Unit 4 Astronomy- the science of the stars课时作业

language points

Ⅰ.阅读理解

　　A

　　[2019·长沙市南昌市第一次联考]We all have our own tricks to cheer up when we're feeling down; these little tricks can make you feel a little bit happier every day. While there are certainly happy memories tied up in the wedding ring you and your spouse (配偶) purchased together years ago or your teddy bear from childhood, new research finds that we typically feel calmer and experience a greater sense of well­being when we focus on a place that reminds us of happier times rather than a thing, even if it holds great value.

　　The report, called Places That Make Us, was conducted by National Trust's and Surrey University's researchers. Experts performed functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) (磁共振成像) scans on 20 volunteers and conducted an online survey of 2,000 people to better understand this deep draw toward special places.

　　"Working with leading researchers and academics, and using cutting­edge MRI brain technology, we examined how places affect people, how they become special, and why we feel a pull towards them，"explained Nino Strachey, head of research for the National Trust.

　　The 20 volunteers were shown images of landscapes, houses, and other locations, as well as personally meaningful objects. Measuring their brain activity, the researchers found that it was the places, as opposed to the objects, that caused the brain to get the most excited.

Volunteers were also interviewed at great length two times, once at home and the other time at their special place. The research made