It’s 2009. You feel sick, so you go to the doctor. She checks your fever, looks at your throat, and asks what you’ve been thinking about lately. When you leave,she gives you some medicine, but also a list of thinking skills that you are supposed to practice daily. She says that the way you think is causing some of your illness.
Doctors and other scientists who study the human mind and try to explain why people behave in the way that do, called psychologists, are starting to believe it. You know that your brain is connected to every part of your body through your nervous system(神经系统). Now scientists have proved that how you think and feel can have an influence on the health of your body.
Stress(压力,紧张) is caused whenever there is a problem or a change in your life. Of course, everybody has stress more or less; nobody’s life is perfect. In fact, stress is necessary. Without stress, we would never learn anything or grow or change. We would probably be bored to death. But too much stress can hurt you. It can weaken your body’s protection so that you are more likely to catch diseases. It can even make you more likely to have an accident.
When you feel stress, your brain sends a message to your body to produce a chemical called adrenaline(肾上腺素). Adrenaline speeds up your breathing and your heartbeat. Today you have a different kind of stress. Problems like endless homework or troubles with your family are the kind of things you can’t fight or run away from, so you don’t use up all that adrenaline. It just stays bottled up inside you, and that’s what can do something bad to you.
What can you do about stress? First, you can try to find ways to change things so you aren’t under so much stress. You can set up a plan to finish homework or go to a doctor or a psychologist to try to work things out with your family or your friends. But sometimes you can’t change a stressful situation. Sometimes you don’t even want to. A big change might be a good change, but it will still be stressful.
The link(关联) between your body and brain works in two ways. Your body can help your mind deal with stress. If you are under stress, you need to take especially good care of your body. It’s important to get enough sleep and eat nutritious meals. Some people take a vitamin-mineral pill every day. Another thing that you can do is daily exercise. If you go walking or do aerobic(需氧的) dancing or work out at the gym, you give your body a chance to burn up some of that adrenaline. Of course, a person who isn’t used to much physical activity should start slowly. Anyone with a continuing physical problem should check with a doctor before staring any exercise programs.
1. A psychologist is a person who may help you with your ______.
A. illness and abilities B. thoughts and behaviour
C. mind and nervous system D. physical activity and daily exercise
2. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A. You shouldn’t go to the gym if you are under stress.
B. One can do his homework to burn up adrenaline.
C. Diseases and accidents are caused by stress.
D. Everyone needs stress to improve himself.
3. From the last sentence of Paragraph 5 we can infer that ________.
A. it’s difficult to change a stressful situation
B. it’s not stressful when a good change takes place
C. a big change will cause another stressful situation
D. a stressful situation can’t be changed without any effort
4. What is probably the best title for this passage?
A. The body-Brain Link B. The Causes of Stress
C. The Advice on Health D. The Nervous System
It’s summer movie time again. And heroes are ready to try their strength and magic on the silver screen. Check out our list of four films that look most promising to young audience.
Harry potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Release Date: June 4
Story: It’s the summer before Harry Potter’s third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. A shadow is hanging over Hogwarts. A dangerous murderer, Sirius Black, has escaped the Wizards’ Prison. And he broke out to fulfill one task to kill Harry Potter.
Around the World in 80 Days
Release Date: June 16
Story: This version of the classic novel set in 1872 focuses on Passepartout ( Hong Kong actor Jackie Chan), a Chinese thief who seeks refuge with a strange London adventurer, Phileas Fogg. Passepartout uses his martial arts skills to defend Fogg from danger as he travels around the world in 80 days to win a bet.
Spider- Man 2
Release Date: June 30
Story: Peter Parker is still coming to terms with his dual (双重的) identity as the crime superhero Spider-Man. He wants to reveal his secret identity to Mary Jane: meanwhile, his aunt May has fallen on hard times. A new villain (坏人) , Dr Otto Octavius, has appeared to cause more trouble.
King Arther
Release Date: July 7
Story: King Arthur is presented as a clever ruler who manages to unite all the knights(骑士) in Britain after the fall of the Roman Empire(帝国). Under the guidance of Merlin and the beautiful, brave Guinevere, Arthur will struggle to realize his dreamsAccording to the passage, if you want to see a film whose leading actor is Jackie Chan, you will see the film on _____.
A.June 4 | B.June 16 | C.June 30 | D.July 7 |
In Spider-Man 2, Aunt May’s trouble is caused by_____.
