2017 年 06 月大学英语四级考试真题（第 3 套）

Questions __26__ to __35__ are based on the following passage.

As if you needed another reason to hate the gym, it now turns out that exercise can exhaust not only your muscles, but also your eyes. Fear not, however, for coffee can stimulate them again. During __26__ exercise, our muscles tire as they run out of fuel and build up waste products. Muscle performance can also be affected by a __27__ called "central fatigue," in which an imbalance in the body's chemical messengers prevents the central nervous system from directing muscle movements __28__. It was not known, however, whether central fatigue might also affect motor systems not directly __29__ in the exercise itself, such as those that move the eyes. To find out, researchers gave 11 volunteer cyclists a carbohydrate (碳水化合物的) __30__ either with a moderate dose of caffeine (咖啡因), which is known to stimulate the central nervous system, or as a placebo (安慰剂) without, during 3 hours of __31__ . After exercising, the scientists tested the cyclists with eyetracking cameras to see how well their brains could still __32__ their visual system. The team found that exercise reduced the speed of rapid eye movements by about 8%, __33__ their ability to capture new visual information. The caffeine, the equivalent of two strong cups of coffee, was __34__ to reverse this effect, with some cyclists even displaying __35__ eye movement speeds. So it might be a good idea to get someone else to drive you home after that marathon.

The shoppers in the UK are spending less money on toilet paper to save money, research has shown.

Penny-pinching UK consumers choose cheaper products from discounters such as Aldi and Lidl rather than luxury alternatives.

This has wiped 6% off the value of the soft tissue paper market in the UK. It has shrunk from £1.19 billion in 2011 to £1.12 billion in 2015, according to a new report from market research company Mintel. Furthermore, the future of the market looks far from rosy, with sales expected to fall further to £1.11 billion in 2016.

In the last year alone, despite an increase in the UK population and a subsequent rise in the number of households, sales of toilet paper fell by 2%, with the average household reducing their toilet roll spending from £43 in 2014 to £41 in 2015.

Overall, almost three in five people say they try to limit their usage of paper—including facial tissue and kitchen roll―to save money. "Strength, softness and thickness remain the leading indicators of toilet paper quality, with just a small proportion of consumers preferring more luxurious alternatives, such as those with flower patterns of perfume, said Mintel analyst Jack Duckett. "These extra features are deemed unnecessary by the majority of shoppers, which probably reflects how these types of products are typically more expensive than regular toilet paper, even when on special offer."

While consumers are spending less on toilet paper, they remain fussy―in theory at least—when it comes to paper quality. Top of Britons' toilet paper wish list is softness (57%) followed by strength (45%) and thickness (36%).

One in 10 buyers brand toilet rolls made from recycled paper among their top considerations, highlighting how overall the environment is much less of a consideration for shoppers than product quality. In a challenge for manufacturers, 81% of paper product users said they would consider buying recycled toilet tissue if it were comparable in quality to standard paper.

"One of the reasons I find this topic very interesting is because my mom was a smoker when I was younger," says Lindson-Hawley, who studies tobacco and health at the University of Oxford.

By studying about 700 adult smokers, she found out that her mom quit the right way—by stopping abruptly and completely.

In her study, participants were randomly (随机地) assigned to two groups. One had to quit abruptly on a given day, going from about a pack a day to zero. The other cut down gradually over the course of two weeks. People in both groups used nicotine (尼古丁) patches before they quit, in addition to a second form of nicotine replacement, like gum or spray. They also had talk therapy with a nurse before and after quit day.

Six months out, more people who had quit abruptly had stuck with it—more than one-fifth of them, compared to about one-seventh in the other group. Although these numbers appear low, it is much higher than if people try without support.

And the quit rates were particularly convincing given that before the study started, most of the people had said they'd rather cut down gradually before quitting. "If you're training for a marathon, you wouldn't expect to turn up and just be able to run it. And I think people see that for smoking as well. They think,' Well, if I gradually reduce, it's like practice, '" says Lindson-Hawley. But that wasn't the case. Instead of giving people practice, the gradual reduction likely gave them cravings (瘾) and withdrawal symptoms before they even reached quit day, which could be why fewer people in that group actually made it to that point. "Regardless of your stated preference, if you're ready to quit, quitting abruptly is more effective,"says Dr. Gabriela Ferreira. "When you can quote a specific number like a fifth of the patients were able to quit, that's compelling. It gives them the encouragement, I think, to really go for it, ''Ferreira says.

People rarely manage to quit the first time they try. But at least, she says, they can maximize the odds of success.