A new study finds that the animal known as man's best friend can also be a good friend to the heart. Researchers in California say they have found that even just a short visit with a dog helped ease the worries of heart patients. The study divided the patients into three groups. In Group A, a dog and a person visited each patient for twelve minutes. Patients in Group B received just a human visitor for twelve minutes. And members of Group C received no visitor, human or canine . The dogs would lie on the hospital bed so the heart patients could touch them. The researchers say some patients immediately smiled and talked to the dog and the human visitor. Dogs, in her words, "make people happier, calmer and feel more loved." The researchers examined the patients before, during and after the visits. They measured stress levels based on blood flow and heart activity. They say they found a twenty-four percent decrease in the group visited by both a dog and a person. They reported a ten percent decrease in the group visited by a person only. There was no change in the patients without any visit. These patients, however, did have an increase in their production of the hormone epinephrine (epinephrine). The body produces epinephrine during times of stress. The increase was an average of seven percent. But the study found that patients who spent time with a dog had a seventeen percent drop in their levels of epinephrine. Patients visited by a human but not a dog also had a decrease, but only two percent. Which of the following is the best title for the passage? A) Worried Heart Patients B) Epinephrine and Stress C) Good Friend to the Heart D) Three Groups of Patients
C
Forget hard work and perseverance. Getting ahead is as simple as tidying your desk. According to a leading expert, having a cluttered environment reflects a cluttered mind, but the act of tidying up can help you be more successful. The advice comes from Jayne Morris, the resident"life coach" for NHS Online, who said it is no good just moving the mess around. In order to clear the mind, unwanted items must be thrown away to free your "inner world", she said. Ms Morris, who claims to have coached celebrities to major business figures, said:"Clearing clutter from your desk has the power to transform your business. " How? Because clutter in your outer environment is the physical sign of all the clutter going on inside of you. " Clearing clutter has a chain effect across your entire life, including your work. Having an untidy desk covered in clutter could be stopping you achieving the business success you want. " She is sure cleaning up will be helpful even though some of history's biggest achievers lived and worked in messy conditions. Churchill was considered untidy from a boy throughout his life, from his office to his artist's studio,and the lab where Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin was famously untidy. Among the recommendations is that simply tidying a desk at work and an overflowing filing cabinet will instantly have a positive impact on "your inner world. " Anything that is no longer used should not be put into storage but thrown away completely. Keeping something in the loft, garage or other part of the house, does not help because it is still connected to the person "by tiny energetic li.nes", Ms Morris. claims. She said, "The things in your life that are useful to you, that add value to your life, that serve a current purpose are charged with positive energy that refreshes you and enriches your life. But the things that you don't ever use and don't need anymore have the opposite effect on your energy. Things that no longer fit or serve you, use up your energy. " According to Ms Morris, an untidy desk probably means that _ A) you are quite a failure B) you are in a messy mind C) you are toe tired to deal with it D) you have achieved the business success
B
Q: A fouryearold boy has become pen pals with Britain's Queen Elizabeth.Tom Stancombe started exchanging letters with the queen after he set free a balloon,carrying his name and address,at a school party and it landed in the grounds of Windsor Castle. The queen spotted the balloon and asked her personal assistant,Angela Kelly,to write a letter on her behalf. She wrote,"The queen was delighted to find that your balloon had traveled all the way to the gardens at Windsor Castle." Tom,who proudly put the letter on his wall,wrote back to say that his great,great grandfather,the artist Petrus Johannes Arundzen,had been commissioned to copy Dutch masters' on display at Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace. Angela at once replied that she would contact the Royal Collection to find out what had happened to the art works.She kept her word and two weeks later wrote to Tom to tell him what had happened to the _ ,explaining they now form part of the print collection in the Print Library. Angela then asked a favor of Tom,writing,"Would you be able to ask your Mummy and Daddy for me if they know anything more about your great,great grandfather.Royal Collection would love to know more about him." Along with his parents,Tom wrote back to fill in all the gaps about Petrus Johannes Arundzen. Although Tom's parents don't think there will be any more letters exchanged between the pair,they were touched that she had taken time to contact them. Tom's father said,"I don't expect we'll get another one,but I think it's incredible they bothered replying at all." Which would be the best title for the text? A) A Boy's Good Luck B) Tom's Special Balloon C) A Story at Windsor Castle D) Fouryearold Boy Becomes the Queen's Pen Pal
A: D
(Q).
Americans use many expressions with the word dog.People in the United States love their dogs and treat them well.They take their dogs for walks,let them play outside and give them good food and medical care.However, dogs without owners to care for them lead a different kind of 1ife.The expression,to lead a dog's life,describes a person who has an unhappy existence. Some people say we live in a dog-eat-dog world.That means many people are competing for the same things,like good jobs.To be successful,a person has to work like a dog.Such hard work can make people dog-tired,or sick as a dog. Still,people say every dog has its day.This means that every person enjoys a successful period during his or her life.To be successful, people often have to learn new skills.Yet.some people say that you can never teach all old dog new tricks.They believe that older people do not like to learn new things and wilt not change the way they do things. Husbands and wives use this doghouse term when they are angry at each other.For example,a woman might get angry at her husband for coming home late or forgetting their wedding anniversary.She might tell him that he is in the doghouse.She may not treat him nicely until he apologizes.However,the husband may decide that it is best to 1eave things alone and not create more problems.He might decide to let sleeping dogs lie. Dog expressions are also used to describe the weather.The dog days of summer are the hottest days of the year.A rainstorm may cool the weather.But we do not want it to rain too hard.We do not want it to rain cats and dogs. When people compete against each other and will do any thing to get what they want,we use _ A) 1ead a dog's life B) a dog-tired competition C) a dog-eat-dog world D) a dirty dog
(A).
C