It doesn't matter when or how much a person sleeps, but everyone needs some rest to stay alive. That's what all doctors thought, until they heard about Al Herpin. Al Herpin, it was said, never slept. Could this be true? The doctors decided to see this strange man themselves.
Al Herpin was 90 years old when the doctors came to his home in New Jersey. They thought for sure that he got some sleep of some kind. So they stayed with him and watched every movement he made. But they were surprised. Though they watched him hour after hour and day after day, they never saw Herpin sleeping. In fact, he did not even own a bed. He never needed one.
The only rest that Herpin sometimes got was sitting in a comfortable chair and reading newspapers. The doctors were puzzled by this strange continuous sleeplessness. They asked him many questions, hoping to find an answer. They found only one answer that might explain his condition. Herpin remembered some talk about his mother having been injured several days before he was born. But that was all. Was this the real reason? No one could be sure.
Al Herpin died at the age of 95.?
10. The main idea of this passage is that ________.
A. large numbers of people do not need sleep
B. a person was found who actually didn't need any sleep
C. everyone needs some sleep to stay alive
D. people can live longer by trying not to sleep
11. The doctors came to visit Herpin, expecting ________.
A. to cure him of his sleeplessness
B. to find out whether his sleeplessness was really true
C. to find out why some old people didn't need any sleep
D. to find a way to free people from the need of sleeping
12. After watching him closely, the doctors came to believe that Al Herpin _______.
A. needed some kind of sleep B. was too old to need any sleep
C. needed no sleep at all D. often slept in a chair
13. One reason that might explain Herpin's sleeplessness was ________.
A. his mother's injury before he was born
B. that he had gradually got rid of the sleeping habit
C. his magnificent physical condition
D. that he hadn't got a bed
14. Al Herpin's condition could be regarded as ________.
A. a common one B. one that could be cured C. very healthy D. a rare one