Weather has a strong effect(影响) on people. It influences health, intelligence (智力) and feelings. In August, it is very hot and wet in the southern part of the United States. People there easily have heart trouble and other kinds of health problems during this month. In the Northeast and the Middle West, it is hot at some times and very cold at other times. People in those states will have heart trouble after the weather changes in February or March.
      The weather can also influence intelligence. For example, in a 1983 study by scientists, the IQ scores of some college students were very high during storm, but after the storm, their scores were low. Storms can increase intelligence. Very hot weather, on the other hand, can decrease(减少) it. Students in many schools of the United States often do badly in exams in the hot months of the year(July and August).
      Weather also has a strong effect on people's feeling. Winter may be a bad time for thin people. They usually feel cold during these months. They might feel depressed during cold weather. In hot summer weather, on the other hand, fat people may feel unhappy. At about 65F, people become stronger.
      Low air pressure(气压) makes people feel free, but it also increases forgetful- ness. People leave more bags and umbrellas on buses and in stores on low pressure days. There is a“perfect weather”for work and health. People feel best at a tempera- ture of about 64F with 65 percent humidity(湿度).
      Are you feeling sick, sad, tired, forgetful, or very intelligent today? The weather may be the reason.

根据短文内容回答下列问题。

    It's March, 2050.

    Frank and Mary Smith wake up in their comfortable house in the morning and switch on the bedroom computer to get the latest news.

    They used to read the Times, but changed to electronic newspapers many years ago.

There is the usual news about space: another space flight has returned from Mars and scientists have discovered a new planet. Then they turn to business news: the US dollar has risen greatly in Shanghai, one of the world's leading business centers. Mary tells the computer to buy 5000 dollars, and there is a quick response that it has been done.

As they watch the screen, Mary orders one of the household robots to make coffee for them. Frank disappears into the study to join a video conference with his partners around the world. He is a computer engineer, working for several companies. This is his third job: he used to be in marketing and then television.

    Mary has a quick look at the shopping channels--the usual selection of electric cars, household robots and cheap travel offers before picking up the video phone to talk to her assistant. She also has a job and she is doing medical research. Both she and Frank used to have an office desk in London, but in 2014 they decided to move to the seaside and work from home.

    Frank and Mary have one daughter, Louise, who also has her own workstation at home. She goes to school only one day a week, mainly to play with other students. Classrooms disappeared in 2030 because there was no longer any need for them: communications systems have made it much easier to learn at home.

    Louise, now thirteen, is studying Chinese at present, which has become a world language as important as English. Louise has many Chinese friends. They communicate by computer.

    According to the family doctor, Louise will live to at least 130. Her wish is to work for a few decades(十年) and then spend her time on music and painting.

    The biggest influence that technology has on family time is the change of it. People used to spend more time with their family members before. Nowadays, with children (and the parents, too) spending more time texting, watching movies and television, playing video games, and listening to music, when will the family find time to bond (培养感情) and create lasting memories together?

    Far too often we don't pay more attention to making time for members of our own family. By the end of a long day at work or school, members of the family want to relax. And now that technology use is widespread across the country, normally our "relaxing" is also known as spending time on smart phones.

    Not only is the amount of family time affected (影响) by technology, but also the quality. Technology can affect the quality in different ways. For example, family members can be distracted (使分心) by their phones while trying to play a board game together, which wouldn't  have happened if the phone didn't exist in the first place.

    If "family time" means everyone sitting in the same room while playing online, what value is there? Personal interaction is key to time well spent with loved ones. Families don't even need to have something to do while together. If they simply ask each other how their day is and play a simple game together, family bonds will get better.

    When technology becomes a focus, quality(有质量的) time for families goes down, which in turn affects everyone's life. Lack of family interaction causes the family's unity to weaken, and each of the family will be influenced in different ways. Children are more likely to develop unhealthy habits when they fail to interact with their parents. Meanwhile, parents who put work before family or pay less attention to their children's growth are more likely to face bad parent-child relationship. 67 percent of American teens say they want to spend more time with their parents, which is rather sad. Therefore, this passage is meant to show how technology has negatively influenced families.

