相关试卷

1、阅读短文，回答问题。

Hibernation (冬眠) is a classic topic of science fiction. In movies such as 2001: A Space Odyssey, Alien, or Passengers, crew members are put into a state of sleep to take year-long journeys to space. Now a new study from Washington University has shown that human hibernation may soon become a reality.

The research team carried out tests on rats — animals that do not naturally hibernate. They first identified a group of neurons (神经元) in a deep brain region, which were found to be involved in controlling body temperature during hibernation. They showed that, in mice, these neurons could be stimulated using ultrasound (超声波), which was delivered through a helmet without causing an injury.

When receiving the ultrasound, the mice showed a drop in body temperature of about3℃, and their heart rates fell by about 47%. When the ultrasound system was switched off, they woke up again. The result was "surprising and fascinating", said Hong Chen, a professor who led the work.

Researchers are also trying to determine how to harness the power of hibernation to help humans. They believe that it could be key to addressing health conditions like heart disease, and Alzheimer's. Furthermore, hibernation's ability to slow aging, which was observed in bats, could benefit space exploration, enabling longer missions with less food requirements. Research in animals also suggests that bodies of hibernating astronauts might lose less bone and muscle, making them fit and ready to start challenging exploration soon after they wake up.

By unlocking the secrets of this remarkable process, researchers may uncover ways to improve human health, as well as gain new insights into the natural world. Therefore, the exploration of hibernation is an exciting area that is sure to yield numerous benefits in the years to come.

The scientists now plan to look at how lowered body temperature might affect the cognitive abilities of humans. "Our next experiments will test working memory in monkeys. This is important because while astronauts physically hibernate as they fly into deep space, their brain still needs to be working," said Chen.

2、阅读短文，回答问题。

As humanity has got richer, animal's roles have changed. People need their services less than before. Fewer wolves and thieves meant less demand for dogs for protection; the internal combustion engine (内燃机) made horses unneeded; modern sanitation (卫生设备) kept rats in check and made cats less useful. Domestic animals are no longer necessities, but commonly seen companions. Pet-keeping seems to become more and more popular, as a recent survey found that 69% of American households keep at least one pet.

The pet business is growing even faster than pet numbers, because people are spending more and more money on them. No longer are they food-waste-recyclers, fed with the remains that fall from their masters' tables. Pet food shelves are full of cuisines tailored to satisfy a range of appetites, including ice cream for dogs and foods for pets that are old, diabetic, or suffer from sensitive digestion.

In the business, this is called "pet humanization" — the tendency of pet owners to treat their pets as part of the family. This is obvious in the names given to dogs, which have evolved from Fido, Rex, and Spot to Bella, Lucy, and Max.

People still hold the false assumption that pets must be working for humanity in some way, perhaps making people healthier or less anxious. But the evidence for that is weak. New research suggests that dogs have evolved those "cute eyes" to affect human emotions and control them, which works very well. Humans now work very hard to pay for the care of their pets. For example, Americans often refer to themselves not as cat owners but as the cat's "mommy" or "daddy". South Koreans go one step further, describing themselves as cat "butlers (管家)". Watch an unlucky man walking his dog, plastic bag in hand to pick up its mess, and we have to doubt: who's in charge now? Is this relationship what we really want?

3、阅读短文，回答问题。

Tonight, our family was going out to play under the full moon.

My husband Todd and I first started going on full moon walks for ourselves, as we needed these little doses of moonlight to stay happy, though sometimes we had to hike through the forest to find a perfect spot. But after we became parents, we did this for our children. We wanted to show Sierra and Bryce that it was not necessary to travel far from home to have an adventure and learn something new, and that there was much magic in the natural world, available to all.

Once we arrived at our location, Sierra and I stood holding hands, waiting to cheer the full moon in its rising—a thin sliver of the appealing moon emerged above the ridge of the mountain afar. Soon, more of the moon came out until it turned into a brilliant orange sphere. Todd explained to Sierra and Bryce that the moon generates no light, but simply acts like a mirror, reflecting the sunlight back to us. "Does the moon's face change?" Bryce asked. I told him that the moon rotates (旋转) around the earth, but does not spin by itself, so the same side of the moon is always facing the earth. Sierra remarked that the moon looked larger and closer when it was rising. I explained that it is a visual illusion (错觉) because it is so close to the horizon that the moon magically tricks our eyes into comparing it with nearby objects, thus creating the impression of the increased size.

