Doctors have long known that diet and exercise are the best ways to stay healthy. But few people get enough exercise. Only 20% of Americans get the recommended 150 minutes of physical activity per week. More than 80 million Americans over age 6 are entirely inactive. People leading a sedentary (久坐的) life pay a price. They are at higher risk for serious health problems. These include heart disease and cancer.
Health experts want people to know about the benefits of exercise. They believe it can lead to slower aging, better moods, stronger vision—the list goes on.
This year, the U. S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) is starting a major study. It will record in detail what happens inside a body in motion (运动). Through its research，the NIH hopes to prove scientifically that exercise is good medicine.
The project will run for six years. A group of about 3, 000 sedentary people will take part in the project. They will range from 11-year-olds to the elderly. The group will begin an exercise program. Their blood, fat, and muscle will be studied before and after each workout. Scientists will look for clues to how the body changes with physical activity. A group that doesn't exercise will also be tracked. Experts will compare the two groups. Studies show that many positive changes happen in the body during and after a workout.
One of the best pieces of news is that much of what we already do counts as physical activity. “Sweeping the floor, watering the plants, washing the car—all that is exercise,” says Jack Berryman. He is a retired professor of medical history at Washington University School of Medicine, in Seattle. “Physical activity includes all movement, not just throwing a ball through a basket.”
Bamman hopes the NIH study will help doctors give each of their patients a detailed workout plan. In the meantime, here is a prescription (处方) for good health: Get active!
1. What’s the main idea of the first paragraph?| A．Few people know the benefits of exercise. |
| B．Lack of exercise can cause health problems. |
| C．Doctors suggest 150 minutes of weekly exercise. |
| D．People over age 6 are more likely to get serious disease. |
| A．By doing a survey. | B．By making interviews. |
| C．By making predictions. | D．By making comparison. |
| A．It refers to doing sports. | B．It can replace medicine. |
| C．It includes doing housework. | D．It needs professional training. |
| A．The Best Medicine | B．The Price of Laziness |
| C．Choose Your Favorite Exercise | D．Balance Your Diet and Exercise |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】In some places, people collect honey from wild bees. This is common in many parts of the world, especially South Asia. Honey hunting is a local tradition in southern India but it is not an undemanding job. The bees in southern India can grow up to the size of the smallest adult human finger. And these giant honey bees build their hives(蜂窝)on the sides of mountains!
It takes many years for a honey hunter to learn to collect honey from these hives. From a young age the honey hunter learns everything about bees. He practices climbing hundreds of meters above the ground. Before the honey season, the honey hunter prepares for many days.
When the day of the honey hunt season arrives, the honey hunter goes to the edge of the mountain early in the morning. He climbs down with a rope and lights some dry branches on fire. The smoke makes the bees leave the hive. With the bees flying around the honey hunter, he uses a long sharp stick to gently get pieces of the wax(蜜蜡)filled with honey. He then takes them back to the village in a box made of bamboo.
Usually the hunter takes some honey and leaves some of the hive on the mountainside. He does not take the part of the hive with the baby bees in it since he does not want to destroy the home of the bees. When the honey hunter returns, the village celebrates!
“They have been hunting honey in this way for more than 2,000 years. Honey was and still is an important part of their diet, cooking and medicine,” Simone Gie from the organization Slow Food International, said.
1. The underlined word “undemanding” in Paragraph 1 can be replaced by “________”.| A．regular | B．boring | C．easy | D．difficult |
| A．has a short history | B．needs careful preparation |
| C．makes some villages rich | D．is often done by a young man |
| A．Bamboo. | B．Branches. | C．A rope. | D．A stick. |
| A．how to protect baby bees | B．the importance of honey |
| C．the new use for honey | D．how honey is hunted |
【推荐2】China’s self-developed floating airship Jimu No.1 has set a new world record, reaching an altitude of 7,003 meters on May 23rd in Southwest China’s Tibet Autonomous Region.
Jimu No.1 is a lighter-than-air ship with a volume（体积）of 2,300 cubic meters. Its surface is made of composite fabric（复合织物）, which can withstand low temperatures of -70℃. Equipped with scientific instruments, it conducts upper air observations and collects weather data.
Floating airships play a significant role in high-altitude observations and tracking climate and geological changes. Compared with observation stations on the ground, they can make stereoscopic（有立体效果的）observations that provide more accurate data as the airships can directly travel to test areas and are less affected by buildings and local terrain（地形）.
