Whether you prefer solo dancing or being involved in a more formalized program, dancing offers the obvious plus to your physical health. You're not only moving your body in a rhythmic way and expressing feelings but also burning calories in your body and getting a workout for sure.
In a recent study, researchers compared the effects of walking, stretching and dancing on the wiring and gray matter of the aging brain. The result showed dancing had the significantly positive effect.
In the experiment, after volunteers in their 60s and 70s with healthy brains didn't show signs of cognitive (认知的) disorder, researchers placed them in three groups at will. One group walked, another group stretched and did balance training and the last group learned country dancing. The arrangements of the dancing became progressively more challenging over time. They all did the assigned activity for one hour a day, three times a week. After a period of six months, the volunteers' brains were re-scanned and compared to their brains when they had begun their voluntary work.
Agnieszka Burzynska, the study's lead author who is currently a neuroscientist and director of the BRAiN Lab at Colorado State University, found only one group showed a memory improvement — the country dancers. The participants who learned country dancing now had richer white matter in the part of the brain that processed memory. White matter usually breaks down as a person ages, which may lead to cognitive decline. Dancing, therefore, protected the brain from aging-caused neurodegeneration. So, dancing is not just an aerobic activity good for your physical health. It helps your brain, too!
Country dancing, ballroom dancing, tango and waltz are all done with others. When you take part in these dances, you're involved in a beneficial social activity as well. You are also cognitively motivating your brain as you learn the steps of the dances. Dancing therefore might be one of the best physical activities you can choose for brain health.
1. What's the purpose of paragraph 1?| A．To add background material. | B．To introduce the topic of the text. |
| C．To raise questions about exercise. | D．To present experimental conditions. |
| A．They were grouped at random. | B．They were under cognitive decline. |
| C．They were all asked to learn dancing. | D．They were all born in the 1960s and 1970s. |
| A．The brain function of volunteers. | B．The cognitive disorder of volunteers. |
| C．The relationship between age and dancing. | D．The effect of dancing on the volunteers' brains. |
| A．How Dancing Affects People's Lifestyle |
| B．Why Dancing Is the Best Social Activity |
| C．How Dancing Helps People's Brain Health |
| D．Why Country Dancing Is Beneficial to People's Health |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】How to Exercise
Exercise is a key part of staying healthy, but figuring out how to get more active can be tough.
Try to get 30 minutes of aerobic exercise per day. As a rule of thumb, you should get at least 30 minutes of moderately intense aerobic exercise daily. Examples include going for brisk walks and a jog, running, cycling and swimming.
Include strength training at least 2 days per week. Strength training involves using free weights, resistance bands, or your own body weight to strengthen your muscles. For starters, try doing upper and lower body workouts 1 day a week.
Mix up your routine to keep things interesting.
Walk for 5 to 10 minutes and stretch to cool down.
| A．If you’re not used to physical activity, start slow. |
| B．Change your schedule slightly to your own level. |
| C．Warm up for at least 5 to 10 minutes before exercising. |
| D．Varying your activities can help keep you from getting bored. |
| E．Then gradually include 3 to 4 strength training days in the weekly routine. |
| F．You can do strength training at home or use resistance machines at a local gym. |
| G．You need gentler exercises to ease your body from working hard to being at rest. |
【推荐2】Peloton star Ben Alldis shares his “forever exercise” tips for maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
● Start small. Something as simple as going for a walk in nature is incredibly beneficial for our mental and physical health.
● Mix up your training. There’s real benefit in just moving your body through things like walking to work and gardening. I think the concept of exercise being “over here”, and then everything else being “over there”, is too limiting. It needs to be more inclusive.
● Be smart with your diary. I like to talk about “energy givers” versus “energy takers”. Energy takers are things like spending too much time on social media and binge drinking; while exercise and good food are energy givers. I was an athlete growing up, then I went into finance in my 20s and lost myself totally.
