E(2012湖北高考真题)Brrriiinnng. The alarm clock announces the start of another busy weekday in the morning. You jump out of bed, rush into the shower, into your clothes and out the door with hardly a moment to think. A stressful journey to work gets your blood pressure climbing. Once at the office, you glance through the newspaper with depressing stories or reports of disasters. In that sort of mood, who can get down to work, particularly some creative, original problem-solving work?The way most of us spend our mornings is exactly opposite to the conditions that promote flexible, open-minded thinking. Imaginative ideas are most likely to come to us when we’re unfocused. If you are one of those energetic morning people, your most inventive time comes in the early evening when you are relaxed. Sleepy people’s lack of focus leads to an increase in creative problem solving. By not giving yourself time to tune into your wandering mind, you’re missing out on the surprising solutions it may offer.The trip you take to w ork doesn’t help, either. The stress slows down the speed with which signals travel between neurons(神经细胞), making inspirations less likely to occur. And while we all should read a lot about what’s going on in the world, it would not make you feel good for sure, so put that news website or newspaper aside until after the day’s work is done.So what would our mornings look like if we wanted to start them with a full capacity for creative problem solving? We’d set the alarm a few minutes early and lie awake in bed, following our thoughts where they lead. We’d stand a little longer under the warm water of t he shower, stopping thinking about tasks in favor of a few more minutes of relaxation. We’d take some deep breaths on our way to work, instead of complaining about heavy traffic. And once in the office—after we get a cup of coffee—we’d click on links not to the news of the day but to the funniest videos the web has to offer.67. According to the author, we are more creative when we are _______.A. focusedB. relaxedC. awakeD. busy68. What does the author imply about newspapers?A. They are solution providers.B. They are a source of inspiration.C. They are normally full of bad news.D. They are more educational than websites.69. By “tune into your wandering mind” (in Para. 2), the author means “_______”.A. wander into the wildB. listen to a beautiful tuneC. switch to the traffic channelD. stop concentrating on anything70. The author writes the last paragraph in order to _______.A. offer practical suggestionsB. summarize past experiencesC. advocate diverse ways of lifeD. establish a routine for the futureAstronauts on shorter shuttle missions (使命) often work very long days. Tasks are scheduled so tightly that break times are often used to finish the day's work. This type of schedule is far too demanding for long missions on the International Space Station (ISS). ISS crewmembers usually live in space for at least a quarter of a year. They work five days on and two days off to mimic the normal way they do things on Earth as much as possible. Weekends give the crew valuable time to rest and do a few hours of housework. They can communicate with family and friends by email, internet phone and through private video conferences.While astronauts cannot go to a baseball game or a movie in orbit, there are many familiar activities that they can still enjoy. Before a mission, the family and friends of each ISS crewmember put together a collection of family photos, messages, videos and reading material for the astronauts to look at when they will be floating 370 kilometers above the Earth. During their mission, the crew also receives care packages with CDs, books, magazines, photos and letters. And as from early 2010, the internet became available on the ISS, giving astronauts the chance to do some "web surfing (冲浪)" in their personal time. Besides relaxing with these more common entertainments, astronauts can simply enjoy the experience of living in space.Many astronauts say that one of the most relaxing things to do in space is to look out the window and stare at the universe and the Earth's vast land mass and oceans.60. What does the word "minic" in Paragraph 1 probably mean?A. findB. copyC. changeD. lose61. Which of the following best describes the families of the astronauts on the ISS?A. They are caring and thoughtfulB. They are worried and upsetC. They are impatient and annoyed.D. They are excited and curious.62. In the final paragraph, the author shows that astronauts ________.A. get more pleasure in space than on the EarthB. find living in space a bit boring and tiringC. regard space life as commonD. love to see the Earth from space63. The passage mainly discusses how astronauts ________.A. work for longer missions in spaceB. connect with people on the EarthC. observe the Earth from spaceD. spend their free time in spaceEating too much fatty food, exercising too little and smoking can raise your future risk of heart disease. But there is another factor that can cause your heart problems more immediately: the air you breathe.Previous studies have linked high exposure(暴露) to environmental pollution to an increased risk of heart problems, but two analyses now show that poor air quality can lead to heart attack or stroke(中风) within as little as a few hours after exposure. In one review of the research, scientists found that people exposed to high levels of pollutants(污染) were up to 5% more likely to suffer a heart attack within days of exposure than those with lower exposure. A separate study of stroke patients showed that even air that the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency(EPA) considers to be of "moderate"(良好) quality and relatively safe for our health can raise the risk of stroke as much as 34% within 12 to 14 hours of exposure.The authors of both studies stress that these risks are relatively small for healthy people and certainly modest compared with other risk factors such as smoking and high blood pressure. However, it is important to be aware of these dangers because everyone is exposed to air pollution regardless of lifestyle choices. So stricter regulation by the EPA of pollutants may not only improve environmental air quality but could also become necessary to protect public health.53. The text mainly discusses the relationship between __________.A. heart problems and air qualityB. heart problems and exercisingC heart problems and smoking D. heart problems and fatty food54. The underlined word "modest" in Paragraph 3 most probably meansA. relatively highB. extremely lowC relatively low D. extremely high55. What can we learn from the text?A. Eating fatty food has immediate effects on your heart.B. The EPA conducted many studies on air quality.C. Moderate air quality is more harmful than smoking.D. Stricter regulations on pollutants should be made.56. The author's purpose of writing the text is most likely to _________.A. informB. persuadeC. describeD. entertainE(2012湖北高考真题) 67-70. ABADB(2012辽宁高考真题) 60-63. BADDC(2012陕西高考真题) 53-56. DBAD。
