Sleep is very important. A person who does not sleep dies faster than a person who does not eat. We spend about a third()of our lives in sleep. That’s about 121 days a year!
How much sleep do we need? We are all different. A baby needs 16 hours of sleep every day. Children of 6 to 12 years of age need an average(平均)of 10 to 12 hours of sleep. Teenagers need 9 to 10 hours of sleep. An adult needs an average of 7 to 8 hours a day. There are some people who need only 3 hours of sleep; others need 10 hours of sleep. After the age of 50, the average sleep time goes down to 6.5 hours a day. We need less sleep as we get older.
About one in three Americans has a problem with sleep. Many of these people cannot fall asleep. The name for this problem is insomnia. Some people say, “I didn’t sleep all night.” But that’s not really true. They may sleep lightly and wake up several times. In the morning, they only remember the time they were awake, so they think they were awake all night.
This is not a new problem. Many famous people in history had insomnia. Some of these people had special ideas to make themselves sleep. Benjamin Franklin had four beds. He moved from one to the other to fall asleep. Mark Twain had a different way. He lay on his side across the end of the bed!
【小题1】How long do we spend in sleep a year?

Sleep is very important. A person who does not sleep dies faster than a person who does not eat. We spend about a third（1/3） of our lives in sleep. That’s about 121 days a year!

How much sleep do we need? We are all different. A baby needs 16 hours of sleep every day. Children 6 to 12 years old need an average（平均） of 10 to 12 hours of sleep. Teenagers need 9 to 10 hours of sleep. An adult needs an average of 7 to 8 hours a night. There are some people who need only 3 hours of sleep. Others need 10 hours of sleep. After the age of 50, the average sleep time goes down to 6.5 hours a night. We need less sleep as we get older.

About one in three Americans has a problem with sleep. Many of these people cannot fall asleep. The name of this problem is insomnia. Some people say, “I didn’t sleep all night.” But that’s not really true. They may sleep lightly and wake up several times. In the morning, they only remember the times they were awake（醒着）, so they think they were awake all night.

This is not a new problem. Many famous people in history had insomnia. Some of these people had special ideas to make them sleep. Benjamin Franklin had four beds. He moved from one to the other to fall asleep. Mark Twain had a different way. He lay on his side across the end of the bed!

1．If you are thirteen years old, you need at least ______ hours of sleep.

A．16                  B．12                  C．9                   D．7

2．What does “insomnia” mean in this passage?

A．No sleep.                                                B．Bad sleep.

C．Slow sleep.                                             D．Sleep with many dreams.

3．Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A．We will die soon if we don’t sleep well.

B．The older we get, the less sleep we need.

C．We can tell a person’s age from his sleep time.

D．Famous people move from one bed to the other to fall asleep.

4．Which would be the best title for this passage?

A．Sleep More!                                  B．Go to Sleep!

C．Age and Sleep Time                             D．Famous People and Sleep

Good parent – teacher communication is necessary for a child’s success in school. Recent studies show that the more actively parents are involved (参与) in the child’s school life. The better the child does in his studies.

Like all relationships, parents and teachers affect each other, but the person who is most affected is the child. What they need to understand is that the educational success depends on many things, including the ability of the parents and teacher to know his needs and what he likes, and encourage him.

When a child’s teacher and parents work together in the best interests (利益) of the child, he may feel able to learn, but, more importantly, also feel supported.

Education is about much more than just academic (学术) success. We must use the parent-teacher relationship to help a child grow and learn. So, how should parents and teacher work together?

It doesn’t require a change in the school subjects. It simply means that they should work together to help make lessons practical (与实际结合) . For instance, if a child is learning about money at school and the teacher takes the time to communicate this to the parents, the parent can take the child to the store to practice what he is learning at school. At the store, he has to pick out a thing he can afford to buy, take out the right amount of money to pay for it and check to make sure the clerk has given him the right amount of change. Doing this can help him to learn about the world in which he lives. This is how good parent-teacher communication supports the parent, teacher and, finally, the child.

1.Who is most affected by the parent-teacher relationship?

A. The child B. The parents.

C. The child’s friends. D. the teachers

2.Which of the following is TRUE, according to the passage?

A. To develop a good parent-teacher relationship, some school subjects need to be changed.

B. Education is just about academic success.

C. It is only teachers’ duty to teach children about money.

D. With parent and teachers caring for the child, he may feel supported.

3.The underlined word, “change”, in the last paragraph means in Chinese.

A. 商品 B. 课程

C. 变化 D. 零钱

4.The author’s purpose of giving the example in the last paragraph is to tell us that .

A. parent and teachers should work together to help make the child’s lessons practical.

B. Parents play an important role in educating children.

C. children should not learn about money at school.

D. Parents should take the child to the store often.