阅读理解

　　Over the last 70 years．researchers have been studying happy and Unhappy people and finally found out ten factors that make a difference．Our feelings of well-being at any moment are determined to a certain degree by genes．However of all the factors，wealth and age are the top two．

　　Money can buy a degree of happiness．But once you can afford to feed，clothe and house yourself, each extra dollar makes less and less difference．

　　Researchers find that，on average，wealthier people are happier．But the link between money and happiness is complex．In the past half-century, average income has sharply increased in developed countries，yet happiness levels have remained almost the same．Once your basic needs are met，money only seems to increase happiness if you have more than your friends，neighbors and colleagues．

　　“Dollars buy Status(社会地位)，and status makes people feel better,” conclude some experts，which helps explain why people who can seek status in other ways-scientists or actors，for example-may happily accept relatively poorly-paid jobs．

　　In a research，Professor Alex Michalos found that the people whose desires-not just for money，but for friends，family, job，health-rose furthest beyond what they already had，tended to be less happy than those who felt a smaller gap(差距)．Indeed，the size of the gap predicted happiness about five times better than income alone．“The gap measures just blow away the only measures of income，”says Michalos．

　　Another factor that has to do with happiness is age．Old age may not be so bad．“Given all the problems of aging，how could the elderly be more satisfied?” asks Professor Laura Carstensen．

　　Why are old people happier? Some scientists suggest older people may expect life to be harder and learn to live with it，or they're more realistic about their goals，only setting ones that they know they can achieve．But Carstensen thinks that with time running out，older people have learned to focus on things that make them happy and let go of those that don't．

　　“People realize not only what they have，but also that what they have cannot-last forever,” she says．“A goodbye kiss to a husband or wife at the age of 85，for example，may bring far more complex emotional responses than a similar kiss to a boy or girl friend at the age of 20．”

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　　“My kids really understand solar and earth-heat energy,” says a second-grade teacher in Saugus, California．“Some of them are building solar collectors for their energy course．” These young scientists are part of City Building Educational Program(CBEP), a particular program for kindergarten through twelfth grade that uses the stages of city planning to teach basic reading, writing and math skills and more．

　　The children don’t just plan any city．They map and analyze(分析)the housing, energy, and transportation requirements of their own district and foretell its needs in 100 years．With the aid of an architect(建筑师)who visits the classroom once a week, they invent new ways to meet these needs and build models of their creations．“Designing buildings of the future gives children a lot of freedom,’’ says the teacher who developed this program．“They are able to use their own rich imagination and inventions without fear of blame, because there are no wrong answers in a future context．In fact, as the class enters the final model-building stage of the program, an elected ‘official’ and ‘planning group’ make all the design decisions for the model city and the teacher steps back and becomes an adviser．

　　CBEP is a set of activities, games and imitations that teach the basic steps necessary for problem-solving：observing, analyzing, working out possible answers, and judging them based on the children’s own standards．

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　　It was a winter morning，just a couple of weeks before Christmas 2005．While most people were warming up their cars，Trevor, my husband，had to get up early to ride his bike four kilometers away from home to work．On arrival，he parked his bike outside the back door as he usually does．After putting in 10 hours of labor, he returned to find his bike gone．

　　The bike，a black Kona 18 speed，was our only Transport．Trevor used it to get to work, putting in 60-hour weeks to support his young family．And the bike was also used to get groceries(食品杂货)，saving us from having to walk long distances from where we live．

　　I Was so sad that someone would steal our bike that 1 wrote to the newspaper and told them our story．Shortly after that，several people in bur area offered to help．One wonderful stranger even bought a bike，then called my husband to pick it up．Once again my husband had a way to get to and from his job．It really is all honor that a complete stranger would go out of their way for someone they have never met before．

　　People say that a smile can be passed from one person to another, but acts of kindness from strangers are even more so．This experience has had a spreading effect in our lives because it strengthened our faith in humanity(人性)as a whole．And it has influenced us to be more mindful of ways we，too，can share with others．No matter how big or how small，all act of kindness shows that someone cares．And the results can be everlasting．

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阅读理解

　　A popular saying goes, “Sticks and stone may break my bones, but words will never hurt me．” However, that’s not really true．Words have the power to build us up or tear us down．It doesn’t matter if the words come from someone else or ourselves－the positive and negative effects are just as lasting．

　　We all talk to ourselves sometimes．We’re usually too embarrassed to admit it, though．But we really shouldn’t be, because more and more experts believe talking to ourselves out loud is a healthy habit．

　　This “self-talk” helps us motivate ourselves, remember things, solves problems, and calm ourselves down．Beware, though, that as much as 77％ of self-talk tends to be negative．So in order to stay positive, we should only speak words of encouragement to ourselves．We should also be quick to give ourselves a pat on the back．The next time you finish a project, do well in a test, or finally clean your room, join me in saying, “Good job!”

