Back in January, my partner and I resolved to take exercise seriously. This would mean spending hours every week grunting, stretching and sweating our way to better health, which is something that is particularly difficult when you glance at the (weather outside and see dark clouds on the horizon. “Looks like it is about to rain, I guess I’ll go for a run tomorrow instead.” But then just as we were on the verge of giving up again, we discovered a brilliant new way to make exercise better: by turning it into a video-game.
SWIFT is a cycling game that you control by pedaling your real bike, which is fixed onto a device called a turbo-trainer. As you pedal, the trainer sends signals back to your computer or tablet to control the character on screen. And smartly, the game sends back instructions to the trainer to apply different levels of resistance, so that as you’re cycling up a hill in the game, you can actually feel it on the bike.
So one small garage renovation later and after signing up for a $12 per month subscription, we had our TV, bike and all-important cooling fan ready to go.
Once you’re set up, you can participate in virtual cycle rides in 3D-recreations of real places, like London and New York, or fictional locations. And importantly, other real human cyclists appear alongside you, sharing your journey.
The genius of the design is that it has used lots of the tricks of traditional video-games to keep pushing you a little bit further and harder: go a little faster, and you’ll be rewarded with a little achievement marker, and if you pedal harder, you might win a race against another real player. It’s essentially generating for same sort of dopamine hits that riding along on a traditional exercise bike simply can’t match.
I’m not the only person Who has noticed this. Today many other companies in the tech industry are chasing the same audience, and they all offer their own unique twists on the formula.
1. Why does the author mention the weather in paragraph 1?| A．To show the lack of his own willpower. |
| B．To complain about the unstable weather. |
| C．To reveal the limitation of traditional exercise. |
| D．To illustrate the difficulties in fulfilling his resolution. |
| A．Monthly payment. | B．3D Glasses. | C．A real bike. | D．A turbo-trainer. |
| A．How SWIFT motivates its users. | B．Who are the target users of SWIFT. |
| C．What physical benefits SWIFT users gel. | D．Why traditional bikes are replaced by SWIFT. |
| A．Unclear. | B．Favorable. | C．Doubtful. | D．Intolerant. |
相似题推荐
1. Which buttons directly control the movement of the Rocket Ball?
| A．LAUNCH and FLIPPERS | B．STAR and FLIPPERS |
| C．START/PAUSE and FLIPPERS | D．LAUNCH and SELECT |
| A．Game One with a blue star | B．Game Two with a black star |
| C．Game One with a yellow star | D．Game Two with a red star |
| A．space voyage | B．quick response |
| C．skills & strength | D．scientific knowledge |
【推荐2】Real-life room escape games
Real-life room escape games are a type of physical adventure game in which people are locked in a room with other participants and have to use the things in the room to settle a series of puzzles.
The games are based on Escape the Room video games, such as Crimson Room and QP-Shot, created by TAKAGISM Inc. by Toshimitsu Takagi, in which the player is locked inside a room and must explore his or her surroundings in order to escape. Players must be observant and use their critical thinking skills to escape the room. Other inspirations include adventure board games and movies. Real-life room escape games are becoming popular in the United States, Japan and China.
Earlier this year, The South China Morning Post said the real-life escape games are a hit among “highly stressed students and overworked young professionals.”
| A．Each game adds local themes to settings. |
| B．And seven new game locations quickly followed. |
| C．They should also be brave enough to face their fears. |
| D．Sometimes the excitement becomes a bit much, though. |
| E．They should find clues and escape the room within a set time limit. |
| F．Weekend or day event escape games have been held in some stores. |
| G．Permanent real-life escape games in a fixed location were first opened in Europe. |
【推荐3】For parents, it seems that a child’s game is empty entertainment (娱乐).
Through the game, the child learns new skills and develops speech, thinking, attention and other mental functions.
A game for a child is also a way to express to an adult their experiences: joys, anxieties, fears, hopes, expectations. Often, through the game, the child tells parents something important about himself and learns something important about his parents.
The role of an adult in play is to support and encourage the child. This helps the baby understand that his opinion is valuable, and his ideas and imagination deserve respect.
| A．This helps to develop their practical ability. |
| B．It forms a unique model of the world for a child. |
| C．This applies not only to special educational games. |
| D．They always want to replace it with something more useful. |
| E．For a child, any game is the same productive activity as work for an adult. |
| F．The game is a way to be closer, to feel the support, care and love of parents. |
| G．It is not worth it for an adult to insist on their own “correct” opinion of the game. |
【推荐1】Sports can help us a lot. Taking exercise can make us strong. In collective (集体的) sports like basketball, volleyball, or football, we will learn the importance of cooperation. And sports can also help us relax after work or study.
However, as the saying goes, “There are two sides of everything.” Sometimes we may hurt other players or ourselves if we are not careful enough when participating (参加) in sports activities. What’s more, too much or hard practice can be bad for our health.
Sports can make us healthy both physically and psychologically (心理地). It is also a good way for people to know each other and can improve friendship between people. So long as we are careful enough, sports can do us nothing but good.
1. What can make us strong?| A．Taking exercise | B．Singing | C．Sleep in | D．Making friends |
| A．good | B．bad | C．helpful | D．enough |
| A．help people to know each other |
| B．improve friendship between people |
| C．do us nothing but good if we’re careful |
| D．do all the above |
| A．Sports and health | B．Everybody must do sports |
| C．Sports are nothing to people | D．No one likes sports |
【推荐2】Starting a fitness program may be one of the best things you can do for your health. Physical activity can reduce your risk of chronic disease, improve your balance and coordination, help you lose weight,
Start slowly and build up gradually. Give yourself plenty of time to warm up and cool down with easy walking or gentle stretching.
Be creative. Maybe your workout routine includes various activities, such as walking, bicycling or rowing. But don’t stop there.Take a weekend hike with your family or spend an evening ballroom dancing.
Listen to your body. If you feel pain,shortness of breath, dizziness or nausea, take a break.
| A．Break things up if you have to. |
| B．and even improve your sleep habits and self-esteem. |
| C．Stick to your fitness schedule strictly. |
| D．Then speed up to a pace you can continue for 5 to 10 minutes without getting overly tired