Most people look forward to retirement as a time when they can finally take up activities that they never had the time or energy to pursue before. Bust some recent studies on people in their golden years are disturbing: they suggest that retirees are more likely to suffer from depression and possibly higher rates of other diseases such as heart disease and high blood pressure. That’s why a new study of French workers is welcome news.
Led by Hugo Westerlund, a professor of psychology at Stockholm University, the study of more than 14,000 workers found lower rates of depression and fatigue(疲劳) in people after they got tired while they were still employed.
The scientists followed the employees of the French national gas and electric company for 14 years. They found in the year immediately after retirement, the volunteers reported 40% fewer depressive symptoms than they had in the year before their retirement. The researchers also found an 81% drop in reports of both mental and physical fatigue over the same time period.
Clearly, said Westerlund, much of these decrease in physical and mental fatigue can be traced back to relief from the stresses of work. The decline in depressive symptoms suggests that retirement may be having a positive mental effect, too, which may have a lot to do with the generous pensions(养老金) that French workers enjoy. Most retirees in that country still benefit from about 80% of their yearly salaries.
“The economic or financial situation in retirement is very important,” Westerlund says. “We don’t know if the decrease in fatigue and depressive symptoms is because of the removal of something bad while in work or the addition of something good while in retirement. But no matter the reason, if life in retirement is not comfortable, then we won’t see the improvements we did.”
However, in European nations like France, governments are considering changes to pension plans, which may affect retirees’ health after they leave their jobs—with less of a financial safety net, workers may no longer seem so mentally and physically happy to be out of work.
(Note: Answer the questions or complete the statements in NO MORE THAN TEN WORDS)
【小题1】According to some recent studies, retired people may have depression and higher rates of other disease like ____________________________________.
【小题2】Westerlund’s group found that in the year just after the retirement most retired French workers felt much less tired both __________________________________.
【小题3】What dies the word “improvements” in paragraph 5 refer to?
_______________________________________________________________
【小题4】Retirement may make people happier with ___________________________________

A boy was born to a couple after eleven years of marriage. They were a loving couple and loved the boy very much. When the boy was around two years old, one morning the husband saw a medicine bottle open. He was late for work so he asked the wife to cap the bottle and keep it in the cupboard. The mother, preoccupied in the kitchen, totally forgot the matter.

The boy saw the bottle and playfully went to the bottle and, fascinated with its color, drank it all. It happened to be a poisonous(有毒的)medicine meant for adults in small dosages(剂量). When the child fell down, the mother hurried him to the hospital, where he died. The mother was shocked. She was terrified how to face her husband.

When the father came to the hospital and saw the dead child, he looked at his wife and uttered just four words. The husband just said ‘I am with you, Darling’. The husband's totally unexpected reaction is active behavior. The child is dead. He can never be brought back to life. There is no point in finding fault with the mother. Besides, if he had taken time to keep the bottle away, this would not have happened. No point in attaching blame. She had also lost her only child. What she needed at that moment was comfort and sympathy from the husband. That is what he gave her.

If everyone can look at life with this kind of viewpoint, there would be much fewer problems in the world. Take off all your envies, unforgiveness, selfishness, and fears and you will find things are actually not as difficult as you think. Sometimes we spend time asking who is responsible or whom to blame, whether in a relationship, in a job or with the people we know. By this way we miss out some warmth in human relationship.

1.The uncapped medical bottle was not put back into the cupboard because         .

A.the husband was careless                 B.the wife ignored the matter

C.the husband was busy                    D.the wife wasn’t informed of the matter

2.What do we know about the bottle?          .

A.It contained poison only for adults          B.It was kept in the kitchen

C.It was broken by the child                 D.It appeared like a nice drink

3.The husband’s attitude towards his wife can be described as           .

A.optimistic         B.confident          C.considerate        D.generous

4.What did the writer intend to tell us about life?          .

A.Think of nothing and life will be easy

B.It is always useless finding who is responsible

C.Let go the negative side and we can enjoy life.

D.Life should give way to responsibility

 

Dear sir,

I read your story (of the 4th February) about the cost of living in the country rather than in the town, and I agree with most of the points that you made. My husband and I lived in the middle of Horlton until two years ago — a seaside town of nearly five hundred thousand people. When my husband stopped working, we moved to our present house in a small village at the foot of Roland Hill, and there is no doubt that our costs are higher now.

I have to do my shopping in small shops, where the food is more expensive than in city supermarkets; it costs more to travel by bus; and because the men who come to mend the television or the washing machine, have to come farther, we have to pay them more.

But it does not cost us much to enjoy what is beautiful in the country; and peace and quiet are cheap. Many people spend a great deal of time and money driving into the country to enjoy the simple things of life; yet we can enjoy them just by going out of the front door. It costs more to live here than it did in Horlton but now life really is worth living.

Yours faithfully.

Edith Randall

1.What do you know about Horlton?

A. A quiet town not far from the sea.

B. A middle-sized town until two years ago.

C. A town with a population of nearly half a million.

D. A small village at the foot of Roland Hill

2. What Mrs Randall really wants to express in the letter is that _____.

A. it cost less to live in the country

B. it costs more to live in the country

C. living in the country is no better than in the town

D. she is quite satisfied with the life in the country

3.One can probably find this letter in _____.

A. a guidebook      B. a newspaper          C. a speech         D. a story book

4.According to the passage, which of the following is true?

A. The letter is written by an unknown person.

B. This letter is a reply to the questions of 4th February.

C. Living in the country is better than living in the city.

D. The cost of living in the city is lower than that of the country. 

 

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