Birds that are literally half asleep--with one brain hemisphere alert and the other sleeping--control which side of the brain remains awake, according to a new study of sleeping ducks.
Earlier studies have documented half-brain sleep in a wide range of birds. The brain hemispheres take turns sinking into the sleep stage characterized by slow brain waves. The eye controlled by the sleeping hemisphere keeps shut, while the wakeful hemisphere's eye stays open and alert. Birds also can sleep with both hemispheres resting at once.
Decades of studies of bird flocks led researchers to predict extra alertness in the more vulnerable, end of the row sleepers. Sure enough, the end birds tended to watch carefully on the side away from their companions. Ducks in the inner spots showed no preference for gaze direction.
Also, birds dozing(打盹) at the end of the line resorted to single hemisphere sleep, rather than total relaxation, more often than inner ducks did. Rotating 16 birds through the positions in a four-duck row, the researchers found outer birds half-asleep during some 32 percent of dozing time versus about 12 percent for birds in internal spots.
"We believe this is the first evidence for an animal behaviorally controlling sleep and wakefulness simultaneously in different regions of the brain，"the researchers say.
The results provide the best evidence for a long-standing supposition that single-hemisphere sleep evolved as creatures scanned for enemies. The preference for opening an eye on the lookout side could be widespread, he predicts. He's seen it in a pair of birds dozing side-by-side in the zoo and in a single pet bird sleeping by a mirror. The mirror-side eye closed as if the reflection were a companion and the other eye stayed open.
Useful as half-sleeping might be, it's only been found in birds and such water mammals(哺乳动物) as dolphins, whales, and seals. Perhaps keeping one side of the brain awake allows a sleeping animal to surface occasionally to avoid drowning.
Studies of birds may offer unique insights into sleep. Jerome M. Siegel of the UCLA says he wonders if birds' half brain sleep "is just the tip of the iceberg(冰山)" He speculates that more examples may turn up when we take a closer look at other species.
A nine-year-old schoolgirl single-handedly cooks up a science-fair experiment that ends up debunking(揭穿……的真相) a widely practiced medical treatment. Emily Rosa's target was a practice known as therapeutic(治疗的) touch (TT for short), whose advocates manipulate patients' "energy field" to make them feel better and even, say some, to cure them of various ills. Yet Emily's test shows that these energy fields can't be detected, even by trained TT practitioners (行医者). Obviously mindful of the publicity value of the situation, Journal editor George Lundberg appeared on TV to declare, "Age doesn't matter. It's good science that matters, and this is good science."
Emily's mother Linda Rosa, a registered nurse, has been campaigning against TT for nearly a decade. Linda first thought about TT in the late '80s, when she learned it was on the approved list for continuing nursing education in Colorado. Its 100,000 trained practitioners (48,000 in the U. S.) don't even touch their patients. Instead, they waved their hands a few inches from the patient's body, pushing energy fields around until they' re in "balance." TT advocates say these manipulations can help heal wounds, relieve Pain and reduce fever. The claims are taken seriously enough that TT therapists are frequently hired by leading hospitals, at up to $ 70 an hour, to smooth patients' energy, sometimes during surgery.
Yet Rosa could not find any evidence that it works. To provide such proof, TT therapists would have to sit down for independent testing--something they haven't been eager to do, even though James Randi has offered more than $1 million to anyone who can demonstrate the existence of a human energy field. (He's had one taker so far. She failed.) A skeptic might conclude that TT practitioners are afraid to lay their beliefs on the line. But who could turn down an innocent fourth-grader? Says Emily: "I think they didn't take me very seriously because I'm a kid."
The experiment was straight forward: 21 TT therapists stuck their hands, palms up, through a screen. Emily held her own hand over one of theirs--left or right--and the practitioners had to say which hand it was. When the results were recorded, they'd done no better than they would have by simply guessing. If there was an energy field, they couldn't feel it.
What might driving on an automated highway be like? The answer depends on what kind of system is ultimately adopted. Two distinct types are on the drawing board. The first is a special-purpose lane system, in which certain lanes are reserved for automated vehicles. The second is a mixed traffic system: fully automated vehicles would share the road with partially automated or manual driven cars. A special-purpose lane system would require more extensive physical modifications to existing highways, but it promises the greatest gains in freeway（高速公路）capacity.
