单选题 American society does not treat nap friendly. In fact, says David Dinges, a sleep specialist (专家) 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 (打盹) every afternoon.
About 60 percent of American adults nap when given the opportunity. We seem to have "a mid-afternoon 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 don"t nap to replace 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] 从文章的第一段的内容“American society does not treat nap friendly... "There"s even a prohibition against admitting we need sleep".”可以看出，在美国，人们对睡觉过多的人是有偏见的。他们认为人们不应该把时间都浪费在睡觉上。最后一句话“Some sleep five hours, nature requires seven, laziness nine and wickedness eleven.”也说明了这点。故正确的答案为A。

单选题 The research done by the Dement commission shows that Americans ______.

单选题 The purpose of this article is to ______.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[解析] 从文章的整体来说，作者强调了nap的好处。“The way not to fall asleep at work is to take naps when you need them”，“About 60 percent of American adults nap when given the opportunity.”说明人们应该在合适的时候稍微的睡一会。用总统克林顿的习惯来证明，小睡一会的必要性。故正确的答案为D。

单选题 The "American sleep debt" (Para. 3) is the result of ______.

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】[解析] 从文章的第三段内容“The commission was concerned about the dangers of sleepiness”可知，科学家们做的这个调查主要是涉及美国社会整体睡眠不足的危害性的。从上文中我们知道，在美国，人们不崇尚睡眠占用太多的时间，所以这里的debt指的是睡眠不足。而导致这种现象的原因就是社会上的这种思想。故正确的答案为A。