Today, there are a large number of ways to exercise and stay healthy. From working out in a gym to riding a bike to work, staying active may have never been easier. Despite all this, a new study finds Americans are actually much less active than their ancestors over 200 years ago. In fact, researchers from Harvard University say the average American people stay physically active for 30 fewer minutes than people did in 1820.
The team came to this conclusion after examining historical data which shows that body temperature among Americans has been falling for years. The results of a Stanford University report showed that the average body temperature of Americans has dropped from the age-old 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit(华氏温度)to about 97. 5 degrees.
They also looked at changes in metabolic rates(代谢率), which measure how physically active people are. Researchers found that the resting metabolic rate—the total number of calories the body burns while completely at rest—has declined by six percent since 1820. Researchers say metabolism plays a key role in producing body heat and much of this depends on how active a person is.
So what’s the cause of all this? “Instead of walking to work, we take cars or trains; instead of manual labor in factories, we use machines,” says lead author Andrew K. Yegian. “We’ve made technology do our physical activity for us. Our hope is that this helps people think more about the long-term changes of activity that have come with our changes in lifestyle and technology.”
The team also pulled data from two other studies to come up with an estimate of how much exercise Americans got in 1820 in comparison to today. “This will bring great benefits to my field of work because it can help us assess just how much increases in the incidence(发生率)of heart disease and Alzheimer’s is related to decreases in physical activity,” says Daniel E. Lieberman.
1. What does paragraph 1 mainly tell us?| A．Americans’ way of working changes. |
| B．There are different ways to exercise. |
| C．Humans’ physical condition is getting worse. |
| D．Americans exercise less than people did before. |
| A．To provide an example. | B．To make a comparison. |
| C．To introduce a topic. | D．To describe a phenomenon. |
| A．The use of technology. | B．The health condition. |
| C．A change in metabolism. | D．A lack of time. |
| A．He values physical exercise. |
| B．His job is related to medical field. |
| C．He is a patient with heart disease. |
| D．He will estimate American future technology. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Americans think that travel is good for you.Some even think it can help with one of the country’s worst problemscrime(犯罪)．Crime worries a lot of people.Every year，the number of crimes is up and up.And many criminals are young.They often come from sad homes，with only one parent or no parents at all.
There are many young criminals in prison.But prison doesn’t change them.Six or seven in ten will go back to crime when they come out of prison.
One man，Bob Burton，thought of a new idea.In the old days，young men had to live a difficult life on the road.They learned to be strong and brave，and to help their friends in time of danger.This helped them to grow into men.So Bob started “Vision Quest”．He takes young criminals on a long，long journey with horses and wagons(马车)，3,000 miles through seven states.They are on the road for more than a year.
The young people on Vision Quest all have had problems.Most of them have already spent time in prison.This is their last chance.
It’s hard work on the road.The day starts before the sun comes up.The boys and girls have to feed the horses.Some of them have never loved anyone before.But they can’t love their horses enough.They also begin to love their partners.That love can help them to live a new life.
Not all the young people on Vision Quest will leave crime behind them.Three or four in ten will one day be in prison again.Bob Burton is right.Travel can be good for you.Even today，Americans still say，“Go west，young man.”
1. In the last paragraph，the underlined phrase “leave crime behind them” means “ ”．| A．no longer do a crime |
| B．leave people who do a crime |
| C．do all the crimes |
| D．leave criminals behind |
| A．Because he can help with crime. |
| B．Because three or four is better than six or seven. |
| C．Because the young criminals have a hard life on the road. |
| D．Because he can stop crime in the country. |
| A．getting up before the sun rises can help people out of crime |
| B．love can help young people to start a new life |
| C．traveling can help all criminals out of prison |
| D．being strong and brave can do with crime |
| A．young people have bad problems |
| B．young people grow tall very fast |
| C．young people often help their friends in time of danger |
| D．young people can do anything freely |
【推荐2】Two hours of screen time a day is enough to “dumb down” children or result in depression or physical illness, a global study has found.