A.Peter Parker | B.Mary Jane | C.Dr. Otto Octavius | D.Spider-Man |
Which of the following films is set in ancient Britain?
A.Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. | B.Spider-Man 2 |
C.Around the World in 80 Days. | D.King Arthur |
Imagine a boy from a small village in East Africa. He, since a very early age, has been looking after cattle. At twelve years old he knows more about cattle than most of you. However, he has never been to school. Has this boy had any education?
Education is discovering about ourselves and about the people and things around us. All the people who care about us — our parents, brothers, sisters, friends — are our teachers. In fact, we learn something from everyone we meet. We start learning on the day we were born, not on the first day we go to school. Every day we have new experiences, like finding a bird’s nest, discovering a new street in our neighborhood, making friends with someone we didn’t like before. New experiences are even more fun when we share them with other people.
Encouragement from the people around us enables us to explore things as many as possible. As we grow up, we begin to find out what we are capable of doing. You may be good at cooking, or singing or playing football. You find this out by doing these things. Just thinking about cooking doesn’t tell you whether you are good at it.
We learn so much just living from day to day. So why is school important? Of course you can learn some things better at home than at school, like how to do the shopping, and how to help old or disabled people who can’t do everything for themselves. At school, teachers help us to read and write. With their guidance, we begin to see things in different ways.In the opinion of the writer, .
A.the school is not important at all. |
B.we have to learn from the people around us. |
C.education takes place everywhere. |
D.only people who care for us can teach us. |
One can find out what he / she is good at by _.
A.what people encourage him/ her to do. |
B.trying and practising things. |
C.thinking about it when growing up. |
D.he teachings of those he / she meets. |
The passage tells us that _.
A.different classes of people receive different kinds of education. |
B.everyone gets education from the day he or she was born. |
C.the school is absolutely necessary if one wants to understand the world. |
D.everyone will find out what he or she is good at. |
According to the last paragraph, we know that .
A.the school enables us to understand the world in other ways. |
B.the school is not so important as our living places. |
C.the school teaches us things which are useless at home. |
D.the school cannot prepare us for our daily lives. |
Forbes asked a panel of architects and campus designers to nominate their picks for the best-looking campuses in the world. These are their top choices.
Kenyon College
Gambier, Ohio, US
Mike Evans, a principal at Norfolk, Va., design firm Hanbury Evans Wright Vlattas + Company, says to be beautiful a campus must have a “signature campus space as a carrier of the campus brand.” At Kenyon College, that space is “Middle Path,” a 10-foot-wide footpath that serves as the Gothic hilltop campus’ central artery. More than just a trail, it’s a village green for the tight-knit campus community. Sergei Lobanov-Rostovsky, who teaches 17th-century poetry at Kenyon, says the college, both isolated and pastoral, is “a small place to think big thoughts.”
Oxford University
Oxford, England
Teaching within Oxford’s stone walls dates as far back as the 11th century, and the school is considered a paradigm(典范) for all college campuses. With its labyrinth of quads, cloisters, and archways, it evokes elegance and tradition at every turn. “Its monastic roots and the spectacular quality of its buildings make it an architectural wonderland,” says David Mayernik, associate professor at Notre Dame’s School of Architecture.
Princeton University
Princeton, N.J., US
Princeton’s style is pure Collegiate Gothic(学院派哥特式); most of it executed in gray stone covered in, yes, ivy. As imposing as these old stone structures are, the campus keeps life on a “human scale” by preserving green spaces and walkability.Sinuous footpaths, archways, plazas – all are designed to inspire spontaneous discussion and learning.
Scripps College
Claremont, Calif., US
The total plan of this women’s college, founded in the 1920′s, has always called for artistic connection between buildings and landscape. Together, architect Gordon Kaufmann, in collaboration with landscape architect Edward Huntsman-Trout, created a distinctively Southern Californian blend of Mission Revival-inspired architecture and landscape, which is lovely, evocative and intact. An expert in deciduous trees, Trout planted rows of liquid amber trees to give the students “a sense of autumn” come fall. He also peppered the campus with tulip trees, sycamores, almond and orange trees, as well as rare shrubs.
Stanford University
Palo Alto, Calif., US
New additions like the Science and Engineering Quad manage to gracefully blend modern and technological elements with the timeless, elegant aesthetics of the campus’ early California Mission Revival architecture. The campus also scores big points for its dramatic entrance via Palm Drive, its romantic Spanish red-tile roofs and myriad patches of green.
