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　　Anger is good for you, as long as you control it, according to new psychology research．A new study from Carnegie Mellon University shows anger may help people reduce the negative impacts of stress and help you become healthier．

　　“Here getting emotional is not bad for you if you look at the case of anger,” said Jennifer Lerner of Carnegie Mellon．“The more people display anger, the lower their stress responses．”

　　Lerner studied 92 UCLA students by asking them to count back from 6,200．They must say out loud every thirteenth number．Researchers disturbed them by asking them to count faster or ask them other questions．If they made any mistakes, they had to restart from the very beginning．Many students felt depressed about making so many mistakes or got angry．

　　Lerner used a hidden video camera and recorded all their facial expressions during the test．The researchers describe their reactions as fear, anger and disgust．

　　Other researchers recorded the students’ blood pressure, pulse and production of a high-stress hormone(荷尔蒙)called cortisol．People whose faces showed more fear during the experiment had higher blood pressure and higher levels of the hormone．Both can have lasting effects such as diabetes(糖尿病), heart disease, depression and extra weight gain．

　　When people feel fear, negative impacts increase, but when they get angry, those negatives go down, according to the study．

　　“Having that sense of anger leads people to actually feel some power in what otherwise is a maddening(令人发狂的)situation,” Lerner said．

　　Lerner previously studied Americans’ emotional response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks two months after the incident．She found people who reacted with anger were more optimistic．These people are healthier compared with those who were frightened during the event．So in maddening situations, anger is not a bad thing to have．It’s a healthier response than fear．

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　　Everybody has one of those days when everything goes wrong．This is what happened to Harry．

　　He got up one morning very late because he had forgotten to wind up his alarm clock(闹钟)．He tried to shave(刮脸)quickly and cut himself．When he got dressed he got blood all over his clean shirt, so he had to find another one．The only other shirt that was clean needed ironing(熨), so he ironed it．While he was ironing it, there was a knock at the door．It was the man to read the electricity meter(表)．He showed him where the meter was, said good-bye and found that the iron had burnt a hole in his shirt．So he had to wear the one with the blood on it after all．By this time it was very late, so he decided he couldn’t go to work by bus．He telephoned for a taxi to take him to work．The taxi arrived and Harry got in and began to read the newspaper．

　　In another part of the town, a man had killed a woman with a knife and was seen to run away in a taxi．When Harry’s taxi stopped outside his office, a policeman happened to be standing there．He saw the blood on Harry’s shirt, and took him to the police station．He was kept till 3 o’clock in the afternoon before the police were sure that he was not the man they wanted．When he finally arrived at the office at about four, his boss took a look at him and told him to go away and find another job．

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　　I needed to buy a digital camera, one that was simply good at taking good snaps(快照), maybe occasionally for magazines．Being the cautious type, I fancied a reliable brand．So I went on the net, spent 15 minutes reading product reviews on good websites, wrote down the names of three top recommendations and headed for my nearest big friendly camera store．There in the cupboard was one of the cameras on my list．And it was on special offer．Oh joy．I pointed at it and asked an assistant, “Can I have one of those?”? He looked perturbed(不安)．“Do you want to try it first?” he said．It didn’t quite sound like a question．“Do I need to?” I replied ,“There is nothing wrong with it？” This made him look a bit insulted and I started to feel bad．“No, no．But you should try it,” he said encouragingly．“Compare it with the others．”

　　I looked across at the others：shelves of similar cameras placed along the wall, offering a wide range of slightly different prices and discounts, with each company selling a range of models based around the same basic box．With so many models to choose from, it seemed that I would have to spend hours weighing X against Y, always trying to take Z and possibly H into account at the same time．But when I had finished, I would still have only the same two certainties that I had entered the store with：first, soon after I carried my new camera out of the shop, it would be worth half what I paid for it; and second, my wonderful camera would very quickly be replaced by a new model．

　　But something in the human soul whispers that you can beat these traps by making the right choice, the clever choice, the wise choice．In the end, I agreed to try the model I had chosen．The assistant seemed a sincere man．So I let him take out of my chosen camera from cupboard, show how it took excellent pictures of my fellow shoppers… and when he started to introduce the special features, I interrupted to ask whether I needed to buy a carry-case and a memory card as well．

　　Why do we think that new options still offer us anything new? Perhaps it is because they offer an opportunity to avoid facing the fact that our real choices in this culture are far more limited than we would like to imagine．

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　　It’s hard to track the blue whale, which has almost been killed off by commercial whaling．Attaching radio devices to it is difficult and visual sightings are too unreliable to give real insight into its behavior．

