American society is not nap(午睡)-friendly. In fact,says David Dinges, a sleep specialist at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine,“There's even a prohibition against admitting we need sleep”. Nobody wants to be caught napping or found asleep at work. To quote a proverb:"Some sleep five hours, nature requires seven, laziness nine and wickedness eleven."

Wrong. The way not to fall asleep at work is to take naps when you need them.“ We have to totally change our attitude toward napping,”says Dr. William Dement of Stanford University, the godfather of sleep research.

Last year a national commission led by Dement identified an“ American sleep debt”which one member said was as important as the national debt. The commission was concerned about the dangers of sleepiness: people causing industrial accidents or falling asleep while driving. This may be why we have a new sleep policy in the White House. According to recent reports, President Clinton is trying to take a ha1f-hour snooze (瞌睡) every afternoon.

About 60 percent of American adults nap when given the opportunity. We seem to have "a midafternoon quiet phase," also called“a secondary sleep gate.”Sleeping 15 minutes to two hours inthe early afternoon can reduce stress and make us refreshed. Clearly, we were born to nap.

We Superstars of Snooze don't nap to replace lost shut-eye or to prepare for a night shift.Rather, we “snack” on sleep, whenever, wherever and at whatever time we feel like it. I myself have napped in buses, cars, planes and on boats; on floors and beds; and in libraries, offices and museums。

16. It is commonly accepted in American society that too much sleep is______.

A. unreasonable

B. criminal

C. harmful

D. costly

17. The research done by the Dement Commission shows that Americans_____.

A. don't like to take naps

B. are terribly worried about their national debt

C. sleep less than is good for them

D. have caused many industrial and traffic accidents

18. The purpose of this article is to

A. warn us of the wickedness of napping_____.

B. explain the danger of sleepiness

C. discuss the side effects of napping

D. convince the reader of the necessity of napping

19. The underlined phrase“ American sleep debt”in Para. 3 is the result of______.

A. the traditional misconception the Americans have about sleep

B. the new sleep policy of the Clinton Administration

C. the rapid development of American industry

D. the Americans' worry about the danger of sleepiness

20. The second sentence of the last paragraph tells us that it is_______

A. preferable to have a sound sleep before a night shift

B. good practice to eat something light before we go to bed

C. essential to make up for cost sleep

D. natural to take a nap whenever we feel the need for it

答案及解析

16. [答案)A[解析]推斷題。由第一段， 美國人不喜歡午睡，事實(shí)上，賓夕法尼亞大學(xué)醫(yī)學(xué)院睡眠希賽網(wǎng)David Dinges說,“甚至有一個禁令不允許我們需要睡眠。在工作的時候，沒有人愿意被發(fā)現(xiàn)在打瞌睡或在睡覺。引用一個諺語:有的人睡5個小時，正常情況需7個小時，懶惰者需9個小時，墮落者需11個小時。由此可知，美國人認(rèn)為過多的失眠是不合理的。并不是罪惡的，有害的，昂貴的。故答案為A.

17.[答案]C[解析]推斷題。美國人都普遍缺乏睡眠，他們的睡眠欠缺和國債一樣不可小覷?？梢?，美國認(rèn)為睡眠少對他們有益，這樣可以做更多的事情。故答案為C.

18.[答案]D[解析]主旨題。由第二段The way not to fall asleep at work is to take naps when you need them. We have to totally change our attitude toward napping。工作時不睡著的方法是當(dāng)你困的時候就小睡一-下， 我們必須完全改變我們對于小睡的態(tài)度?？芍疚牡囊?圖是使讀者認(rèn)識到小睡的必要性。故答案為D.

19. [答案]A[解析]細(xì)節(jié)題。由第一段可知，美國人不重視午睡，沒有人想在工作時被發(fā)現(xiàn)在打盹或睡著了，還有一句俗語來抨擊午睡，可見是傳統(tǒng)觀念在誤導(dǎo)著他們。故選A.

20.[答案]D[解析]推斷題。由最后一段，睡覺是我們的一部分，無論何時，何地，我自己在公交車?yán)?，汽車，飛機(jī)，船上，在床上，圖書館，辦公室，博物館里都可以小睡?？芍?，本段是要告訴我們不論何時，當(dāng)我們需要休息的時候，就應(yīng)該小睡一會。故答案為D.