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　　A newly-published study has shown that loneliness can spread from one person to another, like a disease．

　　Researchers used information from the Framingham Study, which began in 1948．The Framingham Study gathers information about physical and mental(心理的)health, personal behavior and diet．At first, the study involved(使参加)about 5,000 people in the American state of Massachusetts．Now, more than 12,000 persons are taking part．

　　Information from the Framingham Study showed earlier that happiness can spread from person to person．So can behaviors like littering and the ability to stop smoking．

　　University of Chicago psychologist(心理学家)John Cacioppo led the recent study．He and other researchers tried to show how often people felt lonely．They found that the feeling of loneliness spread through social groups．

　　Having a social connection with a lonely person increased the chances that another person would feel lonely．In fact, a friend of a lonely person was 52％ more likely to develop feelings of loneliness．A friend of that person was 25％ more likely．The researchers say this shows that a person could indirectly be affected by someone's loneliness．

　　The effect was strongest among friends．Neighbors were the second most affected group．The effect was weaker on husbands and wives, and brothers and sisters．The researchers also found that loneliness spread more easily among women than men．

　　The New York Times newspaper reports that, on average, people experience feelings of loneliness about 48 days a year．It also found that every additional friend can decrease loneliness by about five percent, or two and a half fewer lonely days．

　　Loneliness has been something to do with health problems like sadness and sleeping difficulties．The researchers believe that knowing the causes of loneliness could help in reducing it．

　　The study suggests that people can take steps to stop the spread of loneliness．They can do this by helping individuals they know who may be experiencing loneliness．The result can be helpful to the whole social group．

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　　Jane Austen, a famous English writer, was born at Steventon, Hampshire, on December 16,1775, and died on July 18, 1817．She began writing early in life, although the prejudices(偏见)of her times forced her to have her books published anonymously(匿名)．

　　But Jane Austen is perhaps the best known and best loved of Bath's many famous local people and visitors．She paid two long visits here during the last five years of the eighteenth century and from 1801 to 1806, Bath was her home．Her deep knowledge of the city is fully seen in two of her novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, which are largely set in Bath．The city is still very much as Jane Austen knew it, keeping in its streets and public buildings the well-ordered world that she described so well in her novels．Now the pleasure of learning Jane Austen's Bath can be enhanced(增强)by visiting the Jane Austen Centre in Gay Street．Here, in a Georgian town house in the heart of the city, you can find out more about Bath in Jane Austen's time and the importance of Bath in her life and work．

　　The Centre has been set up with the help and guidance of members of the Jane Austen Society．After your visit to the Centre, you can look round the attractive shop, which offers a huge collection of Jane Austen related books, cards and many specially designed gifts．

　　You can also have walking tours of Jane Austen's Bath, which is a great way to find out more about Jane Austen and discover the wonderful Georgian city of Bath．The tour lasts about one and a half hours．The experienced guides will take you to the places where Jane lived, walked and shopped．

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　　Recently I gave my grown-up students homework．It was “go to someone you love and tell them you love them．” It has to be someone you have never said those words to before or at least haven't shared those words with for a long time．

　　It sounds like very difficult homework since most of the men were over 35 and were raised in the generation of men that were taught expressing strong feelings is not “macho(阳刚之气)．” Showing feelings or crying was just not done．So this was very worrying homework for some．

　　At the beginning of our next class, I asked if someone wanted to share what happened when they told someone they loved them．I fully expected one of the women volunteered(志愿做), as was usually the case, but on this evening one of the men raised his hand, quite moved and a bit shaken．

　　As he unfolded out of his chair(all 1．85 meters of him), he began by saying, “Dennis, I was quite angry with you last week when you gave us this homework．Who were you to tell me to do something that personal?”

　　“But as I began driving home my conscience(良心)started telling me that I knew exactly who I needed to say ‘I love you' to．”

　　“Five years ago, my father and I had a severe disagreement and really never settled it since then．We avoided seeing each other unless we absolutely had to at Christmas or other family gatherings．But even then, we hardly spoke to each other．”

　　“So last Tuesday by the time I got home I had persuaded myself．I was going to tell my father I loved him．It's strange, but just making that decision seemed to lift a heavy load off my chest．”

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　　One period of our lives when better results are demanded of us is, strangely enough, childhood．Despite being young we are expected to achieve good grades, stay out of trouble, make friends at school, do well on tests, perform chores at home and so on．It's not easy．

　　The good news is that being likeable can help a child perform better．Likeable children enjoy many advantages, including the ability to cope(对付)more easily with stresses of growing up．