● Give priority to sleep. I read Matthew Walker’s book Why We Sleep: The New Science of Sleep and Dreams.
Understand your body clock. Everyone has a different rhythm — some people work better later in the day, others prefer to get up early. So the most important thing is finding the right time for you.
| A．I’ve learnt to schedule workouts. |
| B．If cycling’s your usual thing, with tennis or yoga. |
| C．If you run out of motivation, change your workout routine. |
| D．It inspired me to dig deeply into sleep and prioritize it. |
| E．I’d recommend taking an assessment of where you are today. |
| F．I didn’t have a gym membership, or have time to work out. |
| G．Slowly you make improvements, and the quality of your sleep gets better. |
【推荐3】All over the world people enjoy sports, Sports help to keep people healthy and happy, and to live longer.
Many people like to watch others play games. They buy tickets or turn on their TVs to watch the games. Often they get very excited when "their" player or team wins.
Some sports are so interesting that people everywhere go in for(参加) them. Football, for example, has spread(展开)around the world. Swimming is popular in all countries near the sea or in those with many rivers. What fun it is to jump into a pool or lake, whether in China, Egypt or Italy! And think of people in cold countries. Think how many love to skate or ski (滑雪) in Japan, Norway or Canada.
Some sports or games go back thousands of years, like running or jumping. Chinese wushu, for example, has a very long history. But basketball and volleyball are rather new. Neither one is a hundred years old yet. People are inventing new sports or games all the time. Water-skiing is one of the newest in the family of sports.
People from different countries may not be able to understand each other, but after a game together they often become good friends. Sports help to train(培养,训练) a person’s character(性格,品格). One learns to fight hard but fight fair, to win without pride and to lose with grace(胜不骄，败不馁).
1. Why do people all over the world enjoy sports?| A．Because they are healthy. | B．Because they are happy. |
| C．Because they want to live longer. | D．All the above. |
| A．their favorite team wins | B．they win the game |
| C．they get the good news | D．they can’t help themselves |
| A．Water-skiing. | B．Basketball. |
| C．Volleyball. | D．Long jump. |
| A．that are near the sea | B．that are with many rivers |
| C．like China, Egypt or Italy | D．All the above |
| A．China. | B．Egypt. |
| C．Norway. | D．USA. |
【推荐1】No. A tiny, yet powerful word. To hear it can make us feel childlike; sheepish or in trouble. How does it make you feel to say “no”?
“We live in a society that does not glorify choosing yourself. It is not honored,” says relationship therapist Nedra Tawwab. “We are constantly living in others’ headspace and not our own heart space. We’re thinking about whether they’ll be angry, or whether setting a boundary will even end the relationship.”
It is normal to care, “but when your life is impacted by not having healthy boundaries for yourself, we need to pay attention”, says Tawwab.
When there is hierarchy of power-such as in the workplace-saying no can feel particularly difficult. But as the border between work and the rest of our lives has become increasingly unclear, it is even more vital. “Research tells us that people who proactively state their boundaries, such as leaving or stopping work on time, taking leave or prioritizing non-work-related activities, are much better at managing their mental health,” says Dr. Jo Yarker, an occupational psychologist.
Do we misuse the word “selfish” when people are clear about their needs? “I think we do, yes,” says Tawwab, “we need to think about what is actually being harmed when we use that word. If I am taking a day off work, that’s not the same as stealing someone’s credit.”
The key is practicing saying “no” or “enough” in conversations like we are learning a new skill. “We can start with little boundaries like: ‘I will call you back,’ if we aren’t ready to speak to someone at that time. With practice, confidence does build. It can become easy,” Tawwab adds.
