1 . People love to sing! Whether you sing in the shower or with a chorus, raising your voice in song comes with some very surprising benefits. From improving your mood to making you healthier, there is scientific evidence that singing is good for your body and your mind.     1    

It helps relieve stress.

Singing can help relieve stress by reducing cortisol(皮质醇), a hormone that is known as the “stress hormone”.     2     Too much cortisol is very bad for your health. A study measured the amount of cortisol in the participants before and after singing. The researchers found that cortisol levels were lower after singing.

    3    

People who sing use deep breathing and control the use of the muscles in their breathing systems. While singing cannot treat lung diseases, anything that helps to strengthen the throat muscles could help people breathe easier.

It helps you have a sound sleep.

If your sleep is interrupted by snoring(打鼾), try singing.     4     A 2008 UK study about the effect of singing on snoring compared singers with non-singers. The researchers found that far fewer singers snored, and they recommend singing as a potential treatment for snoring.

It may improve memory.

    5     A study found that besides remembering the lyrics(歌词), singing brought back other memories too. The researchers found that singing songs that were learned in childhood actually caused a return of very specific memories and that gave the participants a feeling of hope and positivity.

2 . On Wednesday, a search team called Endurance 22 announced that it had located the wreck (沉船) Endurance. The Endurance was found 1. 87 miles below the ocean’s surface, about four miles south of its last known location near Antarctica. The ship sank after it got trapped in the ice in the Weddell Sea in 1915.

The discovered ship is still in excellent shape. The name can be clearly read on the back of the ship. Its wheel looks ready to be turned. Even though the ship is made of wood and is over 100 years old, it has survived with little damage. Scientists say that the small organisms (微生物) that normally break down wooden objects underwater don’t live in cold water around Antarctica.

The Endurance 22 is led by the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust. The team ran the project from an ice-breaking ship which was able to handle the difficult conditions of the Weddell Sea. To locate the Endurance, the team used two underwater robots called Sabertooths, which were especially useful, since they could travel under the ice and go where the ship could not. The robots were looking for anything sticking up above the seafloor. For the last two weeks, the Sabertooths robots have been scanning the seafloor in a 150-square mile area around the Endurance’s last known location. Last Saturday, the ship was found. After the ship was located, the Sabertooths used high-quality cameras and scanners to record the Endurance in detail.

The Endurance is expected to remain untouched. Antarctica’s waters are protected by an international agreement, which means the ship can’t be disturbed. The Endurance 22 team plans to create a digital 3D model of the wreck site, using a careful scan they made. This will allow scientists to study the ship in detail without disturbing it.

3 . Check out these places and have the vacation of a lifetime in Greece!

Lovely Ithaca

Located on the Ionian Sea, Ithaca is a combination of the greenest landscapes in Greece, the most wonderful swimming waters and a lively local atmosphere. When going around the narrow island, you will be attracted by the hilltop village Stavros and the beautiful fishing village Frikes. For motorists, Kaminia beach, hidden in a peaceful cove, is the perfect destination for a day of relaxation.

Breathtaking Meteora

Although when you go to Greece, you often go to the beaches and islands, one of the must-visit destinations in Greece is definitely the breathtakingly beautiful Meteora, located on the mainland next to the village of Kalabaka. It is a natural attraction and the second most important monastic area in Greece, which is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Meteora’s landscape is made special by the rocks shaped like columns (柱状物) over time, on which the Monasteries (修道院) of the area were built around the 14th and 16th centuries.

Ios — the favorite destination of the future

Ios may be left out of many people’s plans as it is known as a party island, but in fact the party season only lasts from about half of June to mid-August. In the off-season, the island is very quiet compared to popular destinations such as Santorini. Of course, Ios is an absolute destination for party-goers even in midsummer. Ios is dotted with a number of small churches. What makes Ios interesting is its setting for an ideal holiday without crowds and noise. Here is a guaranteed hit of the future, waiting to be discovered!

In 1972, UNESCO started a program to protect the world’s cultural and     1     (nature) heritage. Since then, a large number of cultural sites     2    (add) to the World Heritage List. The Taj Mahal in India and the Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties in China    3     (be) two of the best known examples.

