How do you feel after you've stayed up late to finish schoolwork? Or the day after a slumber party? Scientists now say that your answers to these questions may depend on your genes.
Genes are stretches of DNA that work like an instruction manual for our cells. Genes tell our bodies and brains what to do. People have about 40,000 genes, and each gene can have different forms. So, for example, certain forms of some genes make your eyes blue. Other versions of those genes make your eyes brown.
In a similar way, new research suggests that a gene called period3 affects how well you function without sleep. The discovery adds to older evidence that period3 helps determine whether you like to stay up late or get up early.
The period3 gene comes in two forms: short and long. Everyone has two copies of the gene. So, you may have two longs, two shorts, or one of each. Your particular combination depends on what your parents passed on to you.
Scientists from the University of Surrey in England studied 24 people who had either two short or two long copies of period3. Study participants had to stay awake for 40 hours straight. Then, they took tests that measured how quickly they pushed a button when numbers flashed on a screen and how well they could remember lists of numbers.
Results showed that the people with the short form of period3 performed much better on these tests than the people with the long form did. In both groups, people performed worst in the early morning. That's the time when truck drivers and other night-shift workers say they have the most trouble concentrating.
After the first round of experiments, participants were finally allowed to sleep. People in the group that performed well on the tests took about 18 minutes to nod off.
People with the long period3 gene, by contrast, fell asleep in just 8 minutes. They also spent more time in deep sleep. That suggests that people with the long form of the gene need more and deeper sleep to keep their brains working at top form.
1.We can know from the passage that genes can not ________.
A. tell our bodies and brains what to do
B. make our eyes blue or brown
C. decide how well you work without sleep
D. ensure whether you’re good at driving
2.Which of the following statements about the period3 is wrong?
A. It affects whether you like to stay up late or get up early.
B. It comes in two forms: short and long.
C. One has either two longs or two shorts of it.
D. Your parents determine what particular combination you have.
3.People with the short form of period3__________.
A. need to go to bed early and get up early
B. can work better than the people with long form of period3 without sleep
C. take less time to fall asleep after they stay up late
D. need more and deeper sleep to keep their brains working at top form
4.What’s the best title of the passage?
A. The Period3 Gene B. The Function of Genes
C. Wake up, Sleepy Gene D. Stay up Late or Get up Early?
“I’ve changed my mind. I wanted to have a telescope, but now I want my dad back.” Lucien Lawrence’s letter to Father Christmas, written after his father had been knifed to death outside his school gate, must have touched everyone’s heart. Lucien went on to say that without his father he couldn’t see the stars in the sky. When those we love depart from us, we cannot see the stars for a while.
But Lucien, the stars are still there, and one day, when you are older and your tears have gone, you will see them again. And, in a strange way, I expect that you will find your father there too, either in your mind or heart. I find that my parents, who died years ago, still linger (留连) in many of my dreams and that I think of them perhaps more than I ever did when they were alive. I still live to please them and I’m still surprised by their reactions. I remember that when I became a professor, I was so proud, or rather so pleased with myself that I couldn’t wait to cable my parents. The reply was a long time in coming, but when it did, all my mother said was “I hope this means that now you will have more time for the children!” I haven’t forgotten. The values of my parents still live on.
It makes me pause and think about how I will live on in the hearts and minds of my children and of those for whom I care. Would I have been as ready as Philip Lawrence has been to face the aggressors（入侵者）, and to lay down my life for those in my care? How many people would want me back for Christmas? It’s a serious thought, which gives me pause.
I pray silently, sometimes, in the dead of night, that ancient cry of a poet “Deliver my soul from the sword and my darling from the power of the dog.” Yet I know death comes to us all, and sometimes comes suddenly. We must therefore plan to live together, but live as if we will die tomorrow. We live on, I’m sure, in the lives of those we loved, and therefore we ought to have a care for what they will remember and what they will treasure. If more parents knew this in their hearts to be true, there might be fewer knives on our streets today.
