Shambhala Music Festival

When: August 9-10

Where: Salmo River Ranch, British Columbia

This is Canada's earliest electronic music festival. Cutting edge talent, lights and sound come together to give life to this event. Seeing it for yourself is the only way to understand exactly what is Shambhala.

21. What can people do in the Quebec City Summer Festival?

A. Do some extreme sports.

B. Play on the sandy beaches.

C. Learn about Quebec City's history.

D. Enjoy the performances of superstars.

22. What was Future Forest set up for at first?

A. To honor a brilliant DJ.

B. To promote electronic music.

C. To raise money for a cancer patient.

D. To provide outdoor camping activities.

23. Which festival is Canada's earliest electronic music festival?

A. Quebec City Summer Festival. B. Center of Gravity.

C. Future Forest. D. Shambhala Music Festival.

　　Once a month, I volunteer at a meal center to help serve food to people who are in need. Despite the many other things that I need to do, I really look forward to meeting and serving these people, even if only briefly. Although my motivation begins with wanting to help others and be grateful for what I have been given, it is joy that helps bring me back when I am very busy. I first noticed this some time ago: at the end of our shift (轮班), after the kitchen and dining room have been cleaned up, I would experience a lightness of being.

　　A few years ago, as I was researching how kindness affected health, I came to learn that volunteerism was associated with a markedly lower risk of dying. One recent and large European study found that self-reported health scores were apparently better in volunteers than non-volunteers. Depending on the study, the decrease in death rates ranged between 20 to 60 percent or so.

How could volunteering decrease the risk of death? There are several factors at play. The first, and most primary, is decreased symptoms of stress and uplifted mood. Many studies have provided evidence that volunteering is good for depression (抑郁), well-being, and social networking, among other effects. Secondly, people who volunteer regularly also make more effort to take care of themselves. They manage to pay visits to their doctor for preventive health care. Finally, people who volunteer may be more physically active. Volunteers have an obvious increase in walking each day compared to those who did not volunteer.

To try to tie this together, volunteering likely exerts (施加) its positive health effects by connecting people to others and to an activity that they find meaningful. Achieving connection, purpose, and meaning is critical to reducing stresses of life - particularly loneliness. Since stress is a major cause of disease, especially heart disease, the ability to satisfy the need for connection, purpose, and meaning can bring about beneficial changes for people. And when there is purpose and we are connected to others, we take care of ourselves.