The global study analyzed data measuring screen time, physical activity, mental health indicators and physical illness reported by 577, 000 children aged 11, 13 and 15 from 42 rich countries. It found that screen time—not including school work—averaged 6. 3 hours for boys and 5. 4 hours for girls.
The Australian-led study shows girls experience unhealthiness after just two hours watching screens including television, social media or online gaming. However, boys are more likely to be physically active, they can safely spend twice as much time on screens each day before suffering health problems.
Dr Khan said too much time spent watching TV, gaming or on social media could lead to “reduced learning abilities”. “If you spend more time on screens you are likely not to do well in your study performance.”
“We also found there were some benefits during the first hour of daily screen use, but bad effects on mental health kick in after 75 minutes in girls and 105 minutes in boys,” Dr Khan said. The solution to mental health the study found was an hour of physical activity, and no more than two hours a day using screens, apart from schoolwork. That is to say, children need to balance screen time with “green time” outdoors. Children who exercise or play outdoors regularly are healthier and happier, the study shows.
Melbourne dad, Tom Hindhaugh, said he tried to reduce screen time for his son, Patrick, 13. “Clearly we need those screens for homeschooling. Technology is the necessary way kids can communicate and hang out with each other,” he said. “But we need to get children outside and moving. Physical activity is the key for their health, whether it’s walking, riding a bike or kicking the football.”
1. What does the study focus on about children?| A．Their screen time. | B．Their health habits. |
| C．Their gender difference. | D．Their school performance. |
| A．Boys perform no better in study than girls. |
| B．Boys are better at physical activity than girls. |
| C．Girls spend more time on school work than boys. |
| D．Girls are more likely to suffer ill-health than boys. |
| A．The balance of school work. | B．The proper time of daily screens. |
| C．The advantage of green time. | D．The necessity of regular activities. |
| A．To express parents’ concern. | B．To show a successful example. |
| C．To support the writer’s opinion. | D．To present an education method. |
【推荐3】Before uploading a photo of ourselves to social media, chances are that we’ll use an app to smooth our skin, make our eyes look bigger, and lips fuller. With a couple of taps on our mobile phone, we can get a quick fix and present the “best” version of ourselves to the world. However, the problem is, when we simply edit our imperfections away, we’re also changing the way we look at ourselves.
Last month, researchers published the article Selfies—Living in the Era of Filtered (过滤的) Photographs. The article analysed photo editing apps’ bad influences on people’s self-respect and their possibility to cause appearance anxieties. The researchers also warned that such apps make it difficult to tell the difference between reality and fantasy. “These apps allow one to change his or her appearance in minutes and follow an unrealistic standard of beauty,” the article reads.
In the past, people may have compared their looks to those of famous people. But for today’s young people, beauty standards are most likely set by what they see on social media. “From birth, they are born into an age of social platforms where their feelings of self-worth can be based purely on the number of likes and followers that they have, which is linked to how good they look,” British cosmetic doctor Tijion Esho told The Independent. This is why many young people suffer an identity trouble when it comes to appearance.
“Now you’ve got this daily comparison of your real self to this fake self that you present on social media,” Renee Engeln, a professor of psychology, told the HuffPost website. Engeln further pointed out that when people spend too much time making such comparisons, they may become “beauty sick” and find it difficult to accept what they actually look like. “Because between you and the world is a mirror. It’s a mirror that travels with you everywhere. You can’t seem to put it down,” she told The Washington Post. So when we look in a real mirror, we shouldn’t think to ourselves, “Do I look as good as myself in the filtered photos?” Instead, we should think, “I feel good; I have my health.”
