It’s clear that hiking—and any other physical activity—can reduce stress and anxiety. But there’s something about being in nature that may expand those effects. Scientists are beginning to find evidence that being in nature greatly influences our brains and our behavior, helping us to reduce anxiety and stress, and increasing our creativity and our ability to connect with other people.

In a recent experiment in Japan, participants were asked to walk either in a forest or in a city center (taking walks of equal length and difficulty) while having their heart rate variability (可变性), heart rate and blood pressure measured. The participants also filled out questionnaires (问卷) about their moods, stress levels and other psychological (心理的) measures.

Results showed that those who walked in forests had apparently (明显地) lower heart rates and higher heart rate variability, indicating (显示) more relaxation and less stress, and reported better moods and less anxiety, than those who walked in city settings. The researchers concluded that there’s something about being in nature that has a helpful effect on stress reduction, above and beyond what exercise alone might have produced.

In another study, researchers in Finland found that city people who walked for as little as 20 minutes through a city park or woodland reported more stress relief than those who walked in a city center. The reasons for this effect are unclear, but scientists believe that we evolve (进化) to be more relaxed in natural spaces.

These studies provide evidence that being in natural spaces—or even just looking out of a window onto a natural scene—somehow helps us become calm and relieves (缓解) stress.

【小题1】What does the underlined word “expand” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?

A．Increase.

B．Reduce.

C．Spread.

D．Improve.

【小题2】How did the researchers in Japan make their discovery?

A．By studying a previous report.

B．By doing experiments in the lab.

C．By experimenting and comparing results.

D．By studying examples and their causes.

【小题3】What is the best way to reduce stress according to the text?

A．Doing exercise in the gym.	B．Walking in a city park.
C．Wandering along city streets.	D．Watching a classic movie.

【小题4】What does the text mainly want to tell us?

A．Stress comes from city settings.	B．Being in nature can reduce stress.
C．Why nature can relieve our stress.	D．How we are affected by natural scenes.