C
Last year, I called emergency services because I found my partner unconscious on the floor. Within minutes, a police car and ambulance arrived, filled with police, doctors and nurses who moved my partner away to the emergency department, where he received the critical care that he needed.
A week later, still marveling at the impact of a handful of strangers, I wrote thank-you notes to those helpful police and doctors and nurses and baked for them. It was a small gesture with a big impact. When I dropped off cakes at the police and fire stations, they thanked me for the gifts. I drove away feeling light and happy, partly because I’d done a good deed, but mostly because I was amazed that there are selfless people who do life-saving work and expect nothing in return. Research has shown that sharing thoughts of gratitude and performing acts of kindness can boost your mood and have other positive effects on your health.
When you feel thankful for things you’ve received or something that’s happened, that’ s gratitude. It’s impossible to feel it in a vacuum; others are always responsible, whether they’re loved ones, strangers or a higher power. “Gratitude is how you relate to others, when you see yourself in connection with things larger than yourself,” Ruch says.
Today, many people don’t stop to appreciate what they have, much less express gratitude. Our instant-gratification lifestyle may be to blame.
“With commercial and social media, everything is speeding the younger generation to make them feel that they are the centre of the universe,” says Tamiko Zablith, founder of the London-based etiquette consulting firm Minding Manners. “If it’s all about them, why thank others?”
Why not thank others? Studies have shown that people who express gratitude increase their happiness levels, lower their blood pressure levels, get better quality sleep, improve their relationships, have a positive impact on their depression levels and are less affected by pain.
Because gratitude is a fairly new field of study, researchers are still trying to identify its cause-and-effect relationship with various health benefits.
61. The author’s partner was saved largely due to _____________.
A. his good luck B. the rescuers’ joint efforts
C. the author’s immediate reaction D. his receiving good treatment
62. Which of the following sentences has the similar meaning with the underlined sentence?
A. To help others out is a virtue to everyone.
B. Helping others will benefit yourself as well.
C. Casual help will make a big difference to others.
D. Don’t miss doing any good thing however insignificant it is.
63. The first two paragraphs serve as ______________.
A. an introduction to the topic of the text
B. a description of his partners’ being saved
C. an explanation of the police’s personal values
D. a way of expressing the author’s gratitude
64. What can we learn from this text?
A. Many people are willing to express their gratitude.
B. The gratitude training should be carried out at an early age.
C. Saying thank-you can have positive effects on your physical and mental health.
D. Researchers have known the relationship between gratitude and health benefits.
65. Which could be the best title of this text?
A. The power of gratitude B. My passion for gratitude
C. My partner’s rescue D. People’s attitude to gratitude
D
A New study by the British government has discovered the mental well-being of the country’s teenage girls has worsened.
The survey, which included 30,000 14-year-old students in 2005 and 2014, showed 37 percent of girls with psychological stress, up from 34 percent in 2005. British boys’ stress level was actually seen to fall over the same time period, from 17 percent to 15 percent. The report’s authors pointed out the “advent of the social media age” could be a major contributing factor for increasing stress among teenage British girls.
“The adolescent years are a time of rapid physical, cognitive and emotional development,” Pam Ramsden, a lecturer in psychology at the University of Bradford in the United Kingdom, wrote in a recent blog post. “Teenagers interact with people in order to learn how to become competent adults. In the past, they would engage with parents, teachers and other adults in their community as well as extended family members and friends. Now we can also add social media to that list of social and emotional development.”
Throughout adolescence, girls and boys develop characteristics like confidence and self-control. Since teenage brains have not completely developed, teens don’t have the cognitive awareness and impulse control to keep from posting inappropriate content. Furthermore, this content can easily be circulated far and wide with disastrous implications.
Social media can also feed into girls’ insecurities about their appearance, Ramsden said. These sites are often filled with images of people with body type unattainable to the normal person. However, these images and the messages tied to them creep into social standards.
“Social media allows girls to make comparisons among friends as well as celebrities and then provides them with ‘solutions’ such as extreme dieting tips and workouts to reach their goals,” Ramsden said. “Concerns about body image can negatively impact their quality of life preventing them from having healthy relationships and taking up time that could be better spent developing other aspects of their personalities.”
66. How does the survey tell us the negative impact of social media?
A. By making experiments. B. By raising a question.
C. By making comparisons D. By analyzing causes and effects.
67. According to Pam Ramsden, we can know_______.
A. teenagers hate sharing their thoughts with people around
B. teenagers’ mental health has nothing with social media
C. teenagers will not post improper content on the Internet
D. the ways of teenagers’ interaction with people have changed
68. What is Ramsden’s attitude toward the images with fine body shape?
A. Supportive. B. Indifferent. C. Critical. D. Concerned.
69. According to the last paragraph, it is necessary for teenagers___________.
A. to get rid of the bad effects of social media.
B. to follow the celebrities’ example
C. to be concerned about their body image
D. to make comparisons among friends
70. What does this text mainly tell us?
A. The well-being of teenagers in Britain.
B. The social media’s negative effect on teenagers.
C. The development of teenagers in Britain.
D. How to interact with teenagers in Britain.
