Keeping a busy social life among lots of friends may keep people thinner than spending hours doing some exercises, according to scientists. They say that socializing and meeting with friends help increase levels of brown fat in the body which burns calories to produce heat.

Living in an exciting social environment was found to reduce fat in mice's belly by half over four weeks, even if they ate more. US researchers say that social excitement aids weight loss by turning white fat into brown. White fat stores calories and makes us fatter, while brown burns energy to produce heat. Turning white fat into brown is extremely difficult, normally requiring long- term stay in cold conditions or exciting part of the body's nervous system.

However, scientists from Ohio State University now think that having a busy social life is an even more effective way of changing white fat into brown. The team came up with their theory by studying the effects of various living environments on mice. Those, who lived alongside a greater number of mice, had more space and toys to excite themselves and then lost far more weight over the course of the study than their “couch potato" fellows.

Study author, Dr Matthew During, whose team's findings appear in the journal Cell Metabolism, said, "I'm still amazed at the degree of fat loss that occurs." Explaining how new technology had threatened face-to-face socializing, he added, "It's not just a sedentary(久坐的) lifestyle and high calorie foods, but an increasing lack of social activities." Co-author Dr Lei Cao said，"Loneliness is a potential factor for cancer and death; it's equal to cigarette smoking to a certain extent. Social activities are very vital.

1.What information can we get from the first two paragraphs?

A. Brown fat stores calories and makes us fatter

B. It doesn't take long to turn white fat into brown.

C. Social excitement helps gain more weight

D. Brown fat can burn energy to produce heat.

2.Which of the following statement does the text support?

A. Levels of brown fat can be increased by socializing.

B. The mice lacking social life lose more weight.

C. The research findings haven't been published so far.

D. Dr Matthew During wasn't convinced of the result.

3.We can conclude from the text that        _______.

A. the fat in mice's belly was reduced because of the relaxing environment

B. a sedentary lifestyle and high calories foods influence people's social life

C. surfing the Internet may influence people's face-to-face communication

D. cancer and death are mainly caused for lack of social life

4.What’s the main idea of the text?

A. Brown fat is beneficial to people's health.

B. Socializing is unnecessarily important in people's daily life.

C. White fat can be changed into brown fat.

D. Socializing contributes to people's losing weight.

 

Keeping a busy social life among lots of friends may keep people thinner than spending hours doing some exercises, according to scientists. They say that socializing and meeting with friends help increase levels of brown fat in the body which burns calories(卡路里)to produce heat.

Living in an exciting social environment was found to reduce fat in mice's belly by half over four weeks, even if they ate more. US researchers say that social excitement aids weight loss by turning white fat into brown. White fat stores calories and makes us fatter, while brown burns energy to produce heat. Turning white fat into brown is extremely difficult, normally requiring long- term stay in cold conditions or exciting part of the body's nervous system.

However, scientists from Ohio State University now think that having a busy social life is an even more effective way of changing white fat into brown. The team came up with their theory by studying the effects of various living environments on mice. Those, who lived alongside a greater number of mice, had more space and toys to excite themselves and then lost far more weight over the course of the study than their “couch potato" fellows.

Study author, Dr Matthew During, whose team's findings appear in the journal Cell Metabolism, said, "I'm still amazed at the degree of fat loss that occurs." Explaining how new technology had threatened face-to-face socializing, he added, "It's not just a sedentary (久坐的)lifestyle and high calorie foods, but an increasing lack of social activities." Co-author Dr Lei Cao said，"Loneliness is a potential factor for cancer and death; it's equal to cigarette smoking to a certain extent. Social activities are very vital.，，

67. What information can we get from the first two paragraphs?

A. Brown fat stores calories and makes us fatter.

B. It doesn't take long to turn white fat into brown.

C. Social excitement helps gain more weight.

D. Brown fat can burn energy to produce heat.

68. Which of the following statement does the text support?

A. Levels of brown fat can be increased by socializing.

B. The mice lacking social life lose more weight.

C. The research findings haven't been published so far.

D. Dr Matthew During wasn't convinced of the result.

69. We can conclude from the text that               _______.

A. the fat in mice's belly was reduced because of the relaxing environment

B. a sedentary lifestyle and high calories foods influence people's social life

C. surfing the Internet may influence people's face-to-face communication

D. cancer and death are mainly caused for lack of social life

70. What’s the main idea of the text?

A. Brown fat is beneficial to people's health.

B. Socializing is unnecessarily important in people's daily life.

C. White fat can be changed into brown fat.

D. Socializing contributes to people's losing weight.

Keeping a busy social life among lots of friends may keep people thinner than spending hours doing some exercises, according to scientists. They say that socializing and meeting with friends help increase levels of brown fat in the body which burns calories to produce heat.

Living in an exciting social environment was found to reduce fat in mice's belly by half over four weeks, even if they ate more. US researchers say that social excitement aids weight loss by turning white fat into brown. White fat stores calories and makes us fatter, while brown burns energy to produce heat. Turning white fat into brown is extremely difficult, normally requiring long- term stay in cold conditions or exciting part of the body's nervous system.

However, scientists from Ohio State University now think that having a busy social life is an even more effective way of changing white fat into brown. The team came up with their theory by studying the effects of various living environments on mice. Those, who lived alongside a greater number of mice, had more space and toys to excite themselves and then lost far more weight over the course of the study than their “couch potato" fellows.

