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

How long one can live partly depends on ______________.

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

Do you want to live another 100 years or more Some experts say that scientific advances will one day enable humans to last tens of years beyond what is now seen as the natural limit of the human life span. "I think we are knocking at the door of immortality (永生), "said Michael Zey, a Montclair State University business professor and author of two books on the future. "I think by 2075 we will see it and that’s a conservative estimate (保守的估计)."
At the conference in San Francisco, Donald Louria, a professor at New Jersey Medical School in Newark said advances in using genes as well as nanotechnology (纳米技术) make it likely that humans will bye in the future beyond what has been possible in the past. "There is a great push so that people can live from 120 to 180 years," he said. "Some have suggested that there is no limit and that people could live to 200 or 300 or 500 years." However, many scientists who specialize in ageing are doubtful about it and say the human body is just not designed to last past about 120 years. Even with healthier lifestyles and less disease, they say failure of the brain and organs will finally lead all humans to death.
Scientists also differ on what kind of life the super aged might live. "It remains to be seen if you pass 120, you know; could you be healthy enough to have good quality of life" said Leonard Pooh, director of the University of Georgia Gerontology. Centre. "At present people who could get to that point are not in good health at all./

A:people can live from 120 to 180 B:it is still doubtful how long humans can live C:the human body is designed to last past about 120 years D:it is possible for humans to live longer in the future

A
Everything living on earth--plants and animals need other living things. Nothing lives alone. Most animals must live in a group, and even a tree or a plant grows close together with others of the same kind. Sometimes one living thing hunts another; one eats and the other is eaten. Each kind of life eats another kind of life in order to live, and together they form a food chain. Some food chains are simple; others are complicated. But all have two things in common--all food chains begin with the sun, and all food chain become broken up if one of the links disappears. All life depends on energy from sunlight. Only plants can use this energy directly. Their leaves are little factories that use sunlight to make food from water and things in the soil and air.
Plants in turn feed all other living things. Animals can only use the sun’s energy after it has been changed into food by plants. Some animals feed directly on plants; others eat smaller animals. Meat-eating animals are only eating plants indirectly.
What about human beings.’ We are members of many food chains. We eat wheat, rice, vegetables, fruit and so on. We also eat meat and drink milk. This means the sun’s energy passes through plant to animal before it reaches us.
Nature is a greater thing. Any food chain always produces enough for each of its members if it is left alone. When there isn’t enough food for any link in chain, some of its members die off. So the balance is broken up.
But men in their greed and ignorance often break up the food chain and do great harm not only to one plant or animal, but to all the links irt the chain. People make seas and rivers dirty. They destroy whole forests and kill many kinds of wild animals and birds. When a river becomes dirty, the fish can’t be eaten. Men eat the fish and get strange disease. In some places men have no fish to eat any more, because the fish have died off. Each form of life is linked to all others. Breaking the links puts all life in danger.

A:Each plant can live alone. B:Each animal can live alone. C:Everything living on earth cannot live without needing other living things. D:If living things want to live they must kill each other.

Do you want to live another 100 years or more Some experts say that scientific advances will one day enable humans to last tens of years beyond what is now seen as the natural limit of the human life span. "I think we are knocking at the door of immortality (永生), "said Michael Zey, a Montclair State University business professor and author of two books on the future. "I think by 2075 we will see it and that’s a conservative estimate (保守的估计)."
At the conference in San Francisco, Donald Louria, a professor at New Jersey Medical School in Newark said advances in using genes as well as nanotechnology (纳米技术) make it likely that humans will bye in the future beyond what has been possible in the past. "There is a great push so that people can live from 120 to 180 years," he said. "Some have suggested that there is no limit and that people could live to 200 or 300 or 500 years." However, many scientists who specialize in ageing are doubtful about it and say the human body is just not designed to last past about 120 years. Even with healthier lifestyles and less disease, they say failure of the brain and organs will finally lead all humans to death.
Scientists also differ on what kind of life the super aged might live. "It remains to be seen if you pass 120, you know; could you be healthy enough to have good quality of life" said Leonard Pooh, director of the University of Georgia Gerontology. Centre. "At present people who could get to that point are not in good health at all./
Donald Louria’s attitude towards long living is that______.

