In a time when many people around the globe are in lockdown (封锁) and unable to attend the gym, home exercising is becoming important. Fears of piling on the pounds are forcing many to find novel ways to move the body. You don’t need to pump iron or have expensive equipment like rowing and cycling machines to help you stay fit.
Exercising is not just important for your body, but also your mind. A study by Dr. Andrea Dunn at the Cooper Research Institute in Dallas, Texas found patients who did daily 35-minute walks per week experienced a 47% reduction in their depression (抑郁) levels.
Cardiovascular (心血管的) exercise, often simply called cardio, is designed to keep your heart rates up, which in turn will strengthen your heart and improve your general fitness. Many of us are turning to activities like skipping with an old rope, or watching one of the many “fitness experts” who produce exercise videos online.
Walking is another great activity to help you increase your blood circulation. There are many affordable pedometers which can be worn like a watch and used to track your steps, heart rates and sleeping patterns. You don’t even have to step outside, with many people simply doing some power walking or running round their gardens or up and down their hallways.
Practicing yoga or Tai Chi can help to increase our body flexibility, which in turn can lower joint pain and help to protect us from injury. Finally, strength and resistance training can be done at home by simply lifting bags of rice or boxes instead of heavy weights in the gym.
There are many ways to help us stay active, and indeed these exercise habits can be carried over in our lives long after lockdown is lifted. For those of us who complain about our busy lives stopping us from hitting the gym, ten minutes a day with a rope or a bag of rice may not only help our fitness, but our mental health too.
1. What may encourage us to find new ways to exercise according to Paragraph 1?A.Living a boring life. | B.Gaining weight. |
C.Being mentally ill. | D.Losing connection. |
A.Rope skipping. | B.Pumping iron. |
C.Power walking. | D.Lifting bags. |
A.Losing weight quickly. |
B.Making our bodies stay flexible. |
C.Letting us recover from injury slowly. |
D.Reducing your depression levels efficiently. |
A.How to Exercise at Home | B.What to Do in Lockdown |
C.Different Ways to Keep Healthy | D.The Importance of Staying Fit |
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【推荐1】What makes one person more intelligent than another? What makes one person a genius, like the brilliant Albert Einstein, and another person a fool? Are people born intelligent or stupid, or is intelligence the result of where and how you live? These are very old questions and the answers to them are still not clear.
We know, however, that just being born with a good mind is not enough. In some ways, the mind is like a leg or an arm muscle. It needs exercise. Mental (done with the mind) exercise is particularly important for young children. Many child psychologists (心理学家) think that parents should play with their children more often and give them problems to think about. The children are then more likely to grow up bright and intelligent. If, on the other hand, children are left alone a great deal with nothing to do, they are more likely to become dull and unintelligent.
Parents should also be careful with what they say to young children. According to some psychologists, if parents are always telling a child that he or she is a fool or an idiot, then the child is more likely to keep doing silly and foolish things. So it is probably better for parents to say very positive (helpful) things to their children, such as “That was a very clever thing you did.” or “You are such a smart child.”
1. The words “intelligent” and “brilliant” in the first paragraph probably mean _______ while “dull” in the second paragraph means ________.A.bright and splendid; slow in thinking and understanding |
B.pretty and handsome; ordinary-looking |
C.great and important; common |
D.hopeful and helpful; careless |
A.born with a good brain and putting it into active use |
B.often thinking about difficult problems |
C.often helped by his parents and teachers |
D.whose parents are clever |
A.to leave their children alone with nothing to do |
B.to be hard on their children |
C.to praise and encourage their children more often |
D.to give their children as much help as possible |
【推荐2】Guangzhou has long been famous for various kinds of flowers and local people have developed their enthusiasm for flowers since the time of Nanyue King in the Western Han Dynasty, which was founded over 2,000 years ago.
According to historical records, in the Western Han Dynasty, blooming flowers were seen everywhere in ancient Guangzhou, also known as Canton. Many people, whether men or women, wore flowers as decorations (装饰). There were even more varieties of flowers and plants grow n in the royal garden owned by Zhao Tuo, the founder of Nanyue Kingdom.
During the Tang and Song dynasties, Huadi, the land of flowers in Chinese, located in present-day Fangcun area of Guangzhou, was where Datong Port (港口), a major harbor for foreign trade, lay. Many businessmen from different places brought various flower seeds to the port by sea, turning a large wetland into flower fields. Besides, Cantonese farmers also grew flowers on the farmlands of thirty-three villages located south of the Pearl River.
