单选题What is the difference between Joe Six-Pack, Joe the Plumber and Joe Biden? One is vice president; the other two are not. Why? The answer depends on a host of interactive variables that must be factored into any equation of success: genes, parents, brothers and sisters, peers, teachers, practice, drive, culture, timing, legacy and luck. The rub for the scientist is determining the percentage of influence of each variable and its interactions, which requires sophisticated statistical models. Journalists, who are unrestricted by research terms, very quickly produce large quantities of self-help books that focus on select variables that interest them. Few do so better than Malcolm Gladwell, and in his book Outliers: The Story of Success, the New Yorker writer claims that successful people are not "self-made" but instead "are invariably the beneficiaries of hidden advantages and extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies that allow them to learn and work hard and make sense of the world in ways others cannot." Bill Gates, for example, may be smart, but Gladwell prefers to emphasize the fact that Gates's wealthy parents sent him to a private school that had a computer club with a teletype time-sharing terminal with a direct link to a mainframe computer in Seattle, and in 1968 this was very unusual. His good fortune to be born in the mid-1950s also meant that Gates came of age when the computer industry was ready to have someone of his experience start a software company. Similarly, Gladwell says, Mozart's father was a composer who mentored the young Wolfgang into greatness from age six until his early 20s, when his compositions changed from pleasantly melodious into masterful. The Beatles' lucky break came in Hamburg, Germany, where they were able to log in more than 1,200 live performances and thereby meet the well-known 10,000-hour rule for perfecting a profession. Asian wonder children are the product of "the tradition of wet-rice agriculture" that must be practiced year-round and that requires "the highest emphasis on effort and hard work," and that's why they study all summer while American students go to the mall. Such geniuses, Gladwell says, "are products of history and community, of opportunity and legacy. Their success is not exceptional or mysterious. It is grounded in a web of advantages and inheritances, some deserved, some not, some earned, some just plain lucky but all critical to making them who they are."

单选题If you know where to find a good plastic-free shampoo, can you tell Jeanne Haegele? Last September, the 28-year-old Chicago resident【C1】______to cut plastics out of her life. The marketing coordinator was concerned about【C2】______the chemicals coming out of some common types of plastic might be doing to her body. She was also worried about the damage all the plastic【C3】______was doing to the environment. So she【C4】______on her bike and rode to the nearest grocery store to see what she could find that didn't【C5】______plastic. "I went in and【C6】______bought anything," Haegele says. She did【C7】______some canned food and a box of milk—【C8】______discover later that both containers were【C9】______with plastic materials. "Plastic," she says, "just seemed like it was in everything." She's right. Back in the 1960s, plastic was well【C10】______its way to becoming a staple of American life. The U.S. produced 28 million tons of plastic waste in 2005—27 million tons of which【C11】______in waste dump. Our food and water come【C12】______in plastic. It's used in our phones and our computers, the cars we drive and the planes we ride in. But the【C13】______adaptable substance has its dark side. Environmentalists feel worried about the petroleum needed to make it. Parents worry about the possibility of【C14】______chemicals making their way from【C15】______plastic into children's bloodstreams. Which means Haegele isn't the only person trying to cut plastic out of her life—she isn't【C16】______the only one blogging about this kind of【C17】______. But those who've tried know it's【C18】______from easy to go plastic-free. "These things seem to be so common【C19】______it is practically impossible to avoid coming into【C20】______with them," says Frederick vom Saal, a biologist at the University of Missouri.

单选题For a quarter of a century, surveys of reading habits by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), a federally-funded body, have been favorite material for anyone who thinks America is dumbing down. Susan Jacoby, author of The Age of American Unreason, for example, cites the 2007 NEA report that "the proportion of 17-year-olds who read nothing (unless required to do so for school) more than doubled between 1984 and 2004." So it is a surprise that this trend seems to have taken a turn for the better. This week the NEA reported that, for the first time since 1982 when its survey began, the number of adults who said they had read a novel, short story, poem or play in the past 12 months had gone up, rising from 47% of the population in 2002 to over 50% in 2008. The increase, modest as it is, has thrown educationalists into excitement. "It's just a temporary change," one professor said. It is certainly a snapshot. But it is not statistically insignificant. As the NEA's research director, Sunil Iyengar, points out, almost every ethnic group seems to be reading more. The increase has been most marked in groups whose reading had declined most in the past 25 years, African-Americans and Spanish Americans (up by 15% and 20% respectively since 2002). It has also been larger among people at lower levels of education: reading among college graduates was flat, but among those who dropped out of high school it rose from under a quarter to over a third. Most remarkable of all has been the rebound among young men. The numbers of men aged 18-24 who say they are reading books (not just online) rose 24% in 2002-08. Teachers sometimes despair of young men, whose educational performance has lagged behind that of young women almost across the board. But the reading gap at least may be narrowing. Dana Gioia, the NEA's outgoing chairman, thinks the reason for the turnaround is the public reaction to earlier reports which had sounded the alarm. "There has been a measurable change in society's commitment to literacy," he says. "Reading has become a higher priority." It may also be benefiting from the growing popularity of serious-minded leisure pursuits of many kinds. Museums, literary festivals and live opera transmissions into cinemas are all reporting larger audiences. Mr. Iyengar thinks the division between those who read a lot and those who don't is eroding. What has not changed, though, is America's "functional illiteracy" rate. Fully 21% of adult Americans did not read a book last year because they couldn't, one of the worst rates in the rich world.

