The world's longest sea bridge has opened. It links Hong Kong and Macau 【小题1】 mainland China. The bridge 【小题2】(call) the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge and is 55 kilometres long. The bridge took over a decade 【小题3】(construct). Builders had to make some islands in the Pearl River Delta to provide the supports for the bridge. There is also 【小题4】6.7-kilometre underwater tunnel in the middle of the bridge. This is to allow ships to sail through the Delta. The bridge will 【小题5】(great) cut the time 【小题6】 takes to travel from mainland China to Hong Kong and Macau. The journey time to Macau has been cut from over three hours to just 30 minutes, 【小题7】(make) the cities in the Pearl River Delta into a whole. A trade and tourism expert said, “This makes Hong Kong a lot 【小题8】(convenience) for goods, passengers and trade, 【小题9】 is a benefit from the motherland.” The bridge will be open to tourists to drive across it. However, car owners will not be able to cross the bridge unless officially 【小题10】(approve). Most drivers will take a shuttle bus to make the journey.

Scientists have discovered that 【小题1】(stay) in the cold could help us lose weight. Researchers at the University of California have found that exposure to the cold increases levels of a protein(蛋白质) that helps form brown fat—the type of fat that produces heat and keeps us warm. Brown fat burns energy, helps us lose weight. White fat stores extra energy, 【小题2】 helps us lose weight. White fat stores extra energy, which results 【小题3】 weight gain. The researchers said that because air conditioning and heating give us constant, 【小题4】(comfort) temperatures, our body’s need for brown fat has decreased. They found, “Outdoor workers in northern Finland who 【小题5】(expose) to cold temperature have a significant amount of brown fat when 【小题6】(compare) to same-aged indoor workers.”

The research was conducted on two different control groups of mice. One group was injected with the protein that helps create brown fat. This group later gained 30% less weight after both groups were fed high-fat diets. The researchers say this could be good news in the fight against obesity. People who are obese have 【小题7】(low) levels of brown fat than thinner people. Head researcher Hei Sook Sul said. “This protein could become 【小题8】 important target for research into the treatment and 【小题9】(prevent) of obesity and obesity-related diseases.” She added, “if you can somehow increase levels of this protein, you could 【小题10】(possible) lose more weight even if eating the same amount of food.”

Are there plenty of birds in your neighborhood? This is good news for your mental health because birdsong can help relieve 【小题1】 (anxious). This is the latest finding of a study published in the journal Scientific Reports, 【小题2】 (explain) the remarkable healing power of birdsong.

In 【小题3】 effort to understand the influence of birdsong on mental health, researchers at the Max Planck Institute 【小题4】 (join) scientists from the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf to evaluate 【小题5】 birdsong and man-made traffic noise affected mood. Before and after hearing the sounds, the participants completed questionnaires (调查表) assessing 【小题6】 (they) mental health.

“Healthy people can also experience negative thoughts. The questionnaires enable us 【小题7】 (identify) people’s tendencies without their having a diagnosis of depression and to investigate the effect of the sounds of birds or traffic on these tendencies,” says Emil Stobbe. Results showed that birdsong 【小题8】 (be) useful in reducing uneasiness. In contrast, traffic noise worsened depression.

What makes birdsong so beneficial 【小题9】 mental health? Study authors believe birdsong is an indication of the entire natural environment. It distracts the listener from other stressors that they would 【小题10】 (normal) view as a threat.