【推荐2】Race walking 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 and one foot remain in contact (接触) 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(卡路里) 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 want 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 technique, she says. It takes some practice.

【推荐2】In 1965 three fathers in Washington State faced a problem familiar to many parents in 2022: how to keep their restless children entertained. They threw together wooden paddles (乒乓球拍), a badminton net, and a perforated (有孔的) plastic ball. The sport “pickleball” was born, getting its name — according to one story — from a dog named Pickle, who kept running away with the ball.

Today pickleball, which is a mix of tennis, badminton and ping pong, is the fastest-growing sport in America. In the five years to the end of 2019, pickleball participation grew by more than 7%, while Americans’ overall activity level stayed flat. Now, the sport has picked up more swing thanks to COVID 19. Last March, when gyms closed, portable (便携的) pickleball nets temporarily sold out. “It’s a trend.” says Derek Heil, an employee at Dick’s Sporting Goods in Dallas, who has seen a sales spike for pickleball equipment over the last year. Players set up courts, which are half the size of tennis courts, in driveways.

The 3.5 million Americans who play pickleball are about one-tenth the number who play golf and one-fifth the number who play tennis. Yet there are reasons to bet on the sport’s spread. Like many outdoor activities, pickleball is social, but it is easier to learn than tennis and faster and less expensive than golf. Country clubs and recreation centers are changing some of their tennis courts into pickleball courts to meet demand. The more places there are to play, the more players will try the sport.

Hoping to predict where the ball is going to land, producers of tennis racquets (球拍) are starting to make pickleball kit too. “Pickleball is viewed as an opportunity,” says Stu Upson of USA Pickleball, the sport’s national governing body. As more people take up the sport, demand for televised matches and sponsorships will increase. Mr. Upson expects that one day pickleball will become an Olympic sport, although that may be a long shot.

【推荐2】Sometime in the early 1960s, a significant thing happened in Sydney, Australia. The city discovered its harbor. Then, one after another, Sydney discovered lots of things that were just sort of there — broad parks, superb beaches, and a culturally diverse population. But it is the harbor that makes the city.

Andrew Reynolds, a cheerful fellow in his early 30s, pilots Sydney ferryboats for a living. I spent the whole morning shuttling back and forth across the harbor. After our third run Andrew shut down the engine, and we went our separate ways — he for a lunch break, I to explore the city.

“I’ll miss these old boats,” he said as we parted.

“How do you mean?” I asked.

“Oh, they’re replacing them with catamarans. Catamarans are faster, but they’re not so elegant, and they’re not fun to pilot. But that’s progress, I guess.”

Everywhere in Sydney these days, change and progress are the watchwords (口号), and traditions are increasingly rare. Shirley Fitzgerald, the city’s official historian, told me that in its rush to modernity in the 1970s, Sydney swept aside much of its past, including many of its finest buildings. “Sydney is confused about itself,” she said. “We can’t seem to make up our minds whether we want a modern city or a traditional one. It’s a conflict that we aren’t getting any better at resolving (解决).”

On the other hand, being young and old at the same time has its attractions. I considered this when I met a thoughtful young businessman named Anthony. “Many people say that we lack culture in this country,” he told me. “What people forget is that the Italians, when they came to Australia, brought 2000 years of their culture, the Greeks some 3000 years, and the Chinese more still. We’ve got a foundation built on ancient cultures but with a drive and dynamism of a young country. It’s a pretty hard combination to beat.”

He is right, but I can’t help wishing they would keep those old ferries.

Which statement will the author probably agree with?

【推荐3】A new research has found that comedy doesn’t just make us feel good — it actually has the power to improve health. A recent study was conducted to test whether or not “laughter therapy (疗法)”could help people who have heart disease.

The study involved 26 adults, with an average age of 64. They all had coronary artery (冠状动脉) disease, which happens when the supply of blood to the heart is held up by plaque (斑块)   that grows in the coronary arteries, the big tubes that send blood to the heart. Over three months, 13 of the adults were asked to watch two-hour-long comedy shows every week. The other 13 were asked to watch two documentary films on serious topics like politics and the Amazon rainforest. Then, the participants were examined by doctors.

The first group that watched comedy showed a big improvement in the amount of oxygen which we breathe in to survive and that the heart could pump around the body. Their arteries also got better at expanding, which meant that more blood could flow through them. There was less plaque in the arteries afterward too, cutting the person’s risk of having a heart attack or stroke.

The study was led by Marco Saffi, a professor at a hospital, who said laughter helps the heart because it releases chemicals in the body called endorphins. They reduce inflammation, which can lead to heart disease, and help the heart relax.

Having a good laugh also reduces levels of stress hormones (荷尔蒙). Stress hormones are the body’s natural alarm system, which kicks in if a person is in a tense situation. They’re great for helping people cope with danger, but they can put a strain on the heart if they stay in a person’s system for too long.

Saffi thinks the results show “laughter therapy” could be used to treat patients at the risk of heart problems. He said, “It does not have to be TV programs — people with heart disease could be invited to comedy evenings or encouraged to enjoy fun evenings with friends and family.”