Much of the knowledge that I shared with the kids was learned from my parents. During my childhood, they would take me on educational adventures out in the woods, and as I later found, so did their parents. So every time I go for a full moon walk with my beloved family, I thank those wise educators who came before me.

To educate, sometimes all it takes is going outdoors and gazing up at the heavens.

4、阅读短文，回答问题。

What is PayQuick?

PayQuick is a fast payment service for shopping in the biggest supermarket in UK — Tesco. It allows you to add your credit or debit card details to the app so you can use your smartphone to pay for your shopping with just one scan, which means you can go wallet-free in all UK Tesco stores.

What are the benefits?

●Collect your Tesco points automatically

●Pay for your weekly shopping up to £250

●Use PayQuick offline, even with no signal

●Track your spending in Tesco

However, only one qualifying deal per week will collect the extra Tesco points. Additional payments in the same week won't receive extra points. Tesco points will be added to your future Tesco points statement.

How to get your PayQuick?

Available to new customers who sign up by 3^rd March 2024, the PayQuick app can be downloaded from the App Store or our official website. Once you have the app on your phone, register your personal details on the app to get an account. Note that for each customer, only one account is allowed and a family shared account will not be acknowledged. Finally, with all the preparation work done, you'll be ready to shop using just your phone.

Plus, there's no need to worry about your bank details being stored on your phone — they're all securely protected in our data centers. So not only is it quicker and easier, it's safer than going shopping with your wallet as well.

5、阅读下面材料, 根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段, 使之构成一篇完整的短文。

I faced a tight budget when I was nine. On November Ist, I used up most of the money I saved. With a small amount of pocket money left before Christmas I didn't have enough to buy presents for the family.

I was seriously considering going to my dad and asking for an advance on the next year's pocket money, so I could at least buy gifts for my family members. But then, one evening, I was sitting in my room reading advertisements in the back of a magazine. Several greeting-card companies were telling us how people could make money by selling their cards and stationery (文具). Normally, I would have passed right over the ads, but this time my situation was so difficult that I felt I had nothing to lose.

The ad that attracted me most was one by a well-known greeting-card company in my nation, whose products were of high quality. With my parents' help, I contacted the company, although they preferred adults or older kids to advertise their products. After my sincere request, they agreed to give me, a nine-year-old boy, a chance.

My sales materials arrived within the week. I had expected something small and neat, but the package looked like a dinosaur's shoebox it was close to three feet long and nearly a foot wide, full of stuff. There was a thick binder (活页夹) containing a complete selection of the cards and some writing paper, which I would be selling for around $3 per box.

Although my parents supported my try to make money by myself, they had little confidence in my success; after all, instead of an outgoing kid, I was somewhat shy. However, I was determined to have a try to challenge myself. 

注意：

1. 续写词数应为150左右；

2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。

Wasting no time, I set off and knocked on doors in my neighborhood. 

Eventually, I earned over $20, a large sum of money for a 9-year-old kid in 1954.

6、4月1日是"国际爱鸟日"，你校学生会本周将组织学生进行户外观鸟活动。请写一则英文通知，请你校外国交换生参与。内容包括：

1. 活动简介；

2. 注意事项。

注意：

1. 写作词数应为80左右；

2. 请按如下格式在答题纸的相应位置作答。

Notice

Student Union

7、 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Walking along the Great Wall is a once-in-a-lifetime dream for many, but Jim Spear has taken it one step  (far), spending the last 18 years living in a village beneath the ancient wonder. 

 68-year-old, a self-taught architect from the US, made the most important decision of his life to move to China in 1986, a year before the Great Wall  (list) as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Today, Spear calls Mutianyu village home. In this quiet place, (locate) at the foot of the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall, he lives with his dog in a home with a courtyard garden he tended  (he). 

As an architect, not only did Spear renovate (翻新) his own dream house,  comes with multiple views of the Great Wall, but he also explored ways to boost the local business and support rural residents. Over the years, the architect  (help) renovate around 20 households in Mutianyu, most of which now operate  hotels or restaurants, while  (do) his best to preserve the original structures as much as possible. 

In  (recognize) of his contributions, Spear was given the Great Wall Friendship Award in 2014.

