Dieting to lose weight has become very popular in recent years. People have become more health conscious and try to take better care of their bodies by eating more healthily and exercising more regularly to lose any unnecessary fat that they may have.

    Not only are people being more careful about what they eat, they are also concerned with how they eat and how their meals are prepared. People are taking more time for each meal. Many avoid the so-called "plastic" fast-food hamburgers and choose to eat a salad or a sandwich of more healthful ingredients(营养成分) in a quiet restaurant with a more leisurely atmosphere. At home, they also try to take enough time to eat a relaxed dinner without phone or TV interruptions.

    While dieting may be viewed as beneficial, it has also become a serious problem for Americans, particularly for young women. Dieting for them has actually become a psychological addiction. They eat so little that they can lose as much as fifty percent of their total body weight, and although they look like skeletons, they still insist that they are fat.

    The current wave of exercising, dieting and the problems produced have caused many organizations to begin educating the public. Many schools, hospitals, health organizations, newspapers and magazines, for example, are offering classed, printing booklet articles and so on, to inform the public of the way to exercise and diet, of the dangers of dieting too rapidly, and of the places people can go for medical help if they find themselves on the road to "diet addiction".

    The UN refugee agency (难民署) is heaping pressure on Europe to help Italy defuse (平息) the “unfolding tragedy” of tens of thousands of migrants flooding its shores. Italy needs more international support to deal with a growing number of migrants who have braved a risky Mediterranean crossing to reach Europe this year, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said on Saturday.

     “What is happening in front of our eyes in Italy is an unfolding tragedy,” Grandi said in a statement. “In the course of last weekend, 12,600 migrants and refugees arrived on its shores, and an estimated 2,030 have lost their lives in the Mediterranean since the beginning of the year.” Italy, he said, was “playing its part” in taking in those rescued and offering protection to those in need. “These efforts must be continued and strengthened. But this cannot be an Italian problem alone.”

    Separately, a source in Paris said the interior ministers of France, Germany and Italy would meet in the French capital on Sunday to discuss an approach to help Rome.

    Violence in Calais

    Europe has been dealing with the worst migration crisis since the end of World War II with the arrival of large numbers of people fleeing the wars in Syria and Iraq while others from Africa are seeking an escape from poverty or political persecution (迫害).

    In the northern French port city of Calais, police stepped in over the past two days to break up fighting among African migrants armed with sticks and rocks. Calais has for years been a magnet (磁铁) for migrants and refugees hoping to cross the Channel to Britain.

    Last October, France broke up the disreputable tent camp known as “the Jungle” transferring thousands of migrants to centers around the country. But hundreds remain near the port, mostly Africans and Afghans, who fight sporadically with police as they make nightly attempts to stow away (偷乘) onto trucks heading across the Channel to Britain.

    Some kinds of mental skills naturally decrease as people get older. Yet research seems to show that some training can improve such skills. A recently published study also appears to attest that the good effects of training can last for many years after that training has ended.

    Researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland wanted to learn how long memory and thinking skills would last in older people who were trained to keep them. The people were part of the ten-year research project. They were taught methods meant to improve their memory, thinking and ability to perform everyday tasks.

    More than 2,800 volunteered for the study called ACTIVE ­ short for Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly. Most were studied when they were more than 70 years old.

    The volunteers took one of several short training classes meant to help them keep their mental abilities. One class trained participants in skills including how to remember word lists. Another group trained in reasoning. A third group received help with speed-of-processing ­ speed of receiving and understanding information. A fourth group ­ the control group did not get any training.

    Earlier results had established that the training helped the participants for up to five years. Now, leading study writer George Rebok says, the research showed most of the training remained effective a full ten years later.

    Professor Rebok and his team found that the people trained in reasoning and speed-of- processing did better on tests than the control group.

    "We are wondering whether those effects which endured over time would still be there ten years following the training, and in fact, that's exactly what we found.

    The effect on memory, however, seemed not to last as long. Still, the old people in any of the three classes generally reported less difficulty in performing daily activities than the control group. The total training time for the older people was between 10 and 15 hours.

    If you wear glasses, chances are you are smarter. Research published in the famous British journal Nature Communications has found that people who displayed higher levels of intelligence were almost 30 percent more likely to wear glasses.

    The scientists studied the genes of thousands of people between the ages of 16 and 102.The study showed intelligence can be connected to physical characteristics. One characteristic was eyesight. In out of 10 people who were more intelligent, there was a higher chance they needed glasses. Scientists also said being smarter has other benefits. It is connected to better health.