Study author, Dr Matthew During, whose team's findings appear in the journal Cell Metabolism, said, "I'm still amazed at the degree of fat loss that occurs." Explaining how new technology had threatened face-to-face socializing, he added, "It's not just a sedentary(久坐的) lifestyle and high calorie foods, but an increasing lack of social activities." Co-author Dr Lei Cao said，"Loneliness is a potential factor for cancer and death; it's equal to cigarette smoking to a certain extent. Social activities are very vital.

63. What information can we get from the first two paragraphs?

A. Brown fat stores calories and makes us fatter.          B. It doesn't take long to turn white fat into brown.

C. Social excitement helps gain more weight.              D. Brown fat can burn energy to produce heat.

64. Which of the following statement does the text support?

A. Levels of brown fat can be increased by socializing.

B. The mice lacking social life lose more weight.

C. The research findings haven't been published so far.

D. Dr Matthew During wasn't convinced of the result.

65. We can conclude from the text that _______.

A. the fat in mice's belly was reduced because of the relaxing environment

B. a sedentary lifestyle and high calories foods influence people's social life

C. surfing the Internet may influence people's face-to-face communication

D. cancer and death are mainly caused for lack of social life

66. What’s the main idea of the text?

A. Brown fat is beneficial to people's health.

B. Socializing is unnecessarily important in people's daily life.

C. White fat can be changed into brown fat.

D. Socializing contributes to people's losing weight.

                                   

Happiness is U-shaped, for we are happier at the start and end of our lives but hit a slump when we are middle-aged, British and US researchers say.

Economists from the University of Warwick, central England, and from Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, looked at data on the mental health of two million people from 80 countries.

In Britain, the probability of depression for men and women peaks at around 44 years of age, Warwick University said in a press release.  

In the United States, though, ________________________between men and women. Among women, unhappiness peaked at around the age of 40, whereas among men, it was about 50.

But the U-shape of happiness is constant around the world, and mid-life depression occurs regardless of marital status(婚姻状况), changes in job or income.

The study appears in Social Science & Medicine, published by the Dutch publishing house Elsevier.  

"It happens to men and women, to single and married people, to rich and poor, and to those with and without children." said co-author Andrew Oswald.

One possibility may be that people realize they won't achieve many of their ambitions at middle age. The researchers said.

Another reason could be that after seeing their fellow middle-aged peers begin to die, people begin to value their own remaining years and embrace life once more.

But the good news is that if people make it to aged 70 and are still physically fit, they are on average as happy and mentally healthy as a 20-year old.

"For the average persons in the modern world, the dip in mental health and happiness comes on slowly, not suddenly in a single year," Oswald said. "Only in their fifties do people emerge from this low period.  

1.Which sentence in the passage is the closest in meaning to the following one?

 There are chances that the middle-aged people will realize their ideal is likely to be unattainable. 

_________________________________________________________________________

2.Fill in the blank in Paragraph 3 with a proper sentence．(within 10 words)

                                                                         

3.How do you understand the sentence that “Happiness is U-shaped”? (within 20 words)

_________________________________________________________________________

4.Is mid-life depression a common Phenomenon in the world ? How do you know?(within 15 words) 

_________________________________________________________________________

5.Translate the underlined sentence in the last paragraph into Chinese

_________________________________________________________________________

                                                                         

We find that bright children are rarely held back by mixed-ability teaching. On the contrary, both their knowledge and experience are enriched. We feel that there are many disadvantages in streaming（把…按能力分班）pupils. It does not take into account the fact that children develop at different rates. It can have a bad effect on both the bright and the not-so-bright child. After all, it can be quite discouraging to be at the bottom of the top grade!

　　Besides, it is rather unreal to grade people just according to their intellectual (智力的) abilities. This is only one aspect of their total personality. We are concerned to develop the abilities of all our pupils to the full, not just their academic ability. We also value personal qualities and social skills, and we find that mixed-ability teaching contributes to all these aspects of learning.

　　In our classrooms, we work in various ways. The pupils often work in groups: this gives them the opportunity to learn to co-operate, to share, and to develop leadership skills. They also learn how to cope with personal problems as well as how to think, to make decisions, to analyze and evaluate, and to communicate effectively. The pupils learn from each other as well as from the teacher.

　　Sometimes the pupils work in pairs; sometimes they work on individual tasks and assignments, and they can do this at their own speed. They also have some library, and we teach them the skills they need in order to do this effectively. And expect our pupils to do their best, not their least, and we give them every encouragement to attain this goal.

1. Group work provides pupils with the opportunity_________.

　　A. to develop academic abilities                 　　 B. to learn to teach.

　　C. to do some experiments                        　　 D. to learn to be capable organizers.

2. By "held back" in the first paragraph the author means _________.

　　A. drawn to their studies                           　　     B. prevented from advancing

　　C. made to remain in the same classes         　　 D. forced to study in the lower classes

3. In the passage the author's attitude towards " mixed-ability teaching" is ________.

　　A.questioning               B. approving  　　     C. objective 　　 D. critical

4. The author's purpose of writing this passage is to _________.

　　A. offer advice on the proper use of the library

　　B. emphasize the importance of appropriate formal classroom teaching

　　C. argue for teaching bright and not -so-bright pupils in the same class

　　D. recommend pair work and group-work for classroom activities

5. The author argues that a teacher's chief concern should be the development of the student's _____.

　　A. total personality              　　                   B. intellectual ability

　　C. learning ability and communicative skills        D. personal qualities and social skills