2. 外语
  3. Sleep is very ancient. In the electroencephalographic (脑电图仪的) sense we share it with all the primates (灵长类动物) and almost all the

Sleep is very ancient. In the electroencephalographic (脑电图仪的) sense we share it with all the primates (灵长类动物) and almost all the

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问题     Sleep is very ancient. In the electroencephalographic (脑电图仪的) sense we share it with all the primates (灵长类动物) and almost all the other mammals and birds: it may extend back as far as the reptiles (爬行动物).
    There is some evidence that the two types of sleep, dreaming and dreamless, depend on the life style of the animal, and that predators (食肉动物) are statistically much more likely to dream than prey, which are in turn much more likely to experience dreamless sleep. In dream sleep, the animal is powerfully immobilized (使固定不动) and remarkably unresponsive to external stimuli. Dreamless sleep is much shallower, and we have all witnessed cats or dogs cocking their ears to a sound when apparently fast asleep. The fact that deep dream sleep is rare among prey today seems clearly to be a product of natural selection, and it makes sense that today, when sleep is highly evolved, the stupid animals are less frequently immobilized by deep sleep than the smart ones. But why should they sleep deeply at all? Why should a state of such deep immobilization ever have evolved?
    Perhaps one useful hint about the original function of sleep is to be found in the fact that dolphins and whales and aquatic mammals in general seem to sleep very little. There is, by and large, no place to hide in the ocean. Could it be that, rather than increasing an animal’s vulnerability, Ray Meddis of London University has suggested this to be the case. It is conceivable that animals that are too stupid to be quite on their own initiative are, during periods of high risk, immobilized by the implacable arm of sleep. The point seems particularly clear for the young of predatory animals. This is an interesting notion and probably at least partly true.
According to some scientists’ research findings, dolphins seldom sleep because _____.
选项 A、of their stupidity
B、of their vulnerability
C、there are possible dangers in the ocean
D、aquatic mammals do not need sleep
答案C
解析 最后一段第2句解释了第1句中所说的“海豚等睡眠少”的原因，C比较确切地反映了文章内容。A、B、D三项都与最后一段开头两句表达的意思无关。
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大学英语四级

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