Now there is an increasing number of inactive people, namely the “mouse potato”. A mouse potato is someone who sits in front of his or her computer all day and eats junk food instead of regular meals. Why are we becoming potatoes and what can we do to avoid it?

One reason behind it is our modern way of life. We don’t have as much time to prepare and eat food as we used to.     1    Not all of these are bad for us, of course, but they make it more difficult for us to control what we eat.

If we want to be healthy, we should make good choices about what we eat.   It is not necessary to become a vegetarian, but we must make sure that our diet is varied and balanced. A healthy diet should give us the calories we need but not contain too much fat and sugar. The number of calories our body needs depends on what our body type is, how much we weigh and how active we are.

Teenagers need about 2,500 calories a day.    2    Getting the calories we need is not enough. If we want to be healthy, we must make sure that we get the calories in the best way possible. The best source for calories is carbohydrates, which are found in gains, vegetables and fruit. Our bodies store carbohydrates in our muscles so that we can get energy when we need it.

Junk food has a lot of calories but few nutrients, vitamins and minerals, Some food does have nutrients, for example pizza, but because it contains too many calories, it is still called junk food. A healthy diet should include a variety of food, most of which should be rich in nutrients.     3     Those of us who love French fries, sweets, ice cream and cheeseburgers can still enjoy an unhealthy bite every now and then. All we have to do is to be careful how often and how much we eat of it.

If we make the right choices about what we eat, we will be healthier and have more energy to enjoy the good things in life.     4    And remember, it is better to eat a potato than to be one.

3 . What Makes a Nobel Laureate?

Are there any predictors that point to who will be selected as Nobel laureates?

Is brilliance in childhood a predictor? When the 2006 chemistry laureate, Roger Kornberg, was asked what he wanted for Christmas, he said, “A week in the lab.”     1    . Mario Capecchi (medicine, 2007) was an abandoned child on the streets of wartime Italy.

    2    . Five of Enrico Fermi’s (physics, 1938) postdoctoral students went on to win the Nobel Prize. Otto Warburg (medicine, 1931) advised an American doctoral student, “If you wish to become a scientist, you must ask a successful scientist to accept you in his laboratory.”

Experts often recommend that people specialize in one field of work or research to maximize their chances of success.     3     If you look at the careers of Nobel Prize winners, you’ll find that they are unusually likely to be “creative polymaths.” That is, they purposely integrate formal and informal expertise from widely varied disciplines to yield new and useful ideas and practices.

There remains one quality that is essential. It is what Leon Lederman (physics, 1988) called “compulsive dedication.”     4    . Take Marie Curie (physics, 1903; chemistry, 1911) and her husband Pierre (physics, 1903). The Curies were assigned a shed with a leaking roof and a dirt floor, where they worked for years, freezing in winter and sweltering in summer. “And yet,” Marie Curie wrote in her biography of her husband, “it was in this miserable old shed that the best and happiest years of our life were spent, entirely dedicated to work.”

Charles Darwin formulated the most successful theory in the history of biology: the theory of evolution. He was also responsible for another grand theory: the theory of emotion, which dominated his field for more than a century. Its core principle was that the mind consists of two competing forces: the rational and the emotional.     1    

We now know that, on the contrary, emotions enhance our process of reasoning and aid our decision-making. In fact, we can’t make decisions, or even think, without being influenced by our emotions.

    2     Perhaps the most important discovery regarding the role of emotion is that even when you believe you are exercising cold, logical reason, you are not. People are not usually aware of this, but the very framework (框架) of their thought process is highly influenced by what they are feeling at the time - sometimes subtly (细微地).

Consider anger, for example. Backed by the threat of attack, anger creates incentives (动机) for others to comfort the angry individual. Your mental calculations increase the importance you place on your own welfare and goals at the expense of others’. Coaches tap into anger as a motivational tool because the focus on the self encourages athletes to push themselves to achieve their goals. Anger also causes you to perceive less risk.     3    

The new view of emotion may not correspond to the way Darwin saw it, but it does support one of the basic conclusions of his theory of evolution. Humans are not as different from non-human animals as people believed. What can we learn from this? The first and most crucial step is self- awareness.     4     By studying our own emotions, we can read others’ better and communicate more effectively. Once we are in touch with our true feelings, we can take steps to manage them whenever it benefits.

7 . There are many customs and traditions connected to yearly celebrations which are part of Britain’s folklore (民俗). Lughnasadh is a celebration at the beginning of August.     1     The doll is saved until the following spring when it is put back into the earth with new seeds. People believe that the doll contains the spirit of the corn and will bring a good harvest. Christmas too is full of ancient customs. The traditions of lighting a fire and decorating the home with an evergreen have their roots in times. The fire is to keep away evil spirits and fill the home with light and the evergreen is valued because it is a sign that life continued during those cold, dark days.

