It’s not hard to be poetic about the broad and deep benefits of spending time in natural spaces,from amazing national parks to the simple loveliness of a walk around a city park or tree-lined neighborhood street, and some time working in the dirt of your own garden.
A new study from researchers at Clemson University has found another benefit to simply putting your body in a natural space: it can lower the amount of money you spend on health care.
“The mechanisms linking nature and health are very diverse,” said Matthew H. E. M. Browning, the principal investigator on the study, "but the benefit is believed to be in part because being in green space can decrease stress, promote healthy behaviors and enable you to breathe fresh air.”
Browning and his team used satellite data to investigate how much green space was within 250,500 and 1,000 meters(820,1,640,and 3,280 feet) of five million northern California residents who were insured by Kaiser Permanente. They then determined the costs the insurance company paid out to those same members over a two-year period. They took into account age,gender,race and a number of neighborhood characteristics including population density and education levels.
Even with all these factors included into their analysis, the researchers found that those who lived near the most green space had an average of $374 less per year in health care expenses compared to those who lived farther from natural spaces.
The researchers hope their findings will support public policies that prioritize(优先考虑) natural elements in residential areas. For you, maybe this learning will inspire you to plant a tree or a potted flower today-or create a beautiful garden to enjoy, with a view of some health-giving, green goodness.
1. What does the author intend to do in paragraph 1?| A．Lead in the topic of the text. | B．Summarize a recent study result. |
| C．Provide some advice for readers. | D．Raise readers’ interest in exercise. |
| A．Why spending time in nature benefits health. |
| B．Nature and health can affect each other deeply. |
| C．How residential green space improves air quality. |
| D．The benefit of walking in a natural space is obvious. |
| A．They can encourage further relevant research. |
| B．They can delight current insurance companies. |
| C．They can boost the establishment of green space. |
| D．They can remind us to purchase more insurance. |
| A．Getting Close to Nature Keeps Us Happy |
| B．It’s Unnecessary to Invest Much in Health |
| C．It’s Not Hard to Keep Fit for City Residents |
| D．Being in Nature Reduces Health Care Cost |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】If you wear glasses, chances are you are smarter. Research published in the famous British journal Nature Communications has found that people who displayed higher levels of intelligence were almost 30 percent more likely to wear glasses.
The scientists studied the genes of thousands of people between the ages of 16 and 102. The study showed intelligence can be connected to physical characteristics. One characteristic was eyesight. In out of 10 people who were more intelligent, there was a higher chance they needed glasses. Scientists also said being smarter has other benefits. It is connected to better health.
It is important to remember these are links which are not proven causes. Scientists call this correlation. Just because something is linked with something else does not mean one of those things caused the other. And it’s worth noting that what constitutes intelligence is subjective and can be difficult, if not impossible, to measure.
Forget genes though. Plenty of proof shows wearing glasses makes people think you are more intelligent, even if you do not need glasses. A number of studies have found people who wear glasses are seen as smarter, hard-working and honest. Many lawyers use this idea to help win their cases. Lawyer Harvey Solves explained this. Glasses often their appearance. He said sometimes there has been a huge amount of evidence showing that the clients he was defending broke the law. He had them wear glasses and they weren’t found guilty.
Glasses are also used to show someone is intelligent in movies and on TV Ideas about people who wear glasses have begun to shift. People who do not need glasses sometimes wear them for fashion only. They want to look worldly or cool. But not everyone is impressed by this idea, though. GQ magazine said people who wear glasses for fashion are trying too hard to look smart and cool. However that hasn’t stopped many famous people from happily wearing glasses even if they do not need them. Justin Bieber is just one high-profile fan of fashion glasses.
