选择知识点

InⅠ review of 44 studies, American researchers found that men and women who ate six key foods daily cut the risk of ________ heart disease by 76%.

Like all big cities, Paris has a traffic problem: lots of cars, lots of traffic jams (阻塞) and lots of pollution from exhaust fumes (废气). So the city began a scheme (计划) to improve the situation.

Under the Velib scheme (‘Velib’ comes from vélo liberté, or ‘bicycle freedom’) people can take a bicycle, use it for as long as they want, and then leave it at the same or another bicycle station. The first half-hour on the bike is free, but if you don’t return it after 30 minutes, you have to pay. But it’s only − 1 a day or − 29 a year! The bicycles are heavy ( 25 kg), and they are all grey and have baskets. There are about 20,000 of them in the city, and around 1,450 bicycle stations. So there are a lot more Velib stations than the 298 subway stations!

Paris is not the first city to have a scheme like this. But not everybody thinks it’s a great idea. One Parisian said, ‘These bicycles are only for short journeys. If people want to travel across the city, they won’t use a bicycle — they’ll still use their cars.’

A city spokesman said, ‘The bicycle scheme won’t solve all our traffic problems, of course. But it might help reduce air pollution. Traffic, together with factory fumes, is a big problem. There aren’t any simple answers to traffic problems and pollution in cities. But unless we do something now, there will be more traffic jams and temperatures will continue to rise, so the problems in our environment will get worse. The bikes might help people to lead a healthier life, too.’

A 
　　             Grandparents Answer a Call
　　As a third generation native of Brownsville，Texas，Mildred Garza never pleased move away. Even when her daughter and son asked her to move to San Antonio to help their children，she politely refused . Only after a year of friendly discussion did Ms Garza finally say yes. That was four years ago. Today all three generations regard the move to be a success, giving them a closer relationship than they would have had in separate cities.
　　No statistics show the number of grandparents like Garza who are moving closer to the children and grandchildren. Yet there is evidence suggesting that the trend is growing. Even President Obama’s mother-in-law，Marian Robinson，has agreed to leave Chicago and into the White House to help care for her granddaughters. According to a study grandparents .com, 83 percent of the people said Mrs. Robinson ’s decision will influence the grandparents in the American family. Two-thirds believe more families will follow the example of Obama’s family.
　　“In the 1960s, we were all a little wild and couldn’t get away from home far enough fast enough to prove we could do it on our own,”says Christine Crosby，publisher of grate manazine for grandparents . We now realize how important family is and how important to be near them，especially when you’re raising children.”
　　Moving is not for everyone. Almost every grandparent wants to be with his or her grandchildren and is willing to make sacrifices, but sometimes it is wiser to say no and visit frequently instead. Having your grandchildren far away is hard，especially knowing your adult child is struggling，but giving up the life you know may be harder.

C

If you could have one superpower，what would it be?
   Dreaming about whether you would want to read minds，see through walls，or have superhuman strength may sound silly，but it actually gets to the heart of what really matters in your life.
   Every day in our work，we are inspired by the people we meet doing extraordinary things to improve the world.
   They have a different kind of superpower that all of us possess: the power to make a difference in the lives of others.
   We’re not saying that everyone needs to contribute their lives to the poor. Your lives are busy enough doing homework，playing sports，making friends，seeking after your dreams. But we do think that you can live a more powerful life when you devote some of your time and energy to something much larger than yourself. Find an issue you are interested in and learn more. Volunteer or，if you can，contribute a little money to a cause. Whatever you do,don’t be a bystander. Get involved. You may have the opportunity to make your biggest difference when you’re older. But why not start now?
   Our own experience working together on health，development，and energy the last twenty years has been one of the most rewarding parts of our lives. It has changed who we are and continues to fuel our optimism about how much the lives of the poorest people will improve in the years ahead.

D

Many Western people are not used to sitting on the floor any more. In Japan, however, sitting upright on the floor is common in different situations. For example, meals are traditionally had when people sit on the tatami (榻榻米) floor around a low table. Also during the tea ceremony and othertraditional events, one sits on the floor.

    The formal way of sitting for both men and women is kneeling upright. People who are not used to sitting in this style may feel uncomfortable after a few minutes, and their legs may go numb. However, foreigners are not usually expected to be able to sit in this style for a long time, and an increasing number of Japanese people themselves aren’t able to do so, owing to a more westernized lifestyle.

    In other situations, men usually sit cross-legged, while women sit on their knees laying both legs to one side. The former sitting style is considered wholly male, while the latter is considered completely female.

    The most important guest sits on the honored seat which is set farthest from the entrance. If there is a tokonoma (壁龛) in the room, the guest should be seated in front of it. The host or the least important person is supposed to sit next to the entrance. Of course, there are other things to be considered in each particular case.

Nothing could stop Dad. After he was put on disability for a bad back, he bought a small farm in the country, just enough to grow food for the family. He planted vegetables, fruit trees and even kept bees for honey.

And every week he cleaned Old Man McColgin's chicken house in exchange for manure(肥料). The smell really burned the inside of your nose. When we complained about the terrible smell, Dad said the stronger the manure, the healthier the crops, and he was right. For example, just one of his cantaloupes filled the entire house with its sweet smell, and the taste was even sweeter.

As the vegetables started coming in, Dad threw himself into cooking. One day, armed with a basket of vegetables, he announced he was going to make stew(炖菜). Dad pulled out a pressure cooker and filled it up with cabbages, eggplants, potatoes, corns, onions and carrots. For about half an hour, the pressure built and the vegetables cooked. Finally, Dad turned off the stove, the pot began to cool and the pressure relief valve sprayed out a cloud of steam. If we thought Dad's pile of chicken manure was bad, this was 10 times worse. When Dad took off the lid, the smell nearly knocked us out.

Dad carried the pot out and we opened doors and windows to air out the house. Just how bad was it? The neighbors came out of their houses to see if we had a gas leak!

Determined, Dad filled our plates with steaming stew and passed them around. It didn’t look that bad, and after the first wave had shut down my ability to smell, it didn’t offend the nose so much, either. I took a taste. It would never win a prize in a cooking competition, but it was surprisingly edible(食物), and we drank up every last drop of soup.