Taking a shower is relaxing. You can hum a song, daydream or think about nothing, leaving the real world behind you. But do you know that showering  also benefit your mind?

A research by Scott Barry Kaufman, a psychologist from Yale University in the US interviewed over 3,000 people around the world.  turned out that nearly two-thirds of the interviewees said they experienced new ideas in the shower and were more likely to have them in the shower than at work. So why does a simple shower have such magic power? Science can explain it.

Showering can help to raise our level of dopamine, a hormone (relate) to our creativity. "People (vary) in terms of their level of creativity according to the activity of dopamine", explained Alice Flaherty, a famous American neuroscientist. "Taking a warm shower can make us feel relaxed and therefore make the dopamine level rise and bring 'Aha!' moment to us."

 the chemical changes, showering may give you a break from what you feel you have been stuck with. Especially when you (think) hard all day about a problem, jumping into the shower can keep you from the outside world so that you can focus on your inner feelings and memories. In this way, according to American psychologist Shelley H. Carson, author of Your Creative Brain, "a showering hour may turn into an 'incubation (孵化) period' for your ideas."

Compared with sitting in front of a computer, taking a shower is something we do (frequently) in our daily life. When showering, we get a fresh experience with the change of location, temperature and humidity. "New and unexpected experiences can lead to positive changes in thinking," explained Kaufman. "Getting off the couch and jumping in the shower may create a distance and force you to think from a new perspective."

Showering allows us to enjoy the creative juices of our minds, but it needn't just be in the bathroom that you get your inspiration. For instance, Gertrude Stein, female American writer and poet, got new ideas by driving around a farm and stopping at different cows she found the one that most inspired her. So try to create your own way to free your mind, it's a walk near the ocean, a country drive or reading a book at home.

The human face is a remarkable piece of work. The astonishing variety of facial features helps people recognize each other and is to the formation of complex societies. So is the face's ability to send emotional signals, whether through an involuntary yawn or a(n) smile. People spend much of their waking lives reading faces. Technology is rapidly catching up. In America facial recognition is used by churches to track worshippers' attendance. In 2017, Welsh police used it to arrest a suspect outside a football game.

Although faces are  to individuals, they are also public, so technology does not, at first sight,  on something that is private. And yet the ability to record, store and analyze images of faces cheaply, quickly and on a vast promises one day to bring about fundamental changes to notions of privacy, fairness and trust.

Start with privacy. One big difference between faces and other biological data, such as fingerprints, is that they work at a(n) . Anyone with a phone can take a picture for facial-recognition programs to use. Photographs of half of America's adult population are stored in databases that can be used by the FBI to track criminals, but at enormous potential to citizens' privacy.

The face is not just a name-tag. It displays a lot of other information — and machines can read that, too. Again, that promises benefits. Some firms are analyzing faces to provide automated of rare genetic disorders far earlier than would otherwise be possible. But the technology also threatens. Researchers at Stanford University that, when shown pictures of one gay man, and one straight man, the system could identify their sexuality correctly 81% of the time. Humans managed only 61%. In countries where homosexuality is a crime, software which promises to infer sexuality from a face is a(n) prospect.

Placebos (安慰剂) Prove Powerful

Many doctors know the story of "Mr. Wright". In 1957 he was diagnosed with cancer, and given only days to live. He had tumours (肿瘤) the size of oranges. He heard that scientists had discovered a new medication, Krebiozen, that was 1 against cancer, and he begged the doctor to give it to him. His physician, Dr Phillip West, finally agreed. After Mr. Wright had been given an injection on a Friday afternoon, the 2doctor found his patient out of his "death bed", joking with the nurses the following Monday. "The tumours", the doctor wrote later, "had 3 like snow balls on a hot stove."

Two months later, Wright read medical reports that the medication was fake. His condition immediately got worse again. "Don't 4 what you read in papers," the doctor told Wright. Then he injected him with what he said was "a new super-refined double strength" version of the drug. 5, there was no drug, just a mix of salt and water, but again it worked. Wright was the picture of health for another two months until he read an official report saying that Krebiozen was 6. He died two days later.