1.According to the whole text we can see that the first paragraph ___________.
A. puts forward the subject of the text
B. shows the author’s pity on the kid
C. serves as an introduction to the discussion
D. makes a clear statement of the author’s views
2.In the second paragraph the author mainly wants to explain to us____________.
A. how much he misses his parents now
B. why his parents often appear in his dream
C. when Lucien will get over all his sadness
D. how proud he was when he succeeded in life
3.What feeling did the author’s mother express in her reply?
A. Proud. B. Happy. C. Disappointed. D. Worried.
4.In the author’s opinion, the value of a person’s life is _____________.
A. to leave a precious memory to the people related
B. to have a high sense of duty to the whole society
C. to care what others will remember and treasure
D. to share happiness and sadness with his family
5.What does the writer mean by the sentence taken from an old poem?
A. Call on criminals and murderers to lay down their guns.
B. Advise parents stay with their children safely at home.
C. Spend every day meaningfully in memory of death.
D. Try to keep violence and murder far away from society.
阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。
I dreamed I had an interview with God.
“So you would like to interview me?” God asked. “If you have the time,” I said. “My time is eternity(永恒),” God smiled, “What questions do you have（1）_________for me?” “What surprises you most about humankind?” God answered, “That they (2)__________ bored with childhood, they rush to grow up, and then long to be children（3）_________. That they lost their health to make money… and then lost their money to restore their (4)__________. Then by thinking anxiously （5）__________ the future, they forget the (6)___________, so that they live in neither the present nor future. That they live as if they will never die, and die （7）__________ they had never lived.” God’s hand took mine and we were silent for a while.
And then I asked, “(8)__________ a parent, what are some of life’s lessons you want your children to(9) ___________?” He answered, “To learn they （10）__________ make anyone love them. All they can do is to let themselves love（11）____________. To learn that it is not good to compare themselves to others. To learn to forgive by practicing forgiveness. To learn that it only（12）___________ a few seconds to open profound（深的） wounds in those they love, and it can take many years to heal （13）__________. To learn that a rich person is not one who has the most, but is the one who need the （14）___________. To learn that there are people who love them（15）____________, but simply have not yet learned how to express or show their(16)___________. To learn that two people can look at the same thing and （17）___________ it differently. To learn that it is not enough that they forgive one（18）____________, but they must also forgive themselves.”
“Thank you for your（19） ___________,” I said humbly. “Is there anything else you would like（20）_____________ to know?” God smiled and said, “Just to know that I am always here.”
1.A. in life B. by heart C. at hand D. in mind
2.A. run B. live C. get D. prove
3.A. either B. too C. further D. again
4.A. life B. health C. lives D. spirits
5.A. about B. in C. for D. over
6.A. children B. living C. time D. present
7.A. so that B. in order that C. as though D. in case
8.A. As B. For C. About D. By
9.A. listen B. study C. learn D. attend
10.A. can’t B. won’t C. needn’t D. mustn’t
11.A. others B. anyone C. everyone D. someone
12.A. gets B. has C. spends D. takes
13.A. it B. them C. themselves D. these
14.A. best B. least C. last D. health
15.A. mainly B. lovely C. dearly D. fairly
16.A. words B. expressions C. ideas D. feelings
17.A. see B. watch C. regard D. treat
18.A. other B. another C. of them D. itself
19.A. time B. word C. belief D. kindness
20.A. me B. your humankind C. your life D. your children
People read newspapers and magazines in order to keep themselves _________ of
what is going on in the world outside.
A. connected B. known C. updated D. informed
_________ New Year’s Day around the corner, all the salesmen were trying hard to talk customers_________ buying their goods.
A. On, for B. With, into C. In, about D. At, on
Mrs Brown always takes things _________ too seriously, which makes the people around her uneasy.
A. rather B. quite C. fairly D. more
