We’ve known that sitting for long periods of time every day has countless health consequences, like a higher risk of heart disease. But now a new study has found that sitting is also bad for your brain.
A study published last week, conducted by Dr. Prabha Siddarth at the University of California, showed that sedentary（久坐的）behavior is associated with reduced thickness of the medial temporal lobe（中颞叶）, a brain area that is critical to learning and memory.
The researchers asked a group of 35 healthy people, ages 45 to 70, about their activity levels and the average number of hours each day spent sitting and then scanned their brains. They found that the subjects who reported sitting for longer periods had the thinnest medial temporal lobes. It means that the more time you spend in a chair the worse it is for your brain health, resulting in possible damage to learning and memory.
What is also interesting is that this study did not find a significant association between the level of physical activity and thickness of this brain area, suggesting that exercise, even severe exercise, may not be enough to protect you from the harmful effects of sitting.
It then surprisingly turned out that you don’t even have to move much to enhance cognition（认知）; just standing will do the trick. For example, two groups of subjects were asked to complete a test while either sitting or standing. Participants are presented with conflicting stimuli（刺激）, like the word “green” in blue ink, and asked to name the color. Subjects thinking on their feet beat those who sat by a 3-milicond margin.
The cognitive effects of severe physical exercise are well known. But the possibility that standing more and sitting less improves brain health could lower the bar for everyone.
I know, this all runs counter to received ideas about deep thought, from our grade school teachers, who told us to sit down and focus, to Rodin’s famous “Thinker,” seated with chin on hand.
They were wrong. You can now all stand up.
1.What can we infer from Paragraphs 3 and 4?
A.Severe exercise can lessen the damage of sitting.
B.Severe exercise can greatly improve our brain health.
C.Sedentary behavior will possibly damage our brain.
D.Brain health has nothing to do with sedentary behavior.
2.What does the underlined word “margin” in Paragraph 5 mean?
A.blank. B.edge.
C.decrease. D.difference.
3.What is the received idea about deep thought?
A.Sitting more is good for our mental health.
B.Sitting is better when we think.
C.Exercise more can improve our cognition.
D.We should stand while thinking.
4.The passage mainly tells us ________.
A.people tend to sit while thinking
B.standing more can make our brain healthier
C.physical exercise can improve our brain health
D.sedentary behavior leads to countless health problems
Laurie Santos greeted her Yale University students with slips of paper that explained: No class today.
It was mid-semester (学期). With exams and papers coming, everyone was exhausted and stressed. There was one rule: They couldn’t use the one hour and a quarter of unexpected free time to study, and they had to just enjoy it. Nine students hugged her. Two burst into tears.
Santos, a professor of psychology, had planned to give a lecture about what researchers have learned about how important time is to happiness, but she created a special class on the psychology of living a joyful, meaningful life and she wanted the lessons to stick. All semester, she explained why we think the way we do. Then, she challenged students to use that knowledge to change their own lives.
On that spring afternoon, nearly a quarter of the undergraduate students were enjoying an unexpected break at the same time. No, not just enjoying it-really loving the gift they had been given. Skyler Robinson, a sophomore, had been confused for a moment by all the possibilities it opened up. He felt very, very happy. Then, he took a nap. “That nap,” he said, “was fantastic.”
Santos designed this class after she realized, as the head of a residential college at Yale, that many students were stressed out and unhappy, struggling through long days that seemed to her far more crushing (惨重的) and joyless than her own college years.
Santos said students were most skeptical of the idea that good grades aren’t essential to happiness. And when she joked she was going to teach them that by giving everyone “D”, she was flooded with calls from frightened students and parents. Santos told them she was creating a center for the good life at the college she leads at Yale. As for the good life, she told them they already know how to live it-they just have to practice and put in hard work.
So many students have told her the class changed their lives. “If you’re really grateful, show me that.” she told them. “Change the culture.”
1.What did Santos ask her Yale students to do that day?
A.Study for the coming exams.
B.Enjoy the free time in her class.
C.Apply their way of thinking to life.
D.Realize the importance of time.
2.What does Santos think of her Yale students?
A.They care nothing about grades but happiness.
B.They are stressed into a hopeless generation.
C.They are living a joyful and meaningful life.
D.They suffer great pressure from learning.
3.How was Santos’ special class that day?
A.Popular. B.Discouraging.
C.Humorous. D.dull
4.What is the best title for the text?
A.Yale has a special course about social life.
B.Yale teaches its students about good grades.
C.Yale has a course all about living happily.
D.Yale helps its students reduce learning pressure.