1. What does the new study show?| A．Wearing glasses is related to higher IQ. |
| B．Wearing glasses can make people clever. |
| C．People wearing glasses are healthier. |
| D．People wearing glasses are smarter |
| A．Shift. | B．Cause. | C．Consequence. | D．Connection. |
| A．mislead the witnesses | B．highlight clients’ qualities |
| C．create a moral image | D．prove the clients’ innocence |
| A．Mixed. | B．Supportive. | C．Negative. | D．Unconcerned. |
【推荐2】Water is a necessity of life. Rain, especially, helps plants grow and stay green. But too much rain, especially in cities, can lead to flooding. That can cause waste water systems to overflow and send pollutants into rivers and other waterways. To fight the problem, several cities in the United States are starting programs like rooftop gardens.
A team at the University of the District of Columbia in the nation's capital has created a garden on the top of one school building. The garden holds many kinds of plants to help absorb rainwater and grow food at the same time. Architect David Bell has designed five "green roofs" for the university. He says he is excited about the project because "it meant doing something more than just dealing with storm water management. It took advantage of a resource above the city and these flat roofs that aren't doing anything really became something that was about urban agriculture. " Rainwater is collected in large containers and sent through a system that waters the rooftop garden. The roof is filled with green life that appeals to insects.
In cities, “you don't have that many spaces to choose from and so rooftops are just (unused) space," says Caitlin Arlotta. She is a student in the school's Urban Agriculture program. The project is part of a research program to see which plants do well on rooftops. The researchers are looking at plants including strawberries, tomatoes and sweet potatoes. The university also has other green spaces. "We also have our own farm experiments," Arlotta said. “ Within each of those growing systems, we want to be able to tell people which sorts of these crops grow the best. "
Sandy Farber Bandier helps run UDC's Master Gardener program. It seeks to improve cities and make them beautiful by training people to become Master Gardeners. She says she's been surprised by the garden's output. ”My biggest surprise was that we produced 4, 250 pounds of produce the first year and was able to spread that to people in need. " She also likes being able to show people who live in D. C. and others beyond the nation's capital what and how food can be grown on a rooftop. “This is the future for food. You grow it here, you prepare it in a commercial kitchen, you distribute through farmers markets,food trucks, and then you recycle. "
1. What do we know about the rooftop gardens?| A．Rooftop gardens are very common in average neighborhoods. |
| B．There are many sorts of plants there which help take in rainwater. |
| C．They're playing an important role in the city's food supply. |
| D．Rooftop gardens are no more than containers to collect rainwater. |
| A．Rooftops can offer enough space to plant crops. |
| B．Many plants like strawberries can grow well on rooftops. |
| C．Some univercity students are participating in the Urban Agriculture program. |
| D．The plants in rooftop gardens are attractive to many insects. |
| A．Confident. |
| B．Doubtful. |
| C．Worried. |
| D．Ambiguous. |
| A．Rainwater Necessity for Plant Life |
| B．Green Roofs-The Future of Urban Agriculture |
| C．The United States' Agriculture Program |
| D．Rooftop Gardens-Food Paradise |
【推荐3】Time and how we experience it have always puzzled us. Physicists have created fascinating theories, but their time is measured by a pendulum (钟摆) and is not psychological time, which leaps with little regard to the clock or calendar. As someone who understood the distinction observed, “When you sit with a nice girl for two hours it seems like a minute, but when you sit on a hot stove, a minute seems like two hours.”
Psychologists have long noticed that larger units of time, such as months and years, fly on swifter wings as we age. They also note that the more time is structured with schedules and appointments, the more rapidly it seems to pass. For example, a day at the office flies compared with a day at the beach.
Expectation and familiarity also make time seem to flow more rapidly. Almost all of us have had the experience of driving somewhere we’ve never been before. Surrounded by unfamiliar scenery, with no real idea of when we’ll arrive, we experience the trip as if lasting a long time. But the return trip, although exactly as long, seems to take far less time. The novelty of the outward journey has become routine.
When days become as similar as beads (小珠子) on a string, they mix together, and even months become a single day. To counter this, try to find ways to interrupt the structure of your day — to stop time, so to speak.
