Later School Start Helps Kids Get Zzz
Teenagers have been sleeping less. This is an issue all across the United States. Research from Harvard Medical School shows that having less sleep can make teens fat and cause some developmental problems. Because of the increasing use of devices like smartphones and computers, students today are staying up late. Many teens use them long after dark. “At night, I am on my phone and I just want to stay up. I often wake up so tired that I wish I could go back to sleep,” Hazel Ostrowski, a high school student, said.
To make matters worse, 93% of high schools and 83% of middle schools in the U.S. start before 8:30 a. m. That time goes against official health advice from American Academy of Pediatrics (美国儿科学会). Schools do not want late start times, because it will cause traffic problems. Parents also want older kids to come home early to watch younger kids in the afternoons.
But some studies suggest that students between the ages of 11 and 17 get enough sleep on school nights. Therefore, some researchers suggest starting school late.
Researchers are studying later school start times in Seattle, Washington. The Seattle School District (区) made a big time change in the fall of 2016. The change was for high schools and most middle schools. Before, the first bell rang at 7:50 a. m. After the change, classes began at 8:45 a. m.
The researchers worked with science teachers at two high schools in Seattle, and 178 teenagers took part in the study. They wore activity monitors to discover whether a later start to the school day would help them get more sleep. The researchers compared sleep habits (习惯) of these teens in spring 2016，before the change, to sleep habits of them from spring 2017, after later start times began.
What changed was wake-up time. Morning wake-up time changed from 6:24 a. m. to 7:08 a. m. Falling asleep changed only a bit. It went from 11 :27p. m. to 11:38 p. m.
Researchers noticed that there were fewer late students after the changes. The study also found the students got about 34 more minutes of sleep each night. Students also felt less sleepy in the daytime. Their grades improved as well. It seems a later start to school is helping students.
1.In the first paragraph, the writer gives the example of Hazel to show________.
A.students wake up tired from sleeping too long
B.students want to stay up late to have a good time
C.students become much fatter for taking less exercise
D.students sleep less because of using smartphones long
2.According to the study, the Seattle School District ________.
A.starts school at 8:30 in the morning B.starts school 55 minutes later than usual
C.asks students to change their sleeping habits D.asks parents to make sure their kids go to bed early
3.What is the last paragraph mainly about?
A.Reasons for later school start. B.Advantages of later school start.
C.Causes of less sleep in students. D.Solutions to the problem of sleeping less.
His Daily Check-In
I started the second term of tenth grade on February 1, seven years ago. But the next day, my mother passed away in her sleep during the night. After we laid my mother to rest, I went back to school, but I didn't care much to be there at all.
Since it was a new term, my teachers didn't know me very well. My English teacher, Mr. Goldberg, would ask the class questions and call on people to answer. When he called on me, he'd pretty much be waking me up from wherever my mind would be. I'd say, “Excuse me? What was that?” He'd ask me again, and I'd have the correct answer.
One day, he asked me to meet him after class. “I don’t understand what's going on,” he said. “You always seem lost. Your mind is always some place else during class, but you know all the answers."
I told him the reason I came to school every day was because my mother made me. Now that she wasn't here, I didn't really feel the need to go anymore.
Then he said, "Well, just do me a favor. I want you to meet me in my office during sixth period." So I met him, just to talk. Afterward, he said, “Meet me tomorrow, same time.” This went on and on, every single day. He had me meet him before class. I would help him grade papers, and we would talk.
Mr. Goldberg went around to all my classes and talked to all my teachers. He said, “If you have any problems with Maxie Jones, come to me.”
The next year, he did the same thing. I met with him every day, and he talked to all my teachers about whatever was going on with me. Again, he told them, “If you've got any problem with Maxie, come and talk to me.”
By the time I graduated (毕业) from high school, I had never missed a single day of school.
