A few years ago I was on a bicycle trip when I got off my bike for a rest. I sat down on the grass. A few seconds later, I was covered in ants. They were swarming all over me so I got up and brushed them off. It was a strange experience but I soon forgot about it. A couple of years later, I was living in Jordan. I had just moved into a modern flat and was unpacking plates when I saw something move out of the corner of my eye. I looked over at the kitchen drawer and there was a cockroach crawling out of it. I screamed. Then I grabbed a can of _ and sprayed it on the cockroach. He ran under the nearby bathroom door. It took me three days before I found the courage to open the bathroom door to see if he was still alive. He wasn't. Why did I react so violently to one lone insect when a closer encounter with hundreds of ants hardly affected me? The answer is easy: because cockroaches are creepy crawlies and ants aren't. Creepy crawlies are those little bugs which cause feelings such as anxiety - they make your skin crawl. Did you know that some people feel such a fear of bugs that it becomes a phobia ? Psychologists have offered many explanations. Some say we associate them with dirt and disease. Or that these are life forms that are so alien to us, that we find them disgusting for their dissimilarity. Insects, however, don't follow our rules - they just do what they want and invade our space. Unfortunately, although insects and bugs have been a successful animal species up to now, many of them, like many other species nowadays, are under threat of dying out. Entomologistswarn that this could upset entire ecosystems and lead to all kinds of disastrous consequences. So my advice to you is: the next time you feel the urge to stamp on, splatter or spray a creepy crawly, give a thought to the planet and stop. .. Why did the author mention the ants in the beginning? A) Because the experience with the ants presents a sharp contrast to that with the cockroach later. B) Because the author wants to show her preference to the ants and her dislike for the cockroaches. C) Because both ants and cockroaches are creepy crawlies that the author dislikes. D) Because meeting the ants is an unusual experience that the author can hardly forget.
A
(Question)
David Nabarro, the UN special envoy , told the reporter the number of Ebola cases was currently increasing rapidly, but greater community awareness would help contain the virus. People were becoming aware that isolating those infected was the best way to prevent transmission, he added. So far, there have been more than 8,300 confirmed and suspected cases of Ebola, and at least 4,033 deaths. Most deaths - 4,024 - have occurred in the west African countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Cases have also been reported in Nigeria, Senegal, Spain and the US. Mr Nabarro said that the number of new cases was "quite frightening", as the spread of the disease was currently accelerating. At the beginning, many west African communities did not understand that the outbreak was an infectious disease, he said. "I think we've got much better community involvement which leads me to believe that getting it under control within the next three months is a reasonable target," he continued. "By under control I mean... the numbers of new cases each week _ compared with the previous week to the point where there is no new transmission." The Ebola virus is spread by direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person or animal. Meanwhile, New York's JFK airport began screening passengers from Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea for the Ebola virus on Saturday, in an attempt to stop the outbreak. Passengers from those countries will have their temperatures taken and have to answer a series of questions. Checks at O'Hare in Chicago, Newark, Washington's Dulles and Atlanta's airport will begin in the coming days. The screening system is being introduced after the first person to be diagnosed with Ebola in the US died in Texas on Wednesday. Which of the following statements is not true according to the passage? A) Ebola is spread by direct contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person or animal. B) Most death cases of Ebola have occurred in the west African countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. C) Checks at airports in Chicago, Washington, and Atlanta will begin in the coming days. D) The screening system is being introduced by the first person to be diagnosed.
(Answer)
D
For grown-ups,an afternoon snooze is often easier said than done.But many of us have probably experienced just how simple it can be to catch some sleep in a gently rocking hammock .By examining brain waves in sleeping adults,researchers reported in the June 21issue of Current Biology,a Cell Press publication,that they now have evidence to explain why that is. "It is a common belief that rocking causes sleep:we fall asleep in a rocking chair soon and,since ancient times,we cradle our babies to sleep,"said Sophie Schwartz of the University of Geneva."Yet,how this works had remained a mystery.The goal of our study was made up of two parts:to test whether rocking does indeed improve sleep,and to understand how this might work at the brain level." Schwartz,Michel Muhlethaler,and their colleagues Laurence Bayer and Irina Constantinescu asked twelve adult volunteers to nap on a custom-made bed or"experimental hammock"that could either remain still or rock gently.All participants were good sleepers who didn't typically nap and did not suffer from excessive sleepiness during the day.Each participant took two 45-minute afternoon naps,one with the bed still and one with the bed in motion,while their brain activity was monitored. "We observed a faster transition to sleep in each and every subject in the swinging condition,"Muhlethaler said."Surprisingly,we also observed a dramatic boosting of certain types of sleep-related brain waves." More specifically,rocking increased the length of stage N2sleep,a form of non-rapid eye movement sleep that normally occupies about half of a good night's sleep.The rocking bed also had a lasting effect on brain activity,increasing slow brain waves and bursts of activity known as sleep spindles . Schwartz and Muhlethaler say the next step is to find out whether rocking can improve longer periods of sleep and to find out whether it may be useful for the treatment of sleep disorders,such as insomnia . What can we learn from Sophie Schwartz's words? A) Her team aimed to answer two questions. B) The study is going to benefit babies a lot. C) The study had been kept secret before finished. D) People used to believe rocking was bad for sleep.
A