2020考研英語閱讀理解精讀100篇：Unit 58

Unit 58

Sloth may be seen as a sin, but some of history’s most accomplished men were fond of lounging around. Leonardo da Vinci enjoyed napping. So did Albert Einstein and Winston Churchill. Richard Buckminster Fuller advocated taking 30-minute naps every six hours. He is reported to have abandoned the practice only because “his schedule conflicted with that of his business associates, who insisted on sleeping like other men.”

No one has yet proved a correlation between napping and artistic brilliance or professional success, but an intriguing study published this week in the Archives of Internal Medicine claims to find a link between daytime siestas and good health. A team of researchers led by Androniki Naska of the University of Athens Medical School and Dimitrios Trichopoulos of Harvard’s School of Public Health followed over 23,000 Greek patients with no history of coronary disease, cancer or stroke, for an average of six years. Their conclusion: napping just might save your life.

The study found that the group of adults who took siestas（defined as 30-minute naps）at least three times a week had a third fewer deaths from heart disease than an equivalent group who did not sleep at all during the day. The benefit was greater for men than for women. （Whether women benefited at all was hard to estimate as there were too few deaths among them during the course of the study.） It was also greater for working men than for those who had retired. However, a number of previous studies done in the Mediterranean and in parts of Central America（where siestas remain common）have come up with conflicting results, but Dr Naska and Dr Trichopoulos argue that those studies have often been flawed. The subjects in some, for example, had survived heart attacks and may therefore have benefited more from napping than healthy individuals do.

Given that all of the subjects of this new study were Greek, could the much-celebrated Mediterranean diet deserve credit, rather than the siestas? The firm answer from Dr Trichopoulos is “No”. And he is in a good position to say so, for it was he who did the pioneering research that put olive oil and a plant-based diet on the scientific map in the first place. Unlike some other siesta studies, his was controlled for diet, smoking, exercise and other relevant variables. The earlier findings about the benefits of the Mediterranean diet are confirmed, he says, and napping seems to help on top of that.

Before buying a sofa for the office, however, it might be wise to consider the possibility of selection bias. Dr Trichopoulos concedes that “Type A” personalities, whose hard-working lives may make them prone to heart attacks, are also much less likely to take naps during the day. That bias might be skewing the study’s results. Even so, he advises, “Take a nap if you can.”

注（1）：本文選自Economist；

注（2）：本文習(xí)題命題模仿對象為2004年真題Text 1。

1. What do scientists expect to achieve in the study of daytime siestas?

A) They want to prove that siestas help people become smarter.

B) They want to prove that siestas can make people happier.

C) They want to prove that siestas may prolong people’s life.

D) They want to prove that siestas help cure some diseases.

2. Which of the following is TRUE about taking nap regularly?

A) One’s possibility of dying from heart diseases is smaller.

B) One is surely to enjoy a long life with the habit of taking siestas.

C) Whether siestas benefit women is still unknown due to the limited member of women participating the test.

D) A working man usually outlives a working woman of similar age if he has the habit of siestas.

3. The expression “l(fā)ounging around”（Lines 1~2, Paragraph 1）most probably means _______.

A) sleeping a lot

B) taking a nap every few hours

C) relaxing oneself

D) being lazy

4. Why is Dr Trichopoulos in a good position to deny the benefit from Mediterranean diet in this case?

A) Because the research Dr Trichopoulos has done on napping is more convincing.

B) Because Dr Trichopoulos is a forerunner of research on Mediterranean diet.

C) Because Dr Trichopoulos knows nothing about the nutritious value of Mediterranean diet.

D) Because Mediterranean diet is notorious for its unhealthiness.

5. Which of the following is TRUE according to the text?

A) The research fails to apply universally because it only studies a limited scope of sample that is short of representativeness.

B) Most of those who have great achievements usually have the habit of taking siestas regularly.

C) People who work under great pressure benefit more from napping than the retired.

