1、 The Elysee PalaceThe Elysee Palace in France enjoys equal popularity in the world with the Buckingham Palace in the United Kingdom, the Kremlin in Russia as well as the White House in the U.S.A. It is the residence of the president of the French Republic and the symbol of the supreme authority in F
2、rance.The Elysee Palace, with an area of 11,000 square meters, is at the eastern end of the Champs Elysee in the bustling city of Paris proper and backed by a large and tranquil garden of more than twenty thousand square meters. Its main building, quite handsome and graceful, is a 2-story classical
3、stone architecture of European style, flanked by two side buildings facing each other and with an extensive rectangular courtyard in the middle. There are altogether 369 halls and rooms of different size.The Elysee Palace, built in 1718, has a long history of closing to 300 years to date. This house
4、 was at first a private residence of a count named dEvreau, hence it was called Hotel d Evreau. It had later gone through many vicissitudes and its owners had been changed for many times, but all the dwellers in it were distinguished personages and high officials. The house was renamed Bonaparte Man
5、sion when it was owned by Louis XV and Louis XVI successively when they acted as emperors. Napoleon I signed his act of abdication here when he had suffered crushing defeat in the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. Napoleon III moved in the Mansion in 1848 when he was elected president, and the house becam
6、e a Royal Palace when he proclaimed himself as emperor. The Third French Republic issued a decree in 1873, designating officially the Elysee Palace as the residence of president of the French Republic. Over the hundred odd years since then, almost all the presidents of the French Republic worked and
7、 lived there. Starting from 1989, the Elysee Palace is open to the public every year in September on the French Castles Day.Looking Forward to a Laugh? Good for You！Laughter may be the best medicine, but even looking forward to having a good laugh can boost the immune system and reduce stress, U.S.
8、researchers reported on Wednesday.Just anticipating a happy, funny event can raise levels of endorphins and other pleasure and relaxation-inducing hormones and lower production of stress hormones, a team at the University of California Irvine said.This team tested 16 men who all agreed they thought
9、a certain videotape was funny. Half of them were told three days in advance they would watch it.Those who knew in advance they would see the video started experiencing biological changes right away.When the men watched the video, levels of cortisol, a stress hormone, fell 39 percent. Epinephrine fel
10、l 70 percent, while levels of the feel-good hormone endorphin rose 27 percent and growth hormone levels rose by 87 percent. “Growth hormone is very beneficial to the immune system,“ according to the team.This all suggests that anticipation of a funny event can lower stress and stimulate the immune s
11、ystem, Lee Berk，an assistant professor of family medicine and researcher in complementary and alternative medicine who led the study said.Berk （伯克）and others had already shown that actually watching a funny video, or just laughing at a joke, could make healthful changes in the levels of hormones inv
12、olved in stress and lower blood pressure.“You have been thinking about it all day, so you experience a change in biology even before you get there,“ Berk said. “That is therapeutic.“Berk said the finding strengthens the advice that everyone lighten up a little to live longer. “Anticipation is half or two-thirds the fun,“ he said.
