单选题 Sleep is a funny thing. We're taught that we should get seven or eight hours a night, but a lot of us get by just fine on less, and some of us actually sleep too much. A study out of the University of Buffalo reported that people who routinely sleep more than eight hours a day and are still tired are nearly three times as likely to die of stroke--probably as a result of an underlying disorder that keeps them from sleeping soundly.
Doctors have their own special sleep problems. Residents are famously short of sleep. It is not unusual for them to work 40 hours in a row without rest. They are not in the least worried about it, confident they can still deliver the highest quality of medical care. But an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association points out that in the morning after 24 hours of sleeplessness, a person s motor performance is comparable to that of someone who is drunk. Curiously, surgeons who believe that operating under the influence of alcohol is grounds for sacking often don't think twice about operating without enough sleep.
"I could tell you horror stories," says Jaya Agrawal, president of the American Medical Student Association, Which runs a website for residents. Some are terrifying. "I was operating after being up for over 36 hours," one writes. "I literally fell asleep standing up and nearly planted my face into the wound."
"Practically every surgical resident I know has fallen asleep at the wheel driving home from work." writes another. "I know of three who have hit parked cars. Another hit a ' Jersey gate' on the New Jersey Expressway, going 105km/h."
"Your own patients have become the enemy," writes a third, because they are "the one thing that stands between you and a few hours of sleep."
The U.S. controls the hours of pilots and truck drivers. But until such a system is in place for doctors, patients are on their own. If you're worded about the people treating you or a loved one, you should feel free to ask how many hours of sleep they have had and if more rested staffers are available.

单选题 Sleep is a funny thing because ______.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[精解] 细节题。文章第一句话说“Sleep is a funny thing．”从结构上来分析，接下来应该分析为什么睡眠是一件有趣的事情，所以此题的答案应该在文章第二句话中找。第二句话提到很多人睡眠不足7到8个小时也依然能做得很好。这与D项的意思相符，所以D项正确。A项“一个人睡得越长，他睡得越不好。”和B项“一个人睡得越多，越可能中风。”都以偏概全，C项文中没有提到。故答案为D。

单选题 A surgeon who has worked 40 hours in a row without sleep ______.

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】[精解] 推理题。此题考查的是对段意的理解。文章第二段的大致意思是说医生对连续工作40小时习以为常，他们觉得这对工作不会造成什么大的影响，但是实际上严重睡眠不足隐藏着巨大的潜在危险。A项“连续工作40个小时的外科医生可能会忽略睡眠不足引起的潜在危险”与此表述一致。故A项正确。

单选题 According to one resident, they are short of sleep because ______.

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】[精解] 推理题。解答这道题关键在于理解文章倒数第二段“Your own patients have become the enemy，”writes a third， because they are “the one thing that stands between you and a few hours of sleep．”的意思。从字面上来看，文章说你所拥有的病人成为你的敌人和病人站在医生和为数不多的几个小时睡眠之间，实际上就是说病人是导致医生睡眠不足的原因。所以A项正确。