D) Dr Trichopoulos’s siesta study conflicts with previous studies, which mitigate the credibility of his study.

篇章剖析

本文是一篇說明文，主要介紹了一個關(guān)于午睡和健康關(guān)系的最新科學(xué)研究。第一段介紹了歷史上一些名人都有午睡的習(xí)慣；第二段介紹了納斯卡和特里克伯羅斯進(jìn)行的實(shí)驗(yàn)，說明午睡可以延長人們的生命；第三段對研究進(jìn)行補(bǔ)充說明，同時對之前結(jié)論與此相反的研究進(jìn)行說明；第四段對相反的研究結(jié)論進(jìn)行批駁論證；第五段中特里克伯羅斯博士指出了可能導(dǎo)致報(bào)告結(jié)果歪曲的偏見，并提出自己的建議——讓人們盡量午睡。

詞匯注釋

sloth /sl??θ/ n. 怠惰，懶惰

lounge /la?nd?/ vi. 懶洋洋地躺臥，閑蕩

nap /n?p/ n. / v. （白天）小睡，打盹

correlation /?k?r??le???n/ n. 相互關(guān)系，相關(guān)

siesta /s??est?/ n. 午睡

coronary /?k?r?n?ri/ adj. 冠的，花冠的，冠狀的

stroke /str??k/ n. 中風(fēng)

equivalent /??kw?v?l?nt/ adj. 相等的，相當(dāng)?shù)?

flaw /fl??/ vt. 使有缺陷，使無效

bias /?ba??s/ n. 偏見

prone /pr??n/ adj. 有…傾向的

skew /skju?/ v. 曲解；歪曲

難句突破

The study found that the group of adults who took siestas（defined as 30-minute naps）at least three times a week had a third fewer deaths from heart disease than an equivalent group who did not sleep at all during the day.

主體句式：The study found that...

結(jié)構(gòu)分析：這個句子的主要內(nèi)容集中于that后面的賓語從句，其中該從句的主體結(jié)構(gòu)為the group of adults had a third fewer deaths than an equivalent group。從句中的第一個who引導(dǎo)的定語從句用來修飾第一組成人的情況，其中注意到括號中的內(nèi)容是對siestas的概念定義；從句中的第二個who引導(dǎo)的定語從句用來修飾第二組成人的情況。

句子譯文：研究表明，那些每周至少午休3次，且每次至少睡30分鐘的成人組與日間從不午休的成人組相比，由心臟病致死的幾率低了1/3。

題目分析

1. C 細(xì)節(jié)題。文章第二段最后，作者明確指出科學(xué)家們的結(jié)論是午休有可能延長人們的壽命。A選項(xiàng)的表述是一個沒有得到證實(shí)的說法，B和D選項(xiàng)的陳述都沒有在文章中提到。

2. A 細(xì)節(jié)題。文章第三段第一句話提到，午休較多的人比從來不午休的人由心臟病致死的幾率低了1/3，因此A選項(xiàng)正確。B選項(xiàng)的表述過于肯定，文章（第二段最后一句話）只是提出了一個可能性而已。C選項(xiàng)前半句正確，但是后面原因表述錯誤，真正的原因是因?yàn)閹缀鯖]有女性在實(shí)驗(yàn)過程中死亡。D選項(xiàng)錯誤在于文章第三段指出男人從小睡中獲得的好處比女人更多，但這并不意味著他們的壽命會比女人更長。