单选题Texting has long been lamented as the downfall of the written word, "penmanship for illiterates," as one critic called it. To which the proper response is LOL. Texting properly isn't writing at all—it's actually more similar to spoken language. And it's a "spoken" language that is getting richer and more complex by the year. Historically, talking came first; writing is just an artifice that came along later. While talk is largely subconscious and rapid, writing is deliberate and slow. Over time, writers took advantage of this and started crafting sentences such as this one, from The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire: "The whole engagement lasted above 12 hours, till the gradual retreat of the Persians was changed into a disorderly flight, of which the shameful example was given by the principal leaders and the Surenas himself." No one talks like that casually—or should. But it is natural to desire to do so for special occasions. In the old days, we didn't much write like talking because there was no mechanism to reproduce the speed of conversation. But texting and instant messaging do—and a revolution has begun. It involves the basic mechanics of writing, but in its economy, spontaneity and even vulgarity, texting is actually a new kind of talking. There is a virtual fashion of concision and little interest in capitalization or punctuation. The argument that texting is "poor writing" is analogous, then, to one that the Rolling Stones is "bad music" because it doesn't use violas. Texting is developing its own kind of grammar. Take LOL. It doesn't actually mean "laughing out loud" in a literal sense anymore. LOL has evolved into something much subtler and sophisticated and is used even when nothing is remotely amusing. Jocelyn texts "Where have you been?" and Annabelle texts back "LOL at the library studying for two hours." LOL signals basic empathy between texters, easing tension and creating a sense of equality. Instead of having a literal meaning, it does something—conveying an attitude—just like the "-ed" ending conveys past tense rather than "meaning" anything. LOL, of all things, is grammar. Civilization is fine—people banging away on their smartphones are fluently using a code separate from the one they use in actual writing, and there is no evidence that texting is ruining composition skills. Worldwide people speak differently from the way they write, and texting—quick, casual and only intended to be read once—is actually a way of talking with your fingers.

单选题When you get interrupted in the middle of something, it can be hard to regain your train of thought, which can be annoying. But when you're interrupted while measuring medication for patients, the consequences can be more serious. A new study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine finds that, perhaps unsurprisingly, when interrupted while dosing out medication, nurses are more likely to make mistakes. Researchers at the University of Sydney studied 98 nurses while they prepared and administered medications to more than 4,000 patients in almost 1.5 years. For a total of 505 hours during this period, investigators noted any interruptions that nurses encountered while dealing with medication, and also tracked two types of mistakes: procedural, which included things like not reading medication labels or failing to fully read a patient chart, and clinical, which included actually giving patients the wrong dose or wrong medication. For all administrations of medication studied, researchers noted that nurses were interrupted more than half the time (53%), and researchers noted procedural errors in nearly three quarters (74.4%) of administrations, and clinical errors in a quarter of all cases. The study authors also point out that the risk for major errors increased significantly the more when nurses were interrupted and that with no interruptions, the risk for a serious mistake was 2.3%. While it's understandable that some interruptions will, of necessity, take place during a nurse's work day, the authors suggest that such high levels of interruption and the resulting increase in errors associated with them point to a need for efforts to better enable nurses to focus on the task at hand. They write: "The converging evidence of the high rate of interruptions occurring during medication preparation and administration adds impetus to the need to develop and implement strategies to improve communication practices and to reduce unnecessary interruptions within ward environments." To that end, they suggest that simple measures such as installing white boards in hospital wards to prominently display commonly needed information or having nurses wear special "do not interrupt" vests while preparing or giving patients medication, could go some distance toward minimizing mistakes. They also suggest that reconsidering how the physical space of a hospital ward is organized could play a role in reducing errors. Whatever the potential solution, the authors say that this is indeed a problem, and one that requires additional research to solve.