Under either scheme, the driver would specify the desired destination, furnishing this information to a computer in the car at the beginning of the trip or perhaps just before reaching the automated highway. If a mixed traffic system way was in place, automated driving could begin whenever the driver was on suitably equipped roads. If special-purpose lanes were available, the car could enter them and join existing traffic in two different ways. One method would use a special onramp (入口引道).As the driver approached the point of entry for the highway, devices installed on the roadside would electronically check the vehicle to determine its destination and to ascertain that it had the proper automation equipment in good working order. Assuming it passed such tests, the driver would then be guided through a gate and toward an automated lane. In this case, the transition from manual to auto mated control would take place on the entrance ramp. An alternative technique could employ conventional lanes, which would be shared by automated and regular vehicles. The driver would steer onto the highway and move in normal fashion to a “transition” lane. The vehicle would then shift under computer control onto a lane reserved for automated traffic. (The limitation of these lanes to automated traffic would, presumably, be well respected, because all trespassers(非法进入者) could be swiftly identified by authorities.)
Either approach to joining a lane of automated traffic would harmonize the movement of newly entering vehicles with those already traveling. Automatic control here should allow for smooth merging without the usual uncertainties and potential for accidents. And once a vehicle had settled into automated travel, the driver would be free to release the wheel, open the morning paper or just relax.
A) should harmonize with newly entering cars
B) doesn't have to rely on his computer system
C) should watch out for potential accidents
D) doesn't have to hold on to the steering wheel
Passage Four Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage.
Taking charge of yourself involves putting to rest some very prevalent myths. At the top of the list is the notion that intelligence is measured by your ability to solve complex problems; to read, write and compute at certain levels; and to resolve abstract equations quickly. This vision of intelligence asserts formal education and bookish excellence as the true measures of self-fulfillment. It encourages a kind of intellectual prejudice that has brought with it some discouraging results. We have come to believe that someone who has more educational merit badges, who is very good at some form of school discipline is "intelligent." Yet mental hospitals are filled with patients who have all of the properly lettered certificates. A truer indicator of intelligence is an effective, happy life lived each day and each present moment of every day.
If you are happy, if you live each moment for everything it's worth, then you are an intelligent person. Problem solving is a useful help to your happiness, but if you know that given your inability to resolve a particular concern you can still choose happiness for yourself, or at a minimum refuse to choose unhappiness, then you are intelligent. You are intelligent because you have the ultimate weapon against the big N. B. D. --Nervous Break Down.
"Intelligent” people do not have N.B.D.'s because they are in charge of themselves. They know how to choose happiness over depression, because they know how to deal with the problems of their lives.
You can begin to think of yourself as truly intelligent on the basis of how you choose to feel in the face of trying circumstances. The life struggles are pretty much the same for each of us. Every one who is involved with other human beings in any social context has similar difficulties. Disagreements, conflict sand compromises are a part of what it means to be human. Similarly, money, growing old, sickness, deaths, natural disasters and accidents are all events which present problems to virtually all human beings. But some people are able to make it, to avoid immobilizing depression and unhappiness despite such occurrences, while others collapse or have an N. B.D. Those who recognize problems as a human condition and don' t measure happiness by an absence of problems are the most intelligent kind of humans we know; also, the most rare.
26、According to the author, the conventional notion of intelligence measured in terms of one' s ability to read, write and compute ________.
（本题分值：2分）
A) is a widely held but wrong concept
B) will help eliminate intellectual prejudice
C) is the root of all mental distress
D) will contribute to one's self-fulfillment
27、It is implied in the passage that holding a university degree ________.
（本题分值：2分）
A) may result in one's inability to solve complex real-life problems
B) does not indicate one's ability to write properly worded documents
C) may make one mentally sick and physically weak
D) does not mean that one is highly intelligent
28、The author thinks that an intelligent person knows ________.
（本题分值：2分）
A) how to put up with some very prevalent myths
B) how to find the best way to achieve success in tire
C) how to avoid depression and make his life worthwhile
D) how to persuade others to compromise
29、In the last paragraph, the author tells us that ________.
（本题分值：2分）
A) difficulties are but part of everyone's life
B) depression and unhappiness are unavoidable in life
C) everybody should learn to avoid trying circumstances
D) good feelings can contribute to eventual academic excellence
30、According to the passage, what kind of people are rare?
（本题分值：2分）
A) Those who don't emphasize bookish excellence in their pursuit of happiness.
B) Those who are aware of difficulties in life but know how to avoid unhappiness.
C) Those who measure happiness by an absence of problems but seldom suffer from N. B. D. ' s.
D) Those who are able to secure happiness though having to struggle against trying circumstances.
Part III Vocabulary (20 minutes)(共30小题；每小题0.5分，满分15分)Directions: There are 30 incomplete sentences in this part. For each sentence there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). Choose the ONE answer that best completes the sentence. Then mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the centre.
31、Starting with the ________ that there is life on the planet Mars, the scientist went on to develop his argument.
（本题分值：0.5分）
A) premise
B) pretext
C) foundation
D) presentation
32、After several nuclear disasters, a ________ has raged over the safety of nuclear energy.