　　In her book Understanding Child Stress, Dr．Carolyn Leonard states that children who are likeable and optimistic are able to gain support from others．This leads to focus and resilience, the ability to recover from or adjust early to life stress; a child who has adequate emotional armor can continue down the path to success．Much research shows that resilience has enabled children to succeed in school, avoid drug abuse, and develop a healthy self-awareness．

　　Why does a likeable child more easily handle stress and do better in his or her life? Because likeability helps create what's known as a positive feedback loop(回馈圈)．The positive feelings you want to see in other people are returned to you, creating constant encouragement and motivation to deal with the daily stress of life．

　　This feedback loop continues into adulthood．To return once again to the example of teaching, learning becomes easier with a likeable personality．Michael Delucchi of the University of Hawaii reviewed dozens of studies to determine if likeable teachers received good ratings because of their likeability or because they in fact taught well．Delucchi found that “Students who perceive(察觉)a teacher as likeable, in contrast to(比照)those who do not, may be more attentive to the information that the teacher delivers and they'll work harder on assignments, and they will learn more．”

　　You may have noticed this pattern in your own life when you try to give some advice．The more positive your relationship with that person, the more he or she seems to listen, and the more you feel certain that that person has heard you and intends to act on your words．

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　　Eating a diet high in processed food increases the risk of depression, research suggests．What's more, people who ate plenty of vegetables, fruit and fish actually had a lower risk of depression, the University College London team found．

　　Data on diet among 3,500 middle-aged civil servants were compared with their emotional state five years later, a British journal reported．They divided the participants into two types of diet－those who ate a diet largely based on whole food, which includes lots of fruit, vegetables and fish, and those who ate a mainly processed food diet, such as sweetened desserts, fried food, processed meat, refined grains and high-fat dairy products．After accounting for factors such as gender, age, education, physical activity, smoking habits and chronic(慢性的)diseases, they found a significant difference in the future depression risk with the different diets．

　　Those who ate the most wholefood had a 26％ lower risk of future depression than those who ate the least wholefood．By contrast, people with a diet high in processed food had a 58％ higher risk of depression than those who ate a diet low in processed foods．

　　Study author Dr．Archana Singh-Manoux pointed out there was a chance the finding could be explained by a lifestyle factor they had not accounted for．

　　There was a paper showing a Mediterranean diet was associated with a lower risk of depression, but the problem with that is if you live in Britain, the possibility of you eating a Mediterranean diet is not very high．

　　Dr．Andrew McCulloch, chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation, said, This study adds to an existing body of solid research that shows the strong links between what we eat and our mental health．

　　He added people's diets were becoming increasingly unhealthy．The UK population is consuming less nutritious, fresh produce and more saturated(含饱和脂肪酸的)fats and sugars．

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　　Scott Langteau has this message for kids：Spend less time playing video games．

　　It's a message that many a mom and dad have tried to impress upon many a youngster(and some not-so-youngsters)who spend perhaps a bit too much time with game controllers in hand．

　　But the 40-year-old Langteau isn't a parent．He's a veteran(老手)of the video game industry－one who played producer on three “Medal of Honor” games and co-founded his own game development company．

　　Langteau has just published a children's book called “Sofa Boy”, which tells the story of a kid who spends too much time sitting on the couch with controller held in hand and the rather terrible consequences that follow．

　　It's a fairy tale picked straight from Langteau's own experiences as a kid with a fondness for video games and his own bouts with a bit of game addiction．But first, Langteau would like to make one thing clear：“I'm not saying that you shouldn't play video games．I think video games are great．I think they do great things for kids．” Instead, Langteau says his book is all about a little something called “moderation(克制)．”

　　“It's about being well rounded,” he says．“Just like with anything else, we all need to make sure that there's a variety in what we do．”

　　Video gamers can be rather bad-tempered when it comes to accepting criticism about their favorite entertainment．And understandably so．After all, most people who go around talking about the dangers of playing video games tend to be outsiders－people who don't play video games and certainly don't understand that they can be a valuable and healthy form of entertainment．

　　But Langteau and “Soft Boy” seem to be in a unique position to deliver a message of gaming moderation that the young game masses might actually listen to．After all, this is a man who understands what it means to be a kid with a passion for games．His early experience has taught him a lesson．

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　　I have a friend named Monty Roberts．He has let me use his horse ranch(养马场)to put on events to raise money for Youth-at-Risk Programs．

　　Last time I was there he introduced me by saying, "I want to tell you why I let you use my house．It all goes back to a story about a young man who was the son of a horse trainer．When he was a senior, he was asked to write a paper about what he wanted to be when he grew up．"

