Both men and women are living longer these days in industrialized countries. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} In general, they can expect to live six or seven years more than men. One reason for this is biological.

    One important biological factor(因素) that helps women live longer is the difference in hormones between men and women. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Between the ages of about 12 and 50, women produce hormones that are involved in fertility(生育能力). These hormones also have a positive effect on the heart and the blood flow. In fact, women are less likely to have high blood pressure or to die from heart attacks.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} They help the body defend itself against some kinds of infections. This means that women generally get sick less often and less seriously than men. The common cold is a good example: women, on average, get fewer colds than men.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Scientists are still not exactly sure how genes influence aging, but they believe they do. Some think that a woman's body cells have a tendency(倾向) to age more slowly than a man's. Others think that a man' s body cells have a tendency to age more quickly. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. However, women, on average, live longer.

B. The biological factor plays an important part.

C. Women are also helped by their female genes.

D. The female hormones also protect the body in another way.

E. Recent research seems to support both of these possibilities.

F. Therefore, women are more healthy than men and can live a better life.

G. Hormones are chemicals which are produced by the body to control various body functions.

    Everyone can benefit a lot from reading books. The following is about various benefits of reading books.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Whenever you read something, you learn information that you wouldn't have known. If you want to learn new words, reading books is a great way to enlargeyour vocabulary.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Similar to solving puzzles, reading books allows your mind to practice its processing skills. Going without books for too long will turn your mind into mess.

    One of the primary benefits of reading books is its ability to develop your thinking skills. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Wherever you are faced with a similar problem in real life, your mind is able to put its mystery solving skills to a test.

    The information in books can be referred to over and over again. For example, reading a cookbook allows you the chance to review the cooking steps whenever you need to. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Don't even think about writing the information down because you may lose the paper sooner or later.

    These are just some of the wonderful benefits of reading books. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} If you can't even go outside, you can download free e­books online and read them on your computer. That way, you can see how useful reading can be for yourself.

A. You can improve your memory by reading.

B. Reading keeps your mind in good condition.

C. Reading books can make you become confident.

D. Reading books provides you with new knowledge.

E. Reading mystery novels, for example, trains your mind.

F. Following the steps from a cooking video will be difficult.

G. Why don't you drop into a bookstore and pick a book up?

    Meet the amazing Eliot Schrefer, and see why we're big fans!

    Scope: Why do you write stories about animals?

    Eliot: I've always been excited by animal stories. When I was young, I liked reading about animals because they seemed like they needed help, and they were also voiceless.

    Scope: Where did you get the idea for Animal Distress Calls?

    Eliot: Many years ago, I had a friend who worked as a doctor at the Bronx Zoo. One evening he invited me to see the zoo after hours. Wandering that still, dark zoo was haunting. I was imagining adventures with big wild animals, but only the wolves were awake. Then he took me into the clinic, where I met a sick bird. That nighttime visit clearly had a big impact on this story.

    Scope: Why did you leave Josie's fate ambiguous in the story Animal Distress Calls?

    Eliot: So many of us have known a creature, human or nonhuman, who's been suffering. Sometimes everything gets better, and sometimes it doesn't. That doesn't change the important, compassionate act of caring. I didn't want the story to become about the outcome of Josie's illness. I wanted it to be about the sympathy Josie and Julia share for each other.

    Scope: Have you had a personal experience with an animal that changed you?

    Eliot: I had a moment during research for my ape novels when I was staying at a bonobo sanctuary in Congo. I'd have breakfast with Oshwe, a young bonobo who was too little to eat with the rest of the group. Sitting with him for a few hours each morning, I helped make sure that he finished his meal and got the nutrition he needed—but it also felt like a gift he was giving me. Oh, I remember thinking, you're spending this precious morning time with me!

    The hemlock(铁杉) trees along the Wappinger Creek, New York, look healthy. However, scientist Gary Lovett says the white balls which provide protection for the bugs are created by a tiny insect. It's hard to believe the tiny bug could kill a tree. However, trees can end up with millions and millions of the pests. When there are that many, it ends up killing the tree.

    The bug from East Asia is slowly killing trees across the USA. The trouble－making bug is just one of many invasive(入侵的) pests that have slipped into the United States. They can hurt other living things in their new home.