8、 完形填空

Community ovens are a centuries-old tradition worldwide. There are actually records going back to the 12th century when home ovens were not 1 . The community ovens were places where people chatted together while their food was 2 .

Fast forward to today, Brickyard Bakery has 3 the unique approach. It 4 to bake cakes for customers and provides them with a warm place to stay while their cakes, which 5 take four or more hours to bake, are in the oven. It's reported that due to the increasing cost of fuel, many individuals cannot 6 to leave their ovens on that long.

Owner Ed Hamilton-Trewhitt told the BBC, "We've 7 the idea of a community oven from ancient times. People can 8 their cake base (胚) at home. But 9 being baked in their own ovens, it can be 10 to our bakery for a large amount of baking."

"It struck me that if one was 11 about the energy costs of baking the Christmas cake, there would be lots more out there 12 the same situation," he added. "In the big picture, it costs me so little but makes a massive 13 . "

The response to this attempt has been so 14 that Hamilton-Trewhitt has provided the 15 until right before Christmas. After all, that's what being a good neighbor is all about.

9、 七选五

My name is McKenzie Skiles and I'm a snow hydrologist (水文学家) at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. Actually, the purpose is to track dust's impact on water resources.

I am most interested in the impact of warming temperatures on snow melting rates, and I have started studying snowmelt since 2009 in Utah and Colorado. When I skied to research sites in Utah to collect snow for my experiment, the mountainous landscapes were covered in dust. It's clear that 2009 was one of the biggest years for dust deposition (沉积) onto snow.

 I usually have to cover several kilometers, carrying a 27-kilogramme pack with a shovel (铲子) to dig a snow hole, tools to cut snow and measure its density, and containers to collect snow for analyses. One year, I hit a dusty area of snow, broke my ski and sliced my leg open. 

In areas with heavy dust deposition, such as the southern Rocky Mountains, dust speeds up melting by one or two months. Warming air temperatures affect snow gathering, but dust builds up over time and darkens the surface. 

I'm now exploring different ice and snow landscapes for further research. For example, how black-carbon buildup following forest fires affects melting. As we move into a future that is likely to be even dustier, we need them to predict snowmelt for many reasons, including working out how to use water in the western United States efficiently.

A．The dust caused a lot of trouble.

B．I went for miles in the wilderness.

C．Doing my research is no easy task.

D．One of the goals is to develop snowmelt models.

E．In Colorado, the red dust from desert soils had also blown in.

F．As a result, the snow will absorb more sunlight and quicken melting.

G．My job is to ski in the wilderness to measure dust on top of snow each spring.

10、阅读理解

Despite its benefits, drinking milk into adulthood, let alone other animals' milk, is a strange behavior in the animal kingdom. What makes it even stranger is that an estimated 68 percent of the global human population is actually lactose (乳糖) intolerant. Scientists are still getting to the bottom of why the practice began and continued. This research could unlock new understandings of our food cultures and even our DNA．

The earliest evidence of animal milk drinking dates back almost 

9. 000 years to modern-day Turkey near the sea of Marmara. where milk fats have been found on ancient pottery. According to Jessica Hendy. a scientist at the University of York. then milk would have been part of a diverse diet for it was mixed with other food. From its origins, the technology of making use of milk spread into the Caucasus and then across Europe. By the Bronze Age, people may have been using cow's milk to feed their babies.

For a long time, researchers believed that milk drinking changed as a cultural practice hand in hand with the spread of genetic mutations (变异) that allowed people to tolerate milk into adulthood. But one recent finding suggests milk drinking occurred before these mutations and might not even require them. In Europe. people appear to have been drinking milk for thousands of years before any genetic ability to drink milk became common. The ancient cheese making equipment might offer part of the solution: Fermenting (发酵) milk into yogurt. cheese, or other products reduces the amount of lactose. In Mongolia. researchers have not yet found a genetic mutation that allows people to digest lactose, despite the major role of milk in that culture. So some scientists held that there might be other potential factors helping. 

What we do know about the history of milk reveals how wrong-headed one-size-fits-all nutritional guidance can be. In modern America. milk drinking has been presented as a universal good. In reality, how milk is prepared can change the nutritional picture, and how much our bodies process depends, at least in part. on our own genes.

