Lights Out at Bedtime There are plenty of good reasons to power up a personal desktop or laptop computer in the evening -- writing e-mails,chatting on social networks or making purchases over the Internet,for instance.But various studies indicate that people who stare at a PC's bright monitor shortly before going to bed probably sleep less soundly than they would otherwise because the light seriously affects their natural wake-sleep cycle."They haven't proved it though," says Dieter Kunz,the team's director at Charite's Psychiatric Clinic in St.Hedwig's Hospital in Berlin. Similarly,exposure to just 10 minutes of normal bathroom lighting is enough to free the sleep hormone melatonin,which regulates people's natural wake-sleep cycle and makes them sleepy at nightfall. Ten years ago,a team of British and American researchers detected a photo-pigment in the human eye that signals to the body whether it is day or night,summer or winter.The photo-pigment is especially sensitive to blue light. "The blue light more or less tells the body,'It's daytime,be awake,'" Kunz says.Monitors have a mostly cold white light content and scientists suspect the photo-pigment may react similarly to it.So the longer people look into the bright light,the more awake they become - and then sleep poorly. A lot of people have difficulty "switching off" in the evening.About half of the women in Germany and a quarter of the men sleep poorly. Environmental factors are only one of the possible causes.Job stress as well as personal and health concerns are also the main reasons for their sleep problems. In addition,electronic objects' standby lights and indicator lamps can be annoying in the dark and affect sleep."Sound scientific evidence is still lacking on this matter," Kunz notes. According to Kunz,those who cannot go without their computer in the evening should turn down the blue content if possible and lower the brightness somewhat."But nobody does that because,after all,you want to concentrate while working at the computer and the... We can learn from the passage that _ . A) the blue light has a calming effect. B) the photo-pigment tells people day or night C) women in Germany use computers more often than men D) it has been proved that standby lights affect people's sleep
B
(Question)
Face book, the world's biggest social networking site, is celebrating its sixth birthday. The site's founder, Mark Zuckergerg, states that Face book will continue to work as hard as it has worked in the last six years in order to stay the web's number one communication site. The company started in a dorm room in 2004. Today it has 150 million active users, more than the 130 million of its competitor MySpace. Face book set itself apart from other social networking sites because you can communicate with people you really know and trust. Before, most people didn't want to share their real identities online. Face book has given people a safe and trusted environment for people to interact online. It has changed the way people view the world. A friend from any country is only a few clicks away. It was back in February 2004 when Zuckerberg started "the Face book" from a Harvard student's room. The aim was to help students get in touch with each other over the Internet. Within 24 hours over a thousand students had signed up and soon after that the network spread out to other universities. By 2005 a research study showed that about 85% of the students in the network had a Face book account. Another survey showed that Face book was almost as important as an iPod. At the end of 2005 Face book came to the UK. And up to today the site has been translated into 35 languages. Six years after its start, Face book has escaped the universities and colleges. More than half of its users are not at college any more and the fastest growing group are the 30 to 40-year-olds. Every day 15 million users update their profiles to tell their friends and the world what's happening to them. They also share photos, upload videos, chat, make friends, join groups and simply have fun. Which of the following is NOT true about Face book? A) It's the world's biggest social networking site. B) The site of Face book has been translated into 35 languages. C) The number of its active users is 20 million more than My Space today. D) Face book is considered more important than iPod to the students of the UK.
(Answer)
D
Ques: BEIJING -- China's education authority will tighten the widely criticized policy of "extra credits" for the national college entrance examination to ensure a fairer chance for all exam-takers. Under the policy, high school students who win awards in national Olympic competitionscould get ''extra credits', up to 20 points for the national college entrance exam. Students with talentin sports and students who are from ethnic groups can also benefit from this policy. The extra creditshave increased these students' chances of being admitted by famous universities. Some parents werefound to have helped their children fabricate award experiences or falsify qualifications to getextra credits. "It has harmed education equality," the ministry said. Xiong Bingqi, vice-chief of the 21st Century Education Research Institute, said the policy isdesigned to help students who have special talents but may be weak in academic performance tohave a chance to receive higher education. It will still be needed but it is time to make the rulesfairer," he said. The ministry said it will reduce the range of competitions whose winners can get extra credits,and limit the winners, privileges. The new policy will apply to students who begin high school in 2011, it said. Chen Lei, a mother of a 10-year-old girl, said she welcomed the ministry's policy adjustmentas she does not want her daughter to become an Olympic competition _ . But not all the Chinese parents welcomed the new policy. "It is like a thunderbolt for me. My 13-year-old son has spent so much time studying Olympic math, and participated in so manytechnological competitions during vacations. It is useless now," said Dong Wen, a 43-year-oldmother. A student said, "Many students have changed the current study plan, and they can abandon thecompetition. I will be interested in learning the courses which can improve my abilities." Yuan Guiren, minister of education, told China Daily that the reform is an attempt to consider the overall quality of an applicant. "But the country will... Which person in the passage was strongly against the new policy? A) Xiong Bingqi B) Chen Lei C) Dong Wen D) Yuan Guiren
Ans: C
The National Outline for Medium and Long Term Education Reform and Development (2010 - 20) was released over the weekend. Here are some of the highlights: Four - percent effort The government says spending on education will be 4 percent of GDP by 2012. globally, average spending on education is about 4.5% of GDP. China spend 3,33% in 2008. according to Hu Angang, of Tsinghua University's Center for China Studies, even if China reaches that goal, it will only rank about 100 th out of 188 countries. Administrative rank Administrative rankings for school leaders are to be phased out to tackle the bureaucracy problem that limits educational development, according to Cheng Fangping, of the national Institute for Educational Research. Areas like teaching programs, scientific research, and technological development will be more independent. Vocational Education The system will be free of charge. According to Wu Yan, of Beijing Institute of Educational Sciences, this will be key to developing China's production capacity and will improve poor people's lives dramatically. Entering college Universities could eventually have the freedom to choose some of their own high school applicants. Normally, students are accepted based on the uniform national exam scores. Also, students who agree to go to a remote area could be admitted to university under special circumstances. The most likely change could come on the college entrance English test, which might be modeled on the IELTS or TOEFL. Students will be able to take it several times and pick their best score. 58.We can learn from the passage even though our country spends 4% of GDP on education in 2012,_. A) there will still be 188 countries ahead of China in this aspect B) China will certainly overtake the global average spending on education C) there might be nearly 100 countries ahead of China in this aspect D) China will be the 100 th country to spend over the global average on education
C