1. According to Nedra Tawwab, we ________.| A．will not be honored if we sound childlike |
| B．need to set up boundaries if our life is affected by always saying yes |
| C．might get into trouble if we say “no” to a friend |
| D．should not care whether other people will be angry |
| A．saying “no” | B．the border between work and life |
| C．stopping working on time | D．hierarchy of power |
| A．People who care more about themselves tend to suffer mentally. |
| B．Sometimes people may be considered selfish if they put their own needs first. |
| C．Taking a day off work definitely does harm to others. |
| D．You should learn a new skill when you practice setting up boundaries. |
| A．Yes or No | B．Choosing Yourself |
| C．Learning to Build Boundaries | D．Selfish or Selfless |
【推荐2】There is a profound relationship between science fiction and science. It is often said that stories change the world, what is less often heard is that stories change science, and therefore the future.
The use of science fiction to explore our world is similar to plot planning in Futures Studies, which shapes our ideas about: the future, and goes beyond predicting artifacts that once seemed impossible to us like Verne’s submarine or the satellites of 2001 Space Odyssey.
In the words of Dutch researcher Sofia Kaloterakis, “Science fiction narratives structure our imaginative models about techno-scientific projects such as robotics or space exploration". Have you ever wondered how science fiction novels have impacted the idea we have about Artificial Intelligence or how Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson’s novel, has impacted what we now call the Metaverse (元宇宙)?
Science fiction helps us define possible futures. It provides us with an understanding of the rules underlying fictional worlds. It also allows us to put technological prototypes (原型) in the context of their use by humans. But most importantly, it determines the way we structure scientific thought and intervene (干预) in the future.
Alex McDowell, creator of the Minority Report, and Peter von Stackelberg explain what fictional narratives can bring to the table;
The richness of “storyworlds” — the “universes” within which stories take place — provides us with detailed rules of the context in which a larger reality unfolds that extends beyond a single story, and has the potential to provide us with deeper learning about the underlying systems that regulate those worlds.
Lastly, the relationship of future narratives to theories such as Social Constructivism has been highlighted by several scholars. A central idea of this sociological theory is that whenever we use words or other symbols to refer to objects in our world, we are constructing them. And, therefore, prediction is also a social construction. In narrating, we intervene in the world. In narrating the world, we construct it. In writing science fiction, we intervene in the science of the future.
1. What is the text mainly about?| A．The storyworlds created by science fictions. |
| B．Artifacts and technologies in science fictions. |
| C．Science fiction narratives affecting future studies. |
| D．The relation between science and science fictions. |
| A．It provides us with technologies and tools. |
| B．It allows us to establish reasonable future. |
| C．It helps us learn the rules of fictional world. |
| D．It decides our thinking and affects the future. |
| A．There are general rules for a single story. |
| B．They have a potential context within a story. |
| C．There are no regulations or guiding systems. |
| D．They are the “universes” where stories happen. |
| A．Scholars care little about narratives about future. |
| B．Objects can’t be constructed by words or symbols. |
| C．The science of future intervenes in today’s science. |
| D．Science fiction narratives can construct future worlds. |
【推荐3】Native to forests of Central and South America, glass frogs in the Centrolenidae family get their name from their skin and muscles that help them be perfectly fit to live in their jungle environment. Turn the frogs over, where the effect is the most impressive, and you’ll make out their hearts, livers, and other organs through their hyaline stomachs.
And in a study published in the journal Science, researchers have discovered an amazing mechanism (机制) the animals use to become so clear.
When glass frogs go to sleep, they take in 89 percent of their brightly colored red blood cells into sacs (液囊) in their livers, which reflect incoming light and make the frogs appear nearly unseen. With their red blood cells out of view, the frogs become twice to three times more clear -a trick scientists believe helps the animals avoid being killed and eaten by their natural enemies.
“The trick is really hard to do, because their tissues are full of things that take in and spread light. And transparency (透明) is normal for many creatures in water, but hard on land,” says study co-author Jesse Delia. “Red blood cells also take in a lot of light, and we found that the frogs can actually hide themselves by packing them into the liver.”