11、阅读理解

A new study involving nearly 50,000 people from four continents offers new insights into identifying the quantity of daily walking steps that will best improve adults' health and longevity(长寿), and whether the ideal number of steps differs across people of different ages. The study represents an effort to develop an evidence-based public health message about the benefits of physical activity. The often-repeated 10,000-step-a-day saying grew out of a decades-old marketing activity for a Japanese pedometer(计步器), with no science to back it up.

Led by physical activity professor Amanda Paluch, an international group of scientists conducted an experiment among adults aged 18 and older. They grouped the nearly 50,000 participants into four comparative groups according to average steps per day. The lowest step group averaged 3,500 steps; the second, 5,800; the third, 7,800; and the fourth, 10,900 steps per day. Among the three higher active groups, there was a 40—53% lower risk of death, compared to the lowest step group. 

More specifically, for adults 60 and older, the risk of early death leveled off at about 6,000—8,000 steps per day, meaning that more steps than that provided no additional benefit for longevity, while for adults younger than 60, about 8, 000—10,000 steps per day. 

"So, what we saw was this continuing reduction in risk as the number of steps increases, until it levels off. Interestingly, the study found no definitive association with walking speed." Paluch says.

The new study supports and expands findings from another study led by Paluch before, which found that walking at least 7,000 steps a day reduced middle-aged people's risk of early death. "There's a lot of evidence suggesting that moving even a little more is beneficial, particularly for those who are doing very little activity." Paluch says. "More steps per day are better for your health."

12、阅读理解

Every morning on the island of Oahu, students at Pu' öhala Elementary gather on a field as towering mountains watch them from the mist. Their day starts with songs in ‘ölelo Hawai'i, the islands' native language, restating values of respect and justice that their teachers hope will guide them through their education, and throughout their lives.

Like most kids their age, they're not concerned about the significance of the language they're learning. Still, they have a weighty responsibility: to receive the torch (火炬) and ensure the security of ‘ölelo Hawai' i for future generations.

It was only 50 years ago that the language was on the edge of extinction. Though the situation is much improved, in many ways ‘ölelo Hawai' i is still on life support. Teachers say there's a huge enthusiasm for school kids to learn the language, but as they grow up, they're encouraged to focus on "more useful" subjects and use English, which are believed to assist them in achieving success in their work. In 2016, there were 18, 610 Hawaiian speakers on the islands.

"One hundred thousand is the approximate number of speakers needed to consider the language safe, " says Solomon, professor of Hawaiian language at University of Hawai'i at Manoa. "The idea is that there are enough people passing it on to the next generation, socializing their children to use the language in all domains of life, to express all thoughts and needs and desires. "

Fortunately, the kids of Pu' öhala Elementary will take the responsibility to continue the work of the current young adults defending the language, expanding access to ‘ölelo Hawai'i in part through TikTok and Instagram, and making the language a practical skill in adulthood. These youth, along with those committed to recovering the language from previous generations, share their hopes for the better.

13、阅读理解

Whether you are a lifelong bookworm or are trying to develop a love for reading in your kids, the 2024 Miami Book Fair is for you. 

• When and Where Is the Fair?

This much-loved South Florida event will be held from May 12 to 18, 2024 at the MDC Wolfson Campus Plaza in Downtown Miami. 

• What to Expect at the Fair?

This year, the fair will feature more than 400 celebrated authors from around the world. There will be a rich collection of writers and their works of almost every type under the sun. Readers can not only explore arts and crafts, but also experience face painting and book giveaways. For green writers, it's a place to connect with their favorite editors. For book lovers, it's an opportunity to get autographs (亲笔签名) from many popular authors and ask them some questions. During this week-long book feast, you will find a group of events running from morning to night.

• How Much Does the Fair Cost?

On Friday. the fair is free. On Saturday or Sunday, it is 10 for an adult for one day, or you can get a two-day pass for $ 15. Kids under age 12 can attend for free and the kid aged 13-18 is $5 per day. 

So mark your calendars, head to Downtown Miami, and enjoy yourself in the heart of the city's literary scene.

