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The odd thing was that he didn’t recognize me. strange real whole same
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He was tempted by the high salary offered by the company. taught kept changed attracted
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The frame needs to be strong enough to support the engine. structure bottom surface top
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We found shelter from the rain under the trees. defense standing protection room
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We have to change the public’s perception that money is everything. sight belief interest pressure
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It seemed incredible that he had been there a week already. right obvious unbelievable unclear
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This was an unexceptionally brutal attack. cruel open sudden direct
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“There is no other choice, “she said in a harsh voice. firm soft deep unkind
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She gets aggressive when she is drunk. offensive worried sleepy anxious
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I grabbed his arm and made him turn to look at me. threw seized broke stretched
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Traffic reaches its rush hour between 8:00 and 9:00 in the morning. border goal peak level
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That performance was pretty impressive. completely beautifully very equally
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She came across three children sleeping under a bridge. found by chance passed by took a notice of woke up
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I tried to detach myself the reality of these terrible events. bring put set separate
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I have little information as regards her fitness for the post. at with from about
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Promising Results from Cancer Study
A new experimental vaccine(疫苗)has shown promising results in the fight against lung cancer. In a small Texas-based study, a vaccine developed by scientists at Baylor University Medical Centre in Dallas, USA, cured lung cancer in some patients and slowed the progress of the disease in others.
Researchers have reported encouraging findings from this small study. Forty-three patients suffering from lung cancer were involved in these trials. Ten of these patients were in the early stages and thirty-three in the advanced stages of the disease. They were injected with the vaccine every two weeks for three months, and were carefully monitored for three years. In three of the patients in the advanced stages of cancer, the disease disappeared and in the others, it did not spread for five to twenty-four months. However, no great difference was seen in the patients in the early stages of the illness.
This new vaccine uses the patient’s own immune system. It is made specifically for each patient and is injected into the arm or leg. It stimulates(刺激)the body’s immune system, which then recognizes that the cancer cells are harmful, and attacks and destroys them.
The vaccine could be effective against other forms of cancer. It offers great hope for the treatment of cancer in general, although further studies are needed before such treatment can be widely used.
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Music Used As a Healing Therapy
1. Music has long been used to treat patients suffering from different problems. In 400 BC, its healing properties were documented by the ancient Greeks. More recently, in both world wars in the last century, medical workers used music therapy(疗法)with people suffering from trauma(外伤). Currently, it is used as a treatment for many diseases, such as cancer, and it has also been used with patients with long-term pain and learning disabilities.
2. There is growing evidence that music can caused physical changes to the body which can improve our health. In the Welcome Trust study, which took place over three years at the Chelsea and Westminster hospital in London, patients were asked to listen to musical performances. As a result, it was found that stress levels were significantly reduced, recovery times were improved, and fewer drugs were needed.
3. These very positive results are partly due to general well-being(良好的健康状况). It is already accepted that when people feel happy and have a positive approach to life, they are more likely to feel better and recover from disease quickly. Music increases this feeling of joy and adds to the recovery process.
4. However, not all these benefits can be attributed to an increase in general well-being. Music has other effects which have not yet been understood. According to Professor Robertson, a scientist and musician, some effects of music are mysterious and are, therefore, being investigated further. It has been suggested that the sounds and rhythms of music help stimulate the brain and send electrical messages to the muscles.
5. Science, however, demands facts and hard evidence. Many in the medical profession have not yet recognized the healing benefits of music, since reports have been based mainly on various stories of evidence. These new studies could provide proof to doctors that music is a suitable treatment for many conditions. One day doctors may even “prescribe“(开处方)music, but that could be a long time in the future.
A. Potential dangers of music therapy
B. Increase in general well-being
C. History of music therapy
D. Other mysterious effects of music
E. Positive physical changes caused by music
F. Music and your body
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A. recover from disease quickly
B. there is not enough hard evidence
C. use their minds actively
D. it improves general well-being
E. listen to musical performances
F. it brings many other benefits
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The Development of Ballet
Ballet is a dance form that has a long history. The fact that it survives to this day shows that it has adjusted as times have changed.
Ballet began in the royal courts during the Renaissance. At that time it became common for kings and queens, as well as other nobility(贵族), to participate in pageants that included music, poetry, and dance. As these entertainments moved from the Italian courts to the French ones, court ladies began participating in them. Though their long dresses prevented much movement, they were able to perform elaborate(复杂的)walking patterns. It was not until the 1600s that women dancers shortened their skirts, changed to flat shoes, and began doing some of the leaps and turns performed by men.
It was also in the 1600s that professional ballet began. King Louis XIV of France, himself a devoted dancer, founded the Royal Academy of Dance. The five basic feet positions from which all ballet steps begin were finalized. In the late 1700s another important change occurred. Ballet began to tell a story on its own. It was no longer simply dance to be performed between acts of plays. Elaborate wigs(假发)and costumes were eliminated. By the early 1800s dancers learned to rise on their toes to make it appear that they were floating.
Classical ballet as we know it today was influenced primarily by Russian dancing. The Russians remained interested in ballet when it declined in other European countries in the mid-1800s. One of the most influential figures of the early 20th century was Sergei Diaghilev. His dance company, the Ballets Russes, brought a new energy and excitement to ballet. One of his chief assistants, George Balanchine, went on to found the New York City Ballet in 1948 and to influence new generations of dancers.
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Late-night Drinking
Coffee lovers, be careful. Having a quick “pick-me-up“ cup of coffee late in the day will interrupt your sleep. As well as being a stimulant(兴奋剂), caffeine interrupts the flow of melatonin(褪黑激素), the brain hormone that sends people into a sleep.
Melatonin levels normally start to rise about two hours before bedtime. Levels then peak between 2 am and 4 am, before falling again. “It’s the neurohormone(神经激素)that controls our sleep and tells our body when to sleep and when to wake, “says Maurice Ohayon of the Stanford Sleep Epidemiology Research Center at Stanford University in California. But researchers in Israel have found that caffeinated coffee halves the body’s levels of this sleep hormone.
Lotan Shilo and a team at the Sapir Medical Center in Tel Aviv University found that six volunteers slept less well after a cup of caffeinated coffee than after drinking the same amount of decaf(脱咖啡因咖啡). On average, subjects slept 336 minutes per night after drinking caffeinated coffee, compared with 415 minutes after decaf. They also took half an hour to drop off, twice as long as usual.
In the second phase of the experiment, the researchers woke the volunteers every three hours and asked them to give a urine(尿)sample. Shilo measured concentrations of a breakdown product of melatonin. The results suggest that melatonin concentrations in caffeine drinkers were half those in decaf drinkers. In a paper accepted for publication in Sleep Medicine, the researchers suggest that caffeine blocks production of the enzyme(酶)that drives melatonin production.
Because it can take many hours to eliminate caffeine from the body. Ohayon recommends that coffee lovers switch to decaf after lunch.