Eating different colored foods can keep you healthy, as well as change your mood and behavior. Here is a list of colors, which can change your life.
Blue/Purple
Blue is considered to be peaceful and calming and it has the same effect on our health. The blue / purple color in food is due primarily to their anthocyanins which are antioxidants (抗氧化剂) that are particularly heart healthy and may help support healthy blood pressure. Out of all the blue and purple foods available, blueberries are considered to have the highest antioxidant level. An analysis of the latest data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Study found that people who eat purple and blue fruits and vegetables are at a reduced risk for high blood pressure and are less likely to be overweight.
A food and health expert says that blue and purple color foods can prevent blood mass formation, and they also lower the risk of cancer.
Foods that contain blue and purple colors are: reddish eggplant (especially the skin), blueberries, blackberries, purple grapes, etc.
Green
We all know that we should eat green as green symbolizes nature. The green foods are rich in isothiocyanates, which help resist cancer.
Dr. Ashok Agarwal, a food and nutrition specialist, explains, "They are excellent sources of folic acid, vitamin K, as well as carotene （胡萝卜素）. Diets high in those above are associated with lowered blood pressure."
Foods that contain the green color are: broccoli, cabbage, cucumbers, etc.
Red
Lycopene (番茄红素) in reddish fruits and vegetables is a powerful antioxidant that has been associated with a reduced risk of some cancers, and also provides protection against heart attacks.
Dr. Smiths says, "Cooked tomato sauces are associated with greater health benefits as compared with the uncooked version as the heating process allows lycopene to be more easily absorbed by the body. Obtaining the most benefit from food depends on proper selection, storage and cooking of the produce."
Foods that contain red color are: Tomatoes and tomato products, watermelon, guava, red onions, red chili, red apples, red grapes, cherries, etc.
Orange
The orange foods are also rich in carotene, which are particularly good antioxidants. These foods are commonly considered eyesight foods because they contain vitamin A.
"Orange fruits and vegetables also play a part in preventing cancer, particularly of the lungs and stomach. Foods that contain the color orange are: Carrots, mangoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, etc.The passage tries to tell us that ______.
| A．colors mean a lot to people and their health |
| B．foods of different colors will have different benefits |
| C．eating foods with a color must prevent diseases |
| D．what people should eat in their daily lives |
All the colors mentioned in the passage have the function of ______.
| A．lowering blood pressure |
| B．improving eyesight |
| C．preventing cancer |
| D．reducing the risk of heart disease |
Which color can help keep us thin according to the passage?
| A．Purple. | B．Green. |
| C．Red. | D．Orange. |
The green and orange foods are both rich in _______.
| A．vitamin A | B．folic acid |
| C．carotene | D．vitamin K |
It can be inferred from the passage that _______.
| A．all grapes help lower the risk of high blood pressure and cancer |
| B．lung cancer can be prevented by eating red-colored foods |
| C．green-colored foods contain a lot of vitamin A which is good for eye health |
| D．tomatoes should be eaten cooked so that we can benefit the most |
Facebook (脸谱网) friends cannot replace the real thing, say psychologists(心理学家).
People are happier and laugh 50% more when they talk face to face with friends or via webcam (web camera) than when they use social networking sites, a study has found.
Dr. Roberts, a famous lecture at the University of Chester, said such websites don't appear to help make true friendships. Based on two questionnaires(调查表), he found there was no link between Facebook use and people with larger groups of friends.
Dr. Roberts, whose work will be presented at the British Psychological Society conference in Harrogate, said, "The bottom lime conclusion is that our relationships are not dependent on the quantity of communication. They depend on quality, and even Skype(一种网络即时语音沟通工具) is better at increasing the quality of our communication than time on Facebook." Even talking on the phone or texting does not make people feel as good as sharing a smile, the research says. The studies suggest quality, not quantity, of communication is the most important for keeping friends for life.
People find the most satisfying relationships come from a small number of close friends, with an outer "ring" of 10 significant others. With these people, it doesn't matter what type of social media you use for communication. But people who want to "contact the world at large" using Facebook can be disappointed because they spread themselves too thinly, claim researchers.