（本题分值：0.5分）
A) quarrel
B) suspicion
C) verdict
D) controversy
33、Their diplomatic principles completely laid bare their ________ for world conquest.
（本题分值：0.5分）
A) admiration
B) ambition
C) administration
D)orientation
34、The director gave me his ________ that he would double my pay if I did my job well.
（本题分值：0.5分）
A) warrant
B) obligation
C) assurance
D) certainty
35、 The Christmas tree was decorated with shining ________ such as colored lights and glass balls.
（本题分值：0.5分）
A) ornaments
B) luxuries
C) exhibits
D) complements
36、The two most important ________ in making a cake are flour and sugar .
（本题分值：0.5分）
A) elements
B) components
C) ingredients
D) constituents
37、Cultural ________ indicates that human beings hand their languages down from one generation to another.
（本题分值：0.5分）
A) translation
B) transition
C) transmission
D) transaction
38、We must look beyond ________ and assumptions and try to discover what is missing.
（本题分值：0.5分）
A) justifications
B) illusions
C) manifestations
D) specifications
39、No one imagined that the apparently ________ businessman was really a criminal.
（本题分值：0.5分）
A) respective
B) respectable
C) respectful
D) realistic
40、If nothing is done to protect the environment, millions of species that are alive today will have become ________.
（本题分值：0.5分）
A) deteriorated
B) degenerated
C) suppressed
D) extinct
41、The ________ of the scientific attitude is that the human mind can succeed in understanding the universe.
（本题分值：0.5分）
A) essence
B) texture
C) content
D) threshold
42、The old lady has developed a ________ cough which cannot be cured completely in a short time.
（本题分值：0.5分）
A) perpetual
B) permanent
C) chronic
D) sustained
43、What the correspondent sent us is an ________ news report. We can depend on it
（本题分值：0.5分）
A) evident
B) authentic
C) ultimate
D) immediate
44、Having had her as a professor and adviser, I can tell you that she is an _______ force who pushes her students to excel far beyond their own expectations.
（本题分值：0.5分）
A) inspirational
B) educational
C) excessive
D) instantaneous
45、Some researchers feel that certain people have nervous systems particularly ______ to hot, dry winds. They are what we call weather-sensitive people.
（本题分值：0.5分）
A) subjective
B) subordinate
C) liable
D) vulnerable
46、Hurricanes are killer winds, and their ________ power lies in the physical damage they can do.
（本题分值：0.5分）
A) cumulative
B) destructive
C) turbulent
D) prevalent
47、In some countries, students are expected to be quiet and ________ in the classroom.
（本题分值：0.5分）
A) skeptical
B) faithful
C) obedient
D) subsidiary
48、In spite of the ______economic forecasts, manufacturing output has risen slightly.
（本题分值：0.5分）
A) gloomy
B) miserable
C) shadowy
D) obscure
49、Body paint or face paint is used mostly by men in pre-literate societies in order to attract good health or to _______ disease.
（本题分值：0.5分）
A) set aside
B) ward off
C) shrug off
D) give away
50、The international situation has been growing _____difficult for the last few years.
（本题分值：0.5分）
A) invariably
B) presumably
C) increasingly
D) dominantly
51、The prisoner was ______ of his civil liberty for three years.
（本题分值：0.5分）
A) discharged
B) derived
C) deprived
D) dispatched
52、Small farms and the lack of modern technology have ______ agricultural production.
（本题分值：0.5分）
A) blundered
B) tangled
C) bewildered
D) hampered
53、The Japanese scientists have found that scents ______ efficiency and reduce stress among office workers.
（本题分值：0.5分）
A) enhance
B) amplify
C) foster
D) magnify
54、All the students have to ______to the rules and regulations of the school.
（本题分值：0.5分）
A) confirm
B) confront
C) confine
D) conform
55、He ______ his head, wondering how to solve the problem
（本题分值：0.5分）
A) scrapped
B) screwed
C) scraped
D) scratched
56、As soon as the boy was able to earn his own living he ______ his parents' strict rules.
（本题分值：0.5分）
A) defied
B) refuted
C) excluded
D) vetoed
57、The helicopter ______a light plane and both pilots were killed.
（本题分值：0.5分）
A) coincided with
B) stumbled on
C) tumbled to
D) collided with
58、To ______ is to save and protect, to leave what we ourselves enjoy in such good condition that others may also share the enjoyment.
（本题分值：0.5分）
A) conserve
B) conceive
C) convert
D) contrive
59、 Put on dark glasses or the sun will ______ you and you won' t be able to see.
（本题分值：0.5分）
A) discern
B) distort
C) distract
D) dazzle
60、In ______ times human beings did not travel for pleasure but to find a more favourable climate.
