阅读理解

    LONDON－Scientists have found an unusual way to prevent our planet from overheating: move it to a cooler spot. All you have to do is send a few comets (彗星) in the direction of Earth, and its orbit will be changed too. Our world will then be sent spinning into a safer, colder part of the solar system.

    This idea for improving our climate comes from a group of U. S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) engineers and American astronomers. They say their plan could add another six billion years to the useful lifetime of our planet－effectively doubling its working life.

    The plan put forward by Dr. Laughlin, and his colleagues Don Korycansky and Fred Adams, needs carefully directing a comet or asteroid so that it passes close by our planet and sends some of its gravitational energy to Earth.

    “Earth's orbital speed would increase as a result and we would move to a higher orbit away from the Sun,” Laughlin said.

    Engineers would then direct their comet so that it passed close to Jupiter or Saturn. The comet would pick up energy from one of these giant planets. Later its orbit would bring it back to Earth, and the process would be repeated.

    In the short term, the plan provides an ideal way to global warming, although the team was actually concerned with a much greater danger. The Sun is certain to heat up in about a billion years and so “seriously compromise” our biosphere (生物圈) －by cooking us.

    That's why the group decided to try to save Earth.

    The plan has one or two worrying aspects, however. For a start, space engineers would have to be very careful about how they directed their asteroid or comet towards Earth. The smallest miscalculation (误算) in orbit could fire it straight at Earth--with deadly consequences.

    There is also the question of the Moon. As the current issue of Scientific American magazine points out, if Earth was pushed out of its current position, it is “most likely the Moon would be stripped away from Earth”. This would greatly change our planet's climate.

    When I was 19 years old, I was at a dance club. As we were walking to my car one cold night, a man walked up to us. Behind him was a woman carrying a small child. The child had a jacket on but it wasn't buttoned up（扣上）. The man began to tell us he wanted to borrow some money for the night to get his wife and kid into a hotel. He had a job but no place to live in and was waiting for the first paycheck. He said he could get our mailing address and mail the money back.

    The guy I was with reached into his pocket to give this man a $20 bill. As the other man was extending his hand out to take the money, I put my hand on my new friends' hand and said, “Can I talk to you for a minute？"

    I told him that every day people asked my mother for money on her way to work. She said they made more money than she did, simply begging for money. These people were scamming those with soft hearts. And if they were truly worried about their child suffering from the cold, they would have at least buttoned his jacket or covered him with his blanket.

    My new friend looked at me with disappointment and said, “Michelle, I know there are people out there that take advantage of others. I also know there are people out there that are one paycheck away from being homeless. If I give $ 20 to 10 people and only one of them really needs it and uses it for the right thing, it is worth it.”

    I am now 37 years old and have never forgotten what he said to me. I don't even remember his name. But I do remember that that experience changed the way I look at different situations.

    Although English is not as old as Chinese, it is spoken by many people around the world every day. English speakers are always creating (创造) new words, and we are often able to know where most words come from.

    Sometimes no one may really know where a word comes from. Did you ever think about why hamburgers are called hamburgers, especially when they are not made with ham? About a hundred years ago, some men went to America from Europe. They came from a big city in Germany called Hamburg. They didn't speak good English, but they ate good food. When some Americans saw them eating a round piece of beef, they asked the Germans what is was. The Germans didn't understand the question and answered, “We come from Hamburg.” One of these Americans owned a restaurant. He had an idea. He cooked some round pieces of bread and started selling them. Such bread came to be called “hamburgers”. Today, “hamburgers” are sold in many countries around the world.

    Whether this story is true or not, it certainly is interesting. Knowing why any word has a certain meaning is interesting, too. This reason, for most English words, can be found in any large English dictionary.

    With these tips you can finally get a solid night's sleep.

    Reserve Your Bed

    Get into bed just for sleeping. Avoid working, paying bills, reading, or watching television in bed. If you associate your bed only with sleep, you'll be more likely to fall asleep.

