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　　Caught Twittering of on Facebook at work? It’ll make you a better employee．An Australian study shows that surfing the internet for fun during office hours increases productivity．

　　The University of Melbourne study showed that people who use the internet for personal reasons at work are about 9 percent more productive than those who do not．the study author Brent Coker, from the department of management and marketing, said “workplace Internet leisure browsing(工作时的网络休闲)”， or WILB, helped to sharpen workers’ concentration．“People need to zone out for a bit to get back their concentration,” Coker said on the university’s website(www．unimelb．edu．au/)．“Short breaks, such as quick surf of the Internet, enable the mind to rest itself, leading to a higher total net concentration for a day’s work, and as a result, increase productivity,” he said．

　　According to the study of 300 workers, 70 percent of people who use the Internet at work engage in WILB．Among the most popular WILB activities are searching for information about products, reading online news, playing online games and watching videos on YouTube．

　　“Many firms spend millions on software to block their employees from watching videos, using networking sites or shopping online under the pretence that it costs millions in lost productivity,” said Coker．“That’s not always the case．”

　　However, Coker said the study looked at people who browsed in moderation(适度), or were on the Internet for less than 20 percent of their total time in the office．“Those who behave with Internet addiction tendencies will have a lower productivity than those without,” he said．

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　　You'd be forgiven for thinking that running after children each day would leave parents in the best shape of their lives．But a study has found that the mothers and fathers of young children are more unhealthy than their childless peers(同龄人)．

　　Mothers with young children are heavier and eat more calories and fatty foods, and consume more sugary dinks than chidless women, scientists said．And both sexes are less active than those in their age group without children．

　　Parents often choose quick, easily preparesd foods that are high in fat and calories, and by choosing these foods they may in turn serve them to their children, forming a cycle of unhealthy diet．

　　Dr．Berge, one of the study authors, said：“This isn't a study about blame, this is about spotting a very high-risk time period for parents that doctors should be aware of , so they can offer solutions(解决办法)．”

　　According to the study , mothers ate more fatty foods and drank about seven sugary drinks weekly, equal to about four chidless women．They also had an average of 2, 360 calories daily, 368 calories more than women without children, With that many calorise, women that age would need to be active to avoid to avoid gaining weight．

　　Fathers ate about the same amount of daily calories childless men and both had an average boby-mass index(指数), but fathersgot less physical activity－about five hours weekly , compared to almost seven hours among chidless men．

　　The study has several limitations－there's no data on how many women reccently had babies．Ther's also no information on the number of single parents, who likely face diet and exercise challenges．Sarah Kriger, an American dietician who works with new mothers said some of the mothers may have had postpartum(产后)depression, which might affect their eating and exercise habits．

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　　Roslyn Hing School on long Island recently started a pilot program using iPads in some classrooms．

　　A growing number of schools across the U．S．are multimedia, history through gamse and math with step-by -step animation(动画)of complex problems．

　　As part of a pilot program, Roslyn High School handed out 47 iPads on Dec．20, 2010 to the students and teachers in two humanities(人文学科)classes．The school district hopes to provide iPads eventually to all 1, 100 of its students．

　　The iPads are to be used in class and at hom during the school year to replace texbooks, allow students to correspond with teachers and tum in papers and homework tasks, and preserve a rocord of student work in digital files．

　　“It allows us to extend the classes beyond these four walls．”said larry Reiff, an English teacher at Roslyn who now posts all his course mateials online．

　　But educators are still divided over whether practices to give every student a laptop have made a difference academically．

　　“Thre is very little evidence that kids learn more, faster of better by using these machines, ”said Larry Cuban, a retried professor of eduction at Staford University．“IPads are excellent tools to attract kids, but then the fieshness wears off and you eget int hard-core problems of teaching and learning．”

　　But school leaders say the iPad is not just a cool new toy but rather a powerful and multifunctional tool with a number of applications, including thousands with educational uses．

　　“If there isn't an application that does something I need , there will be sooner or later, ”said Mr．Reiff, who said he now used an application that includes all of Shakespare's plays．

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　　Ants have a reputation for strength, organization and teamwork．But researchers have now discovered that a key secret to the success of ants is their ability to identify the importance of age in the work place．

　　A study of Gentral American leaf-cutter ants has shown that the younger and stronger members are give the toughest job of cutting the rough the leaves they harvest．Their sharp young teeth do this job effectively, but as they get older their teeth become relatively worn and blunt．

　　But rather than being retired or abandoned by the group, the ageing ants are given a new role more suited to their physical abilities．They become carriers and transport the leaves back to the kingdom where they are harvested for food．

　　The findings by researchers from the University of Oregon and the Oregong State University support previous research show in the survival of a leaf-cutter kingdom depends on the efficiency(效率)of is workers．

