阅读理解

　　Why Buy Shade-Grown Coffee?

　　When people argue about whether coffee is good for health, they’re usually thinking of the health of the coffee drinker. Is it good for your heart? Does it increase blood pressure? Does it help you concentrate? However, coffee affects the health of the human population in other ways, too.

　　Traditionally, coffee bushes were planted under the canopy(树冠) of taller indigenous(土生土长的) trees. However, more and more farmers in Latin America are deforesting the land to grow full-sun coffees. At first, this increases production because more coffee bushes can be planted if there aren’t any trees. With increased production come increased profits.

Across the Deserts

　　The Sahara Desert is the largest desert in the world. It stretches across Africa from Senegal to Egypt. The Sahara Desert is an unfriendly environment. During the day it's very hot, and at night it’s sometimes very cold. It is also difficult to find water in the Sahara.

　　In 2006, Kevin Lin, Ray Zahab, and Charlie Engle decided to do something very difficult. They made the decision to run across the Sahara Desert 4,300 miles (6,920km). It seemed impossible to do, but they wanted to try. The three men liked to test themselves, and this would be a very big test.

　The Value of Tears

　　Tears can ruin make-up, bring conversation to a stop, and give you a runny nose. They can leave you embarrassed and without energy. However, crying is a fact of life，and tears are very useful. Even when you're not crying, your eyes produce tears. These create a film over the eye's surface. This film contains a substance that protects your eyes against infection.

　　Tears relieve stress, but we tend to fight them for all sorts of reasons. "People worry about showing their emotions. They’re afraid that once they lose control, they’ll never get it back ,” explains psychologist Dorothy Rowe. As children we were sometimes punished for shedding tears or expressing anger.As adults we still fear the consequences of showing emotions.”