The flower trade also contributed to the boom (繁荣) of Canton, which was the starting point of the ancient Maritime Silk Road (海上丝绸之路). As early as the Western Han Dynasty, people of Lingnan region had sailed to Sri Lanka. In the Tang and Song dynasties, a shipping route of over 14,000 kilometers was established, allowing people to travel to as far as the Persian Gulf. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, several ocean-crossing routes had connected Canton with many other parts of the world. In the period of Emperor Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty, Canton was served as the only port open for foreign trade.
Starting off from the Lingnan region, all kinds of flowers found their way to the West, including camellia and Chinese rose, which were developed into more varieties in only 300 years.
The ancient Maritime Silk Road played a key role in supporting the selling of locally-grown flowers of the Lingnan region to other countries. It also brought special foreign flowers from countries and regions along the route to Canton, which promoted the city’s fame for giving people excellent views of blossoms of flowers in all seasons.
1. What’s the function of paragraph 2?A.To introduce the topic. | B.To make a comparison. |
C.To raise readers’ interest. | D.To support the content above. |
A.Being a major harbor for foreign trade within China. |
B.Developing new varieties of flowers in only 300 years. |
C.Growing various flower seeds brought by businessmen. |
D.Serving as the starting point of the Maritime Silk Road. |
A.The ancient Maritime Silk Road led to the flower trade in Canton. |
B.Emperor Qianlong paid special attention to Canton’s development. |
C.Canton developed into the starting point of the long world trade route. |
D.Trade with foreigners decreased to a large degree in the Qing Dynasty. |
A.Huadi had an important effect on the development of Canton. |
B.Canton’s economic success roots back to the Western Han Dynasty. |
C.The long-standing tradition of flower contributed to Canton’s history. |
D.The Maritime Silk Road was formed due to the flower trade in Canton. |
【推荐3】Having your nose in a book might seem a little anti-social at times — but reading could actually make you a kinder, more considerate person, a study has found. Readers were more likely to act in a socially acceptable manner, while those who preferred watching television came across as less friendly and less understanding of
others' views, researchers said.
123 participants in the study were quizzed on their preferences for books, TV and plays at Kingston University, London. They were then tested on how much they considered people's feelings and whether they acted to help others. Researchers told the British Psychological Society conference in Brighton yesterday that fiction fans showed more positive social behavior.
Readers of drama and romance novels were also empathic, while lovers of experimental books showed the ability to see things from different directions. Comedy fans scored the highest for relating to others. The study suggested reading allows people to see different points of view, enabling them to understand others better.
The researchers added, “Exposure to fiction relates to a range of empathetic abilities. Engaging with fictional prose and comedy in particular could be key to improving people's empathetic abilities.”
However, the authors warned the study did not prove cause-and-effect. So it could be that reading causes positive behavior, or it could be that thoughtful, well-mannered people are more likely to prefer reading. So it is a good idea to pick up a book to begin your travel with the author. Each author will show how they would react to certain situations or confrontations through their characters. Everyone can view the same situation differently, and from 1001 different angles. The more you read, the much better you can understand other peoples' opinions.
1. What do we know about reading according to Paragraph 1?A.It contributes more to one's anti-social role. |
B.It is of rare benefit to readers. |
C.It is related to one's social position. |
D.It can add to one's social adaptability. |
A.the way to improve reading skills |
B.the influence of their preferences |
C.the places to get new books |
D.the time of reading books |
A.Understanding. | B.Mad. |
C.Sorrowful. | D.Delighted. |
A.To react to certain situations. |
B.To understand peoples' opinions. |
C.To persuade people to read. |
D.To show how to begin travels. |
【推荐1】If you do not use your arms or your legs for some time, they become weak. When you start using them again, they slowly become strong again. Everybody knows that. Yet many people do not seem to know that memory works in the same way.
When someone says that he has a good memory, he really means that he keeps his memory in practice by using it. When someone else says that his memory is poor, he really means that he does not give it enough chance to become strong.
If a friend says that his arms and legs are weak, we know that it is his own fault. But if he tells us that he has a poor memory, many of us think that his parents are to be blamed (责备), and few of us know that it is just his own fault.
Have you ever found that some people can’t read or write but usually they have better memories? This is because they cannot read or write and they have to remember things; they cannot write them down in a little notebook. They have to remember days, names, songs and stories; so their memory is the whole time being exercised. So if you want to have a good memory, learn from the people: practice remembering.
