D
Graffiti is a common feature of most Western cities. The word graffiti was from the Greek word, graphein, which only meant writing. These days, however, the word means drawing or writing on the walls of buildings, or the public transportation, such as trains or buses.
Graffiti, as a form of expression, was born in New York during the 1960s and 1970s. At that time, a new modern culture about city life appeared. Graffiti was a written form of expression of that life. Later, it was mixed with a musical form called hip-hop that was another expression of the city life.
At first, graffiti artists used pens. But then, with the development of graffiti, they became experienced. They turned to using spray paint (喷漆罐). Spray paint allowed them to draw a greater area. And it also allowed them to work quickly.
At present, different people have different ideas about graffiti. Some people say it makes the cities dirty. It isn’t allowed by many local governments in America. The governments spend more than a million dollars a year cleaning graffiti. The money, they say, could be better spent on health or education. Other people think it is a form of art. In fact, the works of some famous graffiti artists can be found in museums, galleries, and art books.
【小题1】Which is the present meaning of the underlined word “graffiti” now?

“Sleep-disordered breathing (SDB)” is a term for a group of conditions that can influence normal breathing while people sleep. These include snoring (打鼾), mouth-breathing and sleep apnea. Sleep-disordered breathing can do more than just leave people feeling tired the next day. It can also have an effect on people's health. In children the effects can include behavioral and emotional problems.

In a new study, researchers asked parents about their children's breathing from when they were babies up to about age six. The study involved about eleven thousand children.

Karen Bonuck at the Einstein College of Medicine in New York led the study. She says, “The central finding overall is that sleep-disordered breathing is connected with a fifty percent increase in adverse neurobehavioral (不利的神经行为) outcomes.” She adds that the more serious the breathing problems, the more serious the behavioral issues were likely to be. Other studies have linked sleep with children's behavior, but this study could be able to reject (排除) other possible causes.

The study appears in the journal Pediatrics. It’s estimated one child in ten snores regularly. A smaller number suffer (遭受) from other sleep-disordered breathing.

How well do you sleep? A popular belief is that sleep gets worse with age. But, in another new study, those who reported the fewest problems with the quality (质量) of their sleep were people in their eighties.

Researchers did a telephone survey of more than one hundred fifty thousand American adults. Michael Grandner at the University of Pennsylvania medical school says the starting goal was to prove that aging is connected with increased sleep problems.

The survey did find an increase during middle age, worse in women than men. But except for that, people reported that their sleep quality improved as they got older. At least they felt it did.

Mr. Grandner says, “Even if sleep among older Americans is actually worse than in younger adults, feelings about it still improve with age.”

The findings appear in the journal Sleep. In the study, health problems and sadness were linked with poor sleep. Also, women reported more sleep disturbances and tiredness than men.

But, based on the study, Mr. Grandner says older people who are not sick or depressed should be reporting better sleep. “If they’re not, they need to talk to their doctor. They shouldn’t just take no notice of it,” he says. Nor should their doctor turn a blind eye to it. He says doctors generally dismiss sleep complaints (抱怨) from older adults as a normal part of aging.

57. From the passage we can learn that ______.

A. middle-aged men have more sleep problems than women

B. the older people get, the better the quality of sleep will be

C. doctors don’t take sleep complaints from older adults seriously

D. children suffer more mouth-breathing than other SDB conditions

58. What can we infer from the passage?

A. SDB can bring about serious illness to people.

B. Older adults think they get better sleep than they actually do

C. Ms. Bonuck’s studies have linked sleep with children's behavior.

D. A key period for children’s behavioral development is from 0 to 6.

59. What’s the best title for the passage?

A. Who sleeps Well, who lives Well

B. Who Sleeps Better, the Young or the Old?

C. New Findings on Sleep in Children, Older Adults

D. New Findings on Sleep-Disordered Breathing and Health

Everybody hates rats. But in the earthquake places of the world – Japan, Los Angeles, Turkey – rats will soon be man’s new best friends.
What happens after an earthquake? We send in rescue(救援) dogs. Why? Because they can smell people. Dogs save lives. They help rescuers to find living people. But dogs are big and they can’t get into small spaces. So now a new research project is using a smaller animal to save lives: the rat.
How does it work? First, the rat is trained to smell people. When this happens, the rat’s brain gives a signal. This is sent to a small radio on its back, and then the rescuers follow the radio signals. When the rat’s brain activity jumps, the rescuers know that someone is alive. The rat has smelled that person.
Although there are already robots which can do this job, rats are better. Christian Linster at Cornell University, New York, says, “ ‘Robot’ noses don’t work well when there are other smells around. Rats are good at that.” Rats can also see in the dark. They are cheaper and quicker to train than dogs, and unlike robots, they don’t need electricity.
The “ rat project” is not finished, but Julie Ryan of International Rescue Corps in Scotland says, “ It would be fantastic. A rat would get into spaces we couldn’t get to and a rat would get out if it wasn’t safe.” Perhaps for the first time in history, people will be happy to see a rat in a building ( but only after an earthquake, of course.)
【小题1】In the earthquake places, rats will become man’s best friends because they can __________.