Do you want to live a happier, less stressful (有压力的) life?
Try laughing for no reason at all. That’s how thousands of people start their day at Laughter Clubs around the world – and many doctors now think that having a good laugh might be one of the best ways to stay healthy.
The first Laughter Club was started in Mumbai, India, in 1995 by Dr Madan Kataria. “Young children laugh about 300 times a day. Adults laugh between 7 and 15 times a day,” says Dr Kataria. “Everyone’s naturally good at laughing – it’s the universal language. We want people to feel happy with their lives.” There are now more than 500 Laughter Clubs in India and over 1,300 worldwide.
Many doctors are also interested in the effects (效果) of laughter on our health. According to a 5 – year study in the body. Laughter improves our health against illness by about 40%.
So, what happens at a Laughter Club? I went along to my nearest club in South London to find out. I was quite nervous at the beginning of the class, to be honest – I wasn’t interested in laughing with a group of strangers, and I was worried about looking stupid. Our laughter teacher told us to clap our hands and say “ho ho ho, ha ha ha,” while looking at each other. However, our bodies can’t tell the difference between fake laughter and real laughter, so they still produce the same healthy effects.
Surprisingly, it works! After ten minutes everybody in the room was laughing for real – and some people just couldn’t stop! At the end of the class I was surprised by how relaxed and comfortable I felt. So if you’re under stress, then start laughing. You might be very pleased with the results!In which country was the first Laughter Club started?
| A．Britain. | B．America. | C．Australia. | D．India. |
How did the writer feel at the beginning of the class?
| A．Surprised. | B．Pleased. | C．Nervous. | D．Stressful. |
When did the people in the club begin to laugh for real?
| A．After a few minutes. | B．After a few hours. |
| C．After a few seconds. | D．After a few days. |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．Fake laughter and real laughter are both good for health. |
| B．40% of the people in Laughter Clubs are good friends. |
| C．Adults laugh more often than children in a day. |
| D．Laughing is the best way to prevent illness. |
When you were trying to figure out what to buy for the environmentalist on your holiday list，fur probably didn't cross your mind．But some ecologists and fashion（时装）enthusiasts are trying to bring back the market for fur made from nutria（海狸鼠）．
Unusual fashion shows in New Orleans and Brooklyn have showcased nutria fur made into clothes in different styles．"It sounds crazy to talk about guilt﹣free fur ﹣unless you understand that the nutria are destroying vast wetlands every year，" says Cree McCree，project director of Righteous Fur．
Scientists in Louisiana were so concerned that they decided to pay hunters ＄5 a tail．Some of the fur ends up in the fashion shows like the one in Brooklyn last month．
Nutria were brought there from Argentina by fur farmers and let go into the wild．"The ecosystem down there can't handle this non﹣native species（物种）．It's destroying the environment．It's them or us，" says Michael Massimi，an expert in this field．
The fur trade kept nutria in check for decades，but when the market for nutria collapsedin the late 1980s，the cat﹣sized animals multiplied like crazy．
Biologist Edmond Mouton runs the nutria control program for Louisiana．He says it's not easy to convince people that nutria fur is green，but he has no doubt about it．Hunters bring in more than 300，000 nutria tails a year，so part of Mouton's job these days is trying to promote fur．
Then there's Righteous Fur and its unusual fashions．Model Paige Morgan says，"To give people a guilt﹣free option that they can wear without someone throwing paint on them ﹣ I think that's going to be a massive thing，at least here in New York．" Designer Jennifer Anderson admits it took her a while to come around to the opinion that using nutria fur for her creations is morally acceptable．She's trying to come up with a label to attach to nutria fashions to show it is eco﹣friendly．
（1）What is the purpose of the fashion shows in New Orleans and Brooklyn？