单选题The shorter growing seasons expected with climate change over the next 40 years will endanger hundreds of millions of already poor people in the global tropics, say researchers working【C1】______the world's leading agricultural organisations. The effects of climate change are likely to be seen across the entire tropical【C2】______but many areas previously considered to be【C3】______food secure are likely to become highly【C4】______to droughts, extreme weather and higher temperatures, say the researchers with the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research. Intensively farmed areas【C5】______northeast Brazil and Mexico are likely to see their【C6】______growing seasons fall below 120 days, which is critical for crops【C7】______corn to mature. Many other places in Latin America are likely to【C8】______temperatures that are too hot for bean【C9】______, a staple in the region. The impact could be【C10】______most in India and southeast Asia. More than 300 million people in south Asia are likely to be affected even with a 5% decrease in the【C11】______of the growing season. Higher peak temperatures are also expected to take a heavy【C12】______on food producers. Today there are 56 million crop-dependent people in parts of west Africa and India who live in areas where, in 40 years, maximum daily temperatures could be【C13】______than 30℃. This is【C14】______to the maximum temperature that beans can tolerate,【C15】______corn and rice yields suffer when temperatures【C16】______this level. "We are starting to see much more clearly【C17】______the effects of climate change on agriculture could【C18】______hunger and poverty," said research leader Patti Kristjanson "Farmers already【C19】______variable weather by changing their planting schedules. What this study suggests is that the speed of climate【C20】______and the magnitude of the changes required to adapt could be much greater."

单选题ThisweektheNewCommissionontheSkillsoftheAmericanWorkforcereleasesablueprintforrethinkingAmericaneducationtobetterpreparestudentstothriveintheglobaleconomy.Whilethatreportincludessomecontroversialproposals,thereisnonethelessaremarkableconsensusamongeducatorsandbusinessandpolicyleadersononekeyconclusion:weneedtobringwhatweteachandhowweteachintothe2lstcentury.Rightnowwe'reaimingtoolow.Competencyinreadingandmathisthemeagerminimum.Scientificandtechnicalskillsare,likewise,utterlynecessarybutinsufficient.Today'seconomydemandsnotonlyahigh-levelcompetenceinthetraditionalacademicdisciplinesbutalsowhatmightbecalled21stcenturyskills.Here'swhattheyare:Knowingmoreabouttheworld.Kidsareglobalcitizensnow,whethertheyknowitornot,andtheyneedtobehavethatway.MikeEskew,CEOofUPS,talksaboutneedingworkerswhoare"globaltradeliterate,sensitivetoforeigncultures,conversantindifferentlanguages"—notexactlystrongpointsintheU.S.,wherefewerthanhalfofhighschoolstudentsareenrolledinaforeign—languageclassandwherethesocial-studiescurriculumtendstofixateonU.S.history.Thinkingoutsidethebox.Jobsintheneweconomy—theonesthatwon'tgetoutsourcedorautomated—"putanenormouspremiumoncreativeandinnovativeskills,seeingpatternswhereotherpeopleseeonlychaos,"saysMarcTucker,aleadauthoroftheskills-commissionreport.That'saproblemforU.S.schools.Kidsalsomustlearntothinkacrossdisciplines,sincethat'swheremostnewbreakthroughsaremade.It'sinterdisciplinarycombinations—designandtechnology,mathematicsandart—"thatproduceYouTubeandGoogle,"saysThomasFriedman,thebest-sellingauthorofTheWorldIsFlat.Becomingsmarteraboutnewsourcesofinformation.Inanageofoverflowinginformationandproliferatingmedia,kidsneedtorapidlyprocesswhat'scomingatthemanddistinguishbetweenwhat'sreliableandwhatisn't."It'simportantthatstudentsknowhowtomanageit,interpretit,validateit,andhowtoactonit,"saysDellexecutiveKarenBruett.Developinggoodpeopleskills.EQ,oremotionalintelligence,isasimportantasIQforsuccessintoday'sworkplace."Mostinnovationstodayinvolvelargeteamsofpeople,"saysformerLockheedMartinCEONormanAugustine."Wehavetoemphasizecommunicationskills,theabilitytoworkinteamsandwithpeoplefromdifferentcultures."Canourpublicschools,originallydesignedtoeducateworkersforagrarianlifeandindustrial-agefactories,makethenecessaryshifts?TheSkillscommissionwillarguethatit'spossibleonlyifweaddnewdepthandrigortoourcurriculumandstandardizedexams,redeploythedollarswespendoneducation,reshapetheteachingforceandreorganizewhorunstheschools.Butwithoutwaitingforsucharevolution,enterprisingadministratorsaroundthecountryhavebeguntoupdatetheirschools,oftenwithideasandsupportfromlocalbusinesses.OrganizationsliketheBillandMelindaGatesFoundationarepouringmoneyandexpertiseintomodelprogramstoshowtheway.