1. Before uploading a photo to social media, we will probably _________.| A．have an operating to make our eyes look bigger |
| B．use some cream to smooth our skin |
| C．use an app to fix our photo |
| D．edit our perfections away |
| A．In many ways, photo editing apps are beneficial to people. |
| B．Photo editing apps are likely to cause people’s anxieties about their appearance. |
| C．Photo editing apps can make people more beautiful. |
| D．Photo editing apps help people judge realistic beauty. |
| A．Because they compare their looks to those of famous people. |
| B．Because beauty standards are set by social media. |
| C．Because their feelings of self-worth depend on their own likes and dislikes. |
| D．Because their feelings of self-worth depend on their appearance. |
| A．We should feel good about what we actually look like. |
| B．We should spend more time making comparison of our real self to fake self. |
| C．We should take a mirror with us everywhere. |
| D．We should try to look as good as ourselves in the filtered photos. |
What is supposed to happen now is that lots of copycat firms rush in with "generic" (ie, chemically identical) versions of Lipitor at perhaps one-fifth of its price.Patients and health-care payers should reap the benefit.Pfizer's revenues should suffer. The same story will be repeated many times, as other best-selling drugs march over the patent cliff
But generics makers may face delays getting their cheaper versions to market.Ranbaxy, a Japanese-owned drugmaker, struggled to get regulators' approval for its generic version of Lipitor, and only won it on the day the patent expired.More importantly, research-based drug firms are using a variety of tactics to make the patent cliff slope more gently. Jon Leibowitz, chairman of America's Federal Trade Commission (FTC), is concerned by drugmakers filing additional patents on their products to put off the day when their protection expires.
Another tactic(策略) is "pay-for-delay", in which a drugmaker facing a legal challenge to its patent pays its would-be competitor to put off introducing its cheaper copy. In the year to October the FTC identified what it believes to be 28 such settlements. American and European regulators are looking into these deals. However, legal challenges against them have been delayed, and a bill to ban them is stuck in Congress.
To encourage generics makers to challenge patents on drugs, and introduce cheaper copies,
an American law passed in 1984 says that the first one to do so will get a 180-day exclusivity period,in which no other generics maker can sell versions of the drug in question, as Ranbaxy supposedly won with Lipitor.
However, Pfizer is exploiting a loophole(空子) in the 1984 law, which lets it appoint a second, authorised copycat—in this case, Watson, another American firm.According to BernsteinResearch, under the deal between the two drugmakers Pfizer will receive about 70% of Watson's revenues from its approved copy of Lipitor.More unusual, Pfizer has cut the price of its original version, and will keep marketing it vigorously. So Ranbaxy faces not one, but two competitors.
All this may raise Pfizer's sales by nearly $500m in the last half of 2015 compared with what they would otherwise have been, says Tim Anderson of BernsteinResearch, with revenues then falling after the 180 days are over. Others fear that Pfizer's tactics , if copied, will make the 180-day exclusivity period worth far less, and thus discourage generic firms from challenging patents in the first place.
1. The underlined word “blockbusters” in Paragraph 1 refers to “_______’
| A．pills that sell very well |
| B．new patents to appear |
| C．drugmakers to compete with Pfizer |
| D．challenges which Pfizer has to face |
| A．Legal challenges against expired patents have been paid for putting off the cheaper copy. |
| B．Bills to prohibit generic makers have been stuck in Congress. |
| C．Drugmakers try to spend money delaying filing additional patents on popular pills |
| D．Patent-holders give possible competitors money to prevent more losses. |
| A．marketing Lipitor more actively |
| B．making the price of Lipitor go up |
| C．cooperating with Watson to beat Ranbaxy |
| D．encouraging Watson to produce cheaper copies |
| A．Two | B．Three | C．Four | D．Five |
| A．Drugmakers’ struggle |
| B．Generic makers’ dilemma |
| C．Laws concerning patent protection |
| D．Popular pills of Pfizer |
【推荐2】You might be abusing your battery, especially if you have a habit of leaving the screen on, shutting down apps or throwing it in your bag on a particularly freezing morning. Smartphones are designed to keep apps open in the background. Forcibly closing them may satisfy that little part of your brain that wants to keep things neat and tidy, but because it takes more juice to start an app fresh than to wake it up, you’re beating up on your battery every time you do it. Stop!