    Watch the Caffeine(咖啡因)

    Too much caffeine throughout the day can cause interrupted sleep. Limit yourself to two cups of tea, coffee, or cola, taken at least 6 hours before bedtime.

    Tap the Exercise Answer

    In a study from Stanford University School of Medicine, a group of 50- to 76-year-olds who had complained of sleep problems began proper exercise for about half an hour four times a week. Compared with a similar group of people who didn't exercise, the more active group slept an average of one hour more each night, took less time to fall asleep.

    Take a Bath

    Take a warm bath an hour or two before bed. Your body temperature will slowly drop after you get out of the tub（浴盆）, making you feel tired. Don't bathe right before bed, however, because it can briefly stimulate you enough to make it hard to fall asleep.

    Buy the Right Bed

    A bed that's too soft can cause poor sleep. Replace your mattress(床垫)if it's more than ten years old, and buy one that's as firm as you can tolerate but still comfortable.

    If 30 minutes go by and you haven't fallen asleep, don't lie in bed feeling frustrated. Get up and do something relaxing.

    Do you often feel that you aren't taking in as much of the joy around you as you could? I recently caught myself feeling this way, and based on a suggestion by John Horton, coauthor (合著者) of The Inner Game of Stress, I put myself on a 30-day life-appreciation course.

    The only assignment each day was to go outside and appreciate life.

    So I started by taking in the beauty around me. During the first few days, I was able to appreciate my surroundings, although it was an intellectual appreciation, not an emotional one.

    After the first week, it was more uncomfortable to lie in bed and think about things than it was to get up and see them for myself.

    If you often wake up feeling anxious or depressed, or if you don't look forward to each day, then you need to try this course for yourself.

    It's an inner workout that you can do anywhere. It may not change your life, but it will adjust your attitude, and that's pretty helpful in this crazy world.

    I have always believed in ending the day on a positive note by writing a word or two in a gratitude journal and saying something sweet to my wife about the day we shared.

    Now, I have a new morning habit. It hasn't changed my routine one bit, but it has changed the way I look at the world.

    Creating a new habit isn't about perfection – it's about getting what you want by creating a change in your behavior and thinking.

    So now, while I'm making my coffee in the morning, I'm also appreciating what I have.

    It's quick, fulfilling, and a much better way to start my day than looking at my phone or computer.

    And because of this, my attitude is better, as I've already begun my morning on a positive note rather than a problematic one.

    The idea here is that if you can appreciate your life, it actually changes the way you feel about it.

    Appreciation will give you more energy to live the way you would like to live.

    As a means of improving our mood, it's highly underrated (被低估的). The easy task of appreciating what we have simply makes life better.

    The traditional British pub is part of the scenery of British life. At the last count, there are around 50,000 of them in the UK. The oldest – Ye Olde Fighting Cocks in St. Albans – was set up in about 793.

    Because of their abundance, the names pubs take are designed to be memorable, but more than that, they are designed to be visual. Outside any traditional pub worthy of its title, you'll find a hanging signboard with an unusual and uncommon illustration(插图) that represents the name of the business. The practice is so well established that even new pubs copy it. But why do they exist at all?

    The first British pub signs were created in the 12^th century and were simple representations of beer containers and other brewing-related equipment used to tell passersby that establishments sold beer. This was Britain in the dark ages, when education was in short supply. Since most of the population was unable to read, pub signs were used to inform would-be customers that they could find a drink inside.

    The earliest uses of pub names would reference the sign directly. People would appoint to meet at "the sign of the Eagle and Child" rather than at "the Eagle and Child".

    Today the tradition remains unchanged largely out of respect for the past, but many pub signs do have some functionality. Remote country pubs often use signboards to point the way to their doors. It's a part of British culture that's rapidly disappearing – more than 20,000 pubs have closed since 1980 – but for now there are still more than enough. You can take a moment to appreciate the history and symbolism behind a pub's sign the next time you see one.