单选题The digital attack from e-books and Amazon-style online retailers have put bookstores in an existential dilemma. Digital books are said to sell better than print titles by 2020 in Britain, and even sooner in America. With the closedown of HMV, that music-retailing giant, still fresh in everyone's minds, real bookstores appear to be on borrowed time. So, what is the future of the bookstore? This was the burning questions on everyone's lips at a recent event at Foyles's flagship bookshop on Charing Cross Road in London. For a bookstore to remain successful, it must improve "the experience of buying books," says Alex Lifschutz, an architect whose London-based practice is designing the new Foyles. He suggests an array of approaches: "small, quiet spaces isolated by books; larger spaces where one can dwell and read; other larger but still intimate spaces where one can hear talks from authors about books, literature, science, travel and cooking." The atmosphere is vital, he adds. Exteriors must buzz with activity, entrances must be full of eye-catching presentations and a bar and cafe is essential. There are plenty of ways to delight the bookstore customer, but few are easily converted into money. The consensus is that bookstores need to become cultural destinations where people are prepared to pay good money to hear a concert, see a film or attend a talk. The programming will have to be intelligent and the space comfortable. Given how common it is for shoppers to browse in shops only to buy online later, some wonder whether it makes sense to charge people for the privilege. But forcing people to pay for the privilege of potentially paying for goods could discourage shoppers altogether. A more attractive idea might be a membership scheme like those offered by museums. Unlike reward cards, which offer discounts and other nominal benefits, a club membership could provide priority access to events (talks, literary workshops, retreats) and a private lounge where members can eat, drink and meet authors before events. Different memberships could tailor to the needs of children and students. To survive and thrive, bookstores should celebrate the book in all its forms: rare, second-hand, digital, self-printed and so on. Readers should have the option of buying e-books in-store, and budding authors should have access to self-printing book machines. The latter have been slower to take off in Britain, but in America bookstores are finding them to be an important source of revenue. The bookstore of the future will have to work hard. Service will be knowledgeable and personalised, the inventory expertly selected, spaces well-designed and the cultural events attractive. Whether book stores, especially small independents are up to the challenge, is not clear. The fate of these stores is a cliff-hanger.

单选题Brothers and sisters fight, but when the bickering evolves into physical or emotional abuse, it's bullying. Ordinary arguments over toys and who gets the front seat are one thing, but a recent study from researchers at the University of New Hampshire reports that aggression between siblings can escalate into bullying, and that young victims can be harmed in the same way as those who are threatened by peers on the playground. In fact, the study authors say, being bullied by a brother or sister was linked to worse mental-health outcomes for kids and adolescents, similar to those associated with being bullied by unrelated kids in the schoolyard. The new study, published in the journal Pediatrics, involved thousands of children and adolescents throughout the U.S. and found that those who were physically assaulted, had their toys stolen or broken or endured emotional abuse that made them feel frightened or unwanted by their sibling had higher levels of depression, anger and anxiety than those without these experiences. In order to study any differences between the effects of sibling bullying and those of being threatened by an unrelated bully, the researchers compared the effects of aggressive behaviors, such as physical violence, breaking or taking toys or belongings, and abuse, like name-calling or mocking, originating from siblings with those coming from children's unrelated peers. They concluded that as far as mental-health effects are concerned, the relationship that the victims had with their bullies didn't seem to matter. The findings showed that sibling bullying had the same association with increased anxiety, depression and trauma as peer aggression. That's an eye-opening result since most parents—not to mention the public—have a higher tolerance for fighting and even threatening behavior among siblings than they do for other social relationships. Sibling fighting is often dismissed, seen as something that's normal or harmless. Some parents even think it's beneficial, as training for dealing with conflict and aggression in other relationships. But when does that normal quarreling evolve into something more? Parents may unknowingly play a role in escalating some sibling fighting into abuse, John V. Caffaro, a clinical psychologist and co-author of Sibling Abuse Trauma, told the New York Times. If parents allow children to continuously fight and confront each other in aggressive ways without intervening, or if they play favorites and label children as "the smart one" or the "the quiet one," that may lead to more unhealthy competitiveness between siblings that develops into abuse. Caffaro said that since violence between siblings is one of the most common types of familial violence, aggression with the intent to physical hurt or humiliate a brother or sister should be taken seriously, and quashed.

