Question

Do you often feel tired? Is it really because of the large amount of mental work you do? Here is an astonishing and significant fact: Mental work alone can’t make us tired. It sounds absurd. But a few years ago, scientists tried to find out how long the human brain could labor without reaching a stage of fatigue (疲劳). To the amazement of these scientists, they discovered that blood passing through the brain, when it is active, shows no fatigue at all! If we took a drop of blood from a day laborer, we would find it full of fatigue toxins(毒素) and fatigue products. But if we took blood from the brain of an Albert Einstein, it would show no fatigue toxins at the end of the day.

So far as the brain is concerned, it can work as well and swiftly at the end of eight or even twelve hours of effort as at the beginning. The brain is totally tireless. So what makes us tired?

Some scientists declare that most of our fatigue comes from our mental and emotional attitudes. One of England’s most outstanding scientists, J.A. Hadfield, says, “The greater part of the fatigue from which we suffer is of mental origin. In fact, fatigue of purely physical origin is rare.” Dr. Brill, a famous American scientist, goes even further. He declares, “One hundred percent of the fatigue of a sitting worker in good health is due to emotional problems.”

What kinds of emotions make sitting workers tired? Joy? Satisfaction? No! A feeling of being bored, anger, anxiety, tenseness, worry, a feeling of not being appreciated —— those are the emotions that tire sitting workers. Hard work by itself seldom causes fatigue. We get tired because our emotions produce nervousness in the body.

1.What surprised the scientists a few years ago?

A. Fatigue toxins could hardly be found in a laborer’s blood.

B. The brain could work for many hours without fatigue.

C. Albert Einstein didn’t feel worn out after a day’s work.

D. A mental worker’s blood was filled with fatigue toxins.

2.According to the author, which of the following can make sitting workers tired?

A. Unpleasant emotions.

B. Challenging mental work.

C. Endless tasks.

D. Physical labor.

3.What’s the author’s attitude towards the scientists’ ideas?

A. He doubts them.

B. He argues against them.

C. He agrees with them.

D. He hesitates to accept them.

4.We can infer from the passage that in order to stay energetic, sitting workers need     to ___________.

A. discover fatigue toxins

B. have some good food

C. exercise regularly

D. enjoy their work

Answer

1.B

2.A

3.C

4.D

【解析】

本文是一篇说明文。文章叙述的是人们为什么会疲劳。努力工作本身很少会导致疲劳。我们会感到疲倦，因为我们的情绪会引起身体的紧张。为了保持精力充沛，坐着工作的工人需要享受他们的工作。

1.细节理解题。根据第一段中a few years ago, scientists tried to find out how long the human brain could labor without reaching a stage of fatigue (疲劳).可知，几年前使科学家惊讶的是“大脑可以工作几个小时而不疲劳。”故选B。

2.细节理解题。根据第三段中最后一句“One hundred percent of the fatigue of a sitting worker in good health is due to emotional problems.”可知，根据作者的说法，“不愉快的情绪”能让坐着的人感到疲倦。故选A。

3.推理判断题。根据最后一段中A feeling of being bored, anger, anxiety, tenseness, worry, a feeling of not being appreciated —— those are the emotions that tire sitting workers. Hard work by itself seldom causes fatigue. We get tired because our emotions produce nervousness in the body.可知，作者同意科学家的思想。故选C。

4.推理判断题。根据最后一段中Hard work by itself seldom causes fatigue. We get tired because our emotions produce nervousness in the body.可知，我们可以从文章中推断出为了保持精力充沛，坐着工作的工人需要享受他们的工作。故选D。