s HoloLens and Samsung’s Gear VR. All of them offer an exciting look at the new realities and opportunities that VR brings. These, however, are the early days of a technology that is expected to go from strength to strength. And 2017 looks like it is going to be the year in which VR technology really takes off.

For a start, using VR will become more normal in 2017. Microsoft and Intel have already discussed their plans for simpler and less expensive VR headsets.

“The idea of VR will stop being a sci-fi (science-fiction) idea, and instead it will turn into an industry of real products used as ways to show off imagination.” Said Andrew, a designer at US VR Company, Survios. It is also expected that VR products will play a part in more common and real-life fields like fashion and film. For example, to enjoy the atmosphere and energy of the front row experience at a fashion show, fans will no longer have to go along in the flesh. Instead people will be able to enjoy the experience by just wearing a VR headset at home.

You can also expect VR mirrors and fitting-rooms sooner rather than later. “This is an especially good opportunity for brands looking to offer very personalized experiences.” Said Roy De Young from US-based marketing agency, PMX.

As time goes on, there will be less discussion about whether people will accept VR technology. It will simply be a discussion of when.

1.Why do many shopping malls have areas for VR experiences?

A.To collect shoppers’opinions.

B.To meet the demands of shoppers.

C.To introduce the new technology to shoppers.

D.To entertain shoppers with new technology.

2.What does the underlined phrase “in the flesh” mean?

A.In time B.In person

C.In line D.In order

3.What can we know about VR products from the passage?

A.They are not expensive at present.

B.They will meet more personal demands.

C.They are being used almost everywhere.

D.They won’t be accepted for many years.

4.What may be the best title for the passage?

A.VR Meets Our Life Goal B.VR Mirrors Are Coming

C.VR Takes over Fashion D.VR Is Becoming Real

    The Worlds' Best Bookshops

There's nothing like being surrounded by books， wherever you are． Here are the finest oases of literature that travellers can bring you．

Daikanyama T﹣site | Tokyo

It is well worth visiting even if just to admire the building's beautiful， crisscrossed architecture． Once you've had your fill of roaming three floors' worth of bookshelves， there's the bar， the coffee shop， or even the video rental space to give you more reason to stay just that little bit longer． Grab a book， order a beer and dive into its pages． I could have stayed hours here．

City Lights | San Francisco

The three﹣storey establishment publishes and sells titles in poetry， fiction， translation， politics， history and the arts． It hosts events and readings， and runs a non﹣profit of the same name that aims to promote diversity of voices and ideas in literature． It's opposite Vesuvio， a bar frequented by Kerouac and other Beat﹣generation writers and artists．

Shakespeare and Company | Paris

I made a special trip to the Left Bank for this one when I was in Paris． It has two floors packed with English﹣language texts， and I was particularly struck by any spare wall space devoted to notes from visitors ﹣ heartfelt messages to a loved one， dedications to the shop itself， or a quote from a favourite author or philosopher．

Hutatma Chowk | Mumbai

A few years ago I visited India， investigating Rudyard Kipling's connections with the country． I spotted a cheap copy of The Jungle Book on one of the tarp﹣covered book stalls at Hutatma Chowk （Martyrs' Square）． The booksellers here are like amateur librarians， able to lay their hands on almost any title you ask for． To me， those well﹣thumbed （翻旧了的） books spoke volumes about the changes of Mumbai's readers in the 150 years since the city gave us Kipling．

1.In which bookshop can you buy a drink while visiting？

A.Daikanyama T﹣site.

B.City Lights.

C.Shakespeare and Company.

D.Hutatma Chowk.

2.What can be learned about the book stalls at Hutatma Chowk？

A.People can meet Rudyard Kipling there．

B.They sell the cheapest books in the world．

C.The book owners are amateur librarians．

D.The sellers are familiar with the books．

3.What do the four bookstores have in common？

A.They are beautifully designed．

B.They are three﹣storey buildings．

C.They offer book lovers good experience．

D.They are frequently visited by great writers．