Is nature your brain

杨艳鑫

小溪的潺潺水聲，树叶被风吹动的沙沙响声，这些大自然的声音给予我们的感官体验完全不同于城市里人潮、车流的嘈杂声。亲近自然能够使大脑得到放松，改善人们的精神状态。

When you go to the desert with David Strayer， don't be surprised if he sticks electrodes （电极） to your head. As a cognitive psychologist at the University of Utah， Strayer studies the minds ability to think clearly.

On the third day of a camping trip in Utah， Strayer is explaining the “three-day effect” to 22 psychology students. Our brains， he says， aren't tireless three-pound machines; they are easily exhausted by our fast-paced and increasingly digital lives. But when we slow down， stop the busywork， and seek out natural surroundings， we not only feel restored but also improve our mental performance. Strayer has proved with a group of participants， who scored 50 percent higher on creative problem-solving tasks after three days of wilderness backpacking.

Researchers from the University of Exeter Medical School analyzed data from 10，000 urban citizens and found that those living near more green space reported less mental disease. Richard Mitchell， a geographer at the University of Glasgow， found fewer deaths and less disease in people who lived near green space， even if they didn't use them. People who have window views of trees and grass have been shown to recover faster in hospitals， perform better in school， and show less violent behavior.

In some countries， nature is involved in the governments official mental health policy. At the Natural Resources Institute Finland， the nations high rates of alcoholism and suicide led a research team to recommend that citizens spend at least five hours per month being close to nature in an effort to improve the nations mental health. “A 40-50 minutes walk seems to be enough for physiological changes and mood changes，” says KaleviKorpela， a professor of psychology.

So far， no study can offer a full explanation of the brain-on-nature experience; something mysterious will always remain， Strayer says， and perhaps that's as it should be. “At the end of the day，” he says， “we come out in nature not because science says it does something to us but because of how it makes us feel.”

[Reading][Check]

1. What does the underlined word “they” in paragraph 2 refer to？

A. Brains.

B. Effects.

C. Students.

D. Machines.

2. Which of the following will result in improved problem-solving ability according to Strayer？

A. Keeping busy.

B. Going to a desert.

C. Eating a chicken pie.

D. Playing computer games.

3. According to the research， what does green space do to people？

A. Have a positive impact on their mental well-being.

B. Add creative problem-solving tasks.

C. Slow down the pace of their work.

D. Lessen their concerns about violent behavior.

4. What does Strayer mean in the last paragraph？

A. He will go on making further research.

B. We should do things according to our feelings.

C. The brain-on-nature experience is not scientific.

D. Brains can rest and recover after a trip in nature.

[Language][Study]

Ⅰ. Difficult sentence

At the Natural Resources Institute Finland， the nations high rates of alcoholism and suicide led a research team to recommend that citizens spend at least five hours per month being close to nature in an effort to improve the nations mental health. 在芬蘭自然资源研究所，国家的高酗酒率和自杀率导致一个研究小组建议国民每月应至少花5个小时亲近自然，以改善国民的心理健康。

【点石成金】本句是一个主从复合句，that引导宾语从句，作recommend的宾语。因recommend表建议，所以从句要使用“（should） do”形式的虚拟语气; in an effort to表目的。

Ⅱ. Text-centered chunks

slow down 减速;慢下来

lead to 导致

offer a full explanation of 提供对……的充分解释  even if 即使