    It is important to remember these are connections which are not proven causes. Scientists call this correlation. Just because something is connected to something else does not mean one of those things caused the other. And it's worth noting that what constitutes intelligence is subjective and can be difficult, if not impossible, to measure.

    Forget genes though. Plenty of proof shows wearing glasses makes people think you are more intelligent, even if you do not need glasses. A number of studies have found people who wear glasses are seen as smarter, hard-working and honest. Many lawyers use this idea to help win their cases. Lawyer Harvey Solves explained this. Glasses soften their appearance. He said sometimes there has been a huge amount of proof showing that people he was defending broke the law. He had them wear glasses and they weren't found guilty.

    Glasses are also used to show someone is intelligent in movies and on TV. Ideas about people who wear glasses have begun to shift. People who do not need glasses sometimes wear them for fashion only. They want to look worldly or cool. But not everyone is impressed by this idea, though. GQ magazine said people who wear glasses for fashion are trying too hard to look smart and hip (时髦的). However, that hasn't stopped many celebrities from happily wearing glasses even if they do not need them. Justin Bieber is just one high-profile fan of fashion glasses.

Rescue workers and thousands of volunteers are not the only ones who have won hearts and minds for their heroic efforts in the search for survivors after Tuesday's powerful earthquake in

Mexico. Fifteen dogs from the navy's canine (军犬) unit have assisted this week in the rescue efforts at the sites of collapsed buildings across Mexico City, where more than 50 people have been pulled alive from the ruins.

Of the canine heroes none is more famous or loved than Frida, a six-year-old white Labrador who in her distinguished service has won praise for her ability to detect people who have been trapped by various natural disasters. Over her admirable career she has found 52 people including 12 survivors in Mexico and other Latin American countries.

This week, Frida and Evil and Echo—two Belgian Shepherds that have also been specially trained for rescue efforts一were sent to the site of the collapsed Enrique Rebsamen School in southern Mexico City.

Equipped with goggles that protect her eyes from dust and smoke, boots to prevent damage to her paws while she climbs over rough ruins, Frida took to her work looking every bit the part of the ruins.

If Frida detects the presence of a survivor, she is trained to bark to alert rescue workers but if she detects a corpse she stops suddenly before proceeding, her handler explained.

Eleven children were rescued from ruins at the school but this time human rescue workers rather than the dogs were the ones who located them.

However, that hasn't stopped Frida from becoming a social media star and reaching a new level of fame this week. Videos and other social media posts that highlight the work of Frida and her impressive record of detecting people trapped by natural disasters spread quickly online.

While she has yet to detect anyone trapped in the ruins this week, she and other rescue dogs are continuing to work tirelessly, searching through spaces that humans cannot reach. With the possibility that there are still people trapped alive, time will tell whether she adds to her rescue record.

Nobel, who was born in Stockholm, is a great scientist famous for his dangerous experiments.

    Nobel studied in the US and then Russia between 1850 and 1859. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} As is known, bomb is dangerous to life, but Nobel was working under that condition. Once a big explosion in his lab completely destroyed the lab and caused some deaths. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} He received criticism and satire, but he proceeded with the work rather than losing heart. From 1860s to 1880s, Nobel made many achievements and his inventions were first used in building roads and digging tunnels. Most of the bombs were safer and more possible to be controlled. Even at the end of the 20th century, we still used his methods.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} He was quick to see industrial3openings for his scientific inventions and built up over 80 companies in 20 different countries. Indeed his greatness lay in his outstanding ability to combine the qualities of an original scientist with those of a forward-looking industrialist.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Seldom happy, he was always4searching for a meaning to life, and from his youth, he had taken a serious interest in literature and philosophy. His greatest wish, however, was to see an end to wars, and thus peace between nations, and he spent much time and money working for this cause. To follow his will, a fund was set up to encourage people to make great progress in physics, chemistry, physiology, medicine, literature and peace. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. After his return, he started researching into bombs.

B. After that he had to experiment on a boat in a lake.

C. Everyone knows the story of his famous invention.

D. That's the Nobel Prize which means great honour to a scientist.

E. Nobel had many patents in Britain and other European countries.

F. Most of his theories have been tested and found to be true though some may sound strange.

G. But Nobel's main concern was never with making money or even with making scientific