2023届高三英语二轮复习我们为什么打哈欠？等2则外刊阅读训练（含答案）.docxVIP

外刊精读精练 我们为什么打哈欠？ 导读： 请注意，点开这篇文章可能会让你打哈欠！这并不是因为我们的节目太无聊或者你会被传染上哈欠，而是因为只要我们看到别人打哈欠，甚至只是想想这个行为，都可能引发我们来一个大哈欠！但这究竟是为什么呢，本集《外刊精读》将会解答你的疑惑。 一、语篇泛读 Vocabulary: Biology 词汇:生物学 It’s a question that has puzzled scientists for a long time: why exactly do we yawn?? In a recent breakthrough, scientists have discovered the part of the brain responsible for?contagious?yawning. It’s called the primary?motor?cortex, and controls movement in the body. When triggered it makes us yawn. But we can’t choose to yawn – it’s an?involuntary?imitation of other people. You know how it goes: your friend yawns, you yawn.? Knowing which section of the brain is involved is only part of the answer. There is still a deeper question of ‘why’. And we don’t only yawn when others do, we sometimes yawn alone. So, let’s start with the?physiological?theories behind yawning. As far back as 400BC, Greek?physician?Hippocrates speculated that yawning released harmful gases from the body, like “steam escaping from a?cauldron”. His?colourful?theory is now, sadly,?discounted.? A more recent idea suggests that we yawn in order to cool down the brain. Just like a busy computer processor, our brains can?overheat. Psychologist Gordon Gallup from the University at Albany has argued that the act of yawning delivers a?rush?of oxygen to the brain, helping us think more clearly.? What about the connection between yawning and tiredness? We certainly yawn more when we’re feeling sleepy or?sluggish, but why is this? Theories that it helps give the body extra energy are largely?discredited, as we don’t yawn when we exercise, a time when we definitely need more?get-up-and-go!? Psychologist Catriona Morrison from the University of Leeds says yawning is an ancient?reflex. ?She told the BBC that it may have started in “the days of cavemen when someone had to be on watch all the time - yawning increases?cerebral?blood flow so can improve alertness.”? What about our friends contagious yawning? Some think it?comes down to?empathy. W