    Most people hope to have a memory which helps them succeed in study, work and life. Can memory be improved? Luckily, hundreds of studies in the past 50 years have already given us a definite answer a healthy lifestyle keeps your brain memory sharp. First of all, it is necessary to have a healthy diet. Eating more food rich in Vitamin B and Vitamin E, such as vegetables and lean meat, helps you have a better memory. Doing exercise can keep your brain alive too. Proper exercise provides much needed oxygen for the brain. Running, riding a bike swimming and even walking two or three times a week are helpful. Moreover, getting enough sleep is important. Only when your brain gets a good rest, can it work well. The healthier your lifestyle is, the better your memory will become, but don't expect a sudden change-it takes a long time to make a difference.

    Memory skills help you remember things better. The following three are the most widely used. Chunking is a way of remembering a piece of information by cutting it into smaller ones. For example, to memorize a ten-digit telephone number 2127983630, you can divide the digits into three groups: firstly 212, then 798, and lastly 3630. This method is far more effective(有效的) than remembering a string of 10 digits. Organization means organizing information into groups of the same kind.

For example, trees, grass and flowers are plants; tigers, pandas, horses and cows are animals. Imagery is remembering newly learnt information by using your imagination and connecting it with something that you are familiar with.

    However, memory skills will hardly work if you don't understand the information. What's more, only a regular review can make the memory last long. That is why students are always advised to go over what they have learnt after one day and then after three days, and then use it as regularly as possible.

    Human beings, brains are like muscles that need nutrition and exercise to become stronger. If you make a few lifestyle changes and try some memory skills, you can certainly improve your memory.

    How do you deal with plastic bags from the supermarket? Throw them away or recycle them? How about eating them?

    The bags are not harmful to the environment, Humans and animals can safely eat them. Indian company EnviGreen has made a bag with natural materials. It looks and feels just like plastic, but can break down(分解) easily.

    Ashwath Hedge who set up the EnviGreen Company spent four years doing experiments(实验) with 12 natural materials. They include potato, corn, vegetable oil and banana. He made the materials into liquid(液体) and used the liquid to make the bag.

    Although the EnviGreen bag is more expensive than a common plastic bag, it has many advantages. According to the Wall Street Journal, it takes 1,000 years for common plastic bags to break down. But an EnviGreen bag can naturally break down in less than 180 days. It also breaks down in less than a day in water, and in less than a minute in boiling water. Hedge was happy to show it in his interview, he put an EnviGreen bag in water and ate it with a smile.

    There are more than 15,000 tons of plastic waste in India every day. But only 9, 000 tons are processed. In China, 3 billion plastic bags are used every day. Maybe the EnviGreen bag could be a solution(解决方法) to the world problem of plastic pollution.

    Do you think the people who use smart phones all the time are relaxed? A research shows that too much smart phone use in spare time can make people more stressed out.

    So what can we do in order to really take advantage of our spare time? We have collected the following activities that also take a few hours to complete, but you'll improve your health in the process (过程).

    Whether you're at home or on holiday, it's important to disconnect from the Wi-Fi. Walking in nature can do good to your health. As a professional(职业的)traveler, Samantha Brown put it in a recent passage, "I put my map in my back pocket, put down my phones and take a good, long walk. Just walk around."

    Go to bed earlier. What can help improve your mood? Extra sleep, naturally. Getting the right amount of sleep is very important to our health and studies show that we don't get enough of it.

    Read a book. And let yourself get lost in a good story. Research shows that reading can reduce(减轻) stress, keep your brain sharp and can even help you sleep better. Everyone should spend at least 30 minutes reading every day.

    Putting pen to paper is a good exercise. Try writing down your thoughts. Writing has a lot of health advantages. Besides, writing down your thoughts may even help clear your mind.