Tsinghua University
Beijing, China
Forbe’s panel of architects says natural setting plays a big part in assessing a campus’ beauty. In that regard, this campus is blessed: Founded in 1925, Tsinghua sits on the former site of the Qing Dynasty’s royal gardens. Many of Beijing’s most notable historical sites, like the Summer Palace, are close by. The campus is peppered with artificial ponds where stone benches and floating lotus blossoms inspire reflection.In this text, the writer mentioned many best-looking campuses in the world.How many Universities are in America?
A.Six. | B.Three. | C.Four. | D.Five. |
which school is considered a paradigm for all college campuses.?
A.Oxford University. | B.Stanford University. |
C.Scripps College. | D.Princeton University. |
Which University has the style of pure Collegiate Gothic?
A.Tsinghua University | B.Oxford University |
C.Princeton University | D.Kenyon College |
In which part of a magazine can we probably read this passage?
A.Entertainment. | B.Education. | C.Culture. | D.Health. |
Why does Tsinghua University enter the list of the best-looking campuses in the world?
A.because the amber trees give the students “a sense of autumn” come fall. |
B.because the artistic connects between buildings and landscape. |
C.because its natural setting plays a big part. |
D.because it is founded in 1925. |
Every year in late April, students at Renmin University of China become the subjects of admiration and jealousy of their peers on other campuses in Beijing. Why? Because they get a week off in the middle of term, the so-called spring break.
“It’s been a unique tradition of our school for a decade,” said Wang Yueran, 20, a journalism major at Renmin University, who organized a weeklong trip to Sichuan with 12 classmates last year.
But having fun is just one dimension of the spring break. Field trips, voluntary work, and social projects are all on students’ to-do lists. Experts say the spring break is not just for students to enjoy a few days off, but for them to gain new experiences beyond the campus walls.
Push them out
The traditional Chinese belief of the exploration of knowledge and truth emphasizes “reading 10,000 books and traveling 10,000 miles”, which indicates the importance of experience as much as theory. But while Chinese universities have the tradition of spring outings, what’s the benefit of making spring break an institution?
Qin Jianguo, of the student affairs office at Shenzhen University, thinks the idea of the spring break in some universities in China comes from the intention of pushing students out of theivory towerto experience morediversityin their lives.
“Take traveling for example. A week traveling is a very different experience to a one- or two-day outing,” said Qin. “Students are expected to acquire the spirit of teamwork and compromise, and learn survival and communication skills when put out there in an unfamiliar context.”
Diverse approaches
Many countries have similar vacations in the middle of the semester for students to do things out of their own interest. Taking Japan as an example, instead of partying like their US counterparts, many Japanese students choose to work as interns or engage in study-related projects.
“The spring break is an opportunity for many of our students to put their learning to use,” said Hiroshi Kanno, dean of the Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy at Hitotsubashi University, in the school’s description of a recent spring break project.
As for Chinese students who take a week off around the Labor Day holiday, many tend to do volunteer work. Duan Zhipeng, a 22-year-old economics major at Renmin University, applied for a project to go back to his hometown in Jiangxi province to introduce his university’s enrollment policies and campus culture to local high school students.
Not a trend yet
Apart from Renmin University, only a few other universities, such as Yantai University, have a spring break for their students. The concept in China is still far from the culture and norms built around it in the US.
Wei Xiang, a professor specializing in holiday economics at Beijing International Studies University, said that the spring break is a good experiment for universities to make study schedules smoother in order to give students more options to arrange their own leisure and study activities.According to the text, up to now, Apart from Renmin University, which University has a spring break for their students.
A.Yantai University |
B.Peking University |
C.Suzhou University |
D.Nankai University |
The underlined word “it” refers to ______
A.field trips | B.exploration of knowledge |
C.spring break | D.ivory tower |
According to the passage,why do the students in the other universities admire the students at Renmin University?
A.Because they tend to do volunteer work. |
B.Because they go home to meet their relatives. |
C.Because they get a spring break. |
D.Because they have lesser courses . |
Which of the following is the best title?
A.Reading 10,000 books and traveling 10,000 miles |
B.Spring break expands horizons |
C.Enjoy yourselves |
D.A weeklong trip |
Which of the following is Not true according to the passage?
