Sleep to Lose WeightA recent study found that...

Sleep to Lose Weight

A recent study found that people who sleep less tend to be fat. Experts said it's time to find out if more sleep can fight obesity.

Nowadays, the most popular method to keep fit is doing more exercise and eating less. Some people even take weight-loss drugs to keep slim, which is unhealthy and harmful to your body. " 1.As a result, we’ve failed to recognize the value of good sleep," said a physician.

Men sleep an average of 27 minutes less than women, and overweight and fat patients sleep less than patients with normal weights. In general, fat people just sleep about 1.8 hours less a week than those with normal weights.2.Only an extra 20 minutes of sleep per night contributes to a lower BODY MASS INDEX （身体质量指数）.

We caution that this study does not establish a cause-and-effect relationship between limited sleep and fatness.3.Therefore, let's stay thin by sleeping more!

Here are some other advantages of sleeping more.

• You'll learn better.

This isn't just for children. Adults who get enough sleep also do better on tests of short-term memory.

•4.

After getting enough sleep, you will find yourself feeling happy and delighted.

• Lower stress.

5.With that people can better control their blood pressure.

A.Better mood.

B.You will be energized.

C.Sleep can definitely reduce levels of stress.

D.We've put so much emphasis on diet and exercise.

E.The study is intended to offer a healthy way to help people sleep longer.

F.The experts suggest that too much extension of sleep time not be necessary.

G.However, investigations of successful weight loss by sleeping more help prove such a connection.

高二英语七选五中等难度题查看答案及解析

A study published Monday found that people who sleep less tend to be fat，and experts said it’s time to find out if more sleep will fight fatness.

“We’ve put so much emphasis on diet and exercise that we’ve failed to recognize the value of good sleep，”said Fred Turek，a physician at Northwestern University.

Monday’s study from Eastern Virgnia Medical School in Norfolk covered 1,000 people and found that total sleep time decreased as body mass index－a measure of weight based on height increased.

“Men slept an average of 27 minutes less than women and overweight and fat patients slept less than patients with normal weights，”it said.In general the fatter subjects slept about 1.8 hours a week less than those with normal weights.

“Americans experience insufficient sleep and fat bodies.Clinicians are aware of the burden of fatness on patients，”the study said.

“Our findings suggest that major extensions of sleep time may not be necessary，as an extra 20 minutes of sleep per night seems to be associated with a lower body mass index，”it added.

“We caution that this study does not set up a cause­and­effect relationship between restricted sleep and fatness，but investigations indicating success in weight loss via extensions of sleep would help greatly to set up such a relationship.”

The study was published in the Archives of Internal Medicine along with an editorial by Turek and Northwestern colleague Joseph Bass commenting on it and related research.

Inan interview，Turek said some studies have shown the lack of sleep causes declines in an appetiteholding back protein hormone，and increases in another hormone that cause a longing for food.“In addition neuropathies(神经疗法)in the brain governing sleep and fatness appear to overlap(部分重叠)，”he said.

“Fatness has been rising dramatically in developed countries and reached epidemic(流行病)levels in the United States，”it added，“leading to a variety of health problems.”

高二英语任务型阅读困难题查看答案及解析

The results from the world’s largest sleep study have shown that people who sleep on average between 7 to 8 hours per night perform better cognitively (认知地) than those who sleep less or more than this amount.

The world’s largest sleep study was launched in June 2018 and within days more than 40,000 people from the world participated in the online scientific investigation, which included an in-depth questionnaire and a series of cognitive performance activities.

“We really wanted to capture the sleeping habits of people around the entire globe. Obviously, there have been many smaller sleep studies of people in laboratories but we wanted to find out what sleep is like in the real world,” says Adrian Owen, western’s researcher in Cognitive Neuroscience and Imaging. “People who logged in gave us a lot of information about themselves. We had a fairly extensive questionnaire and they told us things like which medications they were on, where they were in the world and what kind of education they’d received because these are all factors that might have contributed to some of the results.”

More than half of all participants reported typically sleeping less than 6.3 hours per night, about an hour less than the study’s recommended amount. One shocking truth was that most participants who slept four hours or less performed as if they were almost nine years older.

Another surprising discovery was that sleep affected all adults equally. The amount of sleep associated with highly functional cognitive behavior was the same for everyone, regardless of age. Also, the harm associated with too little, or too much sleep did not depend on the age of the participants.

“We found that the best amount of sleep to keep your brain performing its best is 7 to 8 hours every night. We also found that people that slept more than that amount were equally harmed as those who slept too little,” says Conor Wild, Owen Lab Research Associate and the study’s lead author.