单选题It is supposed to be the time of opportunity and adventure, before mortgages and marriage have taken their toll. But【C1】______to cope with anxieties about jobs, unemployment, debt and relationships, many young adults are experiencing a "quarterlife crisis", according to new research by British psychologists. 【C2】______all the features of the midlife crisis, this phenomenon—【C3】______by insecurities, disappointments, loneliness and depression—is【C4】______twenty- and thirtysomethings shortly after they enter the "real world", with educated professionals most likely to suffer. "Quarterlife crises don't happen【C5】______a quarter of the way through your life," said lead researcher Dr Oliver Robinson, from the University of Greenwich in London. "They occur a quarter of your way through【C6】______, in the period between 25 and 35, although they【C7】______around 30." Robinson, who presented his【C8】______at the British Psychological Society Annual Conference in Glasgow, worked with researchers from Birkbeck College on what he says is the first research to look at the quarterlife crisis from a "solid, empirical【C9】______based on data rather than【C10】______." The research is backed by a(n)【C11】______which found 86% of the 1,100 young people questioned admitted feeling under pressure to succeed【C12】______their relationships, finances and jobs before hitting 30. Two in five were【C13】______about money, saying they did not earn enough, and 32% felt under pressure to marry and have children by the age of 30. Six percent were planning to emigrate,【C14】______21% wanted a complete career change. But Robinson also found that the quarterlife crisis—which lasts on average for two years—can be a【C15】______experience. Such early-life crises have four【C16】______, he said, moving from feelings of being trapped to a desire for【C17】______then, eventually, the【C18】______and solidifying of a new life. "The results will help reassure those who are experiencing this【C19】______that it is a commonly experienced part of early adult life, and that a proven pattern of positive change【C20】______it," said Robinson.

单选题"What's the difference between God and Larry Ellison?" asks an old software industry joke. Answer: God doesn't think he's Larry Ellison. The boss of Oracle is hardly alone among corporate chiefs in having a reputation for being rather keen on himself. Indeed, until the bubble burst and the public turned nasty at the start of the decade, the worship of the celebrity chief executive seemed to demand bossly narcissism, as evidence that a firm was being led by an all-conquering hero. Narcissus met a nasty end, of course. And in recent years, boss-worship has come to be seen as bad for business. In his management bestseller, "Good to Great", Jim Collins argued that the truly successful bosses were not the self-proclaimed stars who adorn the covers of Forbes and Fortune, but instead modest, thoughtful sorts who lead by inspiring example. A statistical answer may be at hand. For the first time, a new study, "It's All About Me", to be presented next week at the annual gathering of the American Academy of Management, offers a systematic, empirical analysis of what effect narcissistic bosses have on the firms they run. The authors, Arijit Chat-terjee and Donald Hambrick, of Pennsylvania State University, examined narcissism in the upper rank of 105 firms in the computer and software industries. To do this, they had to solve a practical problem: studies of narcissism have relied on surveying individuals personally, something for which few chief executives are likely to have time or inclination. So the authors devised an index of narcissism using six publicly available indicators obtainable without the cooperation of the boss. These are: the prominence of the boss's photo in the annual report; his prominence in company press releases; the length of his "Who's Who" entry; the frequency of his use of the first person singular in interviews; and the ratios of his cash and non-cash compensation to those of the firm's second-highest paid executive. Narcissism naturally drives people to seek positions of power and influence, and because great self-esteem helps your professional advance, say the authors, chief executives will tend on average to be more narcissistic than the general population. Messrs Chatterjee and Hambrick found that highly narcissistic bosses tended to make bigger changes in the use of important resources, such as research and development, or in spending; they carried out more and bigger mergers and acquisitions; and their results were both more extreme (more big wins or big losses) and more unstable than those of firms run by their humbler peers.

单选题The idea seems sort of foolish, just another exercise trick. Stand for a few minutes on a platform that vibrates. Get off and try to do some weight lifting. Or see how high you can jump. You are【C1】______supposed to be able to lift heavier weights and jump higher. But maybe it's not so【C2】______, exercise experts say. Although they don't really know why vibrations should work, researchers report that they actually seem to slightly improve【C3】______in the few minutes after a person gets off the machine. The problem,【C4】______, is that there is little【C5】______on how fast the vibrations should be or in what direction platforms are【C6】______to vibrate. Some studies have【C7】______to show any effects from vibrations. And then there is the question of【C8】______exactly vibrations are doing to muscles and nerves. "It【C9】______is arousing interest, and a large portion of the【C10】______would support that something is happening," said Lee E. Brown, an expert at California State University. But he added, "We are still trying to【C11】______exactly what the mechanism is." Meanwhile, several companies make the vibrating platforms, and they are being used at gyms and【C12】______some athletes. One company, Power Plate,【C13】______that stars like Serena Williams and Justin Morneau, of the Minnesota Twins, train with its【C14】______. Another company, Wave, says the United States ski team used its vibrating plates in training【C15】______the coming Winter Olympics. But researchers are【C16】______. "There is something to it," said William J. Kraemer, a professor at the University of Connecticut,【C17】______it "another tool" for athletic conditioning. But he added that other conditioning methods might【C18】______the same or better results. Researchers say, people should be appropriately skeptical about the effects of standing on a vibrating platform. "We don't know a lot about prescribing it," Dr. Kraemer said. "There's the【C19】______. Research is trying to【C20】______up."

