Lack of Bright Light

Scientists have known for some time about Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD): a form of depression caused by lack of light in winter, and thought to explain the relatively high suicide rates in countries such as Sweden, where for parts of the year days are very short. However, recent research has shown that those working night shifts in factories can suffer from the same problem, leading to stress and depression. The problem can be overcome by illuminating workplaces with lights three times brighter that usual, making workers feel happier and more alert.

A Low-Fat Diet

A low-fat diet may be good for your waistline, but the latest research suggests that it is less beneficial psychologically. A team of volunteers at Sheffield University, asked to follow a diet consisting of just 25% fat (the level recommended by the World Health Organisation) reported a marked increase in feelings if hostility and depression. And an earlier piece of research revealed, startlingly, that people on low-fat diets are more likely to meet violent death!

Drinking Coffee

Many of us are already aware that drinking coffee raises you blood pressure and can cause anxiety, but according to the latest research it can also make you bad-tempered. Mice that were given regular doses of caffeine by researches were found to be unusually aggressive!

The Wrong Genes

Despite all the changes we make to our behavior, diet, and environment; there is growing evidence that at the end of the day, whether we are cheerful or miserable is largely a question of our genes. “Of course what happens to you in your life will make a difference to how happy you are,” say scientists, “but there are two or three vital genes which probably decide how cheerful you are in comparison to others in a similar situation.”

So whatever else you do, make sure you choose your genes carefully!

2. Answer the Questions to the text:

1. What’s the connection between backache and feeling like an underdog?

2. Give two examples of groups of people affected by SAD. What is it, and what can be done to help sufferers?

3. From the research described, why do you think people on low-fat diets are more likely to meet violent death?

4. Give three possible harmful effects of drinking coffee.

5. Can your genes affect how happy or miserable you are?

3. Find the English equivalents in the text:

• почувати себе невдахою

• підірвати здоров’я

• той, якого недооцінюють

• депресія

• працювати в нічну зміну

• проблему можна вирішити

• дієта з низьким вмістом жирів

• померти насильницькою смертю

• визивати занепокоєння

• розсердити

4. What was the most surprising thing you’ve read about? Has the article made you feel that you should change any of your habits and attitudes? Why/Why not? (Write about 200 words)

III ВАРІАНТ

1. Read and translate the following text. All in the Memory...

Many people complain that their memory is bad, particularly as they get older. Phone numbers, names, facts we studied only a few days ago - life would be so much easier if we could remember them all effortlessly. So how can we improve our memory?

Many people think that repeating things is the best way to remember them. While this undoubtedly helps short-term memory (remembering telephone number- for a few seconds, for example), psychologists doubt whether it can help you to remember things for very long. The British psychologist E.C. Stanford seemed to prove this point when he tested himself on five prayers that he had read aloud every morning for over 25 years. He found that he could remember no more than three words of some of them! More helpful, especially for remembering numbers, is “chunking”, or grouping the information. The following numbers would be impossible for most of us to remember: 1492178919931848. But look at them in “chunks”, and it becomes much easier: 1492 1789 1993 1848.

So what about “memory training”? We've all heard about people who can memorise packs of cards by heart — how is this done and can anyone learn how to do it? According to experts, there are various ways of training your memory. Many of them involve forming a mental picture of the items to be memorised. One method, which may be useful in learning foreign languages, is to create a picture in your mind associated with a word you want to remember. For example, an English person wishing to learn “pato” (the Spanish word for “duck”), could associate it with the English verb “to pat”, imagining someone patting a duck on the head would remind the learner of the Spanish word.

Another method is to invent a story that includes all the things you want to remember. In experiments, people were asked to remember up to 120 words using this technique; when tested afterwards, on average, they were able to recall 90 per cent of them! Surprisingly however, there is nothing new about these methods - they were around even in ancient times. Apparently the Roman general Publius Scipio could recognise and name his entire army – 35,000 men in total!

However; not all of us are interested in learning long lists of numbers just for fun. For those studying large quantities of information, psychologists suggest that the best way to “form meaningful connections” is to ask yourself a lot of questions as you go along. So, for example, if you read about a particular disease, you would ask yourself questions like “Do peple get it from water?”, “What parts of the body does it affect?” and so on. This is said to be far more effective than time spent “passively” reading und re-reading notes

Finally, what about the opposite problem? What happens when people lose their memories? Memory loss can take many forms: cases of people who forget their identity and end up wandering the streets are, sadly, relatively common. Rarer cases include the man who lost his memory for faces and believed that a stranger was watching him every time lie looked in the mirror; or the man who lost his visual memory, and could not recognise everyday objects, confusing a pan with a knife, for example. In the end, he preferred to wear dark glasses and pretend that he was blind!