3. D 語義題。lounge有懶散、懶洋洋的意思，從上下文中也可以推出這個意思。盡管文章接下來也提到了一些名人喜歡小憩的習(xí)慣，但是A和B選項(xiàng)都不足以概括lounge的原義。

4. B 細(xì)節(jié)題。根據(jù)文章第四段，特里克伯羅斯博士是科學(xué)研究地中海飲食的先驅(qū)人物，而且其研究具有重大的貢獻(xiàn)性，因而他的結(jié)論也就更加具有說服力。

5. C 細(xì)節(jié)題。文章第三段指出，在工作的人們比退休人士從午休獲益更為明顯。A選項(xiàng)的錯誤原因在于文章沒有提到這一點(diǎn)。B選項(xiàng)的錯誤原因在于并不是大部分有成就的人都有午休的習(xí)慣，文章第一段只是舉了四個名人的例子。D選項(xiàng)的錯誤原因在于雖然特里克伯羅斯博士的研究與前人的研究結(jié)論有矛盾，但是他充分指出了前人研究的漏洞，從而說明自己的研究成果更加具有說服力。

參考譯文

懶惰也許會被認(rèn)為是一種罪過，但是歷史上一些最成功的人士卻喜歡懶洋洋地躺臥著。列奧納多·達(dá)·芬奇喜歡小寐，阿爾伯特·愛因斯坦和溫斯頓·丘吉爾亦如此。里查德·巴克敏斯特·福勒提倡每隔6個小時就小睡30分鐘。據(jù)說他后來放棄了這個習(xí)慣僅僅是因?yàn)椤八娜粘贪才排c那些堅(jiān)持和別人有一樣作息時間的同事有沖突?！?

沒有人能夠證明小寐與杰出的藝術(shù)才能或者事業(yè)上的成功有關(guān)系，但是本周發(fā)表在《內(nèi)科醫(yī)學(xué)檔案》上一份引人入勝的研究報(bào)告聲稱發(fā)現(xiàn)了日間午睡與健康之間的一種聯(lián)系。一個由雅典醫(yī)科大學(xué)的安德羅尼基·納斯卡和哈佛公共衛(wèi)生學(xué)院的季米特里奧斯·特里克伯羅斯所領(lǐng)導(dǎo)的研究小組對23,000名沒有冠心病、癌癥或者中風(fēng)記錄的希臘病人進(jìn)行平均長達(dá)6年的研究。研究結(jié)論表明：午休有可能延長你的生命。

研究表明，那些每周至少午休3次，且每次至少睡30分鐘的成人組與日間從不午休的成人組相比，由心臟病致死的幾率低了1/3。男性從午睡中的獲益比女性更加明顯。（由于女性在整個研究過程中死亡數(shù)量很少，因此女性是否從中獲益難以估計(jì)。）男性上班族比退休人士的獲益更為明顯。但是，在午休仍然普遍的地中海地區(qū)和中美洲的部分地區(qū)曾進(jìn)行過的一些研究得到的卻是相反的結(jié)論，不過納斯卡博士和特里克伯羅斯博士認(rèn)為這些研究都存在問題。比如，一些曾經(jīng)有過心臟病發(fā)作史的研究對象從小睡中的獲益相對于那些健康人要明顯得多。

考慮到所有的研究對象都是希臘人，特里克伯羅斯博士所在研究小組所得結(jié)論的主要因素是否是馳名的地中海飲食而不是午休呢？他堅(jiān)定地回答說“不”，而且，他的回答是令人信服的，因?yàn)檎撬_創(chuàng)性地將橄欖油和素食為主的飲食放到科學(xué)領(lǐng)域內(nèi)來進(jìn)行研究。與其他關(guān)于午休的研究不同的是，他的研究控制了飲食、吸煙、運(yùn)動和其他相關(guān)的變量。他說，早前關(guān)于地中海飲食益處的研究已經(jīng)得到了肯定，而小睡在飲食的基礎(chǔ)上也起到了非常重要的作用。

然而，在給辦公室添置沙發(fā)之前，最好還是先考慮一下選擇性偏見的可能性。特里克伯羅斯博士認(rèn)為那些辛勤工作從而易于發(fā)心臟病的“A型”人士，在白天小睡比較少。這些偏見也許會歪曲研究報(bào)告的結(jié)果。即便如此，特里克伯羅斯博士還是建議：“如果可以的話就小睡一會吧?！?