A:people can live from 120 to 180 B:it is still doubtful how long humans can live C:the human body is designed to last past about 120 years D:it is possible for humans to live longer in the future

Do you want to live another 100 years or more Some experts say that scientific advances will one day enable humans to last tens of years beyond what is now seen as the natural limit of the human life span. "I think we are knocking at the door of immortality (永生), "said Michael Zey, a Montclair State University business professor and author of two books on the future. "I think by 2075 we will see it and that’s a conservative estimate (保守的估计)."
At the conference in San Francisco, Donald Louria, a professor at New Jersey Medical School in Newark said advances in using genes as well as nanotechnology (纳米技术) make it likely that humans will bye in the future beyond what has been possible in the past. "There is a great push so that people can live from 120 to 180 years," he said. "Some have suggested that there is no limit and that people could live to 200 or 300 or 500 years." However, many scientists who specialize in ageing are doubtful about it and say the human body is just not designed to last past about 120 years. Even with healthier lifestyles and less disease, they say failure of the brain and organs will finally lead all humans to death.
Scientists also differ on what kind of life the super aged might live. "It remains to be seen if you pass 120, you know; could you be healthy enough to have good quality of life" said Leonard Pooh, director of the University of Georgia Gerontology. Centre. "At present people who could get to that point are not in good health at all."

A:people can live from 120 to 180 B:it is still doubtful how long humans can live C:the human body is designed to last past about 120 years D:it is possible for humans to live longer in the future

C Scientists find that hard-working people live longer than average men and women. Career women are healthier than housewives. Evidence shows that the jobless are in poorer health than jobholders. Why is work good for health It is because work keeps people busy away from loneliness. Researches show that people feel unhappy, worried and lonely when they have nothing to do. Instead, the happiest are those who are busy. Many high achievers who love their careers feel that they are happiest when they are working hard. Work serves as a bridge between man and reality. By work people come into with each other. By collective activity they find friendship and warmth. This is helpful to health. The loss of work means the loss of everything. It affects man spiritually and makes him ill. Besides, work gives one a sense of fulfillment and a sense of achievement. Word makes one feel his value and status in society. When a writer finishes his writing or a doctor successfully operates on a patient or a teacher sees his students grow, they are happy beyond words. From the above we can come to the conclusion that the more you work the happier and healthier you will be. Let us work hard and study and live a happy and healthy life.We can infer from the passage that those who do not work ________.

A:are likely to live a shorter life B:will lose everything at home C:can live as long as those who work D:have more time to make new friends

C Scientists find that hard-working people live longer than average men and women. Career women are healthier than housewives. Evidence shows that the jobless are in poorer health than jobholders. Why is work good for health It is because work keeps people busy away from loneliness. Researches show that people feel unhappy, worried and lonely when they have nothing to do. Instead, the happiest are those who are busy. Many high achievers who love their careers feel that they are happiest when they are working hard. Work serves as a bridge between man and reality. By work people come into with each other. By collective activity they find friendship and warmth. This is helpful to health. The loss of work means the loss of everything. It affects man spiritually and makes him ill. Besides, work gives one a sense of fulfillment and a sense of achievement. Word makes one feel his value and status in society. When a writer finishes his writing or a doctor successfully operates on a patient or a teacher sees his students grow, they are happy beyond words. From the above we can come to the conclusion that the more you work the happier and healthier you will be. Let us work hard and study and live a happy and healthy life.We can infer from the passage that those who do not work ________.

A:are likely to live a shorter life B:will lose everything at home C:can live as long as those who work D:have more time to make new friends

C Scientists find that hard-working people live longer than average men and women. Career women are healthier than housewives. Evidence shows that the jobless are in poorer health than jobholders. Why is work good for health It is because work keeps people busy away from loneliness. Researches show that people feel unhappy, worried and lonely when they have nothing to do. Instead, the happiest are those who are busy. Many high achievers who love their careers feel that they are happiest when they are working hard. Work serves as a bridge between man and reality. By work people come into with each other. By collective activity they find friendship and warmth. This is helpful to health. The loss of work means the loss of everything. It affects man spiritually and makes him ill. Besides, work gives one a sense of fulfillment and a sense of achievement. Word makes one feel his value and status in society. When a writer finishes his writing or a doctor successfully operates on a patient or a teacher sees his students grow, they are happy beyond words. From the above we can come to the conclusion that the more you work the happier and healthier you will be. Let us work hard and study and live a happy and healthy life.We can infer from the passage that those who do not work ________.

A:are likely to live a shorter life B:will lose everything at home C:can live as long as those who work D:have more time to make new friends