It’s 3 o’clock and you’ve been hard at work. As you sit at your desk, a strong desire for chocolate overcomes you. You try to busy yourself to make it go away. But it doesn’t. Here is another situation. Perhaps you are not feeling well. The only thing you want to eat is a big bowl of chicken soup, like your mum used to make when you were sick as a child. Food cravings are a strong desire for a specific type of food. And they are normal.
Scientists at the website How Stuff Works compare hunger and cravings this way. Hunger is a fairly simple connection between the stomach and the brain. They even call it simply “stomach hunger”. When our stomachs burn up all of the food we have eaten, a hormone (激素) sends a message to one part of the brain for more food, which regulates our most basic body functions such as thirst, hunger and sleep. The brain then produces a chemical to start the appetite and you eat. Hunger is a function of survival.
A craving is more complex. It activates brain areas related to emotion, memory and reward. These are the same areas of the brain activated during drug-craving studies. Because of this, some scientists call food cravings “mind hunger”. People often crave foods that are high in fat and sugar. Foods that are high in fat or high in sugar produce chemicals in the brain. These chemicals give us feelings of pleasure.
In a 2007 study, researchers at Cambridge University found that dieting or restricted eating generally increases the possibility of food cravings. So, the more you deny yourself a food that you want, the more you may crave it. However, fasting (禁食) is a bit different. They found that eating no food at all for a short period of time lessened food cravings.
So, the next time you crave something very specific, know that your brain may be more to blame than your stomach.
1.What is the function of the first paragraph?
A. To deepen the understanding of hunger.
B. To lead to the topic of the whole passage.
C. To report the discovery of craving study.
D. To remind readers of their own special food.
2.What do we learn about food cravings?
A. It means the stomach functions well. B. It ensures a person survives hunger.
C. It shows food is linked to feelings. D. It proves the brain decides your appetite.
3.What’s the likely result of dieting?
A. The increase of food desire. B. The decrease of chemicals.
C. The refusal of fat and sugar. D. The disappearance of appetite.
4.What does the passage mainly discuss?
A. The findings of food cravings. B. What hunger is all about.
C. The functions of brain areas. D. What dieting may bring us.
Ten years ago, a doctor told me something was wrong with my lung and I had to give up work at once and went to bed. I was totally ________ and felt I was suddenly placed under _______ of death with an indefinite reprieve(缓刑). After careful thought,I____my affairs;then I went home and got into bed.But 2 years later,I left my bed and____the long climb back.It was another year____I made it.
I speak of this experience because these past years have____me what to value and what to believe.I____now that this world is not my oyster（牡蛎）to be opened but my____to be grasped.
I've also learned that it's necessary to,____those little,all important things I never thought I would____before: they music of the wind in my favorite pine tree,the____of sunlight on running water.I seem now,with some of the ____freshness of childhood,to hear and see.How well,____,I recall the touch of the earth the day I first stepped upon it after the years in bed.It was like____one's citizenship in a world one had nearly lost.
Frequently,I____myself that I need make notes of this____I'm living in now,because in it I'm well,____,doing what I like best.It won't always be like this,____I'll make the most of it and be _______.I owe all this to that long time spent in bed.Wiser people come to this____without having to acquire it the hard way.But I wasn't wise enough.I'm wiser now,a little,and happier.
1.A.confused B.shocked C.inspired D.annoyed
2.A.trial B.pressure C.sentence D.control
3.A.made up B.set up C.took up D.cleared up
4.A.recalled B.began C.avoided D.accepted
5.A.when B.after C.since D.before
6.A.occupied B.taught C.treated D.ensured
7.A.admit B.demand C.expect D.realize
8.A.knowledge B.opportunity C.attention D.point
9.A.dismiss B.list C.define D.appreciate
10.A.notice B.record C.remember D.track
11.A.shadow B.shake C.play D.feeling
12.A.damaged B.recovered C.faded D.changed
13.A.thus B.in return C.for example D.by chance
14.A.founding B.regaining C.discovering D.forgetting
15.A.remind B.promise C.advise D.convince
16.A.country B.moment C.memory D.inspiration
17.A.pleased B.courageous C.confident D.strong
18.A.meanwhile B.otherwise C.however D.therefore
19.A.puzzled B.grateful C.cheerful D.embarrassed
20.A.awareness B.agreement C.comment D.statement
—Oh, no! I failed my math test again!
— ______. Practice makes perfect.
A.It’s hard to say. B.It’s up to you. C.You’re not alone. D.I’m afraid not.
To those of you who received honors, awards, and ____, I say, well done. And to the average students, I say, you, too, can be President of the United States.
A.distinctions B.contributions C.solutions D.attractions
Many a student in the class ____ that Jack is the only one of the students who ____ the chance to attend a key university.
A.thinks; has B.think; have C.think; has D.thinks; have
On hearing her mother was sent to the hospital because of heart attack, Jane dropped the phone and ____ from the office.
A.disappeared B.left C.escaped D.fled