The Taj Mahal, one of the most beautiful buildings in the world, is a masterpiece(杰作) of architecture.     4     took more than 20,000 workers and 1,000 elephants to complete the project, and the stones came from as far away as China.

    5    makes the Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties unique is that they bring together architecture and philosophy.      6     (build) between 1368 and 1915, the tombs represent(代表) Chinese cultural and historical     7      (value) that have been handed down from generation to generation for thousands of years.

Human life lasts only a short time     8    art and culture last forever. The program attempts     9     (protect) and preserve the best of human history. Masterpieces such as the Taj Mahal and the Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties remind us      10     the things we can achieve at our finest, and inspire us to live up to our great past in the future.

8 . “Leave a place better than you found it.” It’s a ________philosophy (人生哲学), but one that William Lindesay holds dear. On April 22, which was also Earth Day, he led twenty _______to help clean up the Jiankou section of the Great Wall.

“He who ________is the owner”, William said in the opening remarks of the cleanup event in 2000. “The Great Wall _________ China, and is also one of the greatest cultural relics in the world. Everyone has a _________to protect it. Every day should be Earth Day,” he said.

During the past three decades, he has spent most of his time _________and exploring the Great Wall and has made his own __________to protect the cultural relic. “It’s a ________thing that people are going out to enjoy themselves and to _________the great history and heritage, but it’s also quite dangerous if they don’t __________how fragile the historic sites are and how fragile the _________is,” William said.

In 1991, his first _________Alone on the Great Wall was published, and he has published another five books about the Great Wall since then. In 2001, he __________ the International Friends of the Great Wall, an organization whose aim is to protect this _________to the past.

His next step is to _________exhibitions (展览会) about the Great Wall as a monument over the last 400 years. The exhibitions are expected to be held in Beijing, London, Paris and Washington D.C.

9 . Macao is only forty miles from Hong Kong and it is easy to reach. You can get there by sea. It is an interesting place and it has a long history. Macao is part of China and most people living there are Chinese.

The first Europeans in Macao came from Portugal. More than four hundred years ago the Portuguese went there to trade with Chinese. Some settled and made their homes there. They built strong forts(要塞) to guard the city and the harbor. They also built churches, schools, hospitals and other places. Slowly the city grew. People from many other countries came to live and work in Macao.

Today many people live in Macao. Some only go there to watch dog racing or motor racing. But Macao is a quiet and peaceful place. It is pleasant just to walk around and look at the old buildings and forts. You feel you are back in the old days. Of course, some of the buildings are now in ruins. The Church of St. Paul has only the front wall with many steps leading up to it. But it is still interesting to see.

When you are hot and tired, there are small cool gardens to rest in. When you are hungry, there are good restaurants with many kinds of foods. Nearby there are some islands, which are also nice to visit and easy to reach. There is certainly a lot to see and do in Macao.

10 . There are many bridges on the Thames in London; the following are among the most famous ones.

Tower Bridge

Tower Bridge has stood over the Thames in London since 1894 and is one of the finest, most recognisable bridges in the world. It is the bridge in London you may see in movies and on advertising writing for London. Tower Bridge is the only Thames bridge that can be raised. It used to be raised about 50 times a day, but nowadays it is only raised 4 to 5 times a week.

London Bridge

The construction of the first stone London Bridge started in 1176 and finished years later. Houses and shops were once built on the bridge, which made the road so narrow that it was often jammed with people, horses and carts. A “keep left” rule was made in 1733 to keep the traffic moving. This became the rule of the road in Britain. In 1757 the old bridge was pulled down and a new one was built in 1831. Interestingly, that one was pulled down again in 1967 but rebuilt in Lake Havasu City, the USA, as a tourist attraction. The present London Bridge was opened in 1973.

Millennium Bridge

Millennium Bridge is a bridge for walkers. Almost immediately after its opening, the bridge had to be shut because of the dangerous waving caused by too many visitors. It has now been reopened. The bridge is about 320 metres, costs 16 million pounds to build and only takes walkers.

Westminster Bridge

Westminster Bridge is a road and foot traffic bridge over the Thames between Westminster and Lambeth. The present bridge, opened in 1862, is the second on the site and took the place of an earlier bridge opened in 1750. The British romantic poet, William Wordsworth, wrote a famous poem composed upon Westminster Bridge in the autumn of 1802.