14、阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。
   It was July 2019 and my mum Rebecca was taking me on a 120km walking holiday from Portugal to Spain as a special treat for my 10th birthday. One day, while walking along the coastal path staring out at the Atlantic ocean, I chatted away to Mum. "When Lexi turns.10,are you going to take her on a trip like this?" I asked, referring to my seven-year-old sister. Mum said Lexi had already asked to go to Svalbard in the north of Norway because she was crazy about polar bears.
   Although I was still on my first special trip, I'd been learning about ancient civilizations at school and knew I'd love to see some relics in the flesh. So I continued saying, "Why don't I go to Egypt while you're in Svalbard with Lexi?", adding that my dad, Olaf, could take me there. "Great, but I'm not paying for it." Muim replied, chuckling. "That's fine. I'll pay,"I said, "I'll save up my pocket money and get a job."
   So that's exactly what I did. Though I was too young to do any other paid work, I had my own solution. I started saving my $10-a-week pocket money. Also, I washed my parents'car or mowed the lawn for extra cash.
   In 2020, we moved to Perth. One day, I saw a pamphlet（小册子） in the letter box advertising a job delivering catalogues. When I told Mum I wanted to do it, she tried to put me off the idea, reminding me that the work was tiring and time-consuming. But when seeing the determination in my eyes, she agreed to call them. Thankfully, my young age didn't bother them-I got the job. On a Monday, a mountain of catalogues were dropped off at our house, which shocked me a lot. I told myself to calm down and dedicated to work. It took me nine hours to sort through them. At first, I used my bike and carried the catalogues in my backpack to deliver them to 430 houses in my area.
注意：
1.续写词数应为150个左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。

After several deliveries, I found it wasn't very efficient.

Three and a half years later, I saved a massive $6,500, and Dad and I flew to Cairo, Egypt.

15、假如你是李华，你市电视台正面向留学生开展主题为"Feel of China"的短视频（short video）征集活动。请给你的留学生朋友Chris写一封邮件，鼓励他参加，内容包括：
1.活动介绍；
2.内容要求。
注意：
1.写作词数应为80个左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。

Dear Chris,

How are you doing?

Yours,

Li Hua

16、 语法填空

阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

A composting（堆肥） program at The Wesley School in Los Angeles is helping students get hands-on experience and ways （handle）human-driven climate change. For the past year, all the leftover food waste from the school has gone into composting containers rather than a landfill  it would be buried and would produce planet-warming gases.

The school's composting program（come）into being in 2022, and this year, the school held a （celebrate）to reveal what happened inside a series of five-foot-tall containers. Steven Wynbrandt, a local farmer composting consultant who has helped the school with its program, broke the ties that held the container closed. Rich black compost spilled out from the container.

The school will use the compost on plants around campus. Some will （offer）to families that want to use it at home, and whatever is left will be donated.

It takes two hours for the container to be emptied and prepared to receive  next day's lunch leftovers. The other containers remain full of food waste that is in the process of （break）down. Decorated （poster）on the outside of each container indicate when they can be opened so that the next generation of plants on campus can benefit  the rich soil.

17、完形填空

第一节（共15小题；每小题1分，满分15分）

阅读下面短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。

Growing up on a farm, Tori James spent much of her early years outdoors, building shelters and playing in muddy streams. She 1  herself as an ambitious and adventurous child and owes the Duke of Edinburgh Award to her love for 2 . James says she could never have 3  that one day she might be the youngest British woman to 4  the peak of Mount Everest.

Today, James is a（n）5  adventurer. Alongside her successful climb of the world's 6  peak in 2007, she was a member of the first all-female team to 7  a tiring 650-kilometre ski race to the Magnetic North Pole in 2005, and in 2014 she set the 8  for the longest non-stop open-sea kayak crossing in UK waters.

Yet ahead of her first exploration at the age of 18, James had 9  her ability to last a month out in the cold without the comfort of a hot bath. "It's only by 10  our comfort zone that we understand our true potential," she explains, "That's when the 11  happens."

James encourages would-be adventurers not to be 12  by the conventional image of the rugged （粗犷的）， hardy explorer. "I am such a believer that, with the right support and skills, everyone can bring 13  to an exploration," she adds, "Sometimes, it's only out in the field that someone's 14  talents emerge, 15  in the process of exploration."

18、七选五

阅读下面短文，从短文后的选项中选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。

How to Deal with Awkward Silences

We all know what it's like when a conversation dies off and you're left to sit in silence.  Thankfully, filling these silences isn't as difficult as it may seem. Read on to learn how to initiate small talk and deal with awkward silences.

