阅读理解。阅读下列短文, 从给的四个选项 (A、B、C和D) 中, 选出最佳选项。

     Isaac Stern was  more  than a great violin player.He was one of the most honored musicians in the world.He was an international  cultural ambassador.He was a major supporter of the arts in America and in other countries.He was a teacher and activist.

     Isaac Stern was born in 1920 in what is now Ukraine.His parents moved  to  San Francisco，California the following year.His mother began teaching Isaac the piano when he was six. He began taking violin lessons after hearing a friend play the instrument.Later，he began studying music at the San Francisco Conservatory(音乐学院)．He progressed quickly.When he was 16，he played with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra.The next year，he performed in New York City and was praised by music critics.

     During World War II ，Mr.Stern played for thousands of American soldiers.It was the first time many of them had heard classical music.After the war，he was the first American violinist to perform in a concert in the Soviet union.He also supported young musicians and cultural organizations in Israel.

    In 1979，Isaac Stern visited China.He met with Chinese musicians and students.He taught them about classical Western music.His visit was made into a film，which is called From Mao to Mozart：Isaac Stern in China.It won an Academy Award for best documentary film.

     In 1984，Isaac Stern received the Kennedy Center Honors Award for his gifts to American culture through music.He expressed his thoughts about the part that music plays in life.He said he believed that music makes life better for everyone，especially children.

     Mr.Stern supported and guided younger classical musicians.They include violinists Itzhak Perlman and Pinchas Zukerman，cellist Yo­Yo Ma，and pianist Yefim Bronfman.

     Isaac Stern died in 2001 at the age of 81.He was a major influence on music in the 20th century.He leaves the world richer with his many recordings.

    When seeing the doctor, you feel better to know you will get some medicine. But the doctor knows that medicine is not always needed. Sometimes all a sick person needs is some reassurance (安想) that all will be well. In such cases the doctor may prescribe a placebo.

    A placebo is a sugar pill, a harmless shot, or an empty capsule. The patient thinks it is medicine and begins to get better. How does this happen?

    The study of the placebo opens up new knowledge about the way the human body can heal itself. It is as if there was a doctor in each of us. The doctor will heal the body for us if we let it. But it is not yet known just how the placebo works to heal the body. Some people say it works because the human mind fools itself. These people say that if the mind is fooled into thinking it got medicine, then it will act as if it did, and the body will feel better.

    Placebos don't always work. The success of this treatment seems to rest a lot with the relationship between the patient and the doctor. If the patient has lots of trust in the doctor and if the doctor really wants to help the patient, then the placebo is more likely to work. So in a way, the doctor is the most powerful placebo of all.

    A placebo can also have bad effects. If patients expect a bad reaction to medicine, then they'll also show a bad reaction to the placebo. Some doctors still think that if the placebo can have bad effects it should never be used. They think there is still not enough known about it.

    The strange power of the placebo does seem to suggest that the human mind is stronger than we think it is. There are people who say you can heal your body by using your mind. And the interesting thing is that even people who swear this is not possible have been healed by a placebo.

    Have you ever noticed that the more you have the more you want? Let's face it. Thinking our life is good enough doesn't come naturally to many people. When we have high expectations of everything in life we will run into disappointment. Only when we are aware that needs are different from desires can we live with satisfaction. Here are a few ideas to help you be happier with what you have and who you are.

    Focus on what you are thankful for. Most people want things to be better than they are, or when things are going well, we forget to appreciate what we have. Learn to reflect（反映）on how much better things are than they could be. Focus on what you are thankful for. Write down 5 things you are grateful for right now.

    When we hold onto regrets from decisions we have made, it can realty poison our well-being. Many people regret something they can no longer change, which ends up holding them back from moving forward in a more positive manner. What happened in the past is done and gone, so work to stay present and be mindful of the current （目前的）moment to find more joy and fulfillment（满足）.

    When we use other people as the measuring stick for our personal success and quality of life we are likely to be less satisfied. Social comparisons can provide useful information when we try to learn from others, but they also hold our perspective（观点）in a discontented position. Compare yourself less with others so you can be satisfied more.

    When you are focused on your big ambitions（抱负）and future goals you might elide the daily pleasures that surround you. Learn to slow down and absorb the wonder and beauty around you. Stay present and focus on the task you're doing at the moment. Don't let the life pass you by because you're always on the go and distracted（分心）by ambition.

