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      A glass a day keeps obesity at bay. Wine has always been thought to cause weight gain because of its high sugar content, but new research suggests a glass a day could form part of a diet. Looking at past studies they found that, while heavy drinkers do put on weight, those who drink in moderation can actually lose weight.

    A scientist for the research team at Navarro University in Spain says, “Proper drinking may be more likely to protect against, rather than promote, weight gain.” An official organization reviewed the findings and agreed with most of the conclusions, particularly that present data do not clearly show if proper drinking increases weight.

    Boston University's Dr. Harvey Finkel found that the reasons relating alcohol (酒精) to changes in body weight are not properly understood. His team pointed out the strong protective effects (效果) of proper drinking on the risk of getting conditions like diabetes (糖尿病), which relate to increasing obesity. Some studies suggest that even very fat people may be at lower risk of diabetes if they are moderate drinkers.

    The group says alcohol provides energy that is quickly absorbed into the body and is not stored in fat, and that this process could explain the differences in its effects from those of other foods. They agree that future research should be directed towards assessing the roles of different types of alcoholic drinks, taking drinking patterns into consideration.

    For now there is little evidence that drinking small to moderate amounts of alcohol on a regular basis increases one's risk of becoming too fat. What's more, a study three years ago suggested that a chemical found in grapes and red wine, destroys fat cells.

How to Survive Exam Stress

    Exam time is one of the most stressful in school, whether it is high school, college or graduate school. Even the best students feel the pressure. The first sign of a problem while preparing for an exam is worry{#blank#}1{#/blank#} If we can get rid of worries, or at least control them, then we're in a much better position to do well on our tests. Take the following steps to survive exam stress and increase your overall performance as a result.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}What causes you anxiety when you are studying? Too much noise? Then move to a quieter place. Delayed work? Catch up with your studies a couple nights before. That way you can save the final night before the exam to review and get a good night of sleep.

    The second way to deal with worry is to displace thoughts. Suppose you wake up at three in the morning and you're worried about an exam. What do you do?{#blank#}3{#/blank#} Doing something productive might allow you to sleep better when you finally do go back to bed.

    Another way to displace negative thoughts is to do something physically active. Work out. Take a quick walk or a nice run{#blank#}4{#/blank#}For example, I might worry about the exam having surprise questions that I'm not prepared to answer. But I can shove those thoughts aside by reminding myself that I've taken many exams and I've handled surprise questions before.

    The third option is to treat the symptoms. Keep things in perspective. Think of one final exam that causes you the most anxiety. Now think of the worst thing that could happen. If you've prepared, then likely the worst grade you could get is a C. And, if you've been applying what we've been talking about, then you'll likely to do no worse than a B. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. How bad is that really?

B. The first is to delete the causes.

C. Another idea is to think positive thoughts.

D. Worry robs us of energy, focus and motivation.

E. How about getting up and studying for an hour?

F. What we should do is to think positively and get rid of it.

G. So just face the result bravely and make an effort to improve your grade.

    It's a classroom. Instead of being told to sit quietly and listen, you are encouraged to stand up, jump around, imagine and act out. It's a class full of laughter and applause (鼓掌), emotion and energy. Welcome to drama class, one of my favorite classes at high school.

    In drama class we used to play a lot of “drama games”. We would improvise (即兴表演), copy and above all use our imagination.

    My favorite game was called “Spotto”. One person stood in the front of the class and performed a scene, completely out of their imagination. When one audience member yelled “Spotto!”, the performer had to freeze. Then the person who had yelled Spotto had to get up and improvise a new scenario (剧情) based on the position the first performer froze in. This went on as more and more people were added to the scene. Eventually the entire class would have joined the scene. Then the performers would start to leave in reverse (颠倒的) order.

    It was a lot of fun, and a good test of everyone's imagination to see what they would come up with. Drama class at my school often involved a big performance at the end of the term as well. We would work on a production throughout the term and put on a show for our parents and the school community.

    It was a great experience to perform on stage in front of a large audience. Drama class can help shy children, like me, to come out of their shells. It helped them become more confident and developed their public speaking skills. Drama class is also a great place to express oneself, and a way for children to use up some of their energy.

    Japan has made a lot of noise in recent years about removing the traditional view that women should stay at home while men go out to work. So it was shocking when, on August 7th, Tokyo Medical University (TMU), a distinguished medical school, admitted marking down the test scores of female applicants to keep the ratio of women in each class below 30%.

    Their defence was that women are more likely to drop out to marry and have children. To judge female applicants to medical school purely on their academic performance would leave Japan with a shortage of doctors, they said. The admission has caused outrage.

    "Doctoring has long been a male field. But it is not the only one. Discrimination is common in banks and trading firms, where stamina (耐力) and loyalty, qualities somehow associated with men, are prized," says Mari Miura, a political scientist at Sophia University. All this embarrasses a government that has promised to make women "shine". The policy seems based on the need for more workers rather than on genuine concern for women.

    Shinzo Abe, the prime minister, says he wants to bring millions more women into the workforce to make up for a labour shortfall caused by its ageing and declining population. In the field of politics, the record under Mr. Abe's premiership (首相任期) is disappointing. Just two members of his 20-strong cabinet are women, including Seiko Noda, in charge of women's rights. Ms. Noda, who makes little secret of her ambition to beat Mr. Abe in a leadership contest next month, has just published a book called "Grab the Future", her public declaration for pulling Japan into line with "global standards". She has almost no chance of winning.

    The world is a truly strange place waiting to be explored. In addition to offering a lot of extraordinary locations and people, it also offers interesting festivals celebrated by people in various parts of the world. Here is a list of the oddest festivals that can be found around the world.

    Cheese Rolling Festival: A festival that is surely going to leave you with a sore neck if not a broken one! Celebrated in England, the Cheese Rolling Festival is something that you would rather watch than take part in.

    Okay! Here's how it goes. Officials set a big cheese wheel to roll down a steep hill and participants run after it. The first one to catch it wins the competition and the cheese. Simple? Well, try it out and you will know!

    The Monkey Buffet: Now here's a country that actually feeds monkeys to their hearts' content instead of chasing them away. Celebrated in Thailand, the Monkey Buffet is an annual event that brings together a lot of locals who offer fruit and vegetables to over 600 monkeys. It's a great feast as the monkeys dig into almost 3, 000 kilograms of fruit and vegetables. The people of Thailand believe this is a way to honor the Monkey King called Hanuman.

    La Tomatina: Here's your golden chance to get even with your friends who sprayed(喷洒)paint on you on your birthday. Celebrated in Spain, the month of August has nearly 250 pounds of tomatoes go down the drain(被浪费掉)in what is perhaps the largest tomato fight in the world. The event is conducted in the town of Bunyol and attracts nearly 30, 000 tourists around the world in addition to locals. Truckloads of tomatoes arrive and you are ready to go. The entire area is covered with slush and tomatoes within minutes. It's a good time to have fun with friends and family.