单选题Understanding what distinguishes people who battle with Alzheimer's as they age from those whose mental acuteness remains strong well into their 80s, 90s and even older, is a major focus of current psychiatric research Previous studies have pointed to the potentially protective value of exercise, social support and even language skills. And other studies have also shown that having a strong sense of purpose in life is, unsurprisingly, associated with greater overall mental health, happiness, and even longevity. A study published recently in the Archives of General Psychiatry expands on that research, finding that people who reported feeling a greater sense of purpose in life were less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease than those who reported feeling less fulfilled. The study, conducted by researchers at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, analyzed medical records and life outlook among 951 participants from the Rush Memory and Aging Project. At the beginning of the study, participants' overall sense of purpose in life was measured by assessing their level of agreement with 10 statements—such as, "I have a sense of direction and purpose in life,"—derived from a psychological well-being scale. After an average of four years of follow-up, 16.3% (155) participants had developed Alzheimer's disease. When researchers analyzed the relationship between the psychological well-being scale and risk of Alzheimer's, they found that participants who reported higher levels of fulfillment were significantly less likely to have developed the degenerative mental disease than those who expressed less sense of validation in life. In fact, participants with high scores on the life purpose test were 2.4 times less likely to develop Alzheimer's compared with those who had the lowest scores. Researchers say that what drives the correlation between reduced risk and heightened sense of purpose is not clear, and should be explored with future research Still, they expressed optimism at the findings, which add to studies that have linked sense of fulfillment in life everything from better sleep to improved psychological health. What's more, because a sense of purpose is something that can be cultivated, researchers say that these findings could point toward new treatments designed to improve sense of fulfillment in older adults. If these findings are replicated, they say, "the implications could be far-reaching, and efforts to increase purpose in life may help reduce the rapidly increasing burden of cognitive impairment in old age." Perhaps Marlow and Frances Cowan can offer some insight into how to make the most of life as you age. It's hard to watch the elderly couple's playful—and off-hand—piano performance in a lobby at the Mayo Clinic without admiring their sense of fulfillment, and breaking into a grin.

单选题When two drunken men fight over a woman, alcohol and stupidity may not be the only things at work. Sadly, evolution may have shaped men to behave this way. Almost all of the traits considered to be masculine—big muscles, facial hair, square jaws, deep voices and a propensity to violence—evolved, it now seems, specifically for their usefulness in fighting off or intimidating other men, allowing the winner to get the girl. That, at least, is the contention of David Puts, an anthropologist at Pennsylvania State University, in an upcoming paper in Evolution and Human Behavior. Dr Puts is looking at how sexual selection gave rise to certain human traits. A trait is sexually selected if it evolved specifically to enhance mating success. They come in two main forms: weapons, such as an elk's horns, which are used to fight off competitors; and ornaments, like a peacock's tail, which are used to advertise genetic fitness to attract the opposite sex. Researchers have tended to consider human sexual selection through the lens of the female's choice of her mate. But human males look a lot more like animals designed to battle with one another for access to females, says Dr Puts. On average, men have 40% more fat-free mass than women, which is similar to the difference in gorillas, a species in which males unquestionably compete with other males for exclusive sexual access to females. In species whose males do not fight for access to females, males are generally the same size as, or smaller than, females. The heavier brow and jaw of males might have developed to withstand blows from other males. Heavy eyebrows, facial hair and deep voices all could serve to make a man more imposing to other men. Dr Puts does not dismiss mate selection outright. Women are attracted to some of the same traits that are good for dominating other men because they signal that the man will sire sons who will also be successful at mating. But female choice probably is not the primary cause of the traits. It is a disturbing idea to modern minds, harking back to old stereotypes about violent cavemen battling with clubs while a passive woman, fetching in furs, waits helplessly to see who will win her. But Dr Puts emphasizes that evolutionary biology is not destiny. Regardless of our evolutionary past, in modern societies men and women freely choose their mates. However, understanding the evolutionary pressures that made men the way they are could help us better understand male violence, including murder, domestic abuse, gang violence and perhaps even warfare.

