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Long-term pain may not be an inevitable consequence of bad posture, but the notion that “good” posture is beneficial isn’t completely ill-founded. Certain postures can lift your spirits.

An awareness of a link between our body and our emotions goes back to the 19th century, when philosopher William James suggested that we don’t laugh because we are happy, but rather we are happy because we laugh.

This idea is now known as “embodied cognition”, where the body influences our thoughts. For instance, when you meet a loved one, your heartbeat may increase and you might feel their skin against your own as you embrace. The brain, which is constantly assessing changes to information from the outside world and from our internal body, combines this new data and generates the appropriate emotion. Only then do we consciously sense the feeling of love, or joy.

Several experiments support this idea, for instance, studies by Elizabeth Broadbent at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. Her team randomly split people without depression into two groups, using physiotherapy tape to strap their back into either a bent or upright seated position. The participants then gave a speech. Afterwards, the upright group not only reported a more positive mood, but were less stressed as measured by blood pressure.

In another experiment, students were initially shown positive and negative words and asked how well each word described them. They were then guided into walking in a style that resembled that of someone who was unhappy or extremely happy.

At the end of the study, the participants were given a surprise test—to remember as many words from the start of the study as possible. Participants recalled more negative words when walking in a style that resembled individuals who are sad than they did when walking with a happier gait (步态). The researchers suggest that the walking style may have triggered a change in emotional state, which then affected memory recall.

1．What was the relationship between body and emotions discovered in the 19th century?

A．We are happy, so we laugh.	B．The posture of laugh can make us happy.
C．We feel happy first, then we laugh.	D．We don’t laugh until we are truly happy.

2．What might not happen when a participant in the upright group gave a speech?

A．He/she gave a speech using a happy tone.

B．His/her speech made the audience feel uncomfortable.

C．His/her blood pressure dropped.

D．He/she felt much more confident in the process.

3．Which of the following words may not be given to the participants in the second experiment?

A．Extraordinary.

B．Brilliant.

C．Middle.

D．Down.

4．What does the text mainly talk about?

A．Changing your posture to change your mood.	B．Crying when you feel like it.
C．Exercising contributes to health.	D．Being happy if you want to.