This story has been 7 by doctors for a long time, dismissed as one of those strange tales that medicine cannot explain. The idea that a patient's 8 can make a fatal disease go away has been thought of as too strange. But now scientists are discovering that the placebo effect is more powerful than anyone had ever thought. They are also beginning to discover how such miraculous results are 9. Through new techniques of brain imagery, it can be shown that a thought, a belief or a desire can cause chemical processes in the brain which can have powerful effects on the 10. Scientists are learning that some body reactions are not caused by information coming into the brain from the outside world, but by what the brain 11 to happen next.

Placebos are "lies that 12," said Dr Anne Harrington, a historian of science at Harvard University. "The word placebo is Latin for "I shall please" (or I shall make you happy) and it is typically a treatment that a doctor gives to 13 patients to please them," she said. "It looks like medication, but has no healing ingredients whatsoever." Nowadays, doctors have much more powerful medicines to fight disease. But these treatments have not diminished (减弱) the power of the placebo, quite the 14. Maybe when scientists fully understand how placebos work, the powerful healing effects of the human 15will be used more systematically!

We went to the T. B. Blackstone Library, not far from Lake Michigan. You could easily miss the building if you didn't know what you were looking for. But once you were inside, you could never mistake it for anything else. We passed through two sets of heavy brass doors to the lobby of the library. And if we turned right then, we could see an alcove with tables; this led, in turn, to a big reading room with a gigantic and ancient globe that sat in front of the largest windows. I liked to look at Africa, with the coded colours of the different countries like the Belgian Congo and Rhodesia, and try to remember which countries were fighting to be free just as we were struggling for civil rights. I had heard Daddy talking about the struggle, arguing with the television as someone discussed it on a news show.

One Saturday, as I wandered through the young adult section, I saw a title: Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott. I could tell from looking at the shelf that she'd written a lot of books, but I didn't know anything about her. I had learned from experience that titles weren't everything. A book that sounded great on the shelf could be dull once you got it home, and every bad book I brought home meant one less book to read until we went back in two weeks. So I sat in a chair near the shelves to skim the first paragraphs:

"Christmas won't be Christmas without any presents," grumbled Jo, lying on the rug.

"It's so dreadful to be poor!" sighed Meg, looking down at her old dress.

"I don't think it's fair for some girls to have plenty of pretty things, and other girls nothing at all," added little Amy, with an injured sniff.

"We've got Father and Mother and each other," said Beth contentedly from her corner.

It was a good thing I'd already decided on some other books to take home, because I didn't look through the rest of the section that day. I read and read and read Little Women until it was time to walk home, and, except for a few essential interruptions like sleeping and eating, I would not put it down until the end. Even the freedom to watch weekend television held no appeal for me in the wake of Alcott's story. It was about girls, for one thing, girls who could almost be like me, especially Jo. It seemed to me a shame that she wasn't Black; then our similarity would be complete. She loved to read, she loved to make up plays, she hated acting ladylike, and she had a dreadful temper. I had found a kindred spirit.

"Getting even" is becoming increasingly popular as life gets more stressful. Here are some of the stories.

For the first time in my life I have been dumped by a friend. I should have seen it coming: the phone calls not returned, the excuses about 'not feeling very sociable right now'... Yet the letter suggesting that the time had come for us to move on still came as a shock.

Tula and I had been firm friends for nearly ten years. We met at a singing workshop and took on each other immediately. But life changed for both of us: I got married and she responded to her single status by developing a fresh set of social networks. Then she took a long holiday, reviewed her life and decided what to keep and what to throw out. In her letter she described our friendship as a 'borderline' case and suggested it should be time we 'let each other go'.

I'm all for letting go of bad habits and boxes of old school exercise books. But surely close friends are not consumer goods to be discarded or replaced at the first hint of trouble? We are encouraged to believe that friends will be around forever. 'You've got a friend,' sang Carole King and 'I'll be there for you' promised the theme tune of Friends. Such sentiments have sunk deep into the collective unconsciousness, or into mine, at least.

Certainly, the statistics indicate that we need friends more than ever. Government figures predict that the proportion of married men and women aged from 45 to 54 will fall by a quarter in the next two decades. A recent British survey found that two-thirds of eighteen to 35-year-olds in Britain turn to friends before family for help and advice. Yes, the argument goes, in a fast-moving, ever-changing world, friendship is our rock, the one thing we can truly rely on.