1.Where did the study take place?

A. In a lab. B. In the street.

C. On TV. D. On the Internet.

2.What may affect the result of the study according to Owen?

A. Career. B. Diet.

C. Education. D. Exercise.

3.What’s Wild’s view?

A. Sleeping too much is as bad as sleeping too little.

B. People must sleep for eight hours every night.

C. Sleeping too little can make people look older.

D. People needn’t pay attention to the amount of sleep.

4.What can we learn from the text?

A. Owen and Wild are the first to study sleep.

B. Lack of enough sleep is a common problem.

C. All the people in the world show interest in the study.

D. There is no effective way to solve the sleep problem.

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

A recent study by Citi Retail Services found that a growing number of people are embracing digital wallets or e-wallets,due in large part to their convenience and ease of use.

E-wallets have been called the future of real-world payment technology.With major players like Alipay,WeChat and Apple Pay becoming popular,it seems to be a safe bet that a change in consumer payment technology is coming soon.

CNN reporter Paul Ripley experienced a day in Beijing without his wallet."In China's largest cities,you can definitely survive without carrying a pocket full of cash and credit cards-as long as you've got your smartphone."He paid for breakfast by scanning a QR code on the window of a hole-in-the-wall restaurant.All he had to do was to enter a password and the transaction was complete.

Unlike the situations in the US and other countries,"China doesn't have a really money-making credit card system,so Chinese people just skipped credit cards and went straight to mobile payments."Gu Yu,co-founder of the new payment app Mileslife,told CNN.He also pointed out the advantages of mobile payments."No coins or bills that can be lost or stolen.electronic receipts,the ease of keeping rack of spending-and of course,no wallet taking up space."he said.

However,if we want to make e-wallets a mainstream trend a lot of things will have to change over the coming years.Perhaps one of the most important things that need to be changed is how people regard e-wallets.Linda Barrabee,research director for NPD Connected Intelligence, said in a statement."In order to promote on-the-go consumer transactions and commerce,wireless carriers,credit card companies,and e-commerce companies need to make sure the process is convenient,simple,and secure for consumers."

1.More consumers tend to use e-wallets because they are　　　　 .

A. fashionable　　 B. enjoyable

C. handy　　 D. economic

2.Paul Ripley's example is used mainly to show that　　　　 .

A. Smartphone payments are available in every part of China now.

B. Life in Beijing has become the most advanced in the world

C. You can buy anything you want using mobile payments in Beijing.

D. Mobile payments are popular in large cities in China like Beijing

3.Which of the following statement is NOT rue according to the passage?

A. There will be no more cash or credit card payments in the near future.

B. Digital-wallets will save up much space in your bag when you go out.

C. How people consider digital wallets will influence the popularity of digital wallet

D. The Chinese credit card system has partly caused the popularity of digital wallets

4.What is the last paragraph mainly about?

A. E-wallets is much safer and more convenient than traditional payments.

B. There is still a long way to make e-wallets become the main trend in our life.

C. E-wallets will be definitely a mainstream trend in our life.

D. E-commerce companies will make great profits by using e-wallets in the future.

高二英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析

If you like texting and are trying to lose weight, a new study found that using texting(发短信) to track diet and exercise habits may help you lose weight.

Previous research has shown that keeping food and exercise diaries improves the likelihood of success when you are using it to lose weight. Using a computer or a pen and paper to record information, however, can be a burden and cause some people to give up.

Duke University researchers said using text messages to track eating and exercise habits can save time, and increase the chances that people will stick with their weight-loss rules.

The study included 26 obese/fat women with an average age of 38. The women used daily texting as part of their weight-loss program. The text messages focused on tracking personalized goals, such as avoiding sugary drinks or walking 10,000 steps a day. Messages also provided brief feedback (反馈) and tips.

Every morning, the women received a text from an automated system that said, “Please text yesterday’s personal information of steps you walked and how many sugary drinks you had.” Based on the women's responses to the text message, the system sent another text with personalized feedback and tips.

After six months, the women who used daily texting lost an average of nearly 3 pounds, while another group of women who used traditional methods to keep food and exercise diaries gained an average of 2.5 pounds, according to the study, which was published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research.

“Text messaging has become popular and may be an effective method to simplify tracking of diet and exercise behavior,” Dori Steinberg, who was responsible for this research, said.

Steinberg said, “Text messaging offers several advantages compared to other self-monitoring methods. Unlike web-based diet and exercise diaries, data in a text message can be entered quickly on nearly all cell phone platforms so it is very convenient to receive feedback. Besides, because of the limited number of words used in text messages, it saves time.”