　　So biologists were delighted early this year when, with the help of the US Navy, they are able to track a particular blue whale for 43 days recording its sounds．This was possible because of the Navy’s former top secret system of underwater listening devices across the oceans．

　　Tracking whales is but one example of an exciting new world just opening to civilian scientists after the cold war as the Navy starts to share and partly uncover its global network of underwater listening system built over the decades to track the ships of potential enemies．

　　Earth scientists announced at a news conference recently that they had used the system for closely observing a deep-sea volcanic eruption for the first time and that they planned similar studies．Other scientists have proposed to use the network for tracking ocean currents and measuring changes in the ocean and global temperatures．Different layers of ocean water can act as channels for sounds focusing them in the same way a stethoscope(听诊器)does when it carries faint noises from a patient’s chest to a doctor’s ear．This focusing is the main reason that even relatively weak sounds in the ocean, especially low-frequency ones, can often travel thousands of miles．

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　　New York：Staying positive through the cold season could be your best defence against getting ill, new study findings suggest．

　　In an experiment that exposed healthy volunteers to a cold or flu virus, researchers found that people with a generally sunny disposition were less likely to fall ill．The findings, published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine, build on evidence that a “positive emotional style” can help protect us from the common cold and other illnesses．

　　Researchers believe the reasons may be both objective－as in happiness improving immune, function－and subjective－as in happy people being less troubled by a sore throat or funny nose．"People with a positive emotional style may have different immune responses to the virus," explained lead study author Dr Sheldon Cohen of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh．"And when they do get a cold, they may interpret their illness as being less severe．"

　　Cohen and his colleagues had found in a previous study that happier people seemed less likely to catch a cold, but some questions remained as to whether the emotional trait itself had the effect．

　　For the new study, the researchers had 193 healthy adults complete standard measures of personality traits, self-perceived health and emotional "style．" Those who tended to be happy, energetic and easy-going were judged as having a positive emotional style, while those who were often unhappy, tense and hostile had a negative style．

　　The researchers gave them nasal(鼻的)drops containing either a cold virus or a particular flu virus．Over the next six days, the volunteers reported on any aches, pains, sneezing or congestion they had, while the researchers collected objective data, like daily mucus production．Cohen and his colleagues found that based on objective measures of nasal woes, happy people were less likely to develop a cold．

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Australian Flag Designs by Readers of the Sun-Herald

　　We received dozens of responses after inviting readers to send in their designs for a new flag．The designs we received include：

　　James reduces the Union Jack down in size and changes its shape to become a reminder of the British tradition rather than canceling it altogether．At the same time he suggests enlarging the stars of the Southern Cross．His design attempts to use the best of both worlds in a newly designed flag．

　　As he says, “the British part of the Australian Flag is too big and the Australian bits are too small．When you make the stars bigger the Australian flag can look impressive．”

　　Joe’s flag has the main elements of a risen sun, white horizon(地平线), red earth at the base and the Southern Cross．He intends to make the risen sun a special Australian symbol on the flag．He believes it represents life．The Southern Cross shows that we live in the Southern Hemisphere．(半球)

　　Maria deleted the Union Jack but otherwise kept the flag as is with the Southern Cross and Federation Star．She says, ‘There is only one correct way to change the Australian flag” and that is “to drop the Union Jack－when Australia becomes a Republic”, which she hopes will be before 2010．

　　Ron recommends using the Aboriginal colors but replacing their image of the sun with the map of Australia．He says, “Australia is unique being an island continent with an instantly recognizable outline at that” and “this will leave no doubt as to which country the flag belongs．”

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　　The house was quiet at 5 am and Tim’s mother was asleep．Only the sound of the big freezer broke the quiet．He’d dreamt of the cave last night．The purring(轻微颤动声)of the freezer had been the sea．

　　Tim pulled on a sweater and put some apples into his schoolbag．It was too early for breakfast．He’d eat after he’d been through the cave, sitting on the rocks and staring at the sea．

　　He wished he had a proper pack．His schoolbag would have to do．What else? Sandwiches－but his mother might wake up if he started pulling out bread for sandwiches, she’d want to know why he had to leave so early．He settled for some biscuits, and left a note stuck to the table：

　　Gone to Michael’s．Back tonight．Tim．

　　The sky was high and soft and light outside, though the sun still wasn’t up．Even the highway up the hill was quiet as he made his way down the street．The wind from the sea was fresh and sweet．

　　The sandhills still breathed heat from yesterday’s sun, though the top of the sand was cool．He ran down to the beach impatiently, but there was no one, just dry sand dancing in the early wind and seabirds marching up and down watching the waves．

　　The light changed suddenly．The first rays of sunlight stretched(延伸)across the sea．The sun was pushing its way over the edge of the world．

　　Over the first rocks, along to the point．Tim glanced back．The beach was still empty．The sun sailed higher in the sky．

　　He could see the cave now, even darker in the morning light．The sand turned silver then dark gold as the water flowed away from it．He had to force himself to go closer．Why was it so much more mysterious now ? But it would be silly to go back now after so much trouble．He needn’t go in all the way…

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　　How could we possibly think that keeping animals in cages in unnatural environments：mostly for entertainment purposes：is fair and respectful?