Not only are the findings interesting, but the researchers attach great importance to them. That’s because many red blood cells in one place usually form a clot (血块), which can block and lead to a potentially life-threatening condition. But the frogs can seemingly clot and expand their red blood cells at will — without any negative effects. This may mean the animals already have what medical researchers have been seeking for decades: a biological mechanism which prevents too much bleeding while also preventing too much clotting.
1. What does the underlined word “hyaline” mean in paragraph 1?| A．See-through. | B．Powerful. | C．Narrow. | D．Good-looking. |
| A．The frogs fit in their environment better. |
| B．Sacs filled with red blood cells make the frogs clear. |
| C．Red blood cells in the frogs’ liver reflect light. |
| D．The frogs are able to take in a lot of bright colors. |
| A．Interesting. | B．Unusual. | C．Normal. | D．Annoying. |
| A．They help cure serious diseases. |
| B．They are a blessing for wild animals. |
| C．They can lead to advances in medicine. |
| D．They will prevent all clotting and bleeding. |
【推荐1】Over the years, Brian Wansink, director of the Food and Brand Lab at Cornell University, has studied such things as how many times we refill our plates at all-you-can-eat buffets and how we organize our kitchens.
His new book, Slim by Design: Mindless Eating Solutions for Everyday Life, aims to change the design of restaurants, school lunchrooms, office cafeterias and homes so that the mindless choices we make will be more healthful ones. Some examples:
Keep kitchen counters clear. No visible snacks, no bread, no nuts — not even breakfast cereal. In Wansink’s research, “women who had even one box of breakfast cereal that could be seen anywhere in their kitchen weighed 21 pounds more than their neighbor who didn’t.”
Trick yourself into drinking less wine. “We pay more attention to the height of what we pour than the width, so we pour 12 percent less wine into taller wineglasses than wider wineglasses.” And the shape of the glass is not the only factor that affects how much we drink. Wansink writes: “Because red wine is easier to see than white wine, we pour 9 percent less red wine whenever we pour a glass.”
Wansink said his researchers also found that people ate less at restaurants when sitting in well-lighted areas near windows and doors, than in darker areas or in the back. They ate less if they were offered a doggie bag, or to-go box, before they got their meals: the idea of getting a “free” second meal outweighed the impulse (冲动) to clean their plates. Workers who frequently ate at their desks weighed 15.4 pounds less, on average, than those who didn’t. Fruits and vegetables kept on the top shelf of the refrigerator were eaten at higher rates than those on lower shelves.
The point, Wansink says, is to consider findings like those and change your environment or habits. Then you won’t have to think about it: You’ll just eat less.
1. Why did Brian Wansink write Slim by Design: Mindless Eating Solutions for Everyday Life?| A．Because he wanted people to become thin. |
| B．Because he intended to help people eat more healthily. |
| C．Because he hoped to introduce a new phrase “mindless eating”. |
| D．Because he wished to change the design of dining places. |
| A．The shape of wineglasses. | B．The color of wineglasses. |
| C．The taste of wine. | D．The quality of wine. |
| A．a bag for carrying a dog | B．a bag for carrying takeaway food |
| C．a bag for carrying dog food | D．a bag for carrying leftover food |
| A．Changing environment or eating habits will help you eat less. |
| B．Eating fruits and vegetables is better for your health. |
| C．Keeping your kitchen counter clear of any food will help make you thin. |
| D．Many people eat or drink too much without paying attention to it. |
【推荐2】What kind of people can become scientists? When a group of researchers posed that question to ninth-and l0th-graders, almost every student gave such responses as “People who work hard“ or Anyone who seems interested in the field of science. ”
Many of these same students struggled to imagine themselves as scientists, citing concerns such as “I’m not good at science” and “Even if I work hard, I will not do well. “It’s easy for them to see a scientists work as arising from an inborn talent.
But for high school students, learning more about some struggles of scientists can help students feel more motivated to learn science. Researchers at Teachers College, Columbia University and the University of Washington designed an intervention to change students’ beliefs that scientific achievement depends on ability rather than effort by exposing students to stories of how accomplished scientists struggled and overcame challenges in their scientific efforts.
