Get Started

I.  Warm-up Questions

Directions: discuss and answer the following questions.

1.      What do you usually do to keep fit?

2.      What do you think are the criteria of being healthy?

3.      Do you know anything about the body clock? How is it related to our health?

Get Started

II.  Quotes

Directions: Study the following quotes about health. Which quote(s)do you like best? Why?

1.    A healthy body is the guest-chamber (房间) of the soul; a sick, its prison.

                                            — Francis Bacon

2.    Cheerfulness is the best promoter of health and is as friendly to the mind as to the body.

                                           — Joseph Addison

3.    Money is the most envied, but the least enjoyed. Health is the most enjoyed, but the least envied

                                         — Charles Caleb Colton

4.    Giving is the secret of a healthy life. Not necessarily money, but whatever a man has of encouragement and sympathy and understanding.

                                        — John D. Rockefeller Jr.

Interpretation:

1.    Physical health and mental health are closely related. A sick body will certainly affect one’s mood, attitude and character, etc. Here, Francis Bacon compares the sick body vividly to a prison which greatly hampers (妨碍) the development of one’s spiritual life.

2.    Moods have great influence on both our physical and mental health. As has been proved in medical science, we are less vulnerable to illnesses when we are in a cheerful mood. A good mood is the key to mental health.

3.    By using four superlatives, Colton points out the paradox of people’s attitudes towards money and health. We tend to envy those who possess more money, but those who possess more money may not feel happy and satisfied. In contrast, we seldom feel envy for those who enjoy good health, for good health can only be enjoyed by those who possess it.

4.    As a great philanthropist (慈善家), Rockefeller Jr. believes that giving and caring for others will bring you a healthy life. What you offer to others may not necessarily be money or material comforts. Spiritual care such as encouragement, sympathy and understanding is equally good and can also serve as the key to a healthy life.