Optimists Really Do Live Longer, Say Scientists

    1. For the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer optimism was fundamentally wrong, banal and corrupting, while the father of psychoanalysis Sigmund Frend simply declared it to be neurotic.

    2. Experience shows that looking on the bright side of life does have advantages and recent scientific evidence points to the positive mindset as being beneficial to health¹. In other words optimists live longer.

    3. That was the conclusion reached by experts at the Mayo Clinic in the U. S. State of Minnesota who evaluated answers given by people to a set of questions in the 1960s. Of the 729 candidates, 200 had died and according to scientists, there were a disproportionate number of pessimists among them.

    4. Ten points more on the pessimism scale—that was the difference between “slightly pessimistic” and “averagely pessimistic” — were enough to boost a person’s chances of dying by 19 percent, according to the study by prominent psychologist Martin Seligman of the UniversityofPennsylvania.

    5. The study does not say why pessimists die but an older survey taken among children in San Francisco and Los Angeles makes it clear that personal attitude towards the world is a key factor in the longevity equation².

    6. The latest evidence to support the theory that optimists tend to cope better with illness of all kinds has been provided by Professor Ralf Schwarzer ofBerlin"s Free University who questioned 600 heart and lung patients. His conclusion: Optimists recover more swiftly from operations than their pessimistic counterparts; tend to be happier after treatment and return to work more swiftly.

    7. There have been suggestions that optimists do not stay healthier but rather turn into optimists later because they enjoy good health³.  Numerous surveys have taken into account a person"s state of health at the outset⁴ and the effect remains the same.

    8. Studies have shown that optimists do not blind themselves to reality either. They thus interpret it in a positive way. “Sublimating and denying things tend to alter reality but illusions are a way of seeing reality in the best light.⁵” said Californian psychology professor Shelley Taylor.

    9. German science journal “Bild der Wissenschaft”, which carries a major article on the topic in its current March issue, commented on “the right attitude” to having a tumor.

    10. It seems psychotherapy can go some way⁶ towards extending the life span and life quality of a sick person although a complete recovery using psychological technique alone is unlikely.

    11. Doctors like, however, to point to the example of U. S. cycling professional Lance Armstrong, who was seriously ill with cancer, but whose unshakable optimism helped him to take the top trophy twice at cycling"s premier Tour de France.

    12. The magazine also quoted a study by Sheldon Cohens of the Carnegie-Mellon-University inPittsburgh:420 volunteers were deliberately infected with strains of various common cold viruses. A day later checks were carried out to see who had caught a cold.

    13. The results showed that in the case of people who had satisfactory, long-term relations with friends neighbors or colleagues, the virus was less likely to trigger a cold. Of people with three or fewer firm relationships 62 percent became ill compared with only 35 percent of those who had six or more close human links.

词汇：

banal/ bəˈnɑ:l/adj. 平庸的，陈腐的 

mindset/ ˈmaɪndset/ n. 思想倾向

disproportionate/ dɪsprəˈpɔrʃənɪt/adj. 不成比例的 

sublimate/ "sʌblɪmeɪt/ vt. 升华，理想化

neurotic/ njʊəˈrɒtɪk/ adj. 神经过敏的

boost/ bu:st/ v. 提高，增加

trigger/ ˈtrɪgə(r)/ vt. 激起，引起 

prominent/ ˈprɒmɪnənt/ adj. 著名的，杰出的

注释：

1.Experience shows that looking on the bright side of life does have advantages and recent scientific evidence points to the positive mindset as being beneficial to health.经验表明，看到生活光明的一面确有好处，最近的科学证据也表明积极的思维方式有益健康。

2.a key factor in the longevity equation：长寿方程式上的一个关键因素。

3.There have been suggestions that optimists do not stay healthier but rather turn into optimists later because they enjoy good health.有意见认为，乐观者并不会变得更健康，而是由于拥有健康他们后来才变成了乐观者。

4.at the outset：当初，起先

5.“Sublimating and denying things tend to alter reality but illusions are a way of seeing reality in the best light.…：美化事物和否定事物都有助于改变现实，而幻觉却是看到现实最光明一面的方法……

6.go some way：有一定帮助。这个词组是仿照“go a long way”的用法，其意为“大有帮助，大有作用”。

B. in looking on the bright side of life

C. less likely to catch cold

D. how one looks on life

E. to be unhappy all the time

An experiment showed that optimists were ______________.

A:A B:B C:C D:D E:E F:F

I used to find notes left in the collection basket of the church, beautiful notes about my homilies(讲道)and about the writer’s thoughts on the daily readings. The (1) fascinated me. But it was a long time (2) I met the author of the notes.
One Sunday morning, I was (3) that someone was waiting for me in the office, a young woman who said she (4) all the notes. When I saw her I was (5) , since I had no idea thatit was she who wrote the notes. She was sitting in a chair in the office. Her (6) was bowed and when she raised it to look at me, she could barely (7) without pain. Her face was disfigured(畸形), so smiling was very (8) for her. We (9) for a while that Sunday morning and agreed to meet for lunch later that week. As it (10) , we went to lunch several times, and we shared things about our (11) . We spoke of authors we both had (12) , and it was easy to tell that (13) are a great love of hers. She suffered from a disfigurement that cannot be made to look (14) . I know that her condition (15) her deeply. Yet there was a beauty to her that had nothing to do with (16) . She was one to be listened to, whose words came from a wounded but (17) heart. She possessed a fine tuned sense of beauty. Her only (18) in life was the loss of a friend. The truth of her life was a desire to see beyond the (19) for a glimpse of what it is that matters. She found beauty and (20) and they befriended her, and showed her what is real.