Learning something new is one of the ways to slow the passage of time. One of the reasons the days of our youth seems so full and long is that these are the days of learning and discovery. For many of us learning ends when we leave school, but this doesn’t have to be.
1. What can we know about time from Paragraph 1?| A．Physical time has little to do with the calendar. |
| B．Physical time is distinct from psychological time. |
| C．Time should not be measured by a pendulum. |
| D．Psychological time is quite more fascinating. |
| A．A day spent exploring something unknown. |
| B．Staying with a person who you dislike. |
| C．A day packed with appointments to handle. |
| D．Driving to a new place for the first time. |
| A．Unfamiliarity. | B．Excitement. | C．Imagination. | D．Amusement. |
| A．To show the difference between physical and psychological time. |
| B．To explain why time flies and how to slow it down psychologically. |
| C．To describe how most of us experience time psychologically. |
| D．To give various explanations about fascinating time theories. |
【推荐1】In America, after middle school comes high school, which includes grades 9 through 12. Students are required to take certain subjects like English, social studies, maths, science, and physical education. In addition, they choose among elective (选修的) subjects to complete their high school education. Electives include subjects in technology, music, art, and foreign languages.
Each student in the school has their own locker for books and personal items (物品). This convenience saves students from carrying textbooks, and allows students a small space they can decorate with posters and favourite objects.
Most high schools have at least one sports team that competes in local events, and all students are encouraged to be involved in athletics. Schools often offer football, baseball and softball (垒球), basketball, volleyball, tennis, and soccer. Some may even have sports like golf, swimming, gymnastics and crosscountry skiing.
Many high school students have parttime jobs by the age of 15 or 16, some even earlier. Their first jobs are often babysitting or cutting lawns, but later they will likely get a job at a fastfood restaurant, video store, or clothing shop.
Sixteen years old is legal driving age in most states, and students usually want to own a car as soon as they can. Some parents allow their children to drive a family vehicle, and may even buy a car as a graduation present. Others prefer that their sons and daughters earn enough to purchase a used vehicle. Regardless, many teenagers feel it’s a necessity to own a car, and will do whatever it takes to be able to drive.
Each school holds certain yearly (一年一次的) activities for the entire school body, such as homecoming, prom night, holiday celebrations, etc.
Homecoming is celebrated each fall, usually on a weekend, and events leading up to it may last all week. While homecoming is celebrated differently at each school, it usually includes a parade and the crowning of the Homecoming King and Queen, and ends with a football game and school dance.
1. What elective subjects can American high school students choose?| A．English, music and art. |
| B．English, music and technology. |
| C．French, music and art. |
| D．Maths, French and art. |
| A．It is convenient for students. |
| B．It makes the students not bother to carry books. |
| C．It can be decorated according to the students’ tastes. |
| D．It can be used to hide some expensive things. |
| A．most high schools attach importance to sports |
| B．most high school students are dependent |
| C．students in every state can get a driving license at 16 |
| D．used cars are popular among students |
| A．school jobs |
| B．American schools |
| C．school sports |
| D．school courses |
Start by changing your opinion, says Caitlin Kelly, the author of Malled, a book based on her experience as a sales clerk after losing her job in journalism. “Don’t focus on what you’re not getting but what you are getting,” she says. “Be patient and work attentively with a wide range of people. It doesn’t matter what the job is –there are always things you can learn and skills you can develop.”
Hilary Pearl, the founder of a coaching firm, says, “Tell yourself the current situation isn’t the end of your career. Don’t overdramatize（过分夸大）the negative aspects but try to view the situation more philosophically: life has a series of stages, and this is one of them. Don’t forget to study even in the worst stage.”
Consider that because you’re overqualified, you may be able to learn or do things on the job that might not have been possible in a more demanding position, says Sarah Hathorn, the chief executive of Illustra Consulting. “You could spend your extra time in learning different aspects of the business and teaching others in the organization,” she says.
