单选题 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 half hour snooze (打瞌睡) 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 in the 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.

单选题 It is commonly accepted in American society that too much sleep is______.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 首先应排除C项“有害”和D项“代价昂贵”。文章第一段第五行中的wickedness“邪恶”不等于criminal,而应该理解成是一种不合情理的行为。
单选题 The research done by the Dement commission shows that Americans______.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] Darlene Commission所做研究的相关结果出现在第三段。
单选题 The purpose of this article is to______.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 文章第一段作者指出:美国是一个对午睡不友好的社会,睡觉太多会被人们说成不正常、不合情理。第二段的一个“wrong”表明了作者的态度。第三段指出了睡眠少的危害以及引起这种危害的原因。而最后一段,作者更是用现身说法呼吁人们想睡就睡,所以该文章的目的是使读者相信午睡的必要性。
单选题 The "American sleep debt" (Line 1, Par
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 依据文章第一段第三行、第二段第二行,说明美国人缺乏睡眠是因为美国人对睡眠的传统观念有问题。
单选题 The second sentence of the last paragraph tells us that it is______.
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 最后一段作者想说明的是:我们感到需要时打瞌睡是非常自然的事。
单选题 The author's attitude towards naps is______.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 从文章中可以看出,作者对“小憩”的态度是肯定的。