In a third study, Dr. Roberts asked people to communicate with friends face to face or via Skype and keep a 14-day diary. This was compared with communicating via phone, text messages or social networking sites. People communicating face to face on Skype were 50% more likely to laugh, and they rated themselves as significantly happier. Dr. Roberts's finding that there was no connection between Facebook use and people with many friends was .
| A．based on questionnaires | B．based on conversations |
| C．through instant messages | D．through social media |
What is the idea of the fourth paragraph?
| A．Most people contact each other online. |
| B．Keeping a friend for life is not easy. |
| C．The quality of communication is important. |
| D．Skype is better at understanding us than Facebook. |
What does the underlined sentence in the fifth paragraph probably suggest?
| A．They are too excited to express themselves. |
| B．They limit their social circle to a small range. |
| C．They spread their information at a low speed. |
| D．They lack information to introduce themselves. |
What is Dr. Roberts's attitude towards the use of Facebook?
| A．Positive. | B．Casual. | C．Responsible. | D．Unsupportive. |
What would you do if you were a fifth grader facing a huge homework load every night, and you found out that there was a machine that would do all the work for you? That's the situation presented to Sam, Kelsey, Judy and Brenton in Dan Gutman's entertaining new book for young readers, The Home Machine.
The four children, all fifth graders in Miss Rasmussen's Grand Canyon School, are as different as any other 11-year-old child could be, but they have one thing in common — all are somewhat separated from their classmates. Sam is a newcomer and has had his share of school trouble before; Kelsey quietly carries her pain at losing her father; Judy's sense of justice always annoys others; Brenton is the smartest child in the school, so smart that even his parents and teachers have trouble keeping up with him. When Brenton and his three classmates are put into the same study group by their teacher, the others discover that Brenton has made a time-saving gadget(装置) to do homework for him. While the boy is perfectly able to do his homework himself, Sam, Kelsey and Judy can use the help.
Having perfect grades is something new for these three, and as they meet every day to "do homework", they find that they're learning a lot about each other. Such a good thing can't last though, and when a secret man starts trying to get in touch with them, they begin to get nervous. Soon there's an even more frightening problem ― why can't the Homework Machine be turned off?
Told in different voices as all the children make statements to the Grand Canyon Police, the story develops in an interesting fashion. Gutman is a gifted writer who has written dozens of children's books, each with a funny and impressing table that should be equally liked by boys and girls. What is one common thing that all the four children have to deal with at school?
| A．Getting along with their classmates. |
| B．Doing their homework by themselves. |
| C．Overcoming difficulties on their own. |
| D．Catching up with others to get good grades. |
Which of the following words best describe Brenton?
| A．Strange and nervous. | B．Quiet and smart. |
| C．Brave and special. | D．Clever and helpful. |
Why did the children get frightened?
| A．They lost touch with each other. |
| B．They were questioned by a strange man. |
| C．They had no idea how to stop the machine. |
| D．They were tracked down by the police. |
This passage most probably comes from .
| A．a student's diary | B．a book review | C．a school report | D．a science story |
It's wonderful to go to another country, complete a volunteer project and feel that you really have a positive influence. But how can you become an international volunteer?
* Plan practically. Contact the organization a few months before leaving and find out if there are materials which are rare and hard to attain for the project. What you often consider plentiful here, such as nails or hammers, is in great need in other parts of the world.
* Do the project together, not on your own. You are a guest in the community. The most successful result is not that you build something and walk away, but that you and the community build something as a team. Share skills and build together.
* Be flexible. Not everything is going to happen as planned. Often the other country doesn't have the right tools, manpower, transportation or funds to get all the needed work done. In a word, they lack infrastructure(基础设施).
* Contact with the people in the community. Often you will have "downtime" outside of the range of the project. Rather than retreat to the group with whom you traveled, be sure to spend time with the people of the community. Listen to the things about their lives. If you can't speak the language, smiles work wonders. And you will be surprised ― you will find a way to community.
Volunteering is a special and life-long experience for everyone involved. Be prepared that the person who may be changed most is you. It's a joyful, often careful experience which will encourage you to view yourself, your neighbors and your world quite differently. When you volunteer to join in a project, you are advised to .
| A．build something and walk away |
| B．make good preparation in advance |
| C．avoid involving locals in activities |
| D．depend on yourself to solve problems |
According to the author, volunteer will .
| A．reduce challenge in the world |
| B．determine the future of a volunteer |
| C．change a person's opinion of the world |
| D．benefit volunteers most in their learning |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．What prepares you to become a volunteer. |
| B．Where volunteers are needed most in the world. |
| C．Why volunteering is popular with young people. |
| D．How volunteers develop a relationship with local people. |
Have you got some paper, a pair of scissors and, above all, a desire to decorate your house? Then, we have the perfect holiday artwork for you: Make Star Wars snowflakes (雪花). Remembered as a cherished form of work in classrooms before the holidays, paper snowflakes have drawn many people's attention again.