　　“That night he wrote a seven-page paper describing his goal of owning a horse ranch someday．He put all his heart into the project and wrote about his dream in great detail．He even drew a diagram of a 200-acre ranch, showing the location of the buildings, stables and the track, and even a detailed floor plan for a 4,000-square-foot house on it．”

　　“The next day, he handed it in to his teacher．Two days later, he received a large red ‘F' on his paper with a note, ‘See me after class．The boy went to see the teacher and asked why．The teacher told him there was no way for a young boy like him to do that because owning a horse ranch required much money and resources, and then added ‘If you'll rewrite his paper with another goal, I will reconsider your grade．'”

　　“The boy went home and thought about it long and hard．He asked his father what to do．His father said, ‘Look, son, you have to make up your own mind on this．However, I think it's a very important decision for you．'”

　　“Finally, a week later, the boy turned in the same paper without any change and stated, ‘You can keep the F, and I will never．'”

　　“I tell you this story because you are sitting in my 4,000-square-foot house in the middle of my 200-acre horse ranch．I still have that school paper over the fireplace．”

　　"Don't let anyone steal your dreams．Follow your heart, no matter what．"

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Directions：Read the following passages．Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements．For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C, and D．Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage．

　　Can you imagine a stranger will read your e－mails without your permission or scan the website you've visited or perhaps someone will casually glance through your credit card purchases or cell phone bills? All of the things may happen to you one day．

　　In fact, it's likely that some of these things have already happened to you．Who would watch you without your permission? It might be a spouse, a girlfriend, a marketing company, a boss, a cop or a criminal．Whoever it is they will see you in a way you never intended to be seen or even do something that may bring a disaster to you．

　　Psychologists tell us boundaries are healthy, and that it's important to reveal to riends, family and lovers at appropriate times．But few boundaries remain nowadays．The digital bread crumbs(碎屑)you leave everywhere make it easy for strangers to know who you are, where you are and what you like．In some cases, a simple Google search can leak the deepest thought in your mind．Like it or not, increasingly we live in a world where you simply cannot keep a secret．

　　The key question is：Does that matter? For many Americans, the answer apparently is “no” ．

　　When opinion polls ask Americans about privacy? most of them say they are really concerned about losing it．And 60 percent of the respondents say they feel their privacy is "slipping away, and that bothers me"．

　　But people say one thing and do another．Only a small of Americans change any behaviors in an effort to preserve their privacy．Few people turn down a discount at tollbooths(收费站)to avoid using the EZ－Pass system that can track automobile movements．Privacy economist Acquisti has run a series of tests that reveal people will give up personal information such as telephone number, address , or social security numbers just to get their hands on a pitiful 50－cents－off coupon(优惠券)．But privacy does matter－at least sometimes．It's like health; when you have it, you don't notice it．Only when it's gone do you wish you'd done more to protect it．

Without privacy, one will be naked in front of others．

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Directions：Read the following passages．Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements．For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C, and D．Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage．

　　For Sparky, school was all but impossible．He failed every subject in the eighth grade．He flunked physics in high school, getting a grade of zero．Sparky also flunked Latin, algebra and English．He didn't do much better in sports．Although he did manage to make the school's golf team, he promptly lost the only important match of the season．There was a consolation(安慰) match; he lost that , too．

　　Throughout his youth Sparky was awkward socially．He was not actually disliked by the other students; no one cared that much．He was astonished if a classmate ever said hello to him outside of school hours．There's no way to tell how he might have done at dating．Sparky never once asked a girl to go out in high school．He was too afraid of being turned down．

　　Sparky was a loser．He, his classmates…everyone knew it．So he rolled with it．Sparky had made up his mind early in life that if things were meant to work out, they would．Otherwise he would content himself with what appeared to be his inevitable mediocrrity(平凡)．

　　However, one thing was important to Sparky－drawing．He was proud of his artwork．Of course, no one else appreciated it．In his senior year of high school, he submitted some cartoons to the editors of the Yearbook．Although the cartoons were turned down．Sparky was so convinced of his ability that he decided to become an artist．

　　After completing high school, he wrote a letter to Walt Disney Studios．He was told to send some samples of his artwork, and the subject for a cartoon was suggested．Sparky spent a great deal of time on it．Finally, the reply came from Disney Studios．He had been rejected once again．Another loss for the loser．

　　So Sparky decided to write his own autobiography in cartoons．He described his childhood～a little boy loser and chronic under achiever．The cartoon character would soon become famous worldwide．For Sparky, the boy who had such a lack of success in school and whose work was rejected again and again, was Charles Schultz．He created the Peanuts comic strip(连环漫画)and the little cartoon character whose kite would never fly and who never succeeded in kicking a

football－Charlie Brown．

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