　　Words possess power because of their lasting effects．Many of us regret something we once said．And we remember unkind words said to us! Before speaking, we should always ask ourselves：Is it true? Is it loving? Is it needed? If what we want to say doesn’t pass this test, then it’s better left unsaid．

　　Words possess power：both positive and negative．Those around us receive encouragement when we speak positively．We can offer hope, build self-esteem(自尊)and motive others to do their best．Negative words destroy all those things．Will we use our words to hurt or to heal? The choice is ours．

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　　A research shows that humans switch from selfish to unselfish behaviour when they are watched．Do you? A picture of a set of eyes on a computer screen can cause a change in the way people act．Even images of eyes on a charity donation collection box encourage people to be unselfish, because people put more money in a collection box that has a picture of eyes on it than they do when a flower symbol is on the box．

　　Manfred Milinski from the Max-Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology in Germany and Bettina Rockenbach of the University of Berlin, the authors of a new study, found that people act better when they are being watched because they feel they will be rewarded for good behaviour．Their report also referred to other researches showing that this response of behaving well when watched is somehow coded into humans, and people respond this way unconsciously, or without realising it．

　　It is not just humans that act unselfishly when they are being watched．A fish called the grooming fish cleans other fish．When other fish are around, it is gentler．When no other fish are around, however, the grooming fish bites chunks from the fish it is supposed to be cleaning．

　　The researchers suggest that the best way to get people to behave in the correct way is to make them feel watched．This could be the reason for the success of a famous American army poster．On it was a picture of an elderly man staring fiercely and pointing, it appeared, to the person who was looking at the poster．Under the picture was the caption “I Want You”．It encouraged hundreds of thousands of young American men to join the army during the Second World War to fight the Germans and Japanese．

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　　Michael Fish may soon be replaced as a weather forecaster by something truly fishier---the shark(鲨鱼)．

　　Research by a British biology student suggests that sharks could be used to predict storms．

　　Lauren Smith, 24, is close to completing her study on shark’s ability to sense pressure．If her studies prove the theory, scientists may be able to monitor the behavior of sharks to predict bad weather．

　　Miss Smith had previously studied the behaviour of lemon sharks in the Bahamas．

　　She then used their close relatives, lesser spotted dogfish, for further research at Aberdeen University．Her work－thought to be the first of its kind to test the pressure theory－resulted from the observation that juvenile blacktip sharks off Florida moved into deeper water ahead of a violent storm in 2001．

　　Miss Smith said：“I’ve always been crazy about traveling and diving and this led me to an interest in sharks．”

　　“I was delighted to have been able to research in the area for my degree．I know there’s so much more we need to understand－but it certainly opens the way to more research．”

　　It has been discovered that a shark senses pressure using hair cells in its balance system．

　　At the Bimini Shark Lab in the Bahamas, Miss Smith fixed hi-tech sensors to sharks to record pressure and temperature, while also tracking them using GPS(Global Positioning System)technology．

　　In Aberdeen, she was able to study the effects of tidal(潮汐的)and temperature changes on dogfish－none of which were harmed．She also used a special lab which can mimic(模拟)oceanic pressure changes caused by weather fronts．

　　She is due to complete her study and graduate later this year．She says she will be looking for a job which will give her the chance to enrich her experience of shark research．

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　　Sandra Cisneros was born in Chicago in 1954 to a Mexican American family．As the only girl in a family of seven children, she often felt like she had “seven fathers,” because her six brothers, as well as her father, tried to control her．Feeling shy and unimportant, she retreated(躲避)into books．Despite her love of reading, she did not do well in elementary school because she was too shy to participate．

　　In high school, with the encouragement of one particular teacher, Cisneros improved her grades and worked for the school literary magazine．Her father encouraged her to go to college because he thought it would be a good way for her to find a husband．Cisneros did attend college, but instead of searching for a husband, she found a teacher who helped her join the famous graduate writing program at the University of Iowa．At the university’s Writers’ Workshop, however, she felt lonely－a Mexican American from a poor neighborhood among students from wealthy families．The feeling of being so different helped Cisneros find her “Creative voice．”

