Question

【題目】Do equations and historical( 歷史的) facts give you a headache? A change in the school timetable

(課程表) may be the cure.

This suggestion is based on a recent study carried out by scientists from Royal Holloway, University of London, the UK. They found that teenagers could get higher marks in math if they studied in the mornings and better grades in history if they were taught in the afternoons.

The researchers studied students’ grade reports, class timetables and absence rates( 缺席率) at a

middle school in Bulgaria over nine years. The results showed that when teenagers had math classes earlier in the day, they scored about 7 percent higher in tests than when taught in the afternoon. Lower-ability students feel stressed most when they were studying math in the afternoon. In history, students taught in the afternoon scored about 6 percent higher than when they were taught in the

morning. However, there was no sign that similar patterns( 模 式 ) work for other subjects such as

languages or geography.

Velichka Dimitrova, who did the study, said the findings show that we perform( 表 現(xiàn) ) better at

different times of the day. “In the morning, our brains are better and fresher, so we are better at doing something like problem solving, where we require more speed and attention” Dimitrova told The Telegraph. “In the afternoon, it seems that this process slows down. On the other hand, history is more suitable for the afternoon, when we are more creative and open to discussion,” she said. Subjects such as foreign languages require both memory and creativity. This is perhaps why the time of day had no influence on language learning.

Time-of-day influences such as these are believed to have something to do with the body clock.

This is the system in our bodies that controls when we need to sleep. Some schools in the US and UK have tried later school starting times for teenagers, whose body clocks change as they grow into adults. Dimitrova believes schools should jump at this chance to improve their students’ performance just by changing their timetables.

【1】In which classes do you learn equations (Paragraph 1) according to the passage?

A. Maths B. Geography C. English D. History

【2】According to the new study, .

A. afternoon classes lowered students’ performance in history

B. school timetables have an influence on every subject

C. it was better for students to learn math in the morning

D. lower-ability students preferred to start school earlier

【3】What’s the main idea of Paragraph 4?

A. It shows the importance of studying different subjects at different times of the day.

B. It introduces the best time to do things that require memory and creativity.

C. It encourages students to change their study methods for better results.

D. It explains how school timetables affect people’s study performance.

【4】According to Dimitrova, .

A. rearranging(重新安排) school timetables is the best way to improve students’ test scores

B. schools should follow advice from the study and actively change their timetables

C. most schools don’t have enough resources to support timetable changes

D. schools should think twice before changing their class timetables

【5】What is the best title of this passage?

A. Time to change the timetable.

B. A survey carried out successfully.

C. Secrets of learning math and history well.

D. Body clocks influence grades.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】A

【2】C

【3】D

【4】B

【5】A

【解析】本文介紹了不同的時間對學生的影響不同。應該根據(jù)研究結果來調整時間表。

【1】詞意猜測題。由句子Do equations and historical( 歷史的) facts give you a headache?方程和歷史事實會讓你頭疼嗎？可知，我們在數(shù)學課上能夠學到方程。因此A正確。

【2】細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)They found that teenagers could get higher marks in math if they studied in the mornings.可知，青少年在早晨學習數(shù)學時能獲得更高的分數(shù)。故選C。

【3】主旨大意題。根據(jù)we perform( 表 現(xiàn) ) better at different times of the day.可知，在一天中的不同時間，我們對不同課程表現(xiàn)得更好。也就是說學校的課程表如何影響人們的學習成績。故選D。

【4】推理判斷題。根據(jù)Dimitrova believes schools should jump at this chance to improve their students’ performance just by changing their timetables.可知，Dimitrova認為，學校應聽從建議，積極改變時間表。通過改變時間表來提高學生的成績。故選B。

【5】推理判斷題。A項，是時候更改時間表了。B項，進行了一次成功的調查。C項，學好數(shù)學和歷史的秘訣。D項，身體時鐘影響成績。本文主要介紹在不同的時間段，人們對不同的科目感興趣。根據(jù)研究，我們應該改變時間表。故選A。