A.Spring break can help students to gain new experiences beyond the campus walls. |
B.Students are expected to acquire the spirit of teamwork through pring break. |
C.Spring break can help students tolearn survival and communication skills when in an unfamiliar context. |
D.Spring break is not common in the US. |
Air pollution by sources ranging from cooking fires to auto fumes contributed to an estimated seven million deaths worldwide in 2012, the UN health agency has said.
"Air pollution, and we're talking about both indoors and outdoors, is now the biggest environmental health problem, and it is affecting everyone, both developed and developing countries," said Maria Neira, the World Health Organisation's public and environmental health chief.
Globally, pollution was linked to one death in eight in 2012, new WHO research found.
The biggest pollution-related killers were heart disease, stroke, pulmonary disease and lung cancer.
The hardest-hit regions of the globe were what the WHO labels Southeast Asia, which includes India and Indonesia, and the Western Pacific, ranging from China and South Korea to Japan and the Philippines. Together, they accounted for 5.9 million deaths.
The global death toll included 4.3 million deaths due to indoor air pollution, chiefly caused by cooking over coal, wood and biomass stoves. The toll from outdoor pollution was 3.7 million, with sources ranging from coal heating fires to diesel engines.
Many people are exposed to both indoor and outdoor pollution, the WHO said, and due to that overlap the separate death toll attributed to the two sources cannot simply be added together, hence the figure of seven million deaths. The new figure is "shocking and worrying", Ms Neira told reporters.
When it last released an estimate for deaths related to air pollution, in 2008, the agency had put the figure related to outdoor pollution at 1.3 million, while the number blamed on indoor pollution was 1.9 million. But a change in research methods makes comparison difficult between the 2008 estimate and the 2012 figures, Neira said.
In the past, for example, the WHO did not take into account the overlap between exposure to both forms, and only assessed urban pollution. Satellite imagery has made it easier to assess rural pollution, and new knowledge about the health impact of exposure has enabled a better count. "The risks from air pollution are now far greater than previously thought or understood, particularly for heart disease and strokes," said Neira. "Few risks have a greater impact on global health today than air pollution. The evidence signals the need for concerted action to clean up the air we all breathe."
According to the WHO, some 2.9 billion people in poor nations live in homes that use fires as their principle method of cooking and heating. Carlos Dora, the WHO's public and environmental health coordinator, said that turned homes into "combustion chambers". Simple measures to stem the impact include so-called "clean cook stoves", which are a low-tech option, as well as improved ventilation, he said.
Countries also need to rethink policies, Mr Dora said, pointing to the impact in the developed world of a shift to cleaner power sources, more efficient management of energy demand, and technical strides in the auto industry. He also said transport policies needed a shake-up. With air pollution having sparked a recent scare in France, leading to restrictions on car use and the temporary scrapping of public transport fees in Paris, Mr Dora said such measures could be applied in the longer term. "You can't buy clean air in a bottle," he said."The air is a shared resource. In order to breathe clean air, we have to have interventions in the areas that pollute air." The WHO said it planned by the end of this year to release a ranking of the world's 1,600 most polluted cities.The main idea of this article is that .
A.In the past, the WHO did not take into account the overlap between exposure to both forms. |
B.Air pollution by sources ranging from cooking fires to auto fumes caused an estimated seven million deaths worldwide in 2012. |
C.According to the WHO, some 2.9 billion people use fires as their principle method of cooking and heating. |
D.The WHO will release a ranking of the world's 1,600 most polluted cities by the end of this year. |
The underlined word “it” in the second paragraph refers to “ ”..
A.The risks |
B.cooking fires |
C.environmental health problem |
D.Air pollution |
Which of the following is True according to the passage? .
A.The biggest pollution-related killers were heart disease, stroke, pulmonary disease and lung cancer. |
B.Air pollution only affects developing countries. |
C.The risks from air pollution are now not serious. |
D.Maria Neira said that we can't buy clean air in a bottle. |
What is main idea of the last paragraph?
A.The air is a our shared resource. |
B.The WHO will release a ranking of the world's 1,600 most polluted cities. |
C.The government should make effective policies to control the air pollution. |
D.The transport policies need a shake-up. |
The death toll in 2008 can hardly compare with that in 2012 because________.
A.the death toll included 4.3 million deaths due to indoor air pollution. |
B.in 2008 the WHO only assessed rural pollution. |
C.the research methods changed. |
D.the risks from air pollution are now far greater than previously thought. |