　　“It was not until this moment when I considered myself truly different that my writing acquired a voice．I knew I was a Mexican woman, but I didn’t think it had anything to do with why I felt so much imbalance in my life, but it had everything to do with it! That’s when I decided I would write about something my classmates couldn’t write about．”

　　Cisneros published her first work, The House on Mango Street, when she was twenty-nine．The book tells about a young Mexican American girl growing up in a Spanish-speaking area in Chicago, much like the neighborhoods in which Cisneros lived as a child．The book won an award in 1985 and has been used in classes from high school through graduate school level．Since then, Cisneros has published several books of poetry, a children’s book, and a short-story collection．

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　　Mrs．Keller had a big family．Her husband had a factory in the town．One of her sons was a lawyer and the other two were drivers．And her two daughters worked in the post office．The old woman stayed at home and could do all housework and wouldn’t employ anybody．

　　One evening ,the telephone rang while the old woman was preparing supper．She went to answer it．She was told that one of her sons died in a traffic accident．She heard this and fell in a faint．When she came back to life ,she was in hospital．And she needed to be helped after that．

　　Several months later she was told on the telephone her daughter died while she was being operated on．The old woman was so sad that she had to be in hospital again．From then on she was afraid to answer any telephones and sometimes she was afraid to hear the bell．Of course it brought them some trouble and some important business was held up．So her husband advised her to see a psychiatrist．The man examined her carefully and then asked her some questions．

　　“You will soon be all right if you follow my advice ,Mrs．Keller” said the psychiatrist．

　　The old woman took the medicine the doctor gave on time and tried to forget her dead son and daughter．And two months later she went to see the psychiatrist again．

　　“You have saved me, Doctor ,”the old woman said ,as soon as she saw him．

　　“Are you afraid to answer the telephone now?”

　　“No,” answered Keller．

　　“I dare answer it whether it rings or not”

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　　Baths and bathing have been considered of an important medical therapy to man．In Greece there are the ruins of a bath tub and water system built over 3 000 years ago．The Romans had warm public baths．In some public baths as many 3 000 persons could bathe at the same time．

　　Treating diseases by bathing has been popular for centuries．Modern medical bathing, or hydrotherapy, first became popular in Europe and by the late 1 700’s also became popular in the United States．

　　For many years frequent bathing was believed to be bad for one’s health．Ordinary bathing just to be clean was avoided, and perfume(香水)was used to cover up body and smell．

　　By the 1 700’s doctors began to say that soap and water were good for health．They believed that it was good for people to be clean．Slowly, people began to bathe more frequently．

　　In the United States ordinary bathing was slow to become popular．During the 18th and early 19th centuries, many Americans were known as “the great unwashed”．In one American city, for example, a person could only take a bath every 30 days! That was a law．

　　Frequency of bathing today is partly a matter of habit．People know that bathing for cleanliness is important to health．Doctors know that dirty bodies increase that chance of disease．

　　Therefore in the United States people generally bathe often．

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　　Now, it’s time for some brief news items．

　　Teens Go Online

　　Some 13 million European children under 18 use the Internet for schoolwork, games and music according to research done by Nielsen’s “Net-rating”．The study covered Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Spain．Experts advesed parents to limit the time their kids on line and keep them away from chat rooms．

　　Chat to the magic Mum

　　British author J．K．Rowling, mother of magic boy Harry Potter, will do an Internet interview about her new bool” Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”on June 26．Before the event, children are invited to send their questions about Harry to the website．The book will hit stores in the US and UK on June 21 and will arrive in China in August．

　　School Soldiers

　　Russian school students will have to do basic military training in their final year of school, the government has decided．The lesson will include learning to fire guns, marching drills and how to deal with a chemical, nuclear or biological attack．The activity is seen as part of a drive toward the education of their love for their country．

　　Is it hard for you to get up early and get ready for classes? Some students at Winter Park High School just roll our of bed in their pajamas(睡衣)and go to class in their own bedrooms．Of course, their teachers and classmates do not see them because all their class work is on the computer．The Florida High School, the state’s only online school, had 250 students who are taking classed at home by computer．Students in this first online program take classed in algebra(代数), American government, chemistry, computer, economics, and web-page design．They also have to go to regular school to attend other classes．

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