　　Zoo officials say they are concerned about animals．However, most zoos remain collections of interesting “things” rather than protective habitats．Zoos teach people that it is acceptable to keep animals bored, lonely, and far from their natural homes．

　　Zoos claim(声称)to educate people and save endangered species, but visitors leave zoos without having learnt

　　anything meaningful about the animals in small spaces or cages, and most signs only mention the species’ name, diet, and natural range．The animals’ normal behavior is seldom noticed because zoos don’t usually take care of the animals’ natural needs．

　　The animals are kept together in small spaces, with no privacy and little opportunity for mental and physical exercise．This results in unusual and self-destructive behavior called zoochosis．A worldwide study of zoo found that zoochosis is common among animals kept in small spaces or cages．Another study showed that elephants spend 22 percent of their time making repeated head movements or biting cage bars; and bears spend 30 percent of their time walking back and forth, a sign of unhappiness and pain．

　　Furthermore, most animals in zoos are not endangered．Captive breeding(圈养繁殖)of endangered big cats, Asian elephants, and other species has not resulted in their being sent back to the wild．Zoos talk a lot about their captive breeding program because they do not want people to worry about a species dying out．In fact, baby animals also attract a lot of paying customers．Haven’t we seen enough competitions to name baby animals?

　　Actually, we will save endangered species only if we save their habitats and put an end to the reasons people kill them．Instead of supporting zoos, we should support groups that work to protect animals’ natural habitats．

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　　Americans are pound of their variety and individuality, yet they love and respect few things more than a uniform，whether it is the uniform of an elevator operatororthe uniform of a five－star general．Why are uniforms so popular in the United States？

　　Among the arguments for uniforms, one of the first is that in the eyes of most people they look more professional than civilian(百姓的)clothes．People have become conditioned to expect superior quality from a man who wears a uniform．The television repairman who wears uniform tends to inspire more trust than one who appears in civilian clothes．Faith in the skill of a garage mechanic is increased by a uniform．What easier way is there for a nurse, a policeman, a barber，ora waiter to lose professional identity(身份)than to step out of uniform?

　　Uniforms also have many practical benefits．They save on other clothes．They save on laundry bills．They are tax－deductible(可减税的)．They are often more comfortable and more durable than civilian clothes．

　　Primary among the arguments against uniforms is their lack of variety and the consequent loss of individuality experienced by people who must wear them．Though there are many types of uniforms, the wearer of any particular type is generally stuck with it, without change, until retirement．When people look alike, they tend to think, speak, and act similarly, on the job at least。

　　Uniforms also give rise to some practical problems．Though they are long－lasting, often their initial expense is greater than the cost of civilian clothes．Some uniforms are also expensive to maintain, requiring professional dry cleaning rather than the home laundering possible with many types of civilian clothes．

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　　I’ve been writing for most of my life．The book Writing Without Teachers introduced me to one distinction and one practice that has helped my writing processes tremendously．The distinction is between the creative mind and the critical mind．While you need to employ both to get to a finished result, they cannot work in parallel no matter how much we might like to think so．

　　Trying to criticize writing on the fly is possibly the single greatest barrier to writing that most of us encounter．If you are listening to that 5th grade English teacher correct your grammar while you are trying to capture a fleeting(稍纵即逝的)thought, the thought will die．If you capture the fleeting thought and simply share it with the world in raw form, no one is likely to understand．You must learn to create first and then criticize if you want to make writing the tool for thinking that it is．

　　The practice that can help you past your learned bad habits of trying to edit as you write is what Elbow calls “free writing．” In free writing, the objective is to get words down on paper non-stop, usually for 15-20 minutes．No stopping, no going back, no criticizing．The goal is to get the words flowing．As the words begin to flow, the ideas will come from the shadows and let themselves be captured on your notepad or your screen．

　　Now you have raw materials that you can begin to work with using the critical mind that you’ve persuaded to sit on the side and watch quietly．Most likely, you will believe that this will take more time than you actually have and you will end up staring blankly at the pages as the deadline draws near．

　　Instead of staring at a blank start filling it with words no matter how bad．Halfway through you available time, stop and rework your raw writing into something closer to finished product．Move back and forth until you run out of time and　the final result will most likely be far better than your current practices．