1.According to the study, traditional methods _________.

A. are easier for people to lose weight　

B. may cause people to give up losing weight

C. provide brief feedback and tips　

D. are easy to track diet and exercise behavior

2.Which is NOT true about text messaging according to Steinberg?

A. It saves time.

B. It saves money.

C. It can be entered quickly.　

D. It is easy to receive feedback.

3.What’s the best title for the text?

A. Texting helps keep healthy　

B. Texting saves time and money

C. Texting provides brief feedback and tips

D. Texting can help you lose weight

4.What’s Dori Steinberg’s attitude towards text messaging?

A. Unknown.　　　　　　　　　　　 B. Negative.

C. Positive.　　　　　　　　 　 D. Unconcerned.

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Two recent studies have found that punishment is not the best way to influence behavior.

One showed that adults are much more cooperative if they work in a system based on rewards. Researchers at Harvard University in the United States and the Stockholm School of Economics in Sweden did the study.

They had about two hundred college students play a version of the game known as the Prisoner’s Dilemma. The game is based on the tension between the interests of an individual and a group. The students played in groups of four. Each player could win points for the group, so they would all gain equally. But each player could also reward or punish each of the other three players. Harvard researcher David Rand says the most successful behavior proved to be cooperation. The groups that rewarded the most earned about twice as much in the game as the groups that rewarded the least. And the more a group punished itself, the lower its earnings. The study appeared last month in the journal Science.

The other study involved children. It was presented last month in California at a conference on violence and abuse. Researchers used intelligence tests given to two groups. More than eight hundred children were aged two to four the first time they were tested. More than seven hundred children were aged five to nine. The two groups were retested four years later, and the study compared the results with the first test. Both groups contained children whose parents used physical punishment and children whose parents did not.

The study says the IQs of the younger children who were not spanked were five points higher than those who were. In the older group, the difference was almost three points. The more they are spanked, the slower their mental development.

1.Which of the following is TRUE according to the second study?

A. Children’s IQs have much to do with physical punishment.

B. The study is about violence and cooperation of children.

C. The children tested were divided into groups of four.

D. Children’s mental development only relies on their IQs.

2. What does the underlined word “spanked” refer to?

A. punished　　　　　　　　 B. blamed　　　　　　　　　　 C. tested　　　　　 D. praised

3.What might be the best title for the text?

A. The Best Way to Correct Misbehavior

B. Punishment Is the Best Way of Education

C. Cooperation Is the Most Successful Behavior

D. Punishment or Reward: Which Works Better on Behavior?

高二英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析

Two recent studies have found that punishment is not the best way to influence behavior．

One showed that adults are much more cooperative if they work in a system based on rewards. Researchers at Harvard University in the United States and the Stockholm School of Economics in Sweden did the study.

They had about two hundred college students play a version of the game known as the Prisoner’ s Dilemma. The game is based on the tension between the interests of an individual and a group. The students played in groups of four. Each player could win points for the group, so they would all gain equally. But each player could also reward or punish each of the other three players. Harvard researcher David Rand says the most successful behavior proved to be cooperation. The groups that rewarded it the　 most earned about twice as much in the game as the groups that rewarded it the least. And the more a group punished itself, the lower its earnings. The study appeared last month in the journal Science.

The other study involved children. It was presented last month in California at a conference on violence and abuse. Researchers used intelligence tests given to two groups. More than eight hundred children were aged two to four the first time they were tested. More than seven hundred children were aged five to nine. The two groups were retested four years later, and the study compared the results with the first test. Both groups contained children whose parents used physical punishment and children whose parents did not.

The study says the IQs of the younger children who were not spanked were five points higher than those who were. In the older group, the difference was almost three points. The more they are spanked, the slower their mental development.

1.According to the first study, we mainly infer that 　　　　　　　 .

A．the game is called Prisoner’s Dilemma

B．the less a group punished itself, the lower its earnings

C．adults are much more cooperative if rewarded

D．the game is introduced in the journal Science

2.Which of the following is TRUE according to the second study?

A．Children's IQs have much to do with physical punishment．

B．The study is about violence and cooperation of children．

C．The children tested were divided into groups of four．

D．Children's mental development only relies on their IQs．

3.What does the underlined word "spanked" refer to?

A． Punished．　　　 B． Blamed．　　 C． Tested．　　　　 D． Praised．

4.What might be the best title for the text?

A． The Best Way to Correct Misbehavior

B． Punishment Is the Best Way of Education

C． Cooperation Is the Most Successful Behavior

D． Punishment or Reward: Which Works Better on Behavior?