Jimu No.1 is being used in a monitoring project, part of China’s second Qinghai-Tibet research mission, which aims to help researchers understand the source of the water supply and water transmission routes on the plateau. Named “the Third Pole” and “the Water Tower of Asia,” the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau provides water to many Asian rivers, making it an ideal place for carrying out high-altitude projects and conducting research in water, ecology and human activities.
Jimu No.1 has been breaking records. It set the previous records of over 6,200 meters in January, and 6,300 meters in April. And floating airships are expected to reach an altitude of 10,000 meters in the future.
1. What can we learn from paragraph 2?| A．The exact weight of Jimu No.1. | B．The highest speed of Jimu No.1. |
| C．The characteristic of composite fabric. | D．The working rules of the instruments. |
| A．air currents can be better observed by airships |
| B．airships won’t be affected by buildings and local terrain |
| C．ground stations only track climate and geological changes |
| D．data from airships’ stereoscopic observations are more accurate |
①water ②poles ③water towers ④ecology ⑤human activities
| A．①②③ | B．①④⑤ |
| C．③④⑤ | D．②③④ |
| A．China is carrying out a mission in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau |
| B．China’s self-developed floating airship reaches record height |
| C．The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is ideal for high-altitude research |
| D．Floating airships have a long way to go in upper air observations |
【推荐3】It is hard to say the first day of school in the United States because when the first day of school is and what happens on the first day of school usually are different by districts (地区).
The first day of school for many school districts in different states is on the day after the first Monday in September. In some other school districts, school begins in mid-to-late August. For example, the Denver, Colorado schools go back in mid-August and schools in Cleveland, Ohio start back usually one week before the first Monday in September. The Boston, Chicago, New York City and San Diego schools start back on the Tuesday or Wednesday after the first Monday in September.
Schools in Cleveland, Ohio used to start the school year on the day after the first Monday in September, but in the 1976-1977 and 1977-1978 academic years, the school year was affected by several bad snowstorms, extreme cold. In the 1978-1979 school year, the Ohio Department of Education moved the start of the year to late August, one week before the first Monday in September. This went into effect in the 1980-1981 school year.
In most school districts in Utah, the school year starts between August 25 and August 30, and goes until the last week of May or the first week in June next year.
In American high schools, the freshmen class usually goes back one or two days before the rest of the school body for an orientation (迎新) period. An orientation period helps the freshmen get familiar with their new school, its rules, and surroundings.
In some schools, the freshmen classes have their photographs taken for identification purposes. Some high schools have tried to make the first week of school fun for incoming freshmen.
1. Why did the Ohio Department of Education change the start of the school year?| A．Because of some political events. |
| B．Because of the entrance examinations. |
| C．Because of the increasing number of students. |
| D．Because of the extreme weather. |
| A．About seven months. |
| B．About eight months. |
| C．About nine months. |
| D．About ten months. |
| A．a book about one’s life story |
| B．an official website of education |
| C．an advertisement in a newspaper |
| D．a sports magazine |
【推荐1】When you walk in a Chinese city early in the morning, you’re likely to see groups of people exercising in the park. You’ll see them moving through a series of slow graceful movements. As their bodies flow from one exercise to the next, their minds are focused only on their deep, relaxed breathing.
Tai chi is part of national cultural heritage (遗产) which Chinese people take pride in. This ancient mind-body exercise is known as tai chi, and you don’t have to live in China to benefit from it. According to a survey in 2007, more than 2 million Americans are currently practicing tai chi.
Tai chi is called a mind-body type of exercise because it combines meditation, focused breathing, and physical movement. Because it’s also a low-impact (低强度的) exercise, it may be particularly suitable for older adults, but it’s a beneficial exercise for people of all ages.
Tai chi developed in China as a type of martial art. Today tai chi is used to develop fitness, meditation, balance, breathing, and well-being.
If tai chi is something you might like to try, look for a tai chi class near you. Keep in mind that training programs are different in many ways. You might want to ask around for a recommendation or try a class before you sign up. Ask potential tai chi instructors about their training and experience.
Tai chi is generally considered a low-risk exercise that is both safe and enjoyable. If you have any physical or medical problems, talk with your health care provider before starting any exercise program. And remember, although tai chi has many benefits, it can’t take the place of regular medical care.