Is it possible to make your work more challenging, even if your job responsibilities aren’t likely to change?
Of course, you may seek tasks and responsibilities that force you to learn something new or to work harder. “You may be operating on autopilot（习惯性地）right now, but chances are that people above you are stressed,” Sarah Hathorn says. “take things off your boss’s plate and let him know which projects or tasks you want to learn more about.”
Always express your request positively, saying that you love new challenges, rather than complaining that you’re bored and underused, says Ethun, the president of the Park Avenue Group. In your down time, educate yourself about the company and its industry. “Read corporate information, analyst reports and related news articles,” she says. “If your boss accepts your suggestions, it will make you a more valuable employee.”
1. According to Caitlin Kelly, ______.
| A．one should be willing to do some small things |
| B．being a salesman is not as important as being a journalist |
| C．performing your regular duties well is important |
| D．doing a simple job well will bring you a sense of success |
| A．work is just a stage of our whole life |
| B．the present job doesn’t matter to us in a long run |
| C．one should be satisfied with his present situation |
| D．one should look forward instead of complaining about the present situation |
| A．draw your boss’s attention | B．share your boss’s burdens |
| C．give your boss useful advice | D．ask your boss for a better position |
| A．One should start his career from doing a simple job. |
| B．One should improve himself and help others as well. |
| C．One should keep learning new things to improve himself. |
| D．One should pay much attention to the relationship with the boss. |
【推荐3】Salvador Dali had a strange way of refreshing his mind — “slumber (睡眠) with a key”. In a book, he described how it worked. “You were to grasp a heavy key, hanging above a plate.” Then, he continued, “As you were progressively asleep, the key would slip from your fingers and fall on the plate, awakening you.” He claimed the brief moment spent between wake and sleep would refresh your physical and mental being.
Now Dali’s mysterious-sounding method has been, to some degree, proven by science — napping with an object in hand might help to tap into this creative sweet spot.
Delphine Oudiette is a sleep researcher at the Paris Brain Institute. She was curious to find out why — so she and her colleagues asked 103 volunteers to complete a series of math problems.
Unknown to the participants, there was a quick shortcut to solve all the problems. ( Sixteen of the volunteers figured that out and were excluded from the rest of the study. ) The volunteers who didn’t determine the secret were asked to emulate (模仿) Dali’s method — but grasping a plastic bottle with their fingertips rather than a key. Some took a Dali-style micro nap (小睡), some napped longer and others didn’t nap at all. After the nap, the researchers asked all the volunteers to do hundreds more of these math problems. And they found that volunteers who took micro naps were nearly three times as likely to figure out the problem-solving trick, compared to those who didn’t nap at all.
Oudiette said, “We think that’s maybe in this short period, you have the best of the two worlds: sleep and wake. So you lose control of your thoughts and have loose associations, which could be helpful for creativity. But at the same time, you still keep some awareness that might help you to recognize when you have a great idea. Those who slept for longer periods actually did worse than both those who briefly slept and those who stayed awake. The next step of my work will involve repeating the experiment with other creative tasks to know more about the mechanism — and maybe to teach people to reach this creative sweet spot.”
1. Why did Dali use a heavy key and a plate?| A．The key and the plate could help him sleep faster. |
| B．The key and the plate were easy to find in his house. |
| C．The plate could prevent the key slipping onto the floor. |
| D．The key would make a loud noise when hitting the plate. |
| A．Dali’s method. | B．Oudiette’s study. |
| C．The quick shortcut. | D．The maths problem. |
| A．All the participants didn’t nap in the process. |
| B．Only 16 participants worked out the math problems. |
| C．87 volunteers tried sleeping with a key in their hands. |
| D．Those who napped were asked not to do the math problems. |
| A．Sleep and wake have loose associations. |
| B．People have relaxed minds when sleeping. |
| C．Those staying awake did worst in the study. |
| D．She has fortunately found out the root cause. |