单选题The era of cheap and convenient sources of energy is coming to an end. A transition to more expensive but less polluting sources must now be managed. Energy contributes positively to human's well-being by providing such consumer services as heating and lighting. But the costs of energy—including not only the money and other resources devoted to exploiting it but also environmental impacts—diminish the well-being. For most of the past 100 years, the problems of excessive energy costs have seemed less threatening than the problems of insufficient supply. However, it became possible to think that expanding some forms of energy supply could create costs exceeding the benefits as energy was getting costlier in all respects. There are a variety of other energy resources that are more abundant than oil and gas. But none of them can deliver large quantities of electricity at costs comparable to those of the cheap coal-fired plants of the 1960's.

单选题"At Booz Allen, we're shaping the future of cyber-security," trumpets a recruiting message on the website of Booz Allen Hamilton, a consulting and technology firm. It is hard to argue with that exaggeration right now. Edward Snowden, the man who revealed he was responsible for leaks about monitoring American citizens by the National Security Agency (NSA), was a contractor working for Booz Allen. That has turned a spotlight on the extensive involvement of private firms in helping America's spies to do their jobs. The affair could lead to changes in the way these relationships work. The role of firms such as Booz Allen in the intelligence arena and the flow of government cyber-tsars into tech companies are evidence of an emerging cyber-industrial complex in which the private and public sectors are intimately linked. Some will see this as a worrying development, noting that President Dwight Eisenhower used the term "military-industrial complex" in a speech in 1961 to give warning about the dangers of too cosy a relationship between government, military men and defence contractors. There are risks inherent in the cyber-industrial complex too. Mr. Snowden's leak will raise questions about just how watertight firms such as Booz Allen can keep their operations. There is also a theoretical risk that former officials might tap their friends in government to give their new employers an unfair advantage in bidding for federal contracts or to influence policy for commercial advantage. But there are also reasons why the cyber-industrial complex should, on balance, be welcomed. For a start, many talented but weird teenies would refuse to work for government agencies. Better to have them work as contractors than not to enlist their talents at all. Deep-pocketed firms may also be best placed to attract rare birds such as data scientists. Because of the danger that online security threats pose, companies need to co-operate closely with government spies to counter them. Former cyber-officials can advise firms how best to do this. Moreover, if the government wants to continue to benefit from the intelligence of its departing cyber-warriors, it can always hire their new firms. Government types can also help cyber-security firms and consultancies, which are prime targets for hackers, to protect their own operations better. Dmitri Alperovitch, a founder of CrowdStrike, a cyber-security company that hired Shawn Henry after he retired from a senior position at the FBI, says that in addition to working with clients Mr. Henry is also responsible for CrowdStrike's own internal security.

单选题A new study found that inner-city kids living in neighborhoods with more green space gained about 13% less weight over a two-year period than kids living amid more concrete and fewer trees. Such【C1】______tell a powerful story. The obesity epidemic began in the 1980s, and many people【C2】______it to increased portion sizes and inactivity, but that can't be everything. Fast foods and TVs have been with us for a long time. "Most experts agree that the changes were【C3】______to something in the environment," says social epidemiologist Thomas Glass of The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. That something could be a【C4】______of the green. The new research,【C5】______in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, isn't the first to associate greenery with better health, but it does get us closer【C6】______identifying what works and why. At its most straightforward, a green neighborhood【C7】______means more places for kids to play—which is【C8】______since time spent outdoors is one of the strongest correlates of children's activity levels. But green space is good for the mind【C9】______: research by environmental psychologists has shown that it has cognitive【C10】______for children with attention-deficit disorder. In one study, just reading【C11】______in a green setting improved kids' symptoms. 【C12】______to grassy areas has also been linked to【C13】______stress and a lower body mass index among adults. And an【C14】______of 3,000 Tokyo residents associated walkable green spaces with greater long life among senior citizens. Glass cautions that most studies don't【C15】______prove a causal link between greenness and health, but they're nonetheless helping spur action. In September the U.S. House of Representatives【C16】______the delightfully named No Child Left Inside Act to encourage public initiatives【C17】______exposing kids to the outdoors. Finding green space is not【C18】______easy, and you may have to work a bit to get your family a little grass and trees. If you live in a suburb or a city with good parks,【C19】______what's there. Your children in particular will love it—and their bodies and minds will be【C20】______to you.

