A study of older men in The Netherlands, known for its delicious chocolate, showed those who ate the same amount of one-third of a chocolate bar every day had lower blood pressure and a reduced risk of death. The researchers say, however, it's too early to conclude that it was the chocolate that led to better health. The men who ate more cocoa products could have eaten other food that made them healthier. Experts also point out that eating too much chocolate can make you fat -- a risk for both heart disease and high blood pressure. "It's why too early to make recommendations about whether people should eat more cocoa or chocolate," said Brian Buijsse, an expert for nutrition at prefix = st1 /WageningenUniversityin The Netherlands, who co-authored the study. Still, the Dutch Study, supported by grants from the Netherlands Prevention Foundation, appears to be the largest so far to document a health effect for cocoa beans. And it confirms findings of smaller, shorter-term studies that also linked chocolate with lower blood pressure. Researchers examined the eating habits of 470 healthy men who were not taking blood pressure medicine. The men who ate the most products made from cocoa beans -- including cocoa drinks, chocolate bars and chocolate pudding -- had lower blood pressure and a 50 percent lower risk of death. "This is a very important article providing epidemiological support for what many researchers have been observing is experimental models," said Cesar Fraga of the University of California Davis, who does similar research but was not involved in the new study. Could the study results apply to women? "Our study consisted of elderly inch," Buijsse said. "If you look at the other studies, you will see the same effects in men and women, younger people and older people. The findings may be _ to women, but you never know." What is the main purpose of the text? A) To encourage us to eat as much chocolate as possible. B) To prove to us that eating chocolate can reduce blood pressure. C) To inform us of a study about the health benefits of chocolate. D) To warn us not to eat cocoa products because they can make you fat.
C
Let Children Roam Free Everyone agrees that playing outside keeps children thinner. The loss of opportunities for outdoor play is one of the main causes of childhood obesity. What is more remarkable is the growing evidence that children's mental health and emotional well-being are enhanced by contact with the outdoors, and that the restorative effect appears to be strongest in natural settings. Researchers are convinced of the depth of the connection between children's well-being and the environment, claiming that contact with nature may be as important to children as good nutrition and adequate sleep. But now children seem to get less touch with outdoor activities. The root causes of the dramatic loss of children's freedom lie in changes to the very fabric of their lives over the last 30 years or so. The growth in road traffic, alongside poor town planning and shifts in the make-up and daily rhythms of families and communities, have left children with fewer outdoor places to go. These changes coincided with the "culture of fear": a generalized anxiety about all imaginary kinds of threats, even though children are statistically safer from harm now than at any point in human history. These physical, economic and social changes and fears have been made use of by manufactures and advertisers, whose products and messages both reinforce the logic of keeping children virtual prisoners, and force us to compensate them in the only way our cash-rich, time-poor society seems to know: by spending money on them. Government must bear some of the blame for keeping children prisoners indoor, through their promotion of planning policies that favour cars over communities and profit over people. The real planning crimes lie in housing companies occupying attractive parks and green spaces, and in town plans that force families to depend largely on their cars. There is no doubt that traffic danger, unlike stranger danger, is a real threat to children and a constant worry for parents. Around 100 child pedestrians are killed... Children have less outdoor freedom nowadays because _ . A) it is easier to travel by car. B) of fewer outdoor play areas C) of published safety statistics D) more houses will be built
B
Q: My husband and I recently had the chance to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary in Morocco, Our daughter had very kindly given us the trip as a gift a few weeks ago. One day, we were walking around in the lively and crowded streets, having a good time. I was looking at all the amazing places and architectures, and all the beautiful faces of the people around us. While I was excited about all the beautiful things around me, my husband walked into a shop. I was left standing alone in the street. The women in this country are never alone. After fifteen minutes, I started feeling a little uneasy. A street man dressed in torn, ragged clothes was coming towards me. To tell the truth, I thought the worst at that moment. I thought he was a beggar who was coming to ask for money. As he was passing, he stopped and touched my shoulder. He looked directly at me and the enormous love shining through his eyes made me relaxed. He then asked, "D' accord? D' accord?" I nodded yes. And with his smile, calmness and those incredible peaceful loving eyes, I was moved for days, and my mind was filled with the memory of such a kind person. For me, it was a reminder that we can all talk a good talk , but it is the action that matters. Usually, I tell others that we should be loving towards everyone. That day, I felt sorry as I did not walk my talk . But this stranger in rags gave me the most special reminder. He showed me the beauty that anyone can receive care and concern, at any moment, from the most unlikely sources. What did the author think when the man was approaching? A) The man was going to rob her B) The man was going to ask for money C) The man was going to say hello to her. D) The man was going to ask her the way
A: B
Have you ever seen people dance? Some dances are fast and others are slow. People's feet always move when they dance. They keep on moving until the music stops. People have enjoyed dancing for a very long time. This story is of a different kind of dance. It is a dance without people or music. Yet this dance is one of the oldest in the world. It is the dance of bees. If you have ever watched bees, you know that they are very clever. They also work hard looking for food and bringing it back to their home. The home of the bees is called a bee hive. Here hundreds even thousand of bees live. They work day and night building small walls. There they make their honey. This is the same honey that we eat. Where does the honey come from? Bees live on food from flowers. Have you seen bees flying around a flower garden? When a bee rests on a flower, it tries to go to the centre of it. There it takes in as much food as its body can hold. Then it flies to take the food back to the hive. At the hive, bees change flower food into honey. Then they fly away for more food. How do the bees know where to find the best food in the sweetest flowers? One bee acts as a guide. When it discovers good flowers, it flies back to the hive and tells the others. It does this by dancing for them. The bee dances on one side. This tells the other bees which way to go to find the flowers. But that is not all. The bee dances for some time. And the length of its dance tells the other bees how far they must fly to reach the flowers. When the bees see the dance, they know where the flowers are. They fly away and return with more food for the hive. Sometimes we hear the music of the bees as they fly around. But few people have ever seen them dance. Yet without that dance we might never have sweet honey to eat. What character do bees have? A) dance-loving B) hard-working C) music-loving D) active
B