It is true that human beings need some rest to stay alive, but it doesn’t matter when and how much a person sleeps. And that’s what all doctors thought, until they heard about Herpin. Herpin, it was said, never slept. Could this be true? The doctors decided to see this strange man themselves.

When the doctors paid a visit to him in his home in New Jersey, he was 90 years old. 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 him 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. Herpin died at the age of 94.

【小题1】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

【小题2】The doctors called on Herpin, expecting_________.

A．to cure him of his sleeplessness

B．to find that his sleeplessness was not really true

C．to find out why some old people did not need any sleep

D．to find a way to free people from the need of sleeping

【小题3】After watching him closely, the doctors came to believe that 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

【小题4】Herpin’s condition could be regarded as_________.

A．a common one	B．one that could be cured
C．very healthy	D．an unusual one