It took me years before I realized what he had done. I graduated from high school in the top 10% of my class. But at 15 having lost my mother and not really seeing the importance of learning—I was in line to be a high school dropout. I realized that the reason I showed up to school every day was because somebody there was expecting (期望) to see me. That somebody was Mr. Goldberg. I will just remember him for the rest of my life.
1.What difficulty did Maxie meet at the beginning of the new term?
A.He lost his mother. B.He didn't rest well at home.
C.He had few friends at school. D.He didn’t understand the class well.
2.How did Maxie do in Mr. Goldberg's class?
A.He talked a lot with other students. B.He often answered questions quickly.
C.His mind was always someplace else. D.He helped Mr. Goldberg grade papers.
3.Maxie will always remember Mr. Goldberg, because________.
A.Mr. Goldberg paid for his books B.Mr. Goldberg played games with him
C.Mr. Goldberg helped him stay in school D.Mr. Goldberg's class is the most interesting
It's school time again! Let's see what students and teachers think about the end of the summer holiday and the start of the new school term.
Lena
I quite like going back to school in September as I' m usually bored by the end of the holidays. We live in a small village and my friends from school all live far away from me. I have got no one to play with during the holiday. | John
Going back to work in September will be good. I feel I've had a good break and am looking forward to seeing the kids again. I will teach Year Two: six and seven year –olds,which is really nice age. They’ re sweet kids. |
Mark
I don't like the end of the summer holidays. After six weeks of happy time, I'm back to homework and having to get up at seven in the morning. I can’ t even sit next to my best friends in class. The only good thing is the school sport, because I miss playing football during the summer. | Helen
It’s difficult to believe how quickly the summers go by. When school finished in July, you never thought about September because it seemed too far away. But as a head teacher, I have a lot to think about before school starts. I am thinking about how I can make my class interesting. |
1.Why is Lena usually bored by the end of the holidays?
A.Because the holiday is too long. B.Because there is too much homework.
C.Because she has no friends to play with. D.Because she has nothing to do at that time.
2.John is looking forward to ________.
A.meeting his best friends B.seeing his students again
C.taking his kids to a village D.playing football with his kids
3.Who thinks the summer holiday goes too fast?
A.Lena. B.Mark. C.John. D.Helen.
On a cold morning in Austria, 16-year-old skier Ann Thompson was about to make her last practice run.
As she went down the __________on her skis, Thompson had a terrible accident. She fell and badly hurt her spinal cord (脊髓). As a result, Thompson could no longer walk.
“The accident didn't__________anything.” Thompson said. “I' m the same person I was before.”
After her accident，Thompson__________the Cruisers, a program for wheelchair athletes (运动员) in Connecticut, Thompson’s home state.
“We brought her down to see what was happening,” said Don Chaffee, a Cruiser official. “At first, she said, ‘I can't do that.’ Then she realized, ‘I can do that. I'm going to do that.’”
Just over a year after her accident, Thompson was a good wheelchair athlete. Her__________ was track and field (田径).
Thompson also played basketball in her college. It wasn't__________for her. She had never played basketball before her accident. Now she was learning the sport in a wheelchair. She tried out for the, U. S. Paralympic women’ s basketball team, and she__________it.
Thompson is a role model for millions of people. She wanted to tell kids through her story. “Try,” she said. “Really try. If you want to do something, try your best to do it. If you really want to do something, you can find a_____________to do it.”
Kids who watch her practice see that anything is possible.
“They see this lady in her wheelchair going around and __________life, ” said Chaffee. “And they say, ‘Hey, I can make it, too. ”
1.A.road B.beach C.hill D.street
2.A.leave B.change C.cost D.keep
3.A.started B.ran C.developed D.joined
4.A.sport B.subject C.program D.gift
5.A.late B.best C.easy D.boring
6.A.studied B.made C.kept D.finished
7.A.way B.team C.place D.chance
8.A.living B.seeing C.saving D.loving
My sister________ her room when Susie rang and asked her out.
A.is tidying B.was tidying C.tidies D.tidied
Last Sunday my brother ________ to the football game.
A.go B.goes C.went D.will go
