C

Our body clock, or natural body rhythm, influences our energy and alertness. Paying attention to it can help us choose the suitable time of the day when we best perform specific tasks.

The reality, however, is that most of us organize the time around work demands, school deadlines, commuting or social events. Doing whatever the body feels like doing is a luxury in today’s fast-paced modern society.

But that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth trying. Obeying our body clock has significant health benefits. Disrupting our natural body rhythm, on the other hand, has been linked to problems such as depression, obesity, or headache, says Steve Key, a biology professor.

When the body clock can synchronize (使……同步) the rhythms of its natural processes, it “gives us an advantage in daily life”, says Key.

According to him, when it comes to cognitive (认知的) work, most adults perform best in the late morning. As our body temperature starts to rise just before awakening in the morning and continues to increase until midday, our memory, alertness and concentration gradually improve.

However, he adds, our ability to concentrate typically starts to decrease soon thereafter. Most of us are more easily distracted (分心) between noon and 4 pm.

Alertness also tends to fall after eating a meal and sleepiness tends to peak around 2 pm, making that a good time for a nap.

Surprisingly, tiredness may increase our creative powers. For most adults, problems that require open-ended thinking are often best dealt with in the evening when they are tired, according to a study in the journal Thinking & Reasoning.

When choosing a time of the day to exercise, paying attention to your body clock can improve results. Physical performance is usually best from about 3 to 6 pm, says Michael Smolensky, a professor of biomedical engineering.

Of course, not everyone’s body clock is the same, making it even harder to synchronize natural rhythms with daily plans.

28. If we know our natural body rhythm well, we can ______.

A. find out the suitable time to do specific tasks

B. organize our time around work demands

C. do whatever our body feels like doing

D. be sure to be healthy

29. Which of the following is NOT true?

A. Our alertness is influenced by our natural body rhythm.

B. Doing whatever your body feels like is very difficult in our modern society.

C. Obeying our body clock is good for our health.

D. Disrupting our natural body rhythm can lead to obesity.

30. Inspiration (灵感) to solve a difficult problem will most probably come to us

______.

A. when we get up in the morning

B. when we are tired in the evening

C. when we are full of energy in the late morning

D. when we are asleep at night

31. Which of the following can be the suitable title for the passage?

A. What is natural body rhythm?

B. Natural body rhythm is good for us.

C. Something about natural body rhythm.

D. The latest research about natural body rhythm.

D

Boys’ schools are the perfect place to teach young men to express their emotions and involve them in activities such as art, dance and music.

Far from the traditional image of a culture of aggressive masculinity(男子气概)，the absence of girls gives boys the chance to develop without pressure to be consistent to a stereotype(传统观念)，a US study says.

Boys at single-sex schools were said to be more likely to get involved in cultural and artistic activities that helped develop their abilities to express their emotions，rather than feeling they had to obey the“boy code”of hiding their emotions to be a “real man”.

The findings of the study are against the received wisdom that boys do better when taught alongside girls.

Tony Little，headmaster of Eton，warned that boys were being ignored by the British education system because it had become too focused on girls.He criticized teachers for failing to recognize that boys are actually more emotional than girls.

The research argued that boys often perform badly in mixed schools because they become discouraged when their female peers do better earlier in speaking and reading skills.

But in single-sex schools teachers can adjust lessons to boys’ learning style，letting them move around the classroom and getting them to compete in teams to prevent boredom，wrote the study’s author, Abigail James of the University of Virginia.

Teachers could encourage boys to enjoy reading and writing with “boy-focused” approaches such as themes and characters that appeal to them.Because boys generally have sharper vision，learn best through touch, and are physically more active，they need to be given “hands-on”lessons where they are allowed to walk around.“Boys in mixed schools view classical music as feminine(女性的)and prefer the modem type in which violence and sexism are major themes.” James wrote.

Single-sex education also made it less likely that boys would feel they had to give in to a stereotype that men should be “masterful and in charge” in relationships.“In mixed schools boys feel pressed to act like men before they understand themselves well enough to know what that means.” the study reported.

32.The author believes that a single-sex school would        .

A.force boys to hide their emotions to be “real men”

B.help to form masculine aggressiveness in boys

C.encourage boys to express their emotions more freely

D.naturally place emphasis on the traditional image of a man to boys

33.It is commonly believed that in a mixed school boys        .

A.perform relatively better      B.grow up more healthily

C.behave more responsibly           D.receive a better education

34.What does Tony Little say about the British education system?

A.It fails more boys than girls academically.

B.It focuses more on mixed school education.

C.It fails to give boys the attention they need.

D.It places more pressure on boys than on girls.

35.According to Abigail James，one of the advantages of single-sex schools is        .

A. teaching can be designed to promote boys’ team spirit

B.boys can focus on their lessons without being absent-minded

C.boys can choose to learn whatever they are interested in

D. teaching can be adapted to suit the characteristics of boys