Even though global warming may have made the weather more mild, many animals are still hibernating（冬眠）. It’s too bad that humans can’t hibernate. In fact we almost did.
Apparently, at times in the past, farmers in France liked a semi-state of human hibernation. So writes Graham Robb, a British scholar who has studied the sleeping habits of the French farmers. As soon as the weather turned cold, people all over the France shut themselves away and practiced the forgotten art of doing nothing at all for months.
In line with this, Jeff Warren, a producer at CBC Radio’s The Current, tells us that the way we sleep has changed since the invention of lighting.
When historians began studying texts of the Middle Ages, they noticed something referred to as “first sleep”, which was not clarified, though. Now scientists are telling us our ancestors most likely slept in separate periods. The business of eight hours’ continuous sleep is a modern invention.
In the past, without the artificial light, humans went to sleep when it became dark and then woke themselves up around midnight. The late night period was known as “The Watch”. It was when people actually kept watch against wild animals, although many of them simply moved around or visited family and neighbors.
According to some sleep researchers, a short of insomnia（失眠）at midnight is not a disorder. It is normal. Humans can experience another state of consciousness（清醒状态）around their sleeping, which happens in the brief period before we fall asleep or wake ourselves in the morning. This period can be a creative time for some people.
Playing with your sleep rhythms（节奏）can be dangerous, as worry may set in. Medical science doesn’t help much in this case. It offers us medicines for a full night’s continuous sleep, which sounds natural; however, according to Warren’s theory, it is really the opposite of what we need.
【小题1】The late night was called “The Watch” because it was a time for people ______.

Even though global warming may have made the weather more mild, many animals are still hibernating（冬眠）. It’s too bad that humans can’t hibernate. In fact we almost did.
Apparently, at times in the past, farmers in France liked a semi-state of human hibernation. So writes Graham Robb, a British scholar who has studied the sleeping habits of the French farmers. As soon as the weather turned cold, people all over the France shut themselves away and practiced the forgotten art of doing nothing at all for months.
In line with this, Jeff Warren, a producer at CBC Radio’s The Current, tells us that the way we sleep has changed since the invention of lighting.
When historians began studying texts of the Middle Ages, they noticed something referred to as “first sleep”, which was not clarified, though. Now scientists are telling us our ancestors most likely slept in separate periods. The business of eight hours’ continuous sleep is a modern invention.
In the past, without the artificial light, humans went to sleep when it became dark and then woke themselves up around midnight. The late night period was known as “The Watch”. It was when people actually kept watch against wild animals, although many of them simply moved around or visited family and neighbors.
According to some sleep researchers, a short of insomnia（失眠）at midnight is not a disorder. It is normal. Humans can experience another state of consciousness（清醒状态）around their sleeping, which happens in the brief period before we fall asleep or wake ourselves in the morning. This period can be a creative time for some people.
Playing with your sleep rhythms（节奏）can be dangerous, as worry may set in. Medical science doesn’t help much in this case. It offers us medicines for a full night’s continuous sleep, which sounds natural; however, according to Warren’s theory, it is really the opposite of what we need.

1. 1.

   The late night was called “The Watch” because it was a time for people ______.

   1. A.
      to set time to catch animals
   2. B.
      to remind others of the time
   3. C.
      to guard against possible dangers
   4. D.
      to wake up their family and neighbors
2. 2.

   We can infer from the last paragraph that people should ______.

   1. A.
      sleep in the way animals do
   2. B.
      follow their natural sleep rhythms
   3. C.
      keep to the eight-hour sleeping way
   4. D.
      ask doctors for help if they can’t sleep
3. 3.

   What is the writer’s purpose in writing the passage?

   1. A.
      To throw new light on human sleep.
   2. B.
      To encourage people to sleep less.
   3. C.
      To give some suggestions on insomnia.
   4. D.
      To find out people’s hibernating history.

阅读理解

　　Man has been traveling into space for more than forty years. Even though today, very few people get the chance to be an astronaut, about thirty per year. This is mainly because of the expense. It costs millions of yuan to train and send astronauts into space. Very few countries can afford this.

　　This why American businessman Dennis Tito paid 20000000 US dollars to the Russian space agency to go into space. He visited the International Space Station. His trip making him the first ever space tourist, took eight days in total. He spent most of his time taking photos, looking at earth and listening to music on his once-in-a-lifetime trip.

　　After landing safely back on earth, Mr Tito thought the trip was worth the money. The only difficulty he had was walking but this is normal for anyone who's been in zero gravity.

　　Some people especially in the American space agency, argue that you must be professional to go into space. They worried about the safety of other astronauts. However, Mr Tito received training before he left. He also helped to prepare food for the others while in space. They told him what to do and where he was allowed to go.

　　A survey carried out soon after Tito landed showed that seventy-five percent of American supported space tourism. Some people are bored of all the places on the earth. They are looking for a new adventure and space is the place.

　　The money Mr Tito gave the Russians paid for twenty percent of their annual budget. If we want to see men on Mars and other planets, we may need rich people like Mr Tito to help us pay for it. The Russians have more rich people who want to become space tourists. They should take them.

l．How many people have flown in space?

[　　]

A．About thirty.

B．More than one thousand and two hundred.

C．Thousands.

D．About twelve thousand.

2．The Russians want Dennis Tito to go into space because ________.

[　　]

A．they want to work with an American

B．they want him to have a once-in-a-lifetime trip

C．they want him to take photos of earth

D．they want his money

3．The differences between Mr Tito and the other astronauts ________.

[　　]

A．none

B．only Tito was allowed to cook

C．Tito couldn't go everywhere on the space station

D．Tito received training before he flew in space

4．What does the writer think about Dennis Tito?

[　　]

A．He helped Russia keep going into space.

B．He was not a good astronaut.

C．He couldn't help the Russians much.

D．He shouldn't be allowed into space again.

5．The writer thinks the problem for space tourists is ________.

[　　]

A．people's legs take time to get used to earth again

B．none

C．there is not much to do, only take photos and listen to music

D．tourists need to learn Russian before they go