But in his book, The Philosophy of Friendship, Mark Vernon suggests otherwise. He cautions that we place unrealistic burdens on friendship, that it's unreasonable to expect friends to fulfill family members' roles. Worse still, he says, friendships are becoming harder to maintain. 'There are lots of obstacles in the way we live today. It's harder to put time and effort into knowing someone. Mobiles, email and so on, all these are secondary ways of communicating. There's not the depth.'

So, what did I do with Tula's letter? I re-read it many times, thinking over where I'd gone wrong. And then I wrote back. 'Yes, you're right.' I wrote, 'things have changed. But aren't we good enough friends to hang in there?' Since then we have exchanged a couple of emails. A walk has been suggested. It would be easy not to make the effort and let this friendship go but, as Louisa May Alcott, author of Little Women, said: 'Stay is a charming word in a friend's vocabulary.' 1think she's right.

The New Year is slowly nearing, and many people are looking back to 2020 and more importantly, forward to the coming year 2021. People may use the New Year as a time to turn over a new leaf. Are you planning to make a New Year Resolution? Here are a few tips for preparing to be successful with all your New Year Resolutions.

⒈A Single Change Is Enough

You can't stick to two to three resolutions at a time. You would eventually break one of them for sure. . Don't get overwhelmed and think that you have to reassess everything in your life. But, don't break that one resolution you make, because that is important.

⒉Write Down Your Resolutions

Once you have decided on your achievable resolutions, write them down. It helps to write down your resolution so you can refer back to it often during the year.. Also, by writing it down, you will be able to review it often and evaluate your progress since the time the resolution was made.

⒊Ask For Support

Tell a friend or your loved ones whom you trust about your resolution. They will provide you with support and keep you focused on your goal. And if you are wavering at all, their support will ensure you don't give up easily. Besides, it is advisable to join an online support group for specific resolutions such as losing weight, giving up chocolate, or training for the next marathon.. In turn, be sure to help boost other people's resolutions!

⒋Accept Failure

It is true that perfection is what people pursue.. Don't give up completely because you ate a brownie and broke your diet or skipped the gym, for a week because you were busy. You must accept anything that comes your way. It is not easy to stick to something that requires lot of patience and will. Everyone has ups and downs; resolve to recover from your mistakes and get back on the right track.

A. But minor missteps when reaching your goals are completely normal and OK.

B. Having someone to share your struggles and successes makes your journey much easier and less stressful.

C. When you are doing well at keeping your resolution, you may discover that you are feeling better about other areas of your life too.

D. Instead of making too many resolutions, simply make one resolution at a time.

E. You can even make a contract with yourself stating what you will set out to do and sign it to make it official.

F. Don't complain about small things in life, because that only spoils your mood.

The greatest recent social changes have been in the lives of women. During the twentieth century there has been a remarkable shortening of the proportion of a woman's life spent in caring for the children. A woman marrying at the end of the nineteenth century would probably have been in her middle twenties and would be likely to have seven or eight children, of whom four or five lived till they were five years old. By the time the youngest was fifteen, the mother would have been in her early fifties and would expect to live a further twenty years, during which custom, opportunity and health made it unusual for her to get paid work. Today women marry younger and have fewer children. Usually a woman's youngest child will be fifteen when she is forty-five years and is likely to take paid work until retirement at sixty. Even while she has the care of children, her work is lightened by household appliances and convenience foods.

This important change in woman's life-pattern has only recently begun to have its full effect on women's economic position. Even a few years ago most girls left school at the first opportunity, and most of them took a full-time job. However, when they married, they usually left work at once and never returned to it. Today the school leaving age is sixteen, many girls stay at school after that age, and though women tend to marry younger, more married women stay at work at least until shortly before their first child is born. Very many more afterwards return to full-or-part-time work. Such changes have led to a new relationship in marriage, with the husband accepting a greater share of the duties and satisfactions of family life, and with both husband and wife sharing more equally in providing the money, and running the home, according to the abilities and interests of each of them.

1）简单陈述你的观点；

2）通过描述一个实例来证明你的观点。