Housework might seem boring， but a team of researchers from Singapore reported that chores like cleaning floors and washing the windows might help adults to stay healthy into old age.

The team asked some adults from the town of Yishun in Singapore to do tests as well as activities to see how well their bodies worked. There were also questions including how much light and heavy housework they did every week.

It appeared that old people doing heavy housework （about 131 minutes a week） focused better than those who didnt do housework. Also， old people doing heavy housework stood up more quickly and were less likely to fall. At the same time， old people doing about 900 minutes of housework a week had better memories than those who only did about 90 minutes a week.

家務(wù)活可能看起來(lái)很無(wú)聊，但來(lái)自新加坡的一個(gè)研究團(tuán)隊(duì)的報(bào)告稱，擦地板和擦窗戶等家務(wù)可能有助于人們到老年以后保持身體健康。

該團(tuán)隊(duì)請(qǐng)新加坡宜順鎮(zhèn)的一些成年人做測(cè)試和活動(dòng)，以了解他們身體的運(yùn)作情況。問(wèn)卷中還包括他們每周做多少家務(wù)。

做繁重家務(wù)（每周約131分鐘）的老人似乎比不做家務(wù)的老人注意力更集中。此外，做繁重家務(wù)的老人站起來(lái)的速度更快，摔倒的可能性也更小。與此同時(shí)，每周做900分鐘家務(wù)的老人比每周只做90分鐘家務(wù)的老人記憶力更好。

Dr Shiou-Liang Wee， one of the researchers， said staying healthy should not just be about sports like ball games， running and swimming.

Gill Livingston， a researcher from London， said the study was interesting but had little meaning. No one would tell people who are not so well to do more housework. “I think the advice would be that housework can be good for your heart and brain. However， we cant say that you can always get good protection when you do housework，” she said.

Boys and girls， what do you think？ Is housework good for your health？

研究人員之一的韋修良（音譯）博士說(shuō)，保持健康不應(yīng)該只靠球類運(yùn)動(dòng)、跑步和游泳。

來(lái)自倫敦的研究人員吉爾·利文斯頓說(shuō)，這項(xiàng)研究很有趣，但沒(méi)有什么意義。沒(méi)有人會(huì)讓身體不太好的人多做家務(wù)。她說(shuō)：“我認(rèn)為應(yīng)給出的建議是做家務(wù)對(duì)心臟和大腦都有好處。但不能說(shuō)做家務(wù)就能得到很好的保護(hù)?！?/p>

孩子們，你們?cè)趺聪肽兀孔黾覄?wù)對(duì)你的健康有益嗎？

Word Bank

activity n. （復(fù)數(shù)形式activities）活動(dòng)

focus v. （過(guò)去式focused）集中（注意力、精力等）

memory n. （復(fù)數(shù)形式memories）記憶力；記性

advice n. 建議；意見(jiàn)

be good for 對(duì)……有好處