The designer, Anthony Herrera, just recently released his 2013 collection. "The Star Wars snowflake designs began as just doing designs of characters that I and my daughter wanted to make three years ago," Herrera told us in an email. "The second year I introduced vehicles, and this year I decided to push further by designing battle scenes."
Sometimes, he feels a bit bored with his job. With each year, the designs have got more detailed and various, but the process of creating them remained the same: sketching figures on paper with a pencil until a symmetrical (对称）pattern comes out, then scanning the designs and cut them with scissors. However, he says he has plenty of ideas for new flakes next year, so no two will ever be the same. Hopefully with Star Wars: Episode VII coming in 2015 he'll have even more work in the future.
Check out your favorite finished versions of Herrera’s flakes (from both 2013 and previous years) and download the pictures beneath them and then get down to creating your own work. A warning: Most designs aren't for the casual flake-maker, so patience you must have. Making paper snowflakes draws many people's attention probably because ______.
| A．it is a traditional form of decoration | B．it is a course of artwork in school |
| C．it is a way of killing time in holiday | D．it is designed by Anthony Herrera |
From the text, we know that Herrera ______.
| A．can make snowflakes with his daughter's help |
| B．made more complicated designs before 2013 |
| C．introduced paper vehicles in 2011 |
| D．will make a great variety of detailed paper flakes |
Herrera is fed up with the job sometimes because ______
| A．he has to design detailed and different patterns |
| B．he has to follow the fixed process of paper cutting |
| C．he spends much time designing, scanning and cutting |
| D．he has few ideas for what the next designs will be like |
By writing the last paragraph, the author tries to ______.
| A．offer us more information about Herrera’s paper cutting |
| B．tell us how to download picture of snowflakes |
| C．instruct people to be a real creative artist |
| D．remind us of being patient with Herrera’s designs |
Many people cannot start their day without first having a cup of coffee or tea．These drinks help them think clearly and feel more awake．This is because of caffeine，which helps to give a jump start to the nervous system．Now，a report says it may also boost long-term memory．
Mike Yassa is a neurobiology professor．He and other researchers wanted to know if caffeine could improve a person’s memory．He explains，“After you learn anything，it takes some time for that memory to strengthen．And over the first 24 hours is actually where most of the forgetting happens．So that is where we wanted to intervene with caffeine and see if we can help reduce this forgetting．”
They took 160 caffeine-free people and showed them pictures of everyday objects. These people were asked if the objects could be found inside the house， or outdoors．Then some of the subjects were given a caffeine pill．The others were given a placebo—a pill containing nothing. 24 hours later，the subjects were shown the exact same images from the day before．They were also shown images with slight differences，and some completely new images. Both groups correctly identified the exact same and completely new pictures．But those who took the caffeine pill were better at spottingthe pictures that were slightly different．
Professor Yassa says their answers helped to show the effects of caffeine on memory. And we find that if they are on caffeine they are much more likely to make the right decision．”
The amount of caffeine the researchers used in the study was similar to one cup of strong coffee．The researchers did not see any improvement to memory from smaller doses of caffeine or when it was given an hour before viewing the images．What is the focus of the text?
| A．Caffeine can make people addicted． |
| B．Caffeine can make people energetic. |
| C．Caffeine can improve long—term memory． |
| D．Caffeine can make people feel comfortable． |
What does the third paragraph mainly talk about?
| A．How the experiment was conducted． |
| B．Who took part in the experiment． |
| C．Which group of subjects did better． |
| D．What was used in the experiment． |
In which section of a magazine can we read this text?
| A．Culture． | B．Technology． | C．Health. | D．Education. |
Which of the following statements is NOT true?
| A．Most forgetting occurs within the first 24 hours． |
| B．Forgetting can be positively affected by caffeine． |
| C．The subjects were given different pills． |
| D．Yassa was disappointed with the result． |
What can we learn from the last paragraph?
| A．More caffeine means better memory． |
| B．Smaller doses of caffeine doesn’t work． |
| C．The time to take cafieine doesn’t matter． |
| D．Caffeine is taken before the experiment． |