Question

Are you an early riser or a night owl? Researchers from Aachen University in Germany believe that about 10 percent of people can be classified as “morning people”, who feel more active and function best in the morning．Around 20 percent are night owls—people who naturally tend to stay up late and are more tired during the day．And the rest of us fall somewhere in between, according to New Scientist.

Previous studies have suggested that early risers are more likely to be happy and healthy while night owls experience worse sleep as well as more depression and anxiety during the day.

For a long time, scientists have been trying to find out what causes the differences between the two．A new study suggests that it isn’t just people’s habits—early risers and night owls actually have different brain structures.

Led by Jessica Rosenberg at Aachen University, researchers scanned the brains of 16 early risers, 23 night owls and 20 people with intermediate sleeping hours．They found that the brains of night owls had less “white matter”—which speeds up the transmission(传输) of nerve signals — in brain areas associated with depression.

As you know, after people fly in an airplane from one time zone to another, they often suffer from a confused and tired feeling called “jet lag” because their body clocks are out of sync(不同步的) with the new time zone．It usually takes about a week for their bodies to adjust to the new time．But night owls always have difficulty syncing their bodies to the right time due to their brain structure．“It’s like they suffer from permanent jet lag,” said Rosenberg.

The good news is that it is possible for night owls to turn themselves into morning people．According to the researchers, night owls should try to spend as much time in the sunlight as possible and reduce their exposure to artificial light at night to force their body clocks to shift to a more normal rhythm.

1.What does the article mainly discuss?

A．How to turn early risers into night owls.

B．How our habits influence our sleep patterns.

C．What causes the differences between early risers and night owls.

D．Why early risers are happier and healthier than night owls.

2.We can learn from the article that night owls ________.

A．make up almost a third of the human population

B．have more white matter in their brains than other people

C．are more used to artificial night than sunlight

D．have body clocks that are not in agreement with the actual time

3.Jessica Rosenberg’s research suggests that ________.

A．previous studies about night owls are wrong

B．night owls are affected by jet lag more strongly than others

C．white matter helps our brains work more efficiently

D．brain structure might determine people’s chances of suffering from depression

4.According to the last paragraph, ________.

A．night owls have to give up their unhealthy life habits

B．night owls can learn to adjust their body clocks

C．there is little we can do to ease the trouble of night owls

D．scientists are planning research on how to change night owls’ brain structures

5.What would be the best title?

A．Night Owls Have “Jet leg”

B．Early Riser Have “Jet leg”

C．Who Are Night owls

D．Who Are Early Risers

Answer

1.C

2.D

3.D

4.B

5.A

【解析】

试题分析：文章提到早起型和夜猫子型两种人，并讲述了两者之间的区别及导致的原因，告诉我们夜猫子型的人可以通过改变作息时间来改变自己。

1. 主旨大意题。文章开头提到早起型和夜猫子型，后面重点分析两者之间的区别及导致的原因，最后讲怎样从夜猫子型转变成早起型，C项概括了全文意思，故选C。

2. 推理判断题。根据第二段中early risers and night owls actually have different brain structures.和第四段中But night owls always have difficulty syncing their bodies to the right time due to their brain structure.可知，夜猫子型的人的大脑结构和生物钟与一般人不同，故选D。

3. 推理判断题。根据第三段中the brains of night owls had less “white matter”—which speeds up the transmission(传输) of nerve signals — in brain areas associated with depression．可知，夜猫子型人的大脑结构会加速神经信号传输，使人更容易沮丧，故选D。

4. 细节理解题。最后一段提到夜猫子型的人可以慢慢调整生物钟，改变作息时间来改变自己。故选B。

5. 主旨大意题。文章提到早起型和夜猫子型，但重点是讲夜猫子型的原因及改变方法，A项符合全文重点，故选A。

考点：考查科普类短文阅读。

【名师点睛】

推理判断题的解题方法 ：

推理判断题不仅要求考生读懂文章中的每个句子的意思还要推理它们之间的关系，结合自己的生活常识和经验，再通过逻辑推理和判断，理解文章的言外之意，从而揭示文章的深层涵义。如文中第72小题根据early risers and night owls actually have different brain structures.和But night owls always have difficulty syncing their bodies to the right time due to their brain structure．可知夜猫子型的人大脑结构和生物钟与一般人不同，故选D.第73小题根据early risers and night owls actually have different brain structures.和the brains of night owls had less “white matter”—which speeds up the transmission(传输) of nerve signals – in brain areas associated with depression．可知大脑结构不同会加速神经信号传输加快，使人更容易沮丧，故选D.

任何一篇文章都有其特定的写作目的，读者应当知道如何去做或按照某种方式传递思考问题。推理判断题的答案不可能在文章中直接找到，因此推理时我们务必要忠于原文，在文章中寻找并确定可推论的依据，即：已知部分－推论的前提，从中推测出未知部分－推理的结论，切忌妄加评论，把自己的观点当成作者的观点。