Finland is a small country of just 5.3 million people, but over three million saunas(桑拿浴). {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Finns have a sauna at least once a week. Saunas can be found all over Finland: in offices, factories, sports centres and hotel, and 2/3 of the people have one in their house.

    Some of the basic rules for using the sauna include not eating or drinking. Also, you can't wear any clothes or swimsuits in the sauna. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Men and women visit the sauna separately, unless they're members of the same family.

    Saunas have existed for hundreds of years in Finland. In the past, Finns dug holes in the ground and put heated stones in them. When water was thrown on the hot stones, they gave off a vapour.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Traditional type is the smoke sauna. We find smoke saunas mostly in rural areas. They're heated with burning wood. Once the room is hot enough, the fire is allowed to die and the room is ventilated (使通风) by letting the smoke out through a hole in the ceiling. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} With these, you simply turn on an electric stove an hour before you want to go in. This is seen as the safest and easiest way to heat the room.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Many think that they're important for your wellbeing (幸福). Finns believe that the sauna can treat a number of diseases. Having a sauna is also seen as a good way to relieve stress and tension.

A. Now there are several types of sauna.

B. That is to say, you have to go naked.

C. Why are saunas so popular in Finland?

D. Saunas play an important role in Finnish life.

E. Since then, saunas have been introduced to Asia.

F. However, the most common type is the electric sauna.

G. If you ever visit Finland, don't forget to have a nice, relaxing sauna.

    A volunteering vacation can be a meaningful way to spend your time off, but to make the trip satisfying both for you and the cause you are supporting, several factors need to be considered. Here is some advice on planning the satisfactory vacation:

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} There are hundreds of causes to volunteer for, and finding one close to your heart will lead to a more worthwhile trip. Possibilities include wildlife conservation, education, environmental protection, health and nutrition. Also, consider any personal and professional skills that you can contribute. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Choose your destination and setting. Your volunteering trip will be more enjoyable if you use it to reach a favorite destination. Southeast Asia is on your mind, helping with tree­planting programs in Bali would benefit the environment and let you appreciate the scenic island. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Is volunteering outdoors in a hot or snowy climate attractive, or do you prefer being in an air­conditioned office?

    Ask the right questions. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Be aware that most volunteering programs require a week-long stay. Ask other questions like: How many hours of work per day is required? Are there days off? Will you be working individually or as part of a team? And what are the goals of your efforts? {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Ask if the cost includes only accommodations or meals and transportation too.

A. Figure out your cause.

B. Find a well­respected organization.

C. And think about the surroundings you want.

D. Your duty there is to rest and play.

E. The more you know about your trip, the more successful it will be.

F. Despite the word “volunteer”, these vacations usually cost you some money.

G. If you're a doctor, for example, working at a health clinic could be an ideal fit.

    We now think that chocolate is sweet, but once it was bitter. We think of it as a candy, but once it was a medicine. Today, chocolate can be a hot drink, a frozen dessert, or just a snack. Sometimes it's an ingredient（构成部分）in the main course of a meal. Mexicans make a hot chocolate sauce called Mole and pour it over chicken. The Mexicans also eat chocolate with spices like chili peppers.

    Chocolate is a product of the tropical cacao tree. The beans taste so bitter that even the monkeys say "Ugh!" and run away. Workers must first dry and then roast the beans. This removes the bitter taste.

    The word "chocolate" comes from a Mayan word. The Mayas were an ancient people who once lived in Mexico. They valued the cacao tree. Some used the beans for money, while others crushed them to make a drink.

    When the Spaniards came to Mexico in the sixteenth century, they started drinking cacao, too. Because the drink was strong and bitter, they thought it was a medicine. No one had the idea of adding sugar. The Spaniards took some beans back to Europe and opened cafes. Wealthy people drank cacao and said it was good for the digestion.

    In the 1800s, the owner of a chocolate factory in England discovered that sugar removed the bitter taste of cacao. It quickly became a cheap and popular drink. Soon afterwards, a factory made the first solid block of sweetened chocolate. Later on, another factory mixed milk and chocolate together. People liked the taste of milk chocolate even better.

    Besides the chocolate candy bar, one of the most popular American snacks is the chocolate chip cookie. Favorite desserts are the chocolate cream pie and, of course, an ice cream sundae with hot fudge sauce.

    When men and women take personality tests, some of the old Mars-Venus stereotypes(定式)keep reappearing. On average, women are more cooperative, kind, cautious and emotionally enthusiastic. Men tend to be more competitive, confident, rude and emotionally flat. Clear differences appear in early childhood and never disappear.

    What's not clear is the origin of these differences. Evolutionary psychologists think that these are natural features from ancient hunters and gatherers. Another school of psychologists argues that both sexes' personalities have been shaped by traditional social roles, and that personality differences will shrink as women spend less time taking care of children and more time in jobs outside the home.

    To test these hypotheses(假设), a series of research teams have repeatedly analyzed personality tests taken by men and women in more than 60 countries around the world. For evolutionary psychologists, the bad news is that the size of the gender gap in personality varies among cultures. For social-role psychologists, the bad news is that the change is going in the wrong direction. It looks as if personality differences between men and women are smaller in traditional cultures like India's or Zimbabwe's than in the Netherlands or the United States. A husband and a stay-at-home wife in a patriarchal(男权的)Botswanan clan(部族)seem to be more alike than a working couple in Denmark or France. The more Venus and Mars have equal rights and similar jobs, the more their personalities seem to separate.

    These findings are so unbelievable that some researchers have argued they must be due to cross-cultural problems with the personality tests. But according to new data from 40.000 men and women on six continents, David P. Schmitt and his colleagues conclude that the trends are real. Dr. Schmitt, a psychologist at Bradley University in Illinois and the director of the International Sexuality Description Project, suggests that as wealthy modern societies level(使平等)the barriers between women and men, some ancient internal differences are being developed.

    The biggest changes recorded by the researchers involve the personalities of men, not women.

    Men in traditional agricultural societies and poorer countries seem more cautious and anxious, less confident and less competitive than men in the most progressive and rich countries of Europe and North America.

    To explain these differences, Dr. Schmitt and his partners from Austria and Estonia point to the hardships of life in poorer countries. They note that in some other species, environmental stress tends to extremely affect the larger sex. And, they say, there are examples of stress decreasing biological sex differences in humans.

When {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (ask) by a TV reporter to talk about air and water quality in his hometown, Qi Mu noted, "The air is great now, and we can take more walks and enjoy being outdoors again." He felt quite pleased because the villagers were living {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (harmonious) with nature once more. However, he could not forget about an earlier time {#blank#}3{#/blank#} his village had been struggling with a serious air quality problem.

In the 1990s, garbage from nearby city was usually brought to the village. "How can we make use of this?" The villagers wondered. Soon they found that garbage could be used {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (feed) pigs. "Over the next few years, {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (dozen) of pig farms were set up," Qi recalled. But then nobody in the village wanted to open their windows. "The smell from the garbage and pig waste was making us sick," Qi said. The numbers of mosquitoes and flies were also {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (horrify). "Under such circumstances, no single women wanted to marry anyone in our village and move here," Qi {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (sigh).

The villagers could no longer tolerate the situation. So {#blank#}8{#/blank#} initiative was launched and "clean-up" campaign was added to the government agenda, including restricting large vehicles {#blank#}9{#/blank#} passing through the village. Garbage from the city was no longer disposed of in the village and more trees were planted. "We can all breathe more freely now that the natural beauty of our village {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (restore) since then," said Qi.