    Many invasive pests arrive on wooden pallets piled inside shipping containers. They support and separate goods, and keep them from sliding around. Invasive pests often tunnel into the pallets.  How can we stop pests from riding on pallets? Lovett says new rules are needed. The companies that make pallets don't want more rules. Congress has added an amendment(修正案) in the 2018 Farm Bill to try and prevent this problem. However, Lovett is not hopeful it will make much of a difference. Pallets are checked by inspectors. Many are sprayed with bug－killing pesticide. "I believe in the system，" said Brent McClendon, president of The National Wooden Pallet and Container Association. He also said shipping containers are checked very carefully.

    Still, each year 13 million containers are shipped to the U.S. Each is full of wooden pallets. Lovett says: "Inspectors can't possibly check everything. All it takes are a few bad pallets; we should get rid of wooden pallets." He believes pallets should be made of plastic or eco－composite wood. Eco－composite wood is a mix of wood fiber and plastic. Insects cannot hide into it. One problem is that these choices cost more. They may be worth the extra money, though. Invasive pests cost the U.S. $5 billion a year. Trees don't just die in forests. They also die in cities and our yards. Then, they need to be replaced. That costs money, too.

    Moving in with a boyfriend causes women to eat more unhealthily and put on weight. But the opposite is true for men, whose long-term health benefits when they move in with a female partner.

    Dieticians at Newcastle University said both partners try to please one another, and so change their dietary habits to suit their other half.

    It leads men to eat more light meals, such as salads, fruit and vegetables, while women choose to make creamier, heavier dishes curry or rich pasta sauces, which may please their partner. Women still have the strongest long-term influence over the couple's diet and lifestyle, as they still have the traditional role of shopper and cook in most households.

    The report, by Newcastle University's Human Nutrition Research Centre, reviewed the finding of a variety of research projects from the UK, North America and Australia, which looked at the eating and lifestyle habits of couples.

    The research shows that women are more likely to put on weight and increase their consumption of foods high in fat and sugar when they move in with their partner

    Women also use food as a comfort when dealing with emotional stress and have been found to gain weight when a relationship ends, while the same finding has not been observed in men.

    Many couples reported food as being central to their partnership, and eating together in the evening was particularly important to many.

    Report author and registered dietician Dr. Amelia Lake said, "The research has shown that your partner is a strong influence on lifestyle and people who are trying to live healthier lives should take this factor into consideration."

If you are a psychology enthusiast, you have probably heard of the famous marshmallow test （棉花糖实验）. In this task, kids are given a marshmallow, and are told that they can eat that marshmallow now, or wait a little while, and have two marshmallows instead. Some kids eat the marshmallow immediately, but most try their best to wait for two. 

When the researchers followed up with those kids later in life, children who waited longer had better life outcomes: more academic success, better social behavior, and even markers of better health. They believe those children who keep waiting are the ones with the most self-control-a key factor in success, and that's why they are so successful later. 

But what if the behavior in the marshmallow test has more to do with cultural norms than self-control?

A 2022 study tested the idea that children may decide how long to wait for rewards based on what they are accustomed to waiting for in their culture. For example, in the United States, there is no widespread mealtime custom of waiting until everyone is served. In Japan, however, there is. 

Because of this difference in norms, the researchers hypothesized that Japanese children would wait longer in the marshmallow test than the American children. This is exactly what they found later in experiments. 

But this isn't conclusive evidence; after all, maybe Japanese children actually have better self-control, or maybe they differ from American children in other ways that could explain the result. 

In the U. S. , gifts are usually given on special occasions and children usually have to wait before they can unwrap their presents. In Japan, however, gift-giving happens more often, and children usually open presents immediately. 

Given these cultural differences, scientists expected that if they ran the test with gifts instead of marshmallows, American kids would wait longer. Once again, their hypothesis was correct. 

This is a powerful result because it demonstrates the importance of culture and habit in shaping behavior. If a child waits only few minutes before giving up on two marshmallows but much longer to unwrap a gift, can we really say that child lacks self-control? I don't think so. I think it just means that they are adjusting well to their social settings.