阅读理解。

SHEFFIELD

LINCOLN COLLEGE OF ENGLISH

Classes for foreign students at all levels

3 months, 6 months, 9 months and one year course

Open all year

Small class (maximum 12 students)

Library, language laboratory and listening center

Accommodation(膳食供应) with selected families

25 minutes from London

Course fees for English for one year are ￡1, 380 with reduction 减少for shorter periods of study.

    Do you know an outstanding junior high or high school teacher, coach, guidance counselor, librarian, or headmaster? Nominate (提名) that special teacher you'll always remember and give him/her the chance to be recognized in a famous national magazine through “Educators of the Year Contest”!

    Prizes

    Cash awards will be given to those from across the country who are given the honor of Educators of the Year. Besides, your winning essays will also be published in our magazine.

    Guidelines

    We will only consider essays written by teens, and nominations must be for junior high or high school educators only. Elementary school educators are not suitable.

    Convince us your educator is special. Tell us about his or her style of teaching, his or her role in school activities, and community service. What has your educator done for the entire school, your class, for you or another student? Give examples with specific details. Keep your essay between 200 and 1,000 words. Remember to include the first and last name, position, and school of your educator in your essay.

    Don't forget to submit (提交) your essays through our website. You can also read our submission guidelines for more information on this website.

    The Deadline

    The deadline for submitting your essays is December 30. Your essays are accepted and will appear in our magazine all over the year. Winners will be made public after the January issue is published.

    Researchers say getting a good night's sleep is probably the best tool for memory and learning. But short periods of sleep may help our brains work better, says a recent study on napping. And taking a nap  may also help old adults fight off age-related memory loss.

    CDC, an American scientific organization, found that 50 to 70 million Americans have chronic（长期的）sleep disorders. So, someone who naps as a way of paying off a sleep debt may not experience the same improvements from napping as a well-rested person would. Also, that only children, the very old, sick or  lazy people nap is not an uncommon opinion.

    Researchers recently looked at information provided by nearly 3,000 Chinese adults, aged 65 years or older, to learn if napping after a mid-day meal had any effect on the mental performance of the subjects.

    First, they asked the people if they napped and for how long. Then, based on their answers, researchers put them into four groups: non-nappers (0 min), short nappers (≦30 min), moderate nappers (30-90 min), and extended nappers (≧90 min).  Nearly 60% of the people said they did take a nap after lunch and that   their naps lasted anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes. Most of the subjects said they napped for about an hour.

    The study found that people who took an hour-long nap did much better on mental tests than those      who did not nap. The hour-long nappers also did better on the tests than those who napped for shorter and longer periods. In this study, it seemed that the most effective nap lasted for about an hour, but not much longer.

    Yet Doctor Michael Twery notes that an hour long nap may be too long for young, healthy adults. 30 minutes is enough to remove the pressure to sleep and will help us feel more awake.

    I was in a rush as always, but this time it was for an important date I just couldn't be late for! Thinking of my upcoming evening, I hurried into a store to pick up some flowers, for I did not want to be late for this date. When I paid the bill at a checkout counter, I found myself behind an elderly woman who seemed in no hurry when she paid for her groceries. She looked up at me and smiled. It was a nice smile –warm and friendly –and I returned her gift by smiling back.

    “Must be a special lady, no matter who will be getting those beautiful flowers,” she said.

    “Yes, she's special,” I said, and then to my embarrassment, the words kept coming out.

    “It's only our second date, but somehow I am just having the feeling that she's 'the one'. Jokingly, I added,“The only problem is that I can't understand why she'd want to date a guy like me.”

    “Well, I think she's very lucky to have a boyfriend who brings her such lovely flowers and who is obviously in love with her,” the woman said.” “My husband used to bring me flowers every week –even when times were hard and we didn't have much money. Those were wonderful days; he was very romantic and – of course – I miss him after he died.

    I paid for my flowers as she was gathering up her groceries. I walked up to her, touched her on the shoulder and said,“You were right, you know. These flowers are indeed for a very special lady.” I handed her the flowers and thanked her for such a nice conversation.

    It took her a moment to realize that I was giving her the flowers I had just bought.“You have a wonderful evening,” I said. I left her with a big smile and my heart warmed as I saw her smelling the beautiful flowers.

    I remember being slightly late for my date that night and telling my girlfriend the above story. A couple of years later, when I finally worked up the courage to ask her to marry me, she told me that the story I had told her that night helped me win her heart.

    In the U. S. state of Washington, a road called Interstate(州际公路；州际的)90 cuts through a wild mountainous area to reach the city of Seattle. For the area's many kinds of animals, busy high- way greatly limits their movements. Animals need to move to find food, to find mates, to find new places to live as their populations expand or just when conditions change, like a fire breaks out. Crossing I-90 – as the road is called – is a risky but sometimes necessary act. But soon, animals will have a safer choice. They will be able to go above it.

    To help the animals, the state is finishing work on its largest - ever wildlife bridge. The 11-meter-tall, 20 - meter - wide bridge begins in the forest. It forms two arches above the highway, one for each direction of traffic. Workers are adding fencing anti plants to help guide the animals across the bridge, Two-meter-thick walls will help block noise from vehicles below. Scientists chose the area because it is within a natural migration(迁徙)path for some animals.

    The I -90 bridge is part of a growing number of wildlife crossings across the United States. Some are fences, some are overland bridges，and some are underpasses. They all aim to keep drivers and animals away from each other.

    A U. S. Transportation Department study found crashes between animals and humans rose year by year. The accidents made up about 5 percent of all crashes nationally, and cost the economy (经济)about ＄8 billion. Such costs come from car repaid, emergency room visits and removal of the dead animals on roads. Collisions between animals and drivers are rarely deadly to people. But they are often deadly to wildlife. The study also found that 21 endangered or threatened species in the U.S. are affected by vehicle hits. Bridges, underpasses and fencing reduce I he area's animal - driver collisions by 80 percent.

    Most of the wildlife bridges are in western states. Many other areas also need such paths. But finding money for more crossings is "the- number - one problem". Patty Garvey — Darda of the U. S. Forest Service has worked on the I - 90 crossing from the start of the project. She says the $ 6 - million bridge will one day pay for itself because the highway will not have to be fully or partly closed each time a large animal is struck. "If you shut clown Interstate 90, you shut down interstate trade." she adds.