A:told B:warned C:informed D:showed

Louis Armstrong had two famous nicknames. Some people called him Bagamo. They said his mouth looked like a large bag. Musicians often called him Pops, as a sign of respect for his influence on the world of music.
Born in 1901 in New Orleans, he grew up poor, but lived among great musicians. Jazz had been invented in the city a few years before his birth. Armstrong often said, "Jazz and I grew up together. "
Armstrong showed a great talent for music when he was taught to play the comet at a boy’s home. In his late teens, Armstrong began to live the life of a musician. He played in parades, clubs, and on the steamboats that traveled on the Mississippi River. At that time, New Orleans was famous for the new music of jazz and was home to many great musicians. Armstrong learned from the older musicians and soon became respected as their equal.
In 1922 he went to Chicago. There, the tale of Louis Armstrong began. From then until the end of his life, -Armstrong was celebrated and loved wherever he went. Armstrong had no equal when it came to playing the American popular song.
His cornet playing had a deep humanity and warmth that caused many listeners to say, "Listening to Pops just makes you feel good all over. " He was the father of the jazz style and also one of the best known and most admired people in the world. His death, on July 6th 1971, was headline news around the world.
Armstrong was called Pops because he ______.

A:looked like a musician B:was a musician of much influence C:showed an interest in music D:traveled to play modem music

Current gym dogma holds that to build muscle size you need to lift heavy weights. (1) , a new study (2) at McMaster University has shown that a similar degree of muscle building can be achieved by using lighter weights. The secret is to pump air (3) you reach muscle fatigue.
The (4) are published in PLoS ONE.
" (5) grunting and straining to lift heavy weights, you can (6) something much lighter but you have to lift it until you can’t lift it (7) ," says Stuart Phillips, associate professor of kinesiology at McMaster University. "We’re convinced that (8) muscle means (9) your muscle to make new muscle proteins, a process in the body that over time (10) into bigger muscles. "
Phillips praised lead author and senior Ph.D. student Nicholas Burd for masterminding the project that showed it’s really not the weight that you lift but the fact that you get muscular fatigue that’s the (11) point in building muscle. The study used light weights that (12) a percentage of what the (13) could lift. The heavier weights were set (14) 90% of a person’s best lift and the light weights at a mere 30%o of what people could lift. "It’s a very light weight," says Phillips noting that the 80% 90% (15) is usually something people can lift from 5～10 times before fatigue sets in. At 30%, Burd reported that subjects could lift that weight at least 24 times (16) they felt fatigue.
"We’re (17) to see where this new paradigm will lead," says Phillips, adding that these new data have (18) significance for gym enthusiasts but more importantly for people with compromised skeletal muscle mass, (19) the elderly, patients with cancer, or those who are (20) from trauma, surgery or even stroke.

A:showed B:predicted C:explained D:represented

Wallerstein's study showed that ______.

A:divorce left the children with many problems B:all the problems showed up right after the divorce C:divorce could be avoided D:divorce made the children mature earlier

I used to find notes left in the collection basket of the church, beautiful notes about my homilies(讲道)and about the writer’s thoughts on the daily readings. The (1) fascinated me. But it was a long time (2) I met the author of the notes.
One Sunday morning, I was (3) that someone was waiting for me in the office, a young woman who said she (4) all the notes. When I saw her I was (5) , since I had no idea thatit was she who wrote the notes. She was sitting in a chair in the office. Her (6) was bowed and when she raised it to look at me, she could barely (7) without pain. Her face was disfigured(畸形), so smiling was very (8) for her. We (9) for a while that Sunday morning and agreed to meet for lunch later that week. As it (10) , we went to lunch several times, and we shared things about our (11) . We spoke of authors we both had (12) , and it was easy to tell that (13) are a great love of hers. She suffered from a disfigurement that cannot be made to look (14) . I know that her condition (15) her deeply. Yet there was a beauty to her that had nothing to do with (16) . She was one to be listened to, whose words came from a wounded but (17) heart. She possessed a fine tuned sense of beauty. Her only (18) in life was the loss of a friend. The truth of her life was a desire to see beyond the (19) for a glimpse of what it is that matters. She found beauty and (20) and they befriended her, and showed her what is real.

A:told B:warned C:informed D:showed

I used to find notes left in the collection basket of the church, beautiful notes about my homilies(讲道)and about the writer’s thoughts on the daily readings. The (1) fascinated me. But it was a long time (2) I met the author of the notes.
One Sunday morning, I was (3) that someone was waiting for me in the office, a young woman who said she (4) all the notes. When I saw her I was (5) , since I had no idea thatit was she who wrote the notes. She was sitting in a chair in the office. Her (6) was bowed and when she raised it to look at me, she could barely (7) without pain. Her face was disfigured(畸形), so smiling was very (8) for her. We (9) for a while that Sunday morning and agreed to meet for lunch later that week. As it (10) , we went to lunch several times, and we shared things about our (11) . We spoke of authors we both had (12) , and it was easy to tell that (13) are a great love of hers. She suffered from a disfigurement that cannot be made to look (14) . I know that her condition (15) her deeply. Yet there was a beauty to her that had nothing to do with (16) . She was one to be listened to, whose words came from a wounded but (17) heart. She possessed a fine tuned sense of beauty. Her only (18) in life was the loss of a friend. The truth of her life was a desire to see beyond the (19) for a glimpse of what it is that matters. She found beauty and (20) and they befriended her, and showed her what is real.

A:told B:warned C:informed D:showed