    Practice looking at life through the lens of contentment（满意）and it will become more natural.

    Scientists are trying to save Puerto Rico's endangered Amazon parrots after Hurricane Maria destroyed the birds' habitats and food sources(来源).

    El Yunque is a large national forest on the eastern part of Puerto Rico. Just two of the 56 wild parrots that once lived there survived Maria, the Category-4 storm that struck Puerto Rico in September 2017. Scientists report other forests have seen great drops in parrot populations as well.

    In the 1800s, there were more than a million of the bright green parrots living in the wild in Puerto Rico. By the 1970s, the number was down to just 13 birds after years of forest clearing.

    A special program was started in 1972 to help increase the parrot population, which led to the creation of three breeding(繁殖) centers. Just weeks before Hurricane Maria hit, scientists counted 56 wild parrots at El Yunque. That was the highest number in the program's history. Scientists say that even though several parrots have been born in captivity(笼养) and in the wild since Maria, the species is still in danger.

The Puerto Rican Amazon is the island's only remaining native parrot. More than 460 of the birds are kept inside the breeding centers at El Yunque and the Rio Abajo forest. Scientists have not released(释放) any of the birds since Hurricane Maria. A third breeding center, in a forest in the western area of Maricao, has not been in operation since the storm.

    Scientists are considering whether to catch some of the remaining wild parrots and put them in the same cage as the birds that are set to be released. This way, the captive birds can learn from the wild birds how to survive in the forests. Another consideration is to release some captive parrots in Maricao, which was not as heavily damaged by Maria.

    There are moments in life when you miss someone so much that you just want to pick them from your dreams and hug them for real! Dream what you want to dream; go where you want to go; be what you want to be, because you have only one life and one chance to do all the things you want to do.

    May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough difficulties to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human, enough hope to make you happy.

    Always put yourself in others' shoes. If you feel that it hurts you, it probably hurts the other person, too.

    The happiest people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. Happiness lies for those who cry, those who hurt, those who have searched, and those who have tried, for they can appreciate the importance of people who have touched their lives.

    Love begins with a smile, grows with a kiss and ends with a tear. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past, and you can't go on well in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.

    When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so that when you die, you're the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying.

    Please send this message to those people who mean something to you, to those who have touched your life in one way or another, to those who make you smile when you really need it, to those who make you see the brighter side of things when you are really down, to those who you want to let know that you appreciate their friendship. And if you don't, don't worry; nothing bad will happen to you. You will just miss out on the opportunity to brighten someone's day with this message.

We credit Socrates with the insight that "the unexamined life is not worth living," and that to "know thyself" is the path to true wisdom.

But when it comes to introspection (内省), you might easily slip into the "rumination" (沉思) mode. This pattern is likely to cause you to become stuck in the rut of your own thoughts and absorbed in the emotions that might lead you to a wrong way. Research has also shown that people who are likely to ruminate are often at a substantially increased risk of depression.

Instead, scientific research suggests that you should adopt an ancient method favored by the likes of Julius Caesar, known as "illeism" which was coined in 1809 from the Latin "ille" meaning "he". The point of adopting this third person thinking is that such a small change can clear your emotional fog, allowing you to see your biases and helping you know the limits of your understanding of the problem at hand.

A study finds that illeism can also bring long-term benefits to wise reasoning (including elements like taking the perspective of others, recognizing uncertainty, and so on). The finding is the brainchild of Igor Grossmann, a psychologist. According to Grossmann, wise reasoning had long been considered too vague for scientific enquiry. In one of his earlier experiments, he established that as with IQ, the scores of wise reasoning could be achieved and were meaningful.

Grossmann's latest research team asked nearly 300 participants to describe a challenging social situation, and two psychologists graded them on different aspects of wise reasoning. The participants then had to keep a diary for four weeks. Each day, they had to describe a situation they'd just experienced, such as a disagreement with someone. Half were prompted to do so in the first person, while the others were encouraged to describe their situations from a third person perspective. At the end of the study, all participants repeated the wise reasoning test.

While the control group showed no overall change in their wise reasoning scores, those using illeism improved on their perspective taking and capacity to find a compromise.

Grossmann's work continues to prove that the subject of wisdom is worthy of experimental studies, indicating wiser reasoning is within everyone's power.