　　“Cutting leaves is hard work, ”said Dr．Robert Schofield, who led the research team．“Much of the cutting is done with a V-shaped blade(刀片)between teeth on their jaws．This blade starts out as sharp as the sharpest razor blade that humans have developed．”But over rime the teeth become blunter and the cutting job slows down．The team estimated that, because of this age-related wear, a colony(蚁群)spent twice the energy cutting leaves than it would if all the ants had sharp blades．Its findings support the idea that wear and break can be significant problems for insects as well as larger animals．

　　Like humans, leaf-cutter ant recognize that older members of the group can still make a worthwhile contribution to society．“This stud shows an advantage of social living that we are familiar with, ”said Dr．Schofield．

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　　Become a professional dog trainer, dog walker or pet sitter with our expert education adn lifetime business support．

　　Top Dog Trainers School will teach you everything you need to know about running your new business．A diploma from Top Dog Trainers School will take you into an enjoyable careet with animals．

　　◆ We help you create a profitable and successful business from the bottom up with little overhead costs．

　　◆ We have 10 years lf animal care experience．

◆ W　　e run a Dog Training business making over＄150, 00per year．

　　◆ You will leam how to rank your website at the top of search engines．

　　◆ Hands-on experience with animals and customer relations．

　　◆ We guide you through business insurance, taxes, licenses, and more．

　　Dog Trainers Course

　　In this 2 week course you will be taught how to run a profitable and enjoyable dog training business．

　　You will have hands on experience training and caring for at least 12 dogs ofall sorts ranging in size from a toy poodle to an Anatolian Shepherd．

　　You will leam about all available training techniques and equipment so you can provide personalized training for four customers．

　　We will train you how to run classes and private in-home lessons．

　　How to run a safe and secure kennel(狗舍)including advance animal health care．

　　Dog Walkers and Pet Sitters Course

　　In this 1 week course you will have experience caring for over a dozen dogs, parrots, chickens, ducks, cats, and horses．

　　We will teach you the secrets of successful dog walkers with hours of dog , parrots, chickens, ducks, cats, and horses．

　　We will teach you the secrets of successful dog walkers with hours of walking experience．

　　We will teach you how to wash dogs and horses．

　　We will teach you how to properly care for cats and birds．

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阅读理解

　　You'd be forgiven for thinking that running after young children each day would leave parents in the best shape of their lives．But a study has found that the mothers and fathers of young children are more unhealthy than their childless peers(同龄人)．

　　Mothers with young children are heavier and eat more calories and fatty foods, and consume more sugary drinks than childless women, scientists said．And both sexes are less active than those in their age group without children．

　　Parents often choose quick, easily prepared foods that are high in fat and calories, and by choosing these foods they may in turn serve them to their children, forming a cycle of unhealthy diet．

　　Dr．Berge, one of the study authors, said："This isn't a study about blame, this is about spotting a very high-risk time period for parents that doctors should be aware of, so they can offer solutions(解决办法)．"

　　According to the study, mothers ate more fatty foods and drank about seven sugary drinks weekly, equal to about four childless women．They also had an average of 2,360 calories daily, 368 calories more than women without children．With that many calories, women that age would need to be active to avoid gaining weight．

　　Fathers ate about the same amount of daily calories as childless men and both had an average body-mass index(指数), but fathers got less physical activity－about five hours weekly, compared to almost seven hours among childless men．

　　The study has several limitations－there's no data on how many women recently had babies．There's also no information on the number of single parents, who likely face diet and exercise challenges．Sarah Krieger, an American dietician who works with new mothers said some of the mothers may have had postpartum(产后的)depression, which might affect their eating and exercise habits．

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阅读理解

　　Roslyn High School on Long Island recently started a pilot program using iPads in some classrooms．

　　A growing number of schools across the U．S．are using the iPad as the latest tool to teach Kafka in multimedia, history through games and math with step-by-step animation(动画)of complex problems．

　　As part of a pilot program, Roslyn High School handed out 47 iPads on Dec．20, 2010 to the students and teachers in two humanities(人文学科)classes．The school district hopes to provide iPads eventually to all 1,100 of its students．

　　The iPads are to be used in class and at home during the school year to replace textbooks, allow students to correspond with teachers and turn in papers and homework tasks, and preserve a record of student work in digital files．

　　"It allows us to extend the classes beyond these four walls，" said Larry Reiff, an English teacher at Roslyn who now posts all his course materials online．

　　But educators are still divided over whether practices to give every student a laptop have made a difference academically,

　　"There is very little evidence that kids learn more, faster or better by using these machines," said Larry Cuban, a retried professor of education at Stanford University．"IPads are excellent tools to attract kids, but then the freshness wears off and you get into hard-core problems of teaching and learning．"