单选题A. Have enough information B. Listen to your Gremlin C. Test them against your values D. Respect your doubts E. Trust your gut F. Weigh up the pro's and con's G. It just doesn't matter Some years ago I remember standing in my kitchen, staring silently at my boxes of cereal, trying to decide which to have for breakfast. I stood there for 5 minutes, until—utterly frustrated—I marched out of the house and went without. Fortunately I've learned to make decisions more quickly and more easily now, and when I notice that second-guessing and doubting starting to kick in, I kick it right back. So here are 5 ways to make confident decisions. 【R1】______ So many times we have to make decisions without a framework and no way to judge between two choices. When faced with a tricky decision it's often a good idea to line up your choices and ask "Which one of these most honors the things that mean the most to me?" The decision that's most in line with the things that mean the most to you—your core values—will be the best decision for you. That might not be the simplest or most practical, but because it fits with who you are and what's most important to you it will always be the best decision for you. 【R2】______ When I was growing up I used to love rainy Sunday afternoons watching Columbo (an American crime fiction TV series). What Columbo had bundles of was a great trust in his intuition. In every episode, from the very moment he first meets the bad guy, he knows "whodunit"—and he always trusts that. So look at what your intuition tells you is the 'right' decision for you. Forget about all the "What if 's" and the myriad, tiny details—what is your gut telling you? Listen to your intuition, it knows what it's talking about. 【R3】______ My decision between breakfast cereals wasn't a big deal. Whichever one I chose, there were never going to be any huge consequences and the ripples from that decision wouldn't have been felt much further than the end of my spoon. Sometimes it just doesn't matter which way you go. It's easy to get wrapped up in second-guessing yourself, going round in circles and over-complicating things, when—if you get right down to it—it just doesn't matter. Going round in circles is only going to make you dizzy, so stop it. Ask yourself this question—if your future happiness wasn't dependent on your decision, which way would you go? 【R4】______ Go and get the facts before you make a complex decision. By all means weigh up the pro's and con's so that you can get an understanding of what's behind a choice. But be careful—there's a huge difference between knowing enough to make a choice, and knowing everything to make a choice. When you feel yourself pursuing every fact or every piece of information before you make a decision, stop yourself. Ask "What do I really need to know to make this decision?" and focus your efforts on getting the best information relatively quickly. 【R5】______ We all naturally shy away from change, and we've developed a whole bunch of tricks that make it easy for us to avoid making decisions and stay exactly where we are. That part of you is often called the "Gremlin", and it's the part of you that would rather avoid making decisions altogether rather than run the risk of making a bad one or screwing up. Your Gremlin is not the same thing as having doubts, which are valid concerns about a possible course of action, or reasonable concerns about what might be in store. Your doubts can help you prepare for change and get ready for what could happen. Your Gremlin is adept at feeding on your doubts and using them to get you to stay put, so knowing the difference between your Gremlin and your valid doubts helps you clarify what's real and what's imagined, what's relevant and what's irrelevant.

单选题If you were a woman reading this magazine 40 years ago, the odds were good that your husband provided the money to buy it. That your son was heading to college but not your daughter. That your boss, if you had a job, could explain that he was paying you less because, after all, you were probably working just for pocket money. It's funny how things change slowly, until the day we realize they've changed completely. It's expected that by the end of the year, for the first time in history the majority of workers in the U.S. will be women—largely because the downturn has hit men so hard. This is an extraordinary change in a single generation, and it is gathering speed. More and more women are the primary breadwinner in their household or are providing essential income for the family's bottom line. Their buying power has never been greater.

单选题When my mother's health was failing, I was the "bad" sister who lived far away and wasn't involved. My sister helped my parents. She never asked me to do anything, and I didn't【C1】______. I was widowed, raising kids and working, but that wasn't really【C2】______I kept to weekly calls and short, infrequent visits. I was【C3】______in my adolescent role as the indifferent achiever, defending myself【C4】______my judgmental mother and other family craziness. As always, I turned a deaf ear to my sister's【C5】______about my not being around more—and I didn't hear her rising desperation. It wasn't until my mom's【C6】______, watching my dad and sister【C7】______each other and weep, that I got a【C8】______of their long painful experience—and how badly I'd behaved. My sister was so furious, she【C9】______spoke to me during my father's last years. To be honest, I'm not a terrible person. So how did I get it so【C10】______? We hear a lot about the【C11】______of taking care of our graying population. But the big story beneath the surface is the psychological crisis among middle-aged brothers and sisters who are fighting【C12】______issues involving their aging parents. According to a new survey, an【C13】______43.5 million adults in the U.S. are【C14】______an older relative or friend. Of these, 43% said they did not feel they had a【C15】______in this role. And although 7 in 10 said another unpaid caregiver had provided help in the past year, only 1 in 10 said the burden was【C16】______equally. As brothers and sisters who are often separated【C17】______and emotionally, we are having to come together to decide such【C18】______issues as where Mom and Dad should live and where they should be【C19】______. "It's like being put down with your brothers and sisters in the center of a nuclear reactor and being told, 'Figure it【C20】______,'" says University of Colorado psychologist Sara Honn Quails.