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

A recent study suggests that teenagers who switch off the TV and sit down to family meals are less _______ to suffer eating disorders.

A. likely　　　　 B. possible　　　 C. probable　　 D. sure

高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

Recently a new US study has shown that couples who expect their children to help care for them in old age should hope they have daughters because they are likely to be twice as attentive overall.

The research by Angelina Grigoryeva, a sociologist at Princeton University, found that, while women provide as much care for their elderly parents as they can manage, men do as little as they can get away with and often leave it to female family members.

Using data from the University of Michigan Health and Retirement Study, a study which has been tracking a cross-section of over-50s for the last decade, she calculated that women provide an average of 12.3 hours a month of care for elderly parents while men offer only 5.6 hours.

“Whereas the amount of elderly parent care daughters provide is associated with limitations they face, such as employment or childcare, sons’ caregiving is connected only with the presence or absence of other helpers, such as sisters or a parent's spouse （配偶）,” she explained.

“Sons reduce their relative caregiving efforts when they have a sister, while daughters increase theirs when they have a brother.”

“This suggests that sons pass on parent caregiving responsibilities to their sisters.”

In the UK, the 2011 census （人口普查）showed that there are now around 6.5 million people with caring responsibilities — a figure which has risen by a tenth in a decade.

But many are doing so at the risk of their own health. The census showed that those who provide 50 hours or more of care a week while trying to hold down a full-time job are three times more likely to be struggling with ill health than their working counterparts （相对应的人）who are not careers.

1.What does the underlined phrase “is associated with” in Paragraph 4 mean?

A.is faced with B.is related to

C.is filled with D.is fond of

2.According to the study we know that　　 .

A.American couples are preferring daughters to sons a lot

B.sons are twice likely as daughters to care for parents in old age

C.having a brother makes women do their share less

D.men tend to take less care of their parents than women

3.Which of the following statements is true?

A.The number of people providing care has increased by 6.5 million.

B.More people have left behind their work to look after the elderly.

C.Many people who both work and care others can be threatened by health problems.

D.People shouldn't take much responsibility to care for the old.

4.What's the attitude of the author in the article?

A.Positive. B.Subjective.

C.Objective. D.Negative.

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

A new study has found that it may be possible to train people to be more intelligent, increasing the brainpower they had at birth．

Until now，it has been widely assumed that the kind of mental ability that allows us to solve new problems without having any relevant previous experience—what psychologists call fluid intelligence—is innate and cannot be taught（though people can raise their grades on tests of it by practicing）．

But in the new study，researchers describe a method for improving this skill，along with experiments to prove it works．

The key, researchers found, was carefully structured training in working memory—the kind that allows memorization of a telephone number just long enough to dial it．This type of memory is closely related to fluid intelligence，so the researchers reasoned that improving it might lead to improvements in fluid intelligence．

First they measured fluid intelligence of volunteers using standard tests．Then they trained each in a complicated memory task—the child’s card game，in which they had to recall a card they saw and heard．During the course, they needed to ignore irrelevant items, monitor ongoing performance，manage two tasks at the same time and connect related items to one another in space and time．

The four groups experienced a half-hour of training daily for 8, 12, 17 and 19 days, respectively．To make sure they were not just improving their test-taking skills，the researchers compared them with control groups that took the tests without the training．

The results, published Monday in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences，were striking．Improvement in the trained groups was a lot greater．Moreover，the longer they trained, the higher their scores were．All performers，from the weakest to the strongest，showed significant improvement．

“Our results show you can increase your intelligence with proper training．” said Dr Jaeggi, a co-author of the paper．“No one knows how long the gains will last after training stops,” he added, “and the experiment’s design did not allow the researchers to determine whether more training would continue to produce further gains．

1.By writing the article，the writer intends to ______________．

A. inform the readers of a new study

B. call on people to be trained to increase intelligence

C. prove one’s born brainpower can be improved

D. tell people the improved intelligence will last forever

2.The researchers thought the key to improving the intelligence was ______________．

A. memorizing telephone numbers　　　

B .improving working memory

C. training in concentration　　　　　　　

D. recalling a card

3.The following aspects of the training help increase intelligence EXCEPT___________．

A. ignoring irrelevant items　　　　　　　　

B.monitoring ongoing performance

C.managing two tasks at the same time　　

D.using previous experience

4.When the experiment was conducted, the researchers______________．

A.trained the four groups for the same period of time

B.only made comparisons between the four groups

C.compared the four groups with control groups

D.trained the four groups together

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析