（本题分值：0.5分）
A) prime
B) primitive
C) primary
D) preliminary
Part IV Cloze (15 minutes)(共20小题；每小题0.5分，满分10分) Directions: There are 20 blanks in the following passage. For each blank there are four choices marked A), B) C) and D) on the right side of the paper. You should choose the ONE with a single line through the centre.
In the United States, the first day nursery, was opened in 1854. Nurseries were established in various areas during the 61 half of the 19th century; most of 62 were charitable. Both in Europe and in the U.S., the day-nursery movement received great 63 during the First World War, when 64 of manpower caused the industrial employment of unprecedented(前所未有) numbers of women. In some European countries nurseries were established 65 in munitions (军火) plants, under direct government sponsorship. 66 the number of nurseries in the U.S. also rose 67 , this rise was accomplished without government aid of any kind. During the years following the First World War, 68 , Federal, State, and local governments gradually began to exercise a measure of control 69 the day nurseries, chiefly by 70 them and by.
The 71 of the Second World War was quickly followed by an increase in the number of day nurseries in almost all countries, as women were 72 called up on to replace men in the factories. On this 73 the U.S. government immediately came to the support of the nursery schools, 74 $ 6,000,000 in July, 1942,for a nursery-school program for the children of working mothers. Many States and local communities 75 this Federal aid. By the end of the war, in August, 1945, more than 100,000 children were being cared 76 in daycare centers receiving Federal 77 . Soon afterward, the Federal government 78 cut down its expenditures for this purpose and later 79 them, causing a sharp drop in the number of nursery schools in operation. However, the expectation that most employed mothers would leave their 80 at the end of the war was only partly fulfilled.
61、
（本题分值：0.5分）
A) latter
B) late
C) other
D) first
62、
（本题分值：0.5分）
A) those
B) them
C) whose
D) imitation
63、
（本题分值：0.5分）
A) impetus
B) input
C) imitation
D) initiative
64、
（本题分值：0.5分）
A) sources
B) abundance
C) shortage
D) reduction
65、
（本题分值：0.5分）
A) hardly
B) entirely
C) only
D) even
66、
（本题分值：0.5分）
A) Because
B) As
C) Since
D) Although
67、
（本题分值：0.5分）
A) unanimously
B) sharply
C) predominantly
D) militantly
68、
（本题分值：0.5分）
A) therefore
B) consequently
C) however
D) moreover
69、
（本题分值：0.5分）
A) over
B) in
C) at
D) about
70、
（本题分值：0.5分）
A) formulating
B) labeling
C) patenting
D) licensing
71、
（本题分值：0.5分）
A) outset
B) outbreak
C) breakthrough
D) breakdown
72、
（本题分值：0.5分）
A) again
B) thus
C) repeatedly
D) yet
73、
（本题分值：0.5分）
A) circumstance
B) occasion
C) case
D) situation
74、
（本题分值：0.5分）
A) regulating
B) summoning
C) allocating
D) transferring
75、
（本题分值：0.5分）
A) expanded
B) facilitated
C) supplemented
D) compensated
76、
（本题分值：0.5分）
A) by
B) after
C) of
D) for
77、
（本题分值：0.5分）
A) pensions
B) subsidies
C) revenues
D) budgets
78、
（本题分值：0.5分）
A) prevalently
B) furiously
C) statistically
D) drastically
79、
（本题分值：0.5分）
A) abolished
B) diminished
C) jeopardized
D)precluded
80、
（本题分值：0.5分）
A) nurseries
B) homes
C) jobs
D) children
Section B Compound Dictation(共10分)
The human body is a remarkable food processor. As an adult, you may consume (81) ______a ton of food per year and still not gain or lose a pound of body weight. You are (82) ______ harnessing, and consuming energy through the intricate (83) ______of your body in order to remain in energy balance. To (84) ______a given body weight, your energy input must balance your energy output. However, sometimes the (85) ______ energy balance is upset, and your(86) ______body weight will either fall or (87) ______ .
The term body image refers to the mental image we have of our own physical appearance, and (88) ______.
Research has revealed that about 40 percent of adult men and 55 percent of adult women are dissatisfied with their current body weight. (89) ______ .
At the college level, a study found that 85 percent of both male and female first year students desired to change their body weight. (90) ______ .
Thinness is currently an attribute that females desire highly. Males generally desire muscularity. The vast majority of individuals who want to change their body weight do it for the sake of appearance: most want to lose excess body fat while a smaller percentage of individuals actually want to gain weight.
81、
（本题分值：0.5分）
82、
（本题分值：0.5分）
83、
（本题分值：0.5分）
84、
（本题分值：0.5分）
85、
（本题分值：0.5分）
86、
（本题分值：0.5分）
87、
（本题分值：0.5分）
88、
（本题分值：2分）
89、
（本题分值：2分）
90、
（本题分值：2.5分）