If you are a sleep deprived  teacher, you may not be aware of the term woodpeckering , but you've probably done it. It happens the day following a bad night's sleep. You're sitting in a long meeting and you can barely keep your eyes open, so you support your head up with your hand. Next thing you know, you are moving your sleeping head back to its upright position. Do this a few times and you are woodpeckering. I thought I knew sleep deprivation when I did my medical internship  in hospital. That year I frequently went 36 hours with no sleep. When I finished my stay in neurology , I welcomed the promise of full nights of sleep ever after. It went pretty well for the next 10 years until I became a school teacher and experienced a whole new level of sleep deprivation. Teachers' working hours go far beyond the 8 am to 5 pm schedule of kids in school. There are hours spent at staff meetings, correcting homework, preparing for the next day- and then there is the worrying. What I did in a hospital emergency room required no more intensive mental energy than what is need to keep 30 kids attentive enough to learn what I was teacher. Good teachers are like magicians keeping a dozen balls in the air to come at right time, with alarm set for 6 am to finish grading papers, memories of the day that's gone- including the students who didn't understand something, forgot their lunch or were embarrassed by wrong answers. All these will become sleep-resistant barriers. And also with some financial stress, you'll have a cycle of insomnia  with unwelcome consequences. With inadequate sleep comes irritability , forgetfulness, lower tolerance of even minor annoyances, and less efficient organization and planning. These are the very mental useless that teachers need to meet the challenges of the next day. In wanting to do a better job the next day, the brain keeps bringing up the worries that deny the rest it needs. Good teachers' sleep problems are mainly due to the   _  . A) common sleep-resistant barriers B) embarrassment for wrong answers C) diligence and devotion to teaching D) misunderstanding of their students
C


What's black and white and read all over? Not newspapers, at least not anymore. In fact, if you're like most young people, you probably don't read the newspaper at all. In one recent survey, just 19 percent of 18 to 34-year-old said they read a newspaper every day, while 37 percent watch local TV news and 44 percent visit Internet news sites daily. As people turn more and more to new technologies, they turn the pages of newspapers less and less. "There's a revolution   in the way young people get news," says media consultant Merrill Brown. Just a generation   or two ago, the newspaper was the main way that many people got their news. Now, nearly every home has at least one TV set. There's high-speed, wireless Internet both at home and in many public places. You no longer have to wait for a bundle of newsprint to arrive on your doorstep every morning. Thanks to new technology, if you want to know what's going on in the world, you can get breaking news immediately in more ways than one. So newspapers face a very big challenge. Raised on MTV and video games, today's kids and young adults want flashy displays, special effects, quick information, and the chance to interact   in real time, even when they're reading about serious problems. If newspapers can't find creative ways to be more than just ink on paper, some experts suggest, they might disappear completely. Traditional newspaper articles are supposed to be read from beginning to end, lack   of interaction. With Web pages, on the other hand, there's more freedom. You can look through the things you're interested in, then follow links to other sources. You can join discussion groups, read other people's opinions on a topic, or start a blog to express your own views. From the survey, we can see that   _  . A) TV has become the major source of news B) newspapers are no longer the major source of news C) more than half of the 18-to-34-year-old visit news sites daily D) new technologies have replaced the traditional one
B


Q: Suppose you want to bring home a new cat and are looking for a way to really make it feel at home. Actually, all you need to do is buy some nice cat furniture and have it in place by the time you bring it into your home. The first thing that you should prepare is a cat house. Two to three feet off the ground is the best height. If you don't have enough room for a cat house, a cat bed is also a nice choice. Once you have a nice spot where your cat can go to feel safe, then it's time to get cat furniture that offers your pet a nice place to play. One nice choice is cat trees. Scratching posts   are another great idea if you are short in space, but still want to give your cat a nice place where it can claw   at instead of your own furniture. If you're looking for a great way to shop for cat furniture, simply turn on your computer and do some online shopping. In no time will you be able to skim all the offerings from many online stores. What's great is that you can easily compare products and their prices, so you can get what you want at the best possible price. And, probably the nicest thing about online shopping is that your purchases may be shipped right to you, so you don't have to waste time making a trip to the store. So, if you have brought a new cat into your home, make sure that home is an inviting one by buying some new cat furniture. Without it, your cat might feel lost and unsafe, which you definitely do not want to happen. What is the author's advice on shopping for cat furniture? A) Compare products and their prices and get the cheapest ones. B) Try to save time and money when you buy cat furniture. C) Do some online shopping and get products with reasonable prices. D) Buy furniture that can be shipped to you as quickly as possible.
A: C


First,you ought to know that I'm "only" fourteen.My mother points this out often.I can make my own decisions when I'm old enough to vote,she says.Second,I should tell you that she's right -- I'm not always responsible.I sometimes take the prize for grade-A dork .Take last weekend for instance.I was staying at Dad's,and I decided it was time I learned to drive.It was Sunday morning,7 A.M.,and I hadn't slept well.I'd been up thinking about an argument,which I'll tell you about in a minute.Well,nobody was up yet in the neighborhood,so I thought it couldn't hurt to back the car out of the garage and drive around the block.But Dad has a clutch car.The "R" on the shift handle was up on the left side,right next to first gear .I guess you can guess the rest. Dad's always been understanding.He didn't say,"Okay,little Miss Know-It-All,you can just spend the rest of the year paying this off," which is what Mom would have said.Instead,Dad worried about what might have happened to me.And that made me feel more guilty than anything.I think he'd be a better number-one caregiver,but I can't say things like that to Mom.To her,I have to say,"But Mom,Dad's place is closer to school.I could ride my bike," to which she replies,"Amy Lynn,you don't own a bike.Remember? You left it in the yard,and it was stolen.And you haven't got the patience to earn the money to replace it." In the first sentence,the writer used "only" to suggest that she   _  . A) doesn't want to grow old B) thinks fourteen is old enough for some things C) wishes she were older D) thinks fourteen is an embarrassing age

B