【推荐1】Sorry to say, our brains naturally start slowing down at the cruelly young age of 30. It used to be thought that this couldn't be helped, but people of any age could train their brains to be faster and, in effect, younger. Our brain is a learning machine. Given the right tools, we can train our brains to act like they did when we were younger. All that is required is dedicated (专注的)practice: exercise for the mind.

Michael Merzenich, a neuroscientist at the University of California, San Francisco, has developed a computer-based training schedule to speed up how the brain processes information, called Brain Fitness Program. Since much of the data we receive comes through speech, the program works with language and hearing to improve both speed and accuracy.

Over the course of your training, the program starts asking you to distinguish sounds (between “dog”and “bog”, for instance) at an increasingly faster rate. It’s a bit like a tennis. instructor, shooting balls at you faster and faster over the course of the summer to keep you challenged. Though you may have started out slow, a month later you’re pretty quick, ” says Merzenich.

The biggest finding in brain research in the last ten years is that the brain at any ag6: is highly adaptable. If you ask your brain to learn, it will learn. And it may speed up in the process.

To keep your brain young, you can do one of a million new activities that challenge and excite you: playing Ping-Pong or contract bridge, doing puzzles, learning a new language or a dance, taking piano lessons, building a model airplane, mastering gardening technique, discovering the secrets of beer-making and, sure, relearning advanced mathematics.

Anything that closely engages your focus and is strongly rewarding will kick your brain into learning mode and will definitely improve it. Give one of these interesting brain exercises airy.

【推荐2】Feel tired lately? Has a doctor said he can’t find anything wrong with you? Perhaps he sends you to a hospital, but all the advanced equipment there shows there is nothing wrong with you.

Then, consider this: you might be in a state of sub-health.

Sub-health, also called the third state or gray state, is explained as borderline state between health and disease.

According to the investigation by the National Organization, over 45 percent of sub-health people are middle-aged or elderly. The percentage is even higher among people who work in management positions as well as students around exam-week.

Symptoms include a lack of energy, depression, slow reactions, insomnia, agitation, and poor memory. Other symptoms include shortness of breath, sweating and aching in the waist and legs.

The key to preventing and recovering from sub-health, according to some medical experts, is to form good living habits, alternate work and rest, exercise regularly, and take part in open air activities.

As for meals, people are advised to eat less salt and sugar. They should also eat more fresh vegetables, fruits, fish because they are rich in nutritional elements—vitamins and trace elements—that are important to the body.

Nutrition experts point out that it is not good to eat too much at one meal because it may cause unhealthy changes in the digestive tract. They also say that a balanced diet is very helpful in avoiding sub-health.

【推荐3】Sleep to Lose Weight

A recent study found that people who sleep less tend to be fat. Experts said it's time to find out if more sleep can fight obesity.

Nowadays, the most popular method to keep fit is doing more exercise and eating less. Some people even take weight-loss drugs to keep slim, which is unhealthy and harmful to your body. "     1    As a result, we’ve failed to recognize the value of good sleep," said a physician.

Men sleep an average of 27 minutes less than women, and overweight and fat patients sleep less than patients with normal weights. In general, fat people just sleep about 1.8 hours less a week than those with normal weights.    2    Only an extra 20 minutes of sleep per night contributes to a lower BODY MASS INDEX （身体质量指数）.

We caution that this study does not establish a cause-and-effect relationship between limited sleep and fatness.    3    Therefore, let's stay thin by sleeping more!

Here are some other advantages of sleeping more.

• You'll learn better.

This isn't just for children. Adults who get enough sleep also do better on tests of short-term memory.

•    4    

After getting enough sleep, you will find yourself feeling happy and delighted.

• Lower stress.

    5    With that people can better control their blood pressure.

【推荐1】Now, perhaps, more than ever before, people are wondering what life is all about, and what it is for. Seeking material success is beginning to trouble large numbers of people around the world. They feel that the long-hour work culture to make more money to buy more things is eating up their lives, leaving them very little time or energy for family or hobbies. Many are turning to other ways of living and downshifting is one of them.

Six percent of the workers in Britain took the decision to downshift last year. One couple who downshifted are Daniel and Liz. They used to work in central London. He was a newspaper reporter and she worked for an international bank. They would go to work by train every day from their large house in the suburbs, leaving their two children with a nanny. Nearly twice a month Daniel had to fly to New York for meetings. They both earned a large amount of money but began to feel that life was passing them by.

Nowadays, they run a farm in the mountains of Wales. “I always wanted to have one here,” says Daniel, “and we took almost a year to make the decision to downshift. it's taken some time getting used to, but it's been worth it. We have to think twice now about spending money on car repairs and we no longer have any holidays. However, I think it's made us stronger as a family, and the children are a lot happier.”

Liz, however, is not quite sure. “I used to enjoy my job, even though it was hard work and long hours. I'm not really a country girl, but I suppose I'm gradually getting used to looking after the animals. One thing I do like, though, is being able to see more of my children. My advice for other people wanting to do the same is not to think about it too much or you might not do it at all.”

【推荐2】At this selection of five museums, more French will be heard and visitors might feel a sense of satisfaction when knowing they have arrived at a place that native Parisians also enjoy when going on a trip.

Being a must-see place in the museum at present, the Grand Gallery of Evolution dates back to the 1880s. Playing as a zoology building in the past, it reopened to the public in 1994. The entire museum exhibits more than 9,000 preserved(保存）animals and insects.

The museums collection covers centuries of European classical music and instruments, with decorated pianos and hundreds of horns and string instruments. Live performances take place in the galleries of the museum every day. The museum provides two versions (版本）of its English-language audio (声音的）guide, one for children and the other for adults.

At this museum, guides describe the history of Europe’s traveling fairs and explain signs (符号）that identify the beginning of the country with a carousel horse (旋转木马）.Book your tickets ahead of time on the museum’s website. Tours in French are offered several days a week all year round，and English -language tours are offered in the summer months.

It was founded during the French Revolution to show its advanced (先进的）science and technologies and has since received several updates (更新）.Early planes，including the first to cross the English Channel, hang from the ceiling of one building. The collection has different exhibitions, with ancient cars, early engines and elements (元素)used in the building of the Statue of Liberty.

【推荐3】Having your nose in a book might seem a little anti-social at times — but reading could actually make you a kinder, more considerate person, a study has found. Readers were more likely to act in a socially acceptable manner, while those who preferred watching television came across as less friendly and less understanding of

123 participants in the study were quizzed on their preferences for books, TV and plays at Kingston University, London. They were then tested on how much they considered people's feelings and whether they acted to help others. Researchers told the British Psychological Society conference in Brighton yesterday that fiction fans showed more positive social behavior.

Readers of drama and romance novels were also empathic, while lovers of experimental books showed the ability to see things from different directions. Comedy fans scored the highest for relating to others. The study suggested reading allows people to see different points of view, enabling them to understand others better.

The researchers added, “Exposure to fiction relates to a range of empathetic abilities. Engaging with fictional prose and comedy in particular could be key to improving people's empathetic abilities.”

However, the authors warned the study did not prove cause-and-effect. So it could be that reading causes positive behavior, or it could be that thoughtful, well-mannered people are more likely to prefer reading. So it is a good idea to pick up a book to begin your travel with the author. Each author will show how they would react to certain situations or confrontations through their characters. Everyone can view the same situation differently, and from 1001 different angles. The more you read, the much better you can understand other peoples' opinions.