During the study, the students read one of three types of stories about Albert Einstein, Marie Curie and Michael Faraday. Intellectual struggle stories: stories about how scientists “ struggled intellectually, ” such as making mistakes while addressing a scientific problem and learning from them. Life struggle stories: stories about how scientists struggled in their personal lives, such as not giving up in the face of poverty or lack of family support. Achievement stories: stories about how scientists made great discoveries, without any discussion of coexisting challenges.
Researchers found that students who heard either type of “struggle stories” improved their science performance after intervention, compared to students in the control group. The effect was especially pronounced for lower-performing students, for whom exposure to struggling stories led to significantly better science-class performance than low-performing students who read achievement stories. In addition, students who read struggle stories reported feeling more personally connected to the scientists. By recognizing a scientist’s struggles and introducing the growth mindset he or she applied to accomplish great works, the students were able to empathize (共情) with the scientists during their own struggles.
1. Why do students fail to imagine themselves as scientists?| A．They lack interest in science. | B．They are short of confidence. |
| C．They don’t have inborn talent. | D．They have no ability to study science. |
| A．To introduce some inspirational stories to students. |
| B．To expose students to scientists’great achievements. |
| C．To ensure students will become scientists in the future. |
| D．To clear students’ misunderstandings of scientific work. |
| A．noticeable | B．doubtful | C．minimal | D．long-lasting |
| A．Science Ability Has Nothing to Do with Efforts |
| B．Some Famous Achievement Stories |
| C．Scientists’ Struggle Stories Can Influence Readers’ Beliefs |
| D．How to Become a Scientist |
【推荐3】Staffan Lindeberg is a professor in the department of medicine at the University of Lund in Sweden. He was interested in a Stone Age diet. In the early 1990s he travelled to Papua New Guinea to study the diet of the people on the island of Kitava as it was very close to the Stone Age diet. While there, he found that people did not suffer from heart attacks, diabetes (糖尿病), being overweight and many other diseases common in western countries.
As a result of his findings, he decided to test patients in Sweden to see how such a diet would affect them. Fourteen patients followed a Stone Age diet while another fifteen followed a Mediterranean diet, also healthy with lots of fruit and vegetables. All of the patients in the tests had high blood sugar levels, most suffered from diabetes and all had heart problems.
At the end of three months, the group following the Mediterranean diet had reduced their blood sugar levels by a small amount but those following the Stone Age diet had much lower levels of sugar in their blood. The patients in both groups also lost weight although the level of sugar in the blood and the patients’ weight didn’t seem to be related.
So, what is it about the Stone Age diet that can make us healthier? The diet contains some meat, fish, vegetables and nuts (坚果) but it doesn’t contain any dairy products (乳制品) or grains, and there is no salt.
The next question is whether the Kitava people are healthier than us. After all, their life expectancy (预期寿命) is much lower. According to Professor Lindeberg, this is not as simple as we may think. Because of their poor health care, there is more chance of them dying at a young age. However, if people on Kitava manage to reach fifty, they are likely to live as long as people in more developed countries.
1. What did Staffan Lindeberg find about the Kitava people on the island of Kitava?| A．They followed the Stone Age diet. |
| B．They lived a simple life. |
| C．They had no diseases common in western countries. |
| D．They had poor medical conditions. |
| A．The Stone Age diet could help people lose weight quickly. |
| B．High blood sugar levels could cause people to be overweight. |
| C．The Mediterranean diet could not help reduce blood sugar levels. |
| D．People following the Stone Age diet had a low blood sugar level. |
| A．Vegetables. | B．Salt. | C．Meat. | D．Fish. |
| A．They have unhealthy eating habits. |
| B．Their living conditions are poor. |
| C．They don’t have good health care. |
| D．They tend to suffer from a rare disease at a young age. |
