In a new move, doctors are using feature films in order to encourage their patients to talk more freely about their problems. Supporters of "film therapy (疗法)" say that discussing characters and plot lines from a proper film can help people to understand their feelings better.

One of those using the method is Bernie Wooder, a doctor from Elstree, who charges £45 for a one-hour "film therapy" session. He said, "I was treating a woman who had been badly let down in a relationship, and who was experiencing such strong feelings that it was difficult for her to speak about them. I told her that her situation reminded me of On the Waterfront, when Marlon Brando's character realizes his brother is dishonest and he feels a great sense of betrayal (背叛). My patient identified so easily with him that she started to cry. Watching and discussing the film unlocked all the feelings she had buried. Each time she watched and cried, she felt better."

Mr Wooder admits that film therapy does not work for everyone, but says he has used it successfully with about a third of his clients. "Through the films' characters, plots and even music, it allows people to face their problems." He said that Falling Down, in which Michael Douglas plays the part of an unemployed man who is so frustrated (沮丧的) that he uses violence, was an example of the dangerous implications (后果) of not letting anger go. "I used this film with a patient who was very upset because he was holding on to a lot of the anger he felt towards people who had frustrated him," said Mr Wooder. "We talked about Michael Douglas's character and the disastrous path he takes, and my patient then realized that he needed to let go of his feelings more regularly so as not to erupt (爆发) like a time bomb."

    If you don't use your arms or your legs for some time, they become weak; when you start using them again, they slowly become strong again. Everybody knows that. Yet many people do not seem to know that memory works in the same way. When someone says that he has a good memory he really means that he keeps his memory in practice by using it. When someone else says that his memory is poor, he really means he does not give it enough chance to become strong.

    If a friend says that his arms and legs are weak, we know that it is his own fault. But if he tells us that he has a poor memory, many of us think that his parents are to blame, and few of us know that it is just his own fault. Have you ever found that some people can't read or write but usually they have better memories? This is because they can not read or write and they have to remember things; they can not write down in a little notebook; they have to remember days, songs and stories; so their memory is the whole time being exercised. So if you want to have a good memory, learn from the people: practice remembering.

    There exist cruel wars, fighting and sadness in the world today, so it's not only necessary, but also essential to have a good sense of humor just to help us go through difficult times in our lives. Putting a smile on someone's face when you know they are feeling depressed, as the saying goes, makes me feel good and warms my heart.

    How would you feel if you could not joke around with wife, husband, child, co-worker, neighbor, close friend, or even just someone that you are standing in line with at your corner store? I am always saying things that make others smile or laugh, even if I don't know the person I'm joking around with. My Grandma always found humor in everything she did, even if it was the hardest job anyone could imagine. This not only relieves stress in any situation, but also is a common manner to speak to others that are around you.

    I know of a few people that don't have a funny bone in their bodies, as they say. Everyone around them could be rolling on the floor after hearing a great joke and they would sit there without the slightest smile on their faces. They don't get the joke that makes others laugh. I am, laughing hard while they just sit there, looking at me as if I were from outer space. How can people not get a really funny joke?

    Laughing is essential to keep your stress levels under control. Without humor, we would find ourselves with a lot of psychological problems, or on a lot of medications to keep us from going crazy. There is too much sadness and bring a little light into our lives. Therefore, I believe our best medicine is to get together and tell some jokes and have some fun laughing together.

     Aspirin has long been praised as a wonder drug. An aspirin a day keeps the doctor away. Many Americans have been taking one aspirin a day, believing it would protect them from a heart attack a stroke(中风), and even a cancer. But several recent studies have thrown this into question. Daily use of aspirin can have serious side effects(副作用).

    One study followed more than 19,000 healthy people aged 65 and older. They were required to take either 100 mg of aspirin (a little more than the 81 mg dose that most people take) or a placebo(无效对照剂) every day for about years, Not only did people in the aspirin group not lower their risk of heart disease, or disability but they were also more likely to suffer from bleeding into the brain or stomach. And they were more likely to die because of an increased risk of giving in to cancer, Similarly, an experiment of more than 12. 500 people aged 55 and older who have a cardiovascular (心血管的)risk found no benefit to taking aspirin daily. In study of more than 15,000 people with diabetes(糖尿病), a daily aspirin did prevent heart attacks and strokes, but it also caused serious bleeding.

    Although some earlier research has proved that aspirin can help people who have already had or are at high risk for heart attacks or strokes, the drug's value is not so clear for people, especially older people,

    The bottom line is this: Be smart and be safe. You should not take daily low-dose aspirin without talking to a doctor if you.

    ● Are over the age of 70

    ● Drink wine regularly

    ●Are on any simple medical operations

Earthquakes are something that people fear.There are some places that have few or no earthquakes.Most places in the world,however,have them regularly (有规律地).Countries that have a lot of earthquakes are usually quite mountainous.

The most talked about earthquake in the United States was in San Francisco in 1906.Over 700 people died in it.The strongest one in North America was in 1964.It happened in Alaska.

Strong earthquakes are not always the ones that kill the most people.In 1755,one of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded was felt in Portugal.Around 2,000 people died.

In 1923,a very strong earthquake hit Tokyo and the Yokohama areas of Japan.A hundred and forty thousand people died.Most of them died in fires which followed the earthquake.

One of the worst earthquakes ever was in China in 1976.It killed a large number of people.The worst earthquake ever reported was also in China,in which about 830,000 people were killed.This earthquake happened in 1556.

Earthquakes worry people a lot.The reason is that we often do not know when they are coming.People cannot prepare for it.

Brilliant Ways to Deliver Secret Messages

Many effective ways are used now to deliver secret messages. But in the past when the science and technology was not developing, especially during the war, how did people send secret and important messages?

Shoelaces

In the 1950s, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency created a book of tips to teach spies ways to communicate in public. One tip: Lace up your shoes. Tied one way, the laces might mean "I have information": tied another, "Follow me". The spies could communicate while everyone else probably thought, "That guy can't tie his shoes correctly!"

Tattooed (刺文身) Head

Around 513 B.C., Histiaeus was forced out as the ruler of an ancient city. So he wanted to send a message to his supporters: Rebel against the king who took away his power.

Histiaeus called in a slave, shaved his head and tattooed the message onto the man's skin on the top of head. After the slave's hair grew back, he travelled to Greece with orders to shave his head again. Message received!

Orange Juice

In 1597, John Gerard was imprisoned in the Tower of London in England. He asked the prison guard to let him send letters written in charcoal (木炭). But then he wrote another message on top using the juice from an orange-which was only visible when the juice was dry and the page heated. With his invisible ink, he escaped successfully.

Songs

In the 1800s, African American slaves couldn't talk openly about their plans to escape to freedom—so they secretly sang about it.

Swing Low, Sweet Chariot might sound like a religious song. But for slaves, the "sweet chariot" was the code for the Underground Railroad, the network of people who helped slaves head to northern states and Canada. The song Wade in the Water warned escaped slaves to get in the water so dogs wouldn't smell them. With these songs, hundreds of people escaped slavery.