[109] - Đề thi thử tốt nghiệp THPT 2024 - Môn Tiếng Anh - THPT LƯƠNG ĐẮC BẰNG - THANH HÓA (LẦN 2)

If you are trying to shed a few kilograms from your body weight, you will find a wide range of methods being recommended by fitness enthusiasts or health experts, promising dramatic weight reductions. But what if a good night's sleep can be just as effective as these? A new study suggests that this can actually be true.
In a trial with 80 overweight young adults, Dr Esra Tasali of the University of Chicago's sleep centre and her colleagues found that increased sleep duration reduced participants' overall caloric intake by an average of 270 calories per day, which would result in roughly 12 kg of weight loss over three years if the effects were maintained over a long term. "If healthy sleep habits are maintained over longer duration, this would lead to clinically important weight loss over time," said Dr Tasali. "Many people are working hard to find ways to decrease their caloric intake to lose weight - well, just by sleeping more, you may be able to reduce it substantially."
This study not only examines the effects of sleep extension on caloric intake but, importantly, does so in a real-world setting, with no control over participants' dietary habits. Over the course of two weeks, participants slept in their own beds, tracked their sleep with wearable devices, and followed their normal lifestyle without any instructions on diet or exercise. "Most other studies on this topic in labs are short-lived, for a couple of days, and food intake is measured by how much participants consume from a fixed diet," said Tasali. "In our study, we only manipulated sleep, and had the participants eat whatever they wanted."
One of the unexpected findings from the study is that a single sleep counselling session could change people's bedtime habits enough to improve the amount of sleep they got. "We simply coached each individual on good sleep hygiene, and discussed their own personal sleep environments, providing tailored advice on changes they could make to improve their sleep duration," Tasali said. Following just a single session, participants increased their average sleep duration by over an hour a night.
Ultimately, Tasali and her team hope to examine the underlying mechanisms that may explain these results, and believe this work should spur new, larger studies to determine if extending sleep can support weight-loss programs and help prevent or reverse obesity.
(Adapted from hindustantimes.com; theguardian.com)

Subvocalization is a widespread habit among readers which involves saying words in your head while reading, and it makes people read slowly because when they say every word in their head while reading, they read at around the same rate as they talk, which is only about 150-250 words per minute.
Luckily, you can train yourself to slowly minimise subvocalization and boost your reading speed. The first step is to realize one important thing: it is not necessary. For example, when you see a stop sign, you just look at the word "STOP" and process it automatically instead of saying it in your head. Understanding that you don't need to say every word to understand what you read will make it easier for you to try to reduce subvocalizing.
Completely stopping subvocalization while reading is impossible, but you can keep your inner voice busy with something else. You can distract yourself by counting from one to three while you are reading the material. While you are doing this, try fixating your eyes somewhere at the beginning of the line, somewhere in the middle of the line, and somewhere at the end of the line. While you are looking in those three places, count "one, two, three." With some practice, you'll be able to say less and less words in your head as you read.
Listening to music will not only help you minimize subvocalization but also concentrate better. However, keep in mind that not all types of music will prove helpful. You want to avoid listening to music with lyrics or anything with a strong beat because this will distract you. It may also be a good idea to avoid songs that remind you of things that can make you emotional (your high school crush, a touching scene from a movie, etc.)
(Adapted fromirisreading.com)

ORIGIN OF VALENTINE'S DAY AND WHITE DAY
Valentine's Day was established by Pope Gelasius I in AD 496 to honor Saint Valentine, a Christian martyr. The holiday first became (41)________ with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished. The sending of Valentines (greeting cards) was a fashion in nineteenth-century Great Britain, and, in 1847, Esther Howland developed a successful business in her Worcester, Massachusetts home with hand-made Valentine cards based on British models. Since the 19th century, handwritten valentines have largely given (42)________ to mass-produced greeting cards.
On the other hand, White Day is a relatively new phenomenon created by the confectionery industry in Japan. White Day was first celebrated in 1978 in Japan. In 1977 a Fukuoka-based confectionery company, Ishimura Manseido, marketed marshmallows to men on March 14, calling it "Marshmallow Day”. (43)_______ Marshmallow Day did not succeed as a cultural phenomenon, the National Confectionery Industry Association established White Day as an "answer day" or "reply day" to Valentine's Day exhorting men to return the favor to the women (44)______ gave them chocolates and (45)_______ presents on Valentine's Day. The color white was chosen because it's the color of purity, evoking "pure, sweet teen love", and because it's also the color of sugar. The initial name was "Ai ni Kotaeru White Day" (Answer Love on White Day).
(Adapted from https://www.diffen.com/difference/Valentine%27s_Day_vs_White_Day)