1. Which of the following is right?A.Your arms or your legs will become weak when you use them. |
B.Your memory works in the same way as your arms and legs. |
C.Everybody knows that memory works in the same way as their arms and legs. |
D.Your memory can’t become strong again when you use them again. |
A.practice it |
B.not give it enough chance to become strong |
C.have clever parents |
D.use your arms and legs often |
A.his teachers’ fault | B.his parents’ fault |
C.his own fault | D.his strong arms and legs |
A.they have to remember everything | B.they can’t write them down |
C.they practice remembering | D.they can remember things quickly |
A.how to remember days, names and songs |
B.a good memory needs strong arms and legs |
C.a good memory comes from practice |
D.parents can make us clever |
【推荐2】Teenagers’ fitness is now a major concern, to which physical exercise is very important. It reduces stress and improves fitness. Exercise makes your body strong, and helps you to keep the right body weight. Sports scientist Dr. Helen Lopez offers the following advice to teenagers: “First, you need to find out your present level of fitness. Then you can design a programme that will help you become healthier. ”
Dr. Lopez points out that there are three levels of fitness that need a change of lifestyle. “Overweight” means that the person gets very little exercise and often has a serious weight problem. “Inactive” means that the person does not join in many physical activities, but is not seriously overweight. “Active” refers to people who take part in sports and other physical activities, but do not have a high fitness level.
According to Dr. Lopez, overweight teenagers should keep active to keep healthy. “Ride a bike, play volleyball or basketball for a while, and go for a twenty-minute walk each day. All these will help to burn calories.” Inactive teenagers should do similar activities, but add some bending and stretching exercises, such as push-ups and sit-ups, starting with twenty of each a day. “Inactive people can take a little more exercise than overweight people because their bodies are stronger,” said Dr. Lopez. The same principle applies to active teenagers.
Dr. Lopez suggests one hour a week or more on running and other forms of intensive exercise, together with fifteen minutes a day spent on stretching and bending activities. “These are really important in order to prevent injuries,” Dr. Lopez said. Some weight-training and other body-strengthening exercises could also be planned in the programme in order to increase the person’s strength.
1. Which of the following statements is NOT the reason why physical exercise is important?A.It can make the teenagers grow taller. | B.It can help teenagers become healthier. |
C.It can help to burn up calories. | D.It can increase teenagers’ strength. |
A.Active people always have a high fitness level. |
B.Overweight people always take more exercise. |
C.Inactive teenagers are not seriously overweight. |
D.Keeping fit means changing teenagers’ lifestyle. |
A.walking | B.stretching and bending | C.riding | D.weight-training |
A.Doing exercises | B.Teenagers’ Fitness | C.Different Lifestyles | D.Overweight Teenagers |
【推荐3】Race walking (竞走) shares many fitness benefits with running, research shows, while most likely contributing to fewer injuries. It does, however, have its own problem.
Race walkers are conditioned athletes. The longest track and field event at the Summer Olympics is the 50-kilometer race walk, which is about five miles longer than the marathon. But the sport’s rules require that a race walker’s knees stay straight through most of the leg swing(摆动) and one foot remain in contact with the ground at all times. It’s this strange form that makes race walking such an attractive activity, however, says Jaclyn Norberg, an assistant professor of exercise science at Salem State University in Salem, Mass.
Like running, race walking is physically demanding, she says, According to most calculations, race walkers moving at a pace of six miles per hour would burn about 800 calories per hour, which is approximately twice as many as they would burn walking, although fewer than running, which would probably burn about 1,000 or more calories per hour.
However, race walking does not pound the body as much as running does, Dr. Norberg says. According to her research, runners hit the ground with as much as four times their body weight per step, while race walkers, who do not leave the ground, create only about 1.4 times their body weight with each step.
As a result, she says, some of the injuries associated with running, such as runner’s knee, are uncommon among race walkers. But the sport’s strange form does place considerable stress on the ankles and hips, so people with a history of such injuries might need to be cautious in adopting the sport. In fact, anyone wishing to try race walking should probably first consult a coach or experienced racer to learn proper techniques, she says. It takes some practice.
1. Why are race walkers conditioned athletes?A.They must run long distances. | B.They have to follow special rules. |
C.They are qualified for the marathon. | D.They are good at swinging their legs. |
A.It’s less likely to cause knee injuries. | B.It’s less challenging physically. |
C.It’s more effective in body building. | D.It’s more popular at the Olympics. |
A.Hiring an experienced coach. | B.Having a medical checkup. |
C.Getting experts’ opinions. | D.Doing regular exercises. |
A.Skeptical. | B.Supportive. |
C.Objective. | D.Disapproval. |