Can you remember a morning when you’ve woken up to the ring of your alarm clock and wished you could stay in bed? You haven’t slept well, your hair is a mess. Worse, you can’t stop yawning. Yawning is universal to humans and many animals. Cats, dogs and fish yawn just like humans do! Yawning is an involuntary(无意识的,不自觉的) action during which you open your mouth and breathe deeply. The average duration of a yawn is about 6 seconds.
The purpose and cause of yawning are still a mystery. Scientists are not sure what causes a yawn. People yawn when they are tired or bored, but they also yawn when they aren’t. There are many ideas explaining why we yawn.
One idea is that yawning is a way for the body to become more alert by taking in more oxygen. A yawn increases the heart rate, forces carbon dioxide out of the lungs and blood stream, and brings oxygen to the brain. But one study showed that volunteers given a lot of oxygen did not yawn any less than before, while those given a lot of carbon dioxide did not yawn more.
Another idea is that early humans used yawning as a form of communication. If one decided it was time to sleep, they would tell the others by yawning and they would do it in return to show they agreed.
A third explanation comes from psychology professor Gordon Gallup of University at Albany in New York. He said that as people yawn, they cool off their brains. “Brains are like computers.” he said. “They only operate efficiently and effectively when they’re cool. Many things connected to yawning, like being tired, make the brain hot, and yawning can reduce the heat.”
Scientists have sent people into space, and created terrible nuclear weapons, but there are lots of seemingly simple things, such as why we yawn, or hiccup（打嗝）, that they can’t figure out. Next time you are in class in the morning, let out a big yawn and watch to see how many of your classmates yawn in response!
【小题1】What’s the purpose of the description of how bad you may feel when you’re woken up in the morning?

Can you remember a morning when you’ve woken up to the ring of your alarm clock and wished you could stay in bed? You haven’t slept well, your hair is a mess. Worse, you can’t stop yawning. Yawning is universal to humans and many animals. Cats, dogs and fish yawn just like humans do! Yawning is an involuntary(无意识的,不自觉的) action during which you open your mouth and breathe deeply. The average duration of a yawn is about 6 seconds.

The purpose and cause of yawning are still a mystery. Scientists are not sure what causes a yawn. People yawn when they are tired or bored, but they also yawn when they aren’t. There are many ideas explaining why we yawn.

One idea is that yawning is a way for the body to become more alert by taking in more oxygen. A yawn increases the heart rate, forces carbon dioxide out of the lungs and blood stream, and brings oxygen to the brain. But one study showed that volunteers given a lot of oxygen did not yawn any less than before, while those given a lot of carbon dioxide did not yawn more.

Another idea is that early humans used yawning as a form of communication. If one decided it was time to sleep, they would tell the others by yawning and they would do it in return to show they agreed.

A third explanation comes from psychology professor Gordon Gallup of University at Albany in New York. He said that as people yawn, they cool off their brains. “Brains are like computers.” he said. “They only operate efficiently and effectively when they’re cool. Many things connected to yawning, like being tired, make the brain hot, and yawning can reduce the heat.”

Scientists have sent people into space, and created terrible nuclear weapons, but there are lots of seemingly simple things, such as why we yawn, or hiccup（打嗝）, that they can’t figure out. Next time you are in class in the morning, let out a big yawn and watch to see how many of your classmates yawn in response!

1.What’s the purpose of the description of how bad you may feel when you’re woken up in the morning?

2.Which is not among the possible reasons for yawning mentioned in the passage?

3.In which situation are you likely to yawn?

4.What can we learn from the passage?

阅读理解

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中；选出最佳选项。

　　The whole world has turned its eyes towards a wild animal－the masked palm civet(猓子狸).

　　This animal is thought to be a carrier of SARS, the deadly disease that has infected(感染) over 8,200 people and killed more than 750 around the world since last November.

　　On May 23, researchers in Hong Kong and Shenzhen reported that they had found a coronavirus(冠状病毒) “very similar” to the SARS virus in the faeces(粪便) of civets. Now they think SARS might have jumped to humans from this animal, which has short fur and black and white stripes(条纹) on its face.

　　Civets are the main part of a popular wildlife dish, “dragon－tiger－phoenix soup”, in southern China. The civet plays the role of the tiger while snake and pheasant(野鸡) make up the other two items. It is thought that the dish can improve people's vitality(精神；活力) levels. And it can sell for up to 1000 yuan. But the meal might not be as healthy as it seemed. Yuen Kwok－Yung, a Hong Kong scientist, said SARS may have jumped into humans when they raised, killed and cooked the civets. However, if the food was properly cooked, he said, the virus should have been killed.

　　Although large amounts of the virus were found in the animal's faces, it appeared to be unaffected. Researchers say the virus may have jumped from the animal to humans or, perhaps, from humans to the civet in the crowded street markets.

　　But now the connection has been made, people have started abandoning(抛弃) their pet cats in the street because they look similar to civets. “They were probably abandoned because of all the media articles linking cats to the SARS virus,” said a Hong Kong official from the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

　　A WHO official later warned that it was too early to make the firm conclusion that the civet was the definite(明确的) carrier of SARS.

　　But the Chinese mainland(大陆) has begun to ban(禁止) the sale and consumption(消费) of the animal and Hong Kong has banned the import(进口) civet meat.

1．Civets ________.

[　　]

A．are commonly regarded as the definite carrier of SARS

B．are forbidden to raise in China at present

C．taste more delicious than most wild animals

D．have some virus similar to the SARS virus

2．Before SARS broke out, ________.

[　　]

A．scientists knew little about civets

B．people in the south were fond of the dish with civets

C．China was the largest importer of civet meat in the world

D．the civets in China are endangered

3．Pet cats were abandoned in the street because ________.

[　　]

A．they live the way as civets do

B．they were found to be a carrier of SARS

C．people cared more for their health

D．people had other favorites instead of cats

4．You can't find the meat of ________ when you have “dragon－tiger－phoenix soup”.

[　　]