2016年托福阅读备考练习素材
以下两篇2016年托福考试阅读材料提供给各位考生，希望帮助你们备考。
素材一：了解我们的头发
A human hair consists mainly of a protein called Keratin. It also contains some moisture and the trace metals and minerals found in the rest of the body.
人类的头发主要由一种叫角朊的蛋白质组成，并含有水分及在身体其他部分也可找到的微量金属和矿物质。
● The only living part of hair is underneath the scalp--when the hair had grown through the scalp it is dead tissue.
头发唯一有生命的部分是在头皮下面，当它长出头皮时便成为无生命组织。
● Hair’s natural shine is supplied by its own conditioner, sebum, an oil composed of waxes and fats and also containing a natural antiseptic that helps fight infection. Too much sebum results in greasy hair and conversely, too little sebum makes dry hair.
头发的自然光泽来自它自身的护发素：油脂，它含有蜡和脂肪，还含有抗感染的自然抗菌剂。油脂含量过多会导致油性发质，相反，油脂含量过少则会导致干性发质。
● Hair grows about 12 mm per month. If a person never has his hair cut, it would grow to a length of about 108 cm before falling out. Hair grows faster in the summer and during sleep. A single strand lives for up to seven years.
头发每个月可长12毫米，如果一个人从不剪发，头发会长至108厘米才开始脱落。在夏天和睡觉的时候头发生长得较快。一根头发的寿命可长达7年。
● Healthy hair is highly elastic and can stretch 20 or 30 per cent before snapping. A human hair is stronger than copper wire of the same thickness. A combined strength of a headful of human hair is capable of supporting a weight equivalent to that of 99 people.
健康的'头发非常富有弹性，可拉长20%或30%而不断。一根头发比同等粗细的铜丝还要结实。满头头发合在一起的力量可经得起99个人的重量。
● Scandinavians normally have thin, straight, baby-fine hair, and mid Europeans hair that is neither too fine nor too coarse. People native to the Indian subcontinent have coarse textured tresses while Middle Eastern populations have strong hair. The hair of Chinese and Japanese people is very straight; that of Latin-speaking and North African peoples can be very frizzy and thick.
斯堪的纳维亚人的头发又细又直，像婴儿的头发一样;中部欧洲人的头发不细不粗;印度次大陆人的头发粗且打绺;中东人的头发都很结实;中国人和日本人的头发非常直顺;而拉丁语国家及北非地区的人头发卷曲而浓密。
Notes:
scalp [skælp] n. 头皮;战利品
conditioner: 护发素
antiseptic [,ænti’septik] adj. 防腐的，抗菌的;非常整洁的n. 防腐剂，抗菌剂
copper wire : 铜线
Scandinavian [,skændi’neiviən; -vjən] n. 斯堪的纳维亚人
coarse texture粗结构
素材二：如何在冬天快乐起床
The slower you build up energy in the morning, the more painful waking up will be. What's better, spending thirty minutes wrestling with the snooze button followed by an hour ramp up to normal mental functioning or quickly starting the day with energy?
Here are a few things to reduce the transition period from being asleep to becoming fully alert. Not only does speeding up this wake-up process save time, it makes waking up less of a struggle.
1. Light
Your body's natural clock is tuned to the amount of light. Turn on all the lights in your room right after waking up. Getting bright lights can help trick your body into thinking it is time to get out of bed.
2. Exercise
Put something physical right at the start of your morning. In the summer, I did a quick morning run and found it helpful in shaking off any sleepiness. Considering the outside temperature hovers around -30 C, I've stuck to doing a few pushups in my room. The exercise gets your heart pumping and snaps you out of a groggy state.
3. The 10-Minute Rule
If you want to stick with a consistent wake-up time, practice the ten-minute rule. This means you commit to staying awake for at least the next ten minutes. Once you get over that initial period, the temptation to go back to bed is usually gone.
4. Active Work
Start your day with work that actively uses your mind. Creative activities like writing, drawing, programming or designing work better than passive activities like reading. By focusing your mind early you can stay focused and brush off any unwanted drowsiness.
5. Don't Skip Breakfast
Wake up early enough to get something to eat. Skipping meals throw your metabolism out of balance, causing you to gain fat and lose energy. Skipping breakfast also means your blood sugar will be low in the morning and energy levels down.
6. Commit to a Sleep
Schedule The obvious solution to combat sleepiness is to get more rest at night. Carrying a sleep debt throughout the week with the hopes of paying it off on the weekend is a bad strategy. Instead, compress your work into the morning hours so you can get the 6-8 hours you need each night.