【推荐1】Cutlery (餐具) including chopsticks, knives, forks and spoons which delivers an electric shock to change the taste of food could help cut down salt in fast food. Scientists have developed a pair of chopsticks, which can make food taste saltier, sour or bitter without the need for extra seasoning (调味). They are also working on a spoon and fork that could make food taste spicier or sweeter. This “digital seasoning” technology could help food manufacturers and restaurants to reduce the amount of salt they put into food without relinquishing taste.

They work by delivering pulses of electricity to the tip of the tongue to stimulate the tastebuds(味蕾). Dr Nimesha Ranasinghe, an assistant professor who led the work on the electric cutlery, said, “This technology is aimed at creating a virtual taste sensation.”

Some Chinese takeaway food and ready meals were recently found to contain up to 11 times more salt than a bag of crisps — more than half of an adult’s daily allowance. Salt is known to be linked to serious health problems like heart disease and stroke.

But using a pair of electric chopsticks could help cut salt levels without influencing the taste, said Dr Ranasinghe. The technology, which Dr Ranasinghe initially developed while at the University of Singapore, works by installing two electrodes (电极) into each chopstick or the end of a spoon. These electrodes send a weak current through the tip of the tongue when they touch it to stimulate the taste buds.

By controlling the frequency and strength of the electric current, the researchers can stimulate either sourness, saltiness or bitterness. They say up to 80% of people experience changes in saltiness and sourness with the devices and 70% can sense changes in bitterness.

Dr Ranasinghe said he was also working on ways of imitating sweetness and spiciness by rapidly heating and cooling the tongue. It could lead to a spoon that allows desserts to taste sweet while having lower sugar levels or a fork that can give a curry extra heat without the need for extra chilies (辣椒). Dr Ranasinghe said: “We have some early findings of imitating sweetness, a mint-cool sensation and hot or spicy sensations.”

1. What seasoning cutlery has been developed?

A．Chopsticks.

B．Knives.

C．Forks.

D．Spoons.

2. How does the seasoning cutlery work?

A．It cuts down salt in food.

B．It adds extra seasoning in food.

C．It delivers an electric shock to the tongue.

D．It weakens our taste sensation in our mind.

3. What does the underlined word “relinquishing” in Paragraph 1 mean?

A．Removing.

B．Attracting.

C．Acquiring.

D．Compromising.

4. What does the text mainly want to tell us?

A．Give yourself an electric shock to make takeaways healthy.

B．Try to eat at home instead of having take-out food to stay healthy.

C．Make your food taste saltier by using a pair of electric chopsticks.

D．Reduce the amount of salt in your food to avoid health problems.

【推荐3】In a new study with 22 pairs of identical twins, Stanford Medicine researchers have found that a vegan diet improves cardiovascular (心血管) health.

Although it’s well-known that eating less meat improves cardiovascular health, diet studies are often hampered by factors like genetic differences, upbringing and lifestyle choices. By studying identical twins, however, the researchers were able to control genetics and limit the other factors, as the twins grew up in the same households and reported similar lifestyles.

The trial consisted of 22 pairs of identical twins. The study authors selected healthy participants without cardiovascular disease and matched one twin from each pair with either a vegan or omnivore (杂食) diet. The vegan diet was entirely plant-based, including no meat or animal products while the omnivore diet included chicken, fish, eggs and other animal-sourced foods.

During the first four weeks, a meal service delivered 21 meals per week. For the remaining four weeks, the participants prepared their own meals. The participants were interviewed about their dietary intake and kept a record of the food they ate. 43 participants completed the study.

“Our study used a generalizable diet accessible to anyone, because 21 out of the 22 vegans followed through with the diet,” said Christopher Gardner, a professor in the Stanford Prevention Research Center. “This suggests anyone who chooses a vegan diet can improve their long-term health in two months, with the most change seen in the first month.”

The researchers found the most improvement over the first four weeks of the diet change. The participants with a vegan diet had significantly lower low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (脂蛋白胆固醇)   levels, which are associated with improved cardiovascular health than the omnivore participants. The vegan participants also showed approximately a 20% drop in fasting insulin (胰岛素) —a higher insulin level is a risk factor for developing diabetes. The vegans also lost an average of 4. 2 more pounds than the omnivores.

