2015南京师范大学考博英语真题阅读理解精练.pdf

中国考博辅导首选学校 2015南京师范大学考博英语真题阅读理解精练 Every living thing has an inner biological clock that controls behavior.The clockworks allthetime;evenwhen therearenooutside signs tomark the passing of time. The biological clock tells plants when toformflowersandwhentheflowersshouldopen.Ittellsinsects when toleavetheprotectivecocoonandflyaway.And ittellsanimals when to eat， sleep and wake. It controls body temperature， the release of somehormones and even dreams. These natural daily events are circadian rhythms. Man has known about them for thousands of years. But the first scientificobservation of circadianrhythmswas notmade until 1729. In that year French astronomer， Jean-Jacques d “Ortous de Mairan， noted thatone ofhis plants opened its leavesat the sametime every morning， and closed themat the sametime everynight.Theplant did thisevenwhenhekept itinadarkplaceallthetime.Laterscientists wondered about circadianrhythms inhumans. They learnedthatman”s biological clock actually keeps timewith a dayof a little lessthan 25hours insteadof the24hours onaman-made clock.About fouryears ago an American doctor， Eliot Weitzman， established a laboratory tostudyhowourbiologicalclockworks.Thepeople inhisexperiments are shut off from the outside world. They are free to listen to and liveby theircircadianrhythms.Dr.Weitzman hopeshisresearchwill lead to effective treatments for common sleep problems and sleep disorders caused by ageing and mental illness. The laboratory is in 中国考博辅导首选学校 theMontefloreHospital inNewYorkCity. Ithas two livingareaswith three small rooms in each. The windows are covered， so no sunlight o r moonlight comes in.There are no radios or television receivers. There is a control room between the living areas. It contains computers ， one-way cameras and other electronic devices for observing the person in the living area. The instruments me