| A． |
To promote guilt﹣free fur． |
| B． |
To expand the fashion market． |
| C． |
To introduce a new brand． |
| D． |
To celebrate a winter holiday． |
（2）Why are scientists concerned about nutria？
| A． |
Nutria damage the ecosystem seriously． |
| B． |
Nutria are an endangered species． |
| C． |
Nutria hurt local cat﹣sized animals． |
| D． |
Nutria are illegally hunted． |
（3）What does the underlined word "collapsed" in paragraph 5 probably mean？
| A． |
Boomed． |
| B． |
Became mature． |
| C． |
Remained stable． |
| D． |
Crashed． |
（4）What can we infer about wearing fur in New York according to Morgan？
| A． |
It's formal． |
| B． |
It's risky． |
| C． |
It's harmful． |
| D． |
It's traditional． |
Some parents will buy any high﹣tech toy if they think it will help their child，but researchers said puzzles help children with math﹣related skills．
Psychologist Susan Levine，an expert on mathematics development in young children at the University of Chicago，found children who play with puzzles between ages 2 and 4 later develop better spatial skills．Puzzle play was found to be a significant predictor of cognition（认知）after controlling for differences in parents' income，education and the amount of parent talk，Levine said．
The researchers analyzed video recordings of 53 child﹣parent pairs during everyday activities at home and found children who play with puzzles between 26 and 46 months of age have better spatial skills when assessed at 54 months of age．
"The children who played with puzzles performed better than those who did not，on tasks that assessed their ability to rotate（旋转）and translate shapes，" Levine said in a statement．
The parents were asked to interact with their children as they normally would， and about half of the children in the study played with puzzles at one time．Higher﹣income parents tended to have children play with puzzles more frequently，and both boys and girls who played with puzzles had better spatial skills．However，boys tended to play with more complex puzzles than girls，and the parents of boys provided more spatial language and were more active during puzzle play than the parents of girls．
The findings were published in the journal Developmental Science．
（1）In which aspect do children benefit from puzzle play？
| A． |
Building confidence． |
| B． |
Developing spatial skills． |
| C． |
Learning self﹣control． |
| D． |
Gaining high﹣tech knowledge． |
（2）What did Levine take into consideration when designing her experiment？
| A． |
Parents' age． |
| B． |
Children's imagination． |
| C． |
Parents' education． |
| D． |
Child﹣parent relationship． |
（3）How do boys differ from girls in puzzle play？
| A． |
They play with puzzles more often． |
| B． |
They tend to talk less during the game． |
| C． |
They prefer to use more spatial language． |
| D． |
They are likely to play with tougher puzzles． |
（4）What is the text mainly about？
| A． |
A mathematical method． |
| B． |
A scientific study． |
| C． |
A woman psychologist． |
| D． |
A teaching program． |
The Lake District Attractions Guide
Dalemain Mansion & Historic Gardens
History， Culture & Landscape（景观）．Discover and enjoy 4 centuries of history，5 acres of celebrated and award﹣winning gardens with parkland walk．Owned by the Hasell family since 1679，home to the International Marmalade Festival．Gifts and antiques， plant sales，museums & Mediaeval Hall Tearoom．
Open：29 Mar﹣29 Oct， Sun to Thurs．
Tearoom，Gardens & Gift Shop：10.30﹣ 17.00（16.00 in Oct）．
House：11.15﹣ 16.00（15.00 in Oct）．
Town：Pooley Bridge & Penrith
Abbot Hall Art Gallery & Museum
Those viewing the quality of Abbot Hall's temporary exhibitions may be forgiven for thinking they are in a city gallery．The impressive permanent collection includes Turners and Romneys and the temporary exhibition programme has Canaletto and the artists from St Ives．
Open：Mon to Sat and Summer Sundays．10.30﹣17.00 Summer．10.30﹣16.00 Winter．
Town：Kendal
Tullie House Museum & Art Gallery
Discover，explore and enjoy award﹣winning Tullie House，where historic collections，contemporary art and family fun are brought together in one impressive museum and art gallery．There are four fantastic galleries to visit from fine art to interactive fun，so there's something for everyone!