    2     The roots of Morris dancing, for example, are not known. This is a dance in which men(and sometimes women)dressed in white dance together. Some people think the dance may be from pre-Christmas times, and others say it was introduced into Britain in the late 15th century and that it comes from Moorish dancing. In any case, it is interesting to see that Morris dancing is not a dying tradition.     3    

Although these customs have been passed down to us from forgotten generations, they themselves have not been forgotten and continue to play a part in our modern lives.     4     This month people all over Britain shall be preparing their homes for the ancient celebration we now call Christmas, lighting fires and putting up Christmas trees, just as their great-great-grandfathers once did.

8 . When you’re climbing up a hill or playing sports, your back is all wet and so is your face. Why? Because you are sweating.     1    When your body gets hotter than that, your brain doesn’t like it. It wants your body to stay cool and comfortable. So the part of your brain that controls temperature sends a message to your body, telling it to sweat. Then sweat glands(腺)in your skin start making sweat.

    2    They are all called pores(毛孔)academically. When the sweat hits the air, the air makes it turn from a liquid to a vapor. As the sweat leaves off your skin you cool down.

Sweat is great cooling system. If you’re sweating a lot on a hot day or after playing hard, you could be losing too much water through your skin. Then you need to put liquid back in your body by drinking plenty of water so you won’t get dehydrated(脱水的).

Sweat isn’t just wet—it can be kind of stinky, too.     3    It’s the bacteria that live on your skin that mix with the sweat and give it a unpleasant smell. And when you reach adolescence, special hormones affect the glands in your armpits(腋窝)—these glands make sweat that can really smell. Luckily, regular washing with soap and water can usually keep stinky sweat under control.

So don’t feel sorry about a little sweat—it’s totally normal and everybody sweats. Sometimes too much sweating can be a sign that there is something wrong in the body, but this is rare in kids.     4    

9 . Symptoms of Culture Shock and Their Stages

Like any new experience, there’s a feeling of euphoria (兴高采烈) when you first arrive in a new country and you’re in awe of the differences you see and experience.     1    During this stage, you still feel close to everything familiar back home.

The Distress Stage

Everything you’re experiencing no longer feels new; in fact, it’s starting to feel like a thick wall that’s preventing you from experiencing things. You feel confused, alone, and realize that the familiar support systems are not easily available.

Re-integration Stage

During this stage, you start refusing to accept the differences you meet.     2    You start to idealize life “back home“ and compare your current culture to what is familiar. You dislike the culture, the language and the food. You throw it as inferior. You may even develop some prejudices (偏见) towards the new culture. Don’t worry. This is normal. You’re adjusting.

Autonomy Stage

This is the first stage of acceptance. It’s the emergence stage when you start to rise above the clouds and finally begin to feel like yourself again. You start to accept the differences and feel like you can begin to live with them.     3    You no longer feel isolated and instead; you’re able to look at the world around you and appreciate where you are.

Independence Stage

    4    You embrace the new culture and see everything in a new, yet realistic light. You feel comfortable, confident, and able to make decisions based on your preferences. You no longer feel alone and isolated. You appreciate both the differences and similarities of your new culture. You start to feel at home.

10 . Britain has a population of over 66 million.     1    About 80% of the population live in England, with over 8 million in the capital. The rest are distributed in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

    2    These people settled in England and drove the native Celtic people (凯尔特人) to the mountainous areas of Wales and Scotland. Their language became the official language of the country.

Most people in Wales and Scotland are descendants of the Celtic people who were the earliest known inhabitants of Britain.     3    

Besides the early groups from Europe, Britain has a considerable number of Italians, Greeks, Australians and New Zealanders who have settled in the country as permanent residents. In addition, there is a large number of immigrants from Africa and Asia. Most of them come from the former colonies of the British Empire, such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh (孟加拉国), the Caribbean Islands and a number of African countries. All these immigrants have made Britain one of the most culturally diverse countries in Europe. In London, for instance it is estimated that more than 300 languages and dialects are spoken.

English is a member of the Indo-European family of languages (印欧语系). This broad family includes most of the European languages spoken today.     4    This group began as a common language about 3,000 years ago and was later split into three distinct subgroups: East Germanic, North Germanic and West Germanic. English evolved from the West Germanic group. The development of the English language can be divided into three periods: Old English, Middle English and Modern English.