Question

Here is an astonishing and significant fact: Mental work alone can’t make us tire. It sounds absurd. But a years ago, scientists tried to find out how long the human brain could labor without reaching a stage of fatigue (疲劳). To the amazement of these scientists, they discovered that blood passing through the brain, when it is active, shows no fatigue at all! If we took a drop of blood from a day laborer, we would find it full of fatigue toxins(毒素) and fatigue products. But if we took blood from the brain of an Albert Einstein, it would show no fatigue toxins at the end of the day.

         So far as the brain is concerned, it can work as well and swiftly at the end of eight or even twelve hours of effort as at the beginning. The brain is totally tireless. So what makes us tired?

         Some scientists declare that most of our fatigue comes from our mental and emotional(情绪的) attitudes. One of England’s most outstanding scientists, J.A. Hadfield, says, “The greater part of the fatigue from which we suffer is of mental origin. In fact, fatigue of purely physical origin is rare.” Dr. Brill, a famous American scientist, goes even further. He declares, “One hundred percent of the fatigue of sitting worker in good health is due to emotional problems.”

         What kinds of emotions make sitting workers tired? Joy? Satisfaction? No! A feeling of being bored, anger, anxiety, tenseness, worry, a feeling of not being appreciated---those are the emotions that tire sitting workers. Hard work by itself seldom causes fatigue. We get tired because our emotions produce nervousness in the body.

1. What surprised the scientists a few years ago?

A. Fatigue toxins could hardly be found in a laborer’s blood.

B. Albert Einstein didn’t feel worn after a day’s work.

C. The brain could work for many hours without fatigue.

D. A mental worker’s blood was filled with fatigue toxins.

2.According to the author, which of the following can make sitting workers tired?

A. Challenging mental work.                           B. Unpleasant emotions.

C. Endless tasks.                                                D. Physical labor.

3.What’s the author’s attitude towards the scientists’ idea?

A. He agrees with them.                                  B. He doubts them.

C. He argues against them.                             D. He hesitates to accept them.

4. We can infer from the passage that in order to stay energetic, sitting workers need to ___________.

A. have some good food.                           B. enjoy their work

C. exercise regularly                                  D. discover fatigue toxins

Answer

1.C

2.B

3.A

4.B

【解析】

试题分析：本文是一篇说明文，科学家们发现脑力劳动不能使人劳累，使人劳累的是人的精神和情感状态，即厌烦、生气、焦急、紧张、忧虑以及不被欣赏等。因而在体内产生紧张感，因而觉得身体累了。

1.细节理解题。根据Here is an astonishing and significant fact: Mental work alone can’t make us tire.脑力劳动时间长了不会让人感觉到累，故选C。

2.细节理解题。根据A feeling of being bored, anger, anxiety, tenseness, worry, a feeling of not being appreciated---those are the emotions that tire sitting workers. 厌烦、生气、焦虑、紧张还有不高兴的情感，这四个选项里只有B才提到，故选B。

3.态度判断题。根据Here is an astonishing and significant fact: Mental work alone can’t make us tire. We get tired because our emotions produce nervousness in the body 我们感觉到累是因为我们身体里产生了紧张，这里看出作者是赞同这个观点的，故选A。

4.推理判断题。根据Hard work by itself seldom causes fatigue. We get tired because our emotions produce nervousness in the body.只要人们不觉得心情紧张，享受生活那么就能保持精力旺盛，不觉得累，故选B。

考点：科普类短文阅读。