　　But school leaders say the iPad is not just a cool new toy but rather a powerful and multifunctional tool with a number of applications, including thousands with educational uses．

　　"If there isn't an application that does something I need, there will be sooner or later," said Mr．Reiff, who said he now used an application that includes all of Shakespeare's plays．

(1)

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阅读理解

　　Ants have a reputation for strength, organization and teamwork．But researchers have now discovered that a key secret to the success of ants is their ability to identify the importance of age in the work place．

　　A study of Central American leaf-cutter ants has shown that the younger and stronger members are given the toughest job of cutting through the; leaves they harvest．Their sharp young teeth do this job effectively, but as they get older their teeth become relatively worn and blunt．

　　But rather than being retired or abandoned by the group, the ageing ants are given a new role more suited to their physical abilities．They become carriers and transport the leaves back to the kingdom where they are harvested for food．

　　The findings by researchers from the University of Oregon and the Oregon State University support previous research showing the survival of a leaf-cutter kingdom depends on the efficiency(效率)of its workers．

　　"Cutting leaves is hard work," said Dr．Robert Schofield, who led the research team．"Much of the cutting is done with a V-shaped blade(刀片)between teeth on their jaws．This blade starts out as sharp as the sharpest razor blade that humans have developed．" But over time the teeth become blunter and the cutting job slows down．The team estimated that, because of this age-related wear, a colony(蚁群)spent twice the energy cutting leaves than it would if all the ants had sharp blades．Its findings support the idea that wear and break can be significant problems for insects as well as larger animals．

　　Like humans, leaf-cutter ants recognize that older members of the group can still make a worthwhile contribution to society．"This study shows an advantage of social living that we are familiar with," said Dr．Schofield．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

阅读理解

　　Become a professional dog trainer, dog walker or pet sitter with our expert education and lifetime business support．

　　Top Dog Trainers School will teach you everything you need to know about running your new business．A diploma from Top Dog Trainers School will take you into an enjoyable career with animals．

　　◆We help you create a profitable and successful business from the bottom up with little overhead costs．

　　◆We have 10 years of animal care experience．

　　◆We run a Dog Training business making over ＄150,000 per year．

　　◆You will learn how to rank your website at the top of search engines．

　　◆Hands-on experience with animals and customer relations．

　　◆We guide you through business insurance, taxes, licenses, and more．

　　Dog Trainers Course

　　In this 2 week course you will be taught how to run a profitable and enjoyable dog training business．

　　You will have hands on experience training and caring for at least 12 dogs of all sorts ranging in size from a toy poodle to an Anatolian Shepherd．

　　You will learn about all available training techniques and equipment so you can provide personalized training for your customers．

　　We will train you how to run classes and private in-home lessons．

　　How to run a safe and secure kennel(狗舍)including advance animal health care．

　　Dog Walkers and Pet Sitters Course

　　In this 1 week course you will have experience caring for over a dozen dogs, parrots, chickens, ducks, cats, and horses．

　　We will teach you the secrets of successful dog walkers with hours of dog walking experience．

　　We will teach you how to wash dogs and horses．

　　We will teach you how to properly care for cats and birds．

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阅读理解

　　Two hours from the tall buildings of Manhattan and Philadelphia live some of the world’s largest black bears．They are in northern Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains, a home they share with an abundance of other wildlife．

　　The streams, lakes, meadows, mountain ridges and forests that make the Poconos an ideal place for black bears，have also attracted more people to the region．Open spaces are threatened by plans for housing estates and important habitats are endangered by highway construction．To protect the Poconos’ natural beauty from irresponsible development, the Nature Conservancy(大自然保护协会)named the area one of America’s “Last Great Places”

　　Operating out of a century-old schoolhouse in the village of Long Pond, Pennsylvania, the conservancy’s bud Cook is working with local people and business leaders to balance economic growth with environmental protection．By forging partnerships with people like Francis Altemose, the Conservancy has been able to protect more than 14,000 acres of environmentally important land in the area．

　　Altemose’s family has farmed in the Pocono area for generations．Two years ago Francis worked with the Conservancy to include his farm in a county farmland protection program．As a result, his family’s land can be protected from development and the Altemoses will be better able to provide a secure financial future for their 7-year-old grandson．

　　Cook attributes the Conservancy’s success in the Poconos to having a local presence and a commitment to working with local residents

　　“The key to protecting these remarkable lands is connecting with the local community,” Cook　said．“The people who live there respect the land．They value quite forests, clear streams and abundant wildlife．They are eager to help with conservation effort．

　　For more information on how you can help The Nature Conservancy protect the Poconos and the world’s other “Last Great Places,” please call 1-888-564 6864， or visit us on the World Wide Web at www．tnc．org．

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