上海市上外闵行、曹杨中学、嘉定二中等2019-2020学年高...

A Brief History of Ice

Ice is a lot more than frozen water. In ancient days, it was nearly worth its weight in gold. Egyptian pharaohs, Roman emperors, and Mideastern kings ordered thick pieces of ice brought from the snow-covered mountain peak to make their drinks . Floated on ships, ice soon became a quick business -- not only as refreshment but also to cool houses in an old version of air . The Chinese of 3,000 years ago built special buildings to  ice. The Persians enjoyed put ice into fruit juices, which was called sharbia. In time, a craze for sharbia  throughout Europe.

The best was yet to come. In Italy, around 1550, some  cooks added milk to the recipe（菜谱）. Presto! The  of ice cream! But, for centuries, it was  and expensive. In 1809, Dolly Madison, wife of the fourth president of U. S. A., impressed her dinner guests by being the first to  ice cream at the White House.

Apart from nice desserts, ice was  business. It could cool fish, meat, fruits, and vegetables sent all over the world. Since then, we needn't climb up mountains for ice all year round.

A small ice cube has a big history. Imagine yourself a queen or king of Persia when you put an ice into your lemonade. It'll  even better.

There's a Museum for Everyone

What comes to mind when you think of a museum? Perhaps you  an imposing building in a rather conventional（传统的）design made of high-quality stone? Perhaps you imagine a classic , such as the museum of natural history, the museum of fine art, or the national museum -- its exhibits displayed in a time -  style and falling in line with tradition.

Some people might consider these customary institutions the best way to  the future of typical educational topics. A museum of old breadboards, they may say, does not make up an orthodox（正统的）exhibition. But according to the Museum Association, a museum is defined as a place enabling "... people to  collections for inspiration, learning and enjoyment." And so of the 2500 estimated museum in the UK, a few are bound to be considered a little unconventional.

What about Neil Cole's Adventures in Science Fiction? This odd museum of classic science fiction was opened by the  Neil Cole. "Science fiction has become more mainstream so I thought people might want to see this," says Mr Cole.

If clocks are more to your , why not visit the Cuckoo-land Museum? Set up by brothers Roman and Maz Piekarski, this collection of over 600 cuckoo（布谷鸟）clocks is considered to be the largest of its kind in the world -- and all from the Black Forest region in Germany.

Finally, you could visit the Victor Wynd Museum of Curiosities in London. This  institution reverses the trend of educating visitors through  explanations alongside its exhibits. Instead, it displays all of its  treasures, which include dodo bones, shrunken heads and a collection of McDonald's Happy Meal toys, with no explanation at all.

Laugh-lab, an experiment set up more than a year ago, established that the British, Irish, New Zealanders and Australians prefer a play on words and that the French, Danes and Belgians have a taste for the surreal（超现实主义的）. Americans and Canadians, 1, laugh at jokes showing one group's superiority over another. The Germans apparently have the 2 sense of humor -- if only because they have no national preference, and therefore find almost anything funny.

The winning joke was the product of international selection. It was posted by Gurpal Gosall, a 31-year-old psychologist from Manchester. This joke, according to Richard Wiseman, founder of Laugh-lab, 3 all. It also contained the three 4 that were found central to humor: a sense of superiority, an unexpected response, and a sad feeling. The joke was that:

A couple of New Jersey hunters are out in the woods when one of them falls to the ground. He doesn't seems to be breathing, his eyes are rolled back in his head. The other guy whips out his mobile phone and calls the emergency services. He gasps to the operator: 'My friend is dead! What can I do? ' The operator, in a clam, soothing voice says: 'Just take it easy. I can help. First, let's make sure he's 5. ' There is a silence, then a shot is heard. The guy's voice comes back on the line. He says: 'OK, now that? '

Dr Gosall and 6 the joke for years. He said: 'It makes people feel better ... reminds you that there's always someone out there doing something more 7 than you. ' It was one of a series of jokes read to a volunteer who was being given a brain scan. With each joke, a specific area at the front of the volunteer's brain lit up. There was also a reaction in an area linked to 8, showing recognition of an old joke. ''It 9 other research, because if people have damage to that part of the brain, then they lose their sense of humor, ' Dr Wiseman said.

There were other 10. The Laugh-lab computers counted the number of words in every joke that people submitted（提交）. According to the data, jokes containing 103 are the funniest. Interestingly, the winning joke is 102 words long-almost the 11 length for a joke!