Open：High Season1 Apr﹣31 Oct：Mon to Sat 10.00﹣17.00，Sun 11.00﹣ 17.00．
Low Season1 Nov﹣31 Mar：Mon to Sat 10.00﹣16.30，Sun 12.00﹣ 16.30．
Town：Carlisle
Dove Cottage & The Wordsworth Museum
Discover William Wordsworth's inspirational home．Take a tour of his Lakeland cottage，walk through his hillside garden and explore the riches of the collection in the Museum．Visit the shop and relax in the café．Exhibitions，events and family activities throughout the year．
Open：Daily，09.30﹣17.30（last admission 17.00）．
Town：Grasmere
（1）When is the House at Dalemain Mansion & Historic Gardens open on Sundays in July？
| A． |
09.30﹣17.30． |
| B． |
10.30﹣16.00． |
| C． |
11.15﹣16.00． |
| D． |
12.00﹣16.30． |
（2）What can visitors do at Abbot Hall Art Gallery & Museum？
| A． |
Enjoy Romney's works． |
| B． |
Have some interactive fun． |
| C． |
Attend a famous festival． |
| D． |
Learn the history of a family． |
（3）Where should visitors go if they want to explore Wordsworth's life？
| A． |
Penrith． |
| B． |
Kendal． |
| C． |
Carlisle． |
| D． |
Grasmere． |
The connection between people and plants has long been the subject of scientific research．Recent studies have found positive effects．A study conducted in Youngstown，Ohio，for example，discovered that greener areas of the city experienced less crime．In another，employees were shown to be 15% more productive when their workplaces were decorated with houseplants．
The engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology（MIT） have taken it a step further ﹣ changing the actual composition of plants in order to get them to perform diverse，even unusual functions．These include plants that have sensors printed onto their leaves to show when they're short of water and a plant that can detect harmful chemicals in groundwater．"We're thinking about how we can engineer plants to replace functions of the things that we use every day，" explained Michael Strano，a professor of chemical engineering at MIT．
One of his latest projects has been to make plants glow（发光） in experiments using some common vegetables．Strano's team found that they could create a faint light for three﹣and﹣a﹣half hours．The light，about one﹣thousandth of the amount needed to read by，is just a start．The technology，Strano said，could one day be used to light the rooms or even to turn trees into self﹣powered street lamps．
In the future，the team hopes to develop a version of the technology that can be sprayed onto plant leaves in a on﹣off treatment that would last the plant's lifetime．The engineers are also trying to develop an on and off "switch" where the glow would fade when exposed to daylight．
Lighting accounts for about 7% of the total electricity consumed in the US．Since lighting is often far removed from the power source（电源） ﹣ such as the distance from a power plant to street lamps on a remote highway ﹣ a lot of energy is lost during transmission（传输）．Glowing plants could reduce this distance and therefore help save energy．
（1）What is the first paragraph mainly about？
| A． |
A new study of different plants． |
| B． |
A big fall in crime rates． |
| C． |
Employees from various workplaces． |
| D． |
Benefits from green plants． |
（2）What is the function of the sensors printed on plant leaves by MIT engineers？
| A． |
To detect plants' lack of water． |
| B． |
To change compositions of plants． |
| C． |
To make the life of plants longer． |
| D． |
To test chemicals in plants． |
（3）What can we expect of the glowing plants in the future？
| A． |
They will speed up energy production． |
| B． |
They may transmit electricity to the home． |
| C． |
They might help reduce energy consumption． |
| D． |
They could take the place of power plants． |
（4）Which of the following can be the best title for the text？
| A． |
Can we grow more glowing plants？ |
| B． |
How do we live with glowing plants？ |
| C． |
Could glowing plants replace lamps？ |
| D． |
How are glowing plants made pollution﹣free？ |
Race walking shares many fitness benefits with running，research shows，while most likely contributing to fewer injuries．It does，however，have its own problem．
Race walkers are conditioned athletes．The longest track and field event at the Summer Olympics is the 50﹣kilometer race walk，which is about five miles longer than the marathon．But the sport's rules require that a race walker's knees stay straight through most of the leg swing and one foot remain in contact（接触）with the ground at all times．It's this strange form that makes race walking such an attractive activity，however，says Jaclyn Norberg，an assistant professor of exercise science at Salem State University in Salem，Mass．
Like running，race walking is physically demanding，she says．According to most calculations，race walkers moving at a pace of six miles per hour would burn about 800 calories（卡路里）per hour，which is approximately twice as many as they would burn walking，although fewer than running，which would probably burn about 1，000 or more calories per hour．
However，race walking does not pound the body as much as running does，Dr． Norberg says．According to her research，runners hit the ground with as much as four times their body weight per step，while race walkers，who do not leave the ground，create only about 1.4 times their body weight with each step．
As a result，she says，some of the injuries associated with running，such as runner's knee，are uncommon among race walkers．But the sport's strange form does place considerable stress on the ankles and hips，so people with a history of such injuries might want to be cautious in adopting the sport．In fact，anyone wishing to try race walking should probably first consult a coach or experienced racer to learn proper technique，she says．It takes some practice．
（1）Why are race walkers conditioned athletes？
| A． |
They must run long distances． |
| B． |
They are qualified for the marathon． |
| C． |
They have to follow special rules． |
| D． |
They are good at swinging their legs． |
（2）What advantage does race walking have over running？
| A． |
It's more popular at the Olympics． |
| B． |
It's less challenging physically． |
| C． |
It's more effective in body building． |
| D． |
It's less likely to cause knee injuries． |
（3）What is Dr． Norberg's suggestion for someone trying race walking？
| A． |
Getting experts' opinions． |
| B． |
Having a medical checkup． |
| C． |
Hiring an experienced coach． |
| D． |
Doing regular exercises． |
（4）Which word best describes the author's attitude to race walking？
| A． |
Skeptical． |
| B． |
Objective． |
| C． |
Tolerant． |
| D． |
Conservative． |