• Think of topics ahead of time.

Before attending a social event, think of a few "go-to" topics to jumpstart a dead conversation. This will help you to fill the silences instead of struggling for words in the moment. Recent news, local events, popular books and television shows are all good fallback options. 

• Ask open-ended questions.

Ask questions that have more than one possible answer.  They help avoid resulting in short response. For example, instead of asking, "Did you like your high school?", you could ask, "What did you like about your high school?"

•

As with any good conversation, the biggest key is to listen. If they respond to your question with a short statement such as "Yes"or "No", that might indicate that they aren't comfortable talking about a particular subject. Instead, talk about something that you know they're interested in. For example, "I heard you won your football game the other night. I'd love to hear about it."

• Give a compliment （表扬）.

 For example, you could say, "I really like your shirt. Where did you get it?" This could move the conversation in another direction while making the other person feel good. Stick to saying nice things if you're trying to make small talk.

A. Keep the conversation flowing.

B. It also allows you to spend more time together.

C. Listen carefully and respond to their reactions.

D. There's only one word to describe it: awkward.

E. This is always a safe bet, as long as it's appropriate.

F. Such questions are likely to get the person talking more.

G. However, avoid some subjects that may cause arguments.

19、阅读理解

D

When people think of word innovators throughout history, male writers likely come to mind. Shakespeare is credited with inventing more than 1,700 words, including "bedroom", "courtship" and "swagger". Charles Dickens is said to have first used the words "butterfingers" and "doormat", and Dr. Seuss reportedly came up with "nerd".

But despite contributions from famous writers, historians say another group has an even greater impact on the development of language: teenage girls. Women lead up to 90 percent of linguistic （语言的） changes, as sociolinguist William Labov observed in the early 2000s. In fact, he wrote, women are often linguistically ahead of men "by a full generation".

Now women are leading the charge online. Though Oxford University Press'2023 word of the year, "rizz", meaning charm, was coined by a man, several runners-up, including "situationship" and "swiftie" were inspired or first used by women. The term "goblin mode", which refers to lazy behavior, was Oxford's 2022 word of the year and appears to have been first used by a woman on Twitter in 

2009.

It's often impossible to tell who first used new words. But whether or not young girls invent new phrases, they are more likely to be early adopters of the latest lingo（术语）， says University of Toronto linguist Sali Tagliamonte, "They're pushing changes forward."

There are a handful of possible reasons why girls lead lexical （词汇的） innovation. According to Gretchen McCulloch, author of Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language, women tend to be more socially aware. They have larger social circles and may be exposed to more language diversity. And because women tend to be caregivers, boys usually learn language from their mothers, whereas women and girls learn words from other women.

20、阅读理解

C

Almost all new parents struggle to get enough sleep while caring for their newborns. For some penguin （企鹅） parents, though, periods of sleep are especially short.

Researchers recently found that Chinstrap penguins only sleep for about four seconds at a time in order to protect their eggs and newborn chicks. They do this thousands of times throughout the day. The short "microsleeps" total around 11 hours each day. The microsleeps appear to be enough to keep the parents going for many weeks.

Niels Rattenborg, a sleep researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Intelligence in Germany, said, "What's surprising is that the penguins are able to function okay and successfully raise their young."

Chinstrap penguins usually lay their eggs in November in nests made up of small rocks. Mated （交配的） pairs share parenting responsibilities. One parent usually watches the eggs and chicks alone while the other goes off fishing for family meals. Adult penguins don't face many natural enemies in the mating season. But large birds called brown skuas eat the penguin eggs and small chicks. Other adult penguins may also try to steal the small rocks from the nests, so penguin parents must always be on guard.

For the first time, scientists followed the sleeping behavior of Chinstrap penguins. They did this by attaching devices that measure brain waves. They collected data on 14 adults over 11 days on King George Island off the coast of Antarctica.

Won Young Lee, a biologist at the Korean Polar Research Institute, thought of the idea for the study when he saw mating penguins often blinking （眨） their eyes and possibly sleeping. But the team needed to record brain waves to confirm the animals were sleeping. "For these penguins, microsleeps have some restorative functions," he said. He added that they would not survive without it.

The researchers didn't collect sleep data outside the mating season. But they suspect that the penguins may sleep for longer periods at other times of the year.