Most people looking for ways to quit smoking worry about weight gain, and with good reason. Smokers who quit tend to pack on an average of 5 pounds after they stop smoking cigarettes. A new study, published by the journal Science, explains why this happens. The new research explains that nicotine appears to combine with appetite-regulating neurons in the brain, besides the receptors that bring about addiction. These neurons help regulate how much food gets consumed, but under the influence of nicotine, they lose their self-control. This is why when smokers quit, they tend to eat more and gain weight. The researchers believe that their discovery will lead to the development of drugs that aim at nicotine receptors on brain cells that control appetite. In the future, weight gain may no longer be a reason for smokers to delay the decision to kick the habit, but that's no reason to wait. Nicotine-replacement treatment, while not for everyone, can help. Here are a few more ways to quit smoking and stay slim. Drink water. To improve metabolic rates, make half of those glasses ice water. Juice can be too high in calories, something you'll want to keep an eye on your journey toward being a slimmer non-smoker. Plan your snacks. Healthy snacks help keep your metabolism working, so you continue to burn calories while stopping wild hunger pain, or fake hunger. Keep moving. Exercise kills two birds with one stone. It helps you burn calories and prevents you from eating when you're not truly hungry. It's also a feel-good stress reliever . Focus on your fitness and how being healthy makes you feel. Make exercise a goal and think of quitting as your reward for being physically fit. Which of the following changes people's appetite according to the new research? A) Nicotine. B) Appetite-regulating neurons. C) The receptors that bring about addiction. D) The food that has been consumed.
A
On Saturday, millions of people around the world will celebrate Saint Patrick's Day, which honors Patron Saint(a main religious figure)of Ireland. Communities across the United States will host parades , parties, and other festivities to mark the occasion. This year, cities like Boston, New York, and Chicago have organized big events celebrating Saint Patrick's Day. In New York City, hundreds of thousands of people will gather to watch the Saint Patrick's Day parade-the nation's largest. It is one of the most watched parades in the world. Last year, almost 2 million watched it , more than 150,000 took part in it and they filled the streets. The parade, first held in 1776, is also one of the oldest. Chicago also throws a big celebration. Every year, the Chicago River, which crosses the city, shines green as event organizers pour about 40 pounds of fluorescence, a powerful dye , into the water. Boston keeps its parade rolling for three hours or more. It is the nation's second-largest parade. The city will also show respect to one of its most famous former residents, President John F. Kennedy, by opening the exhibit "A Journey Home:John F. Kennedy and Ireland", at his official library. Patron Saint lived in Britain in the early fifth century, when it was still part of the Roman Empire. He was caught and sold into slavery in Ireland when he was only 16. He finally escaped slavery and turned to a life of religious devotion. He trained to become a minister and set out to spread Christianity throughout Ireland. After 30 years as a religious leader, Patrick died on March 17, 1461. Saint Patrick's Day is always celebrated on March 17. In Ireland, it is an official holiday. What's the best title of the passage? A) Celebrations across the Country B) An Official Holiday in US C) The Largest Parade in the World D) Saint Patrick's Day
D
Q: Of the several films Hirokazu has made about childhood and children, this one is the most modest, but no less pleasing for its delicate style and small setting. This wise and funny film works small miracles in describing such a moment when kids turn from the wishfulness of childhood into shaping the world for themselves. The sweetly reflective hero, a sixth-grader named Koichi, starts out by wishing for a volcano to erupt. Not just any volcano, but the one that towers above his town, smoking heavily and giving off ash. An eruption would lead to a withdrawing, which would lead, at least in his mind, to a reunion with his father and kid brother, who've been living in Hakata while Koichi lives with his mother and retired grandparents in Kagoshima. The volcano, knowing nothing of this, refuses to erupt, but Koichi hears of another approach to realizing the desired miracle. One of the pleasures of I Wish is watching how kids behave -- how Koichi attacks his dinner, for example. Another pleasure is rediscovering how kids think. These kids can be logical and ever so tricky. But children's thought processes can also be fancy. A boy wishes he could play baseball like one of baseball stars, who eats curry for breakfast; so he, too, starts eating curry for breakfast, instead of practicing on the field. Another boy tries to wish his dead dog, Marble, back to life. And what does Koichi finally wish for? I wish you'd see this delightful film to find out. What does the writer intend to do in this text? A) To recommend a film. B) To make a review on a film. C) To share pleasures of watching a film. D) To discuss kids' behavior and thoughts.
A: A
(Question)
At first sight, you would think the collection of hundreds of color1ed shards could be a work of abstract art. But the objects are the contents of the stomach of a sea turtle that lost its battle with plastic pollution. Environmentalists examined the stomach of the turtle found off the coast of Argentina. What they found is the symptom of the increasing threat to sea turtles from a human addiction to plastic. Sea turtles often mistake plastic items for jellyfish or other food. Ingesting ocean pollution can cause a digestive blockage and internal cuts. The result can be dangerous, followed by death. Humans produce 260 million tons of plastic a year. When those products are pulled into the sea's currents, the plastics are just broken into smaller pieces which are consumed by marine life at the bottom of the food chain. An examination of a green turtle found off Florida discovered that, over the course of a month, the animal's faeces had contained 74 foreign objects, including "four types of balloons, different types of hard plastic, a piece of carpet-like material and two 2-4 mm tar balls." "The oceans have become on giant refuse bin for all manners of plastics. All sea turtle species may be seriously harmed. " according to the biologists Colette Wabnitz, from the University of British Columbia. "The symptom of this growing crisis can be seen inside and on sea turtles as well as their oceanic and terrestrial habitats. It is urgently necessary to directly confront the source of plastic pollution, redesign packaging and rethink the very idea of 'throwaway culture'." Almost all marine species, from plankton to whales, have ingested plastic. But, even in small quantities, plastic can kill sea turtles, the biologists said. Fifty out of 92 turtles found dead, stranded on the shorelines of Rio Grande do Sul state in Brazil, had ingested a "considerable amount of man-made _ ". The author mentions the "throwaway culture" probably in a(n) _ tone. A) praising B) positive C) comedic D) ironic
(Answer)
D