Our 3-day tour along the South Coast has it all!Stunning landscapes,the Golden Circle,ice caves, the Jokulsarlon Iceberg Lagoon and Northern Lights watching.On the way we see waterfalls, volcanoes,floating icebergs,cliffs,black sand beaches,geysers,hot springs and so much more.There are even options for a glacier hike or a visit to the Secret Lagoon,and during the summer months you can add a boat tour on Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon.
Included:Reykjavik pick-up & drop-off,minibus tour,English guidance,2 nights accommodation,glacier-hiking/ice-caving equipment,super jeep ride for some km,specialized guide
to ice cave,entrance fees and northern lights(depending on conditions,visible from Sept-Apr).
Not included:Food is not included on this tour except for breakfasts.The boat trip on the glacier
lagoon is an optional extra(available in the summer months). This sells out very fast, so we recommend you book it when you arrange your tour.
Bring with you:Warm outdoor clothing,waterproof jacket and pants,headwear and gloves.Good hiking boots are essential.
Note:You can always rent strong hiking boots,waterproof jacket and pants in the booking process.
Ice Cave information:Our main cave is"Crystal Ice Cave",but if it is inaccessible we will visit another cave.During the summer months(Apr-Oct),we go to the Katla Ice Cave.If the ice cave is inaccessible,we do a glacier hike instead.
Drop-off information:We drop you off at your hotel sometime between 16:00-19:00 on day three, depending on weather and road conditions.
Contact us:If you have a question about this tour you can use the contact form here below.If you have a general inquiry(cancellations,feedback,reschedule,etc.)please click here.
1.What should you pay extra money for during the trip?
A.Minibus tour. B.Glacier hiking.
C.Entrance fees. D.Lunch..
2.If you want to have a boat trip,you_
A.can make it all year around B.don't need to pay extra money
C.must buy waterproof jackets D.had better book the tickets in advance
3.Where does this text most probably come from?
A.A health newspaper. B.A science fiction.
C.A travel website. D.A project handbook.
阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。续写的词数应为150左右。
I had never been more anxious in my life. I had just spent the last three endless hours trying to get to the airport so that I could travel home. Now, as I watched the bus driver set my luggage on the airport sidewalk, I realized that my anxiety had only just begun.
This was my first visit alone to the international terminal of the airport, and nothing was familiar. I couldn’t make sense of any of the signs. Where was the check-in counter? Where should I take my luggage? I had no idea where to go, feeling as if I were deaf and blind and stupid. I began to panic. What time was it? Where was my plane? I had to find help because I couldn’t be late.
I tried to ask a passing businessman for help, but my words all came out wrong. He just frowned and walked away. What had happened? I had been in this country for a whole semester, and I couldn’t even remember how to ask for directions. This was awful! Another bus arrived at the terminal, and the passengers came out carrying all sorts of luggage. Here was my chance! I could follow them to the right place, and I would not have to say a word.
I dragged my enormous suitcase behind me and followed the group. We finally reached the elevators. Oh, no! They all fit in it, but there was not enough room for me. I watched in despair as the elevator doors closed. I was abandoned again! I had no idea what to do next. I got on the elevator when it returned and stared at all the buttons. Which one could it be? I pressed button 3, because I thought I saw those passengers pressed 3, though it was no more than a quick glance. The elevator slowly climbed up to the third floor and came to a stop. There were no check-in counters! I looked around shyly, only to find an elderly man standing at the corner. He was an airport employee.
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假定你是在美国学习的交换生李华，请给主管老师Haisler写一封信，请假一周回国与家人团聚，欢度春节。内容包括：
1.请假原因及时间；
2.如有突发事件可与你的朋友David联系。
注意：1.词数80左右；
2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3.开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
Dear Mr. Haisler,
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours sincerely,
Li Hua
阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。
If you come across an 85-year-old woman walking slowly with a walker in the Children’s Hospital of Soochow University, don’t take her as a patient. Instead, she is a doctor1.still insists working in the hospital.
Sheng Jinyun, born in 1935，a famous expert in pediatric asthma（儿科哮喘），2.（treat）about 30，000 children suffering asthma so far. She is known.3.“the most beautiful grandma doctor” by others. Currently, she still sees 404.（patient）every day. Sheng has always stuck to her post though she had two bones5.（break）in a fall a month ago. So now she can only walk with6.help of a walker. Others don’t understand her. In their eyes, she7.（expect）to live a peaceful life in this old age. But she wants to cure more children.
One of Sheng’s most8.（impress）experiences happened in her 50s. She saw 146 patients from 7：45 am to 9：45 pm that day,9.（eat）nothing except some milk. Though awarded the “lifelong10.（achieve）physician in pediatrics ”at the 24th Congress of Chinese Pediatric Society in this October, Sheng seems not proud at all. She said it was her goal to be a diligent person and a good doctor.