1. Why does the author give the example in paragraph 1?| A．To describe a scene. |
| B．To introduce the topic. |
| C．To summarize the text. |
| D．To guide the readers around the city. |
| A．Some foreigners are interested in tai chi. |
| B．Tai chi makes people happy, wise and energetic. |
| C．Chinese people don’t take tai chi seriously now. |
| D．Tai chi was considered a way to lengthen one’s life. |
| A．Hard training. | B．Deep thinking. |
| C．Body stretching. | D．Violent exercising. |
| A．Old people. | B．The patients. |
| C．Young people. | D．People of all ages. |
| A．Different Schools of Tai Chi around the World. |
| B．Tai Chi—a National Heritage and Wonderful Exercise. |
| C．Chinese Martial Arts—the Origin and Forms of Tai Chi. |
| D．The Advantages and Disadvantages of Practicing Tai Chi. |
【推荐2】About one-third of adults globally have high blood pressure, which increases the risk of having a heart attack or stroke (中风). Physical activity is known to lower blood pressure. However, many people have trouble keeping to exercise plans.
Yoga tends to be more sustainable (可持续的) than other forms of exercise because it is gentle, can be done with others and helps to relax the mind. Several experiments have found that yoga lowers blood pressure. However, these experiments have typically involved several sessions a week, which may not be achievable for many people.
To find out if yoga helps to reduce blood pressure in the real world, some researchers conducted a new study and analysed the electronic health records of 1,355 people aged 18 to 79 who practised yoga at least once a week. They compared each of these people with at least three other individuals. They had similar characteristics in terms of things like age, gender, and body mass index (BMI), but had no mention of practising yoga in their records. On average, the people who practised yoga had systolic blood pressure (收缩压) that was 2.8 mmHg lower and diastolic blood pressure (舒张压) that was 1.5 mmHg lower than those who didn’t.
This blood pressure reduction probably wouldn’t make a huge difference to most people in the study, since they tended to be young and healthy. They already had normal blood pressure. But at a population level, if average blood pressure declined by this much, it would prevent a significant number of heart attacks and strokes. For example, a 2018 study found that a population-wide average systolic blood pressure reduction of 2 mmHg among middle-aged adults in the US would prevent more than 12,000 heart attacks and 7,000 strokes each year.
Based on the new study, we can’t say for sure that yoga lowers blood pressure, because there may be other explanations for the findings. People who do yoga may have lower blood pressure because they tend to have better diets, not because of the yoga itself. And yoga shouldn’t be seen as the replacement for blood pressure lowering medicines. Nevertheless, yoga is likely to assist in lowering blood pressure if it encourages sedentary (久坐的) people to exercise. “The greatest benefit is getting the exercise-shy to do something rather than increasing exercise in someone who does it regularly,” an expert says.
1. Which advantage does yoga have over other kinds of exercise?| A．It is easier for beginners to learn. | B．It is more effective in keeping fit. |
| C．People are more likely to stick to it. | D．People can find partners more easily. |
| A．The study took the relevant factors in reality into consideration. |
| B．All these participants were of the same age and gender. |
| C．The study analysed different kinds of exercise. |
| D．The researchers studied the participants’ daily routine. |
| A．The results are far from satisfactory. |
| B．Lowering blood pressure is quite easy. |
| C．Blood pressure reduction is beneficial. |
| D．Doing yoga once a week is meaningful. |
| A．Other reasons have been found to explain the blood pressure reduction for certain. |
| B．Encouraging inactive people to do yoga possibly contributes to lowering blood pressure. |
| C．Having better diets is more important than practising yoga regularly for sedentary people. |
| D．The benefits of practising yoga are equal to taking blood pressure lowering medicines. |
【推荐3】Exercise is one of the best things you can do for your health. But how about for your sleep?
How do exercise influence sleep?
People who exercise regularly get better sleep than those who don't.
For most people, the time when they take exercise doesn't matter. For too much exercise, late afternoon might be the best. For ongoing training, morning might be preferable. After taking exercise at night, you should gently do stretching (拉伸).This will let your body know it is time to calm down.
Which type of exercise is best for sleep?
The best type of exercise is the one you enjoy, and you should make it a regular part of your routine.
How much exercise do you need for better sleep?
| A．What time of day is best for exercise? |
| B．What can help you sleep more soundly? |
| C．The amount will vary, depending on factors such as age and fitness level. |
| D．Exercise increases the amount of a chemical, which can increase body temperature. |
| E．Exercise increases total seep time, which leads to greater sleep satisfaction. |
| F．Either yoga or weight lifting can help you sleep well. |
| G．In general, being active during the day can improve the sleep at night. |