“Based on these results, most of us would benefit from going to a more plant-based diet,” Gardner said. But that doesn’t mean going completely vegan. Adding more plant-based food into your diet is the key to better heart health.

1. Which of the following has the closest meaning to the underlined word “hampered” in paragraph 2?

A．Affected.

B．Enhanced.

C．Destroyed.

D．Accompanied.

2. What do we know about the participants during the study?

A．Each of them was charged for 21 meals.

B．They cooked by themselves in the later part.

C．They regularly reported the food they delivered.

D．Half of them went on a vegan diet consistently.

3. What can be learned from paragraph 5?

A．More people tend to have an omnivore diet.	B．Choosing a more plant-based diet is challenging.
C．A vegan diet has insignificant effects on health.	D．The suggested diet is easily accepted by people.

4. How can a vegan diet affect the participants?

A．They will develop a weaker heart.	B．Their cholesterol level will be the lowest.
C．They will have a healthier weight.	D．Their insulin will be stopped from working.

【推荐1】If you wake up with a headache, your morning may be not pleasant. Some health experts help explain what causes these early-morning headaches and what you can do to wake up with a clear head.

Mind-racing anxiety

    1    . Anxiety is a leading cause of pain and sickness in the body. From tense jaws to even tenser headaches and anxiety, although psychological, they can have real, physical effects. Deep breathing exercises or meditation before bed, as well as a quick ten-minute meditation in the morning will help reset your thoughts and keep any daily stress at bay.

    2    

Both lacking sleep and getting too much sleep can cause head pains. The catch is that people who have headaches are up to eight times more likely to suffer from sleep disorders, making it even tougher to address the root of the problem. Looking at social media late into the night can cause unhealthy sleep patterns.     3    .

Awkward sleep position

Sleeping in an unusual position can result in muscle strain in the head and neck area, leading to morning headaches.     4    . Find a pillow that feels soft yet supportive for the position that you sleep in.

Caffeine withdrawal (脱瘾)

Anyone who has gone for a few days without their caffeine hit knows that withdrawal headaches are real.     5     Cutting down on caffeine consumption, especially later in the day, can help with these types of headaches.

A．Poor sleep patterns

B．Awful sleeping surroundings

C．Calm your thoughts, and ease the ache

D．Drinking a lot of water can help clear your head

E．For best results, keep bed and wake times consistent

F．However, drinking plenty of caffeine can also be a problem

G．Proper support could help ease the likelihood that you'll wake up in pain

【推荐2】Are You Ready to Make a Lifestyle Change?

When it comes to weight loss, the words you might hear are: lifestyle and changes.    1    ! But, if it were that simple, I’d be out of a job and you’d be too busy working out to read this. Losing weight takes hard work and that often means changing different aspects of your life like, how you spend your time, how you schedule your day, and how/what you eat.

What’s Your Lifestyle Like?

    2    . So what is a healthy lifestyle? The typical components include not smoking, eating healthy foods, exercising and keeping the body at a healthy weight. First, figure out how much time you spend doing the following:

Sitting at a desk

    3    

Sitting in front of a computer

Drinking alcohol

Eating fast food or junk foods

Staying up late/not getting enough sleep

Now, How Much Time Do You Spend?

Being active in general (taking the stairs, walking instead of driving, gardening, cleaning, etc.)

Doing cardio exercise

Strength training for all muscle groups with challenging weights

Tracking your calories

Sleeping

Dealing with stress in a healthy way

    4    . Living healthy means spending time and energy on your body — moving it around and paying attention to what you put into it. Staying in an unhealthy lifestyle means you can avoid expending energy, time and effort.

Choosing Health

As humans, we like habits and routines so much that we often keep doing the same things even when we know they aren’t good for us. Changing bad habits takes time and effort.    5    . For example, what time you get up each morning.

A．Sitting in front of a TV

B．How you spend your free time

C．For a healthy lifestyle, you may be changing a variety of things

D．It may seem like losing weight is a simple goal — do some exercise, go on a diet

E．The reason why lifestyle is so important is that it determines how healthy you are

F．Losing weight takes hard work and that often means changing different aspects of your life

G．If you spend more time doing the things in the first list than the second, it’s time to change your lifestyle