Avoid letting the temperature of your battery powered device dip below 32 degrees Fahrenheit or rocket above 95 degrees. In either case, damage can occur. It will lower-in some cases, dramatically—the life of your battery.
Petri Hayrynen, senior product marketing manager of Global Smart Devices at HMD Global, said that charging your phone to 100% may seem like a good idea, but if you’re using a high voltage (高电压的) charger, it can put a pressure on your battery. Instead, he said to pull the plug at 80%-90% for best usage and choose to charge often.
“Old nickel (镍) batteries had a memory effect, which meant that if you didn’t charge them from 1-100%, they started to ‘forget’ their maximum capacity. But it is quite different today. As for the modern-day lithium (锂) batteries, the most stress is to put on the battery when charging or discharging them fully; both reduce the charging cycles and overall battery life cycle,” Hayrynen said. He explained that people should do “more fast top-ups during the day,” instead of charging smartphones overnight.
Try to keep the battery above 30% or so, letting it discharge occasionally to calibrate the sensors. That will keep your battery healthier and longer. Besides, to get the absolute fastest charge, toggle on Airplane Mode after plugging it in.
1. Why should you avoid shutting down apps too often?| A．To save your battery. |
| B．To keep things organized. |
| C．To wake them up more easily. |
| D．To make them run in the background. |
| A．100%. | B．80%-90%. | C．70%. | D．30%. |
| A．A high-voltage charger is dangerous. |
| B．Nickel batteries are better than lithium ones. |
| C．Charging smartphones overnight is recommended. |
| D．Discharging batteries fully causes damage. |
| A．Benefits of Lithium Batteries |
| B．Reasons for Battery Life Reduction |
| C．Dos and Don’ts for Battery Charging |
| D．Great Revolution it Smartphone Batteries |
The idea of you and your colleagues heading off for a lie down in the afternoon may seem strange, but some companies such as Google and Facebook actually encourage it. Because it’s thought that a power-nap makes them more refreshed and more focused, and this in turn makes them more productive.
An Australian health writer called Victoria is a founder of a campaign called Nap Now which is trying to make sleeping at work more acceptable. She calls herself a “naptivist”! She says: “I think that our culture is a bit crazy not to accept it… It’s time to end the common work principle which is all about working longer and harder.”
So should we all be taking a sleeping bag and pillow to work with us? A few years ago, research by the East of England Development Agency found 30% of people have their best ideas in bed compared to just 11% who have them at their desk. That suggests people are more creative when they are relaxed--and the agency has called for companies to put beds in the workplace.
A nap in the afternoon is nothing new. In certain hot countries, such as Spain, a short rest or sleep in the afternoon-called a siesta-is perfectly normal. So maybe we should break from the traditional nine-to-five work culture and take up the siesta. The UK’s Sleep Council claims the nine-to-five working day does not fit into the natural sleeping pattern of the human race and says that bosses need to introduce a more sleep-friendly working day.
1. Why are the employees of Google allowed to nap in the workplace?
| A．They are expected to work better. |
| B．They can’t focus their attention on the work. |
| C．They are running the Nap Now campaign. |
| D．They have difficulty in falling sleep at night. |
| A．takes no nap at work |
| B．enjoys napping at work |
| C．studies sleeping at work |
| D．fights against working long hours |
| A．It is a newly practiced pattern. |
| B．It has been taken up in Finland. |
| C．It is sort of traditional work culture. |
| D．It fits into the natural sleeping pattern. |
| A．To explain how to nap at work. |
| B．To show how the new study was carried out. |
| C．To tell us the importance of sleeping at work. |
| D．To call for the more sleep-friendly work culture. |