Many of the jokes submitted contained references to 12. The researchers found that jokes mentioning ducks were seen as funnier than other jokes. Perhaps it's because of their webbed feet or their odd shapes. 13, the implication is clear -- if you are going to tell a joke involving an animal, make it a duck.

The Laugh-lab computer also recorded the date and time that each person from the UK 14 the jokes in Laugh-lab. Careful analysis of the data revealed that people found the jokes funniest on the 7th October at 6:03 in the evening. Perhaps they have 15 discovered the funniest moment of the year!

P₁Some people have lot of hair while others have a little. Some people have no hair on the top of their head; they are bald. The important thing is -- are you happy with the hair you have?

P₂Problem hair is often a result of an unhealthy diet and lifestyle.

P₃To ensure your hair looks its best, pay attention to what you eat. Lack of protein and iron makes your hair less shiny. So, you need adequate amounts of green vegetables, fruits and dairy products. Drink eight to ten glasses of water a day. This will help keep your hair from becoming dry. Avoid eating sweets or high-fat foods. They can slow hair growth.

P₄Stress in your life can also secretly rob your hair of its shiny beauty. Relaxing music and more rest are both remedies for stress.

P₅In addition, remember to rinse your hair thoroughly after you shampoo it. Brushing your hair regularly will help it grow. It will also make it look healthy. Do not rub your hair too quickly when you dry it. It could damage your hair.

P₆Last, be sure to choose the right hair products. The choices you make are they key to healthy hair.

*hc: hardcover

*sc: softcover

*eb: electronic business

If you are over 20, look away now. Your cognitive （认知的）performance is probably already on the wane. The speed with which people can process information decreases at a steady rate from as early as their 20s.

A common test of processing speed is the "digit symbol substitution test", in which a range of symbols are paired with a set of numbers in a code. Participants are shown the code, given a row of symbols and then asked to write down the corresponding number in the box below within a set period. There is nothing cognitively challenging about the task: levels of education make no difference to performance. But age does. Speed declines as people get older.

Why this should be is still uncertain, but a range of tentative（尝试性的）explanations has been put forward. One points the finger at myelin, a white, fatty substance that coats axons, which carry signals from one neuron to another. Steady reductions in myelin as people age may be slowing down these connections. Another possibility, says Timothy Salthouse, director of the Cognitive Ageing Laboratory at the University of Virginia, is exhaustion of a chemical called dopamine（多巴胺）.

Fortunately, there is some good news to go with the bad. Psychologists distinguish between "fluid intelligence", which is the ability to solve new problems, and "crystallised intelligence", which roughly equates to an individual's stock of accumulated knowledge. These reserves of knowledge continue to increase with age: people's performance on vocabulary and cognitive decline. In an old but instructive study of typists ranging in age from 19 to 72, older workers typed just as fast as younger ones, even though their tapping speed was slower. They achieved this by looking further ahead in the text, which allowed them to keep going more smoothly.

What does all this mean for a lifetime of continuous learning? It is encouraging so long as people are learning new tricks in familiar fields. "If learning can be absorbed into an existing knowledge base, advantage favours the old," says Mr Salthouse.

The Benefits of a Summer Job

Have you ever had a summer job? For many young people, summer is an exciting period where education stops and fun begins.  And the very group who have the time to benefit from the fun summer has to offer may not have the funds to do so. The solution? A summer job.

The concept of students and younger members of society being gainfully employed over the summer period is not a new one. And there are opportunities out there for those who want to earn. In many cases, the jobs only pay minimum wages, which may only help you out. But the money is not the only thing that's gained.

 Indeed, when talking about their experiences of summer jobs, people said they got "invaluable training" and learnt skills such as punctuality, tolerance, and the importance of hard work. These opportunities are thought to be so important that the UK government has placed 20,000 summer job vacancies on its Find a Job website.

 The percentage of young people working while studying has more than halved since 1997, falling from 42% to 18% in 2014. Those are the findings of a UK government report on the death of the Saturday job. Ester McVey believes this is because young people are choosing to focus more on education rather than earning extra money.

A. Summer and Saturday jobs prepare young people for successful careers in later life, teaching vital soft skills.

B. Students take summer jobs mainly to cover their tuition and this practice is highly appreciated by their parents.

C. That said, holidays, festivals and time spent with friends cost money.

D. This move comes at a time of apparent need.

E. Soft skills are so essential to students' future career that they have to take summer jobs to acquire them.

F. Vacancies can range from roles as boring as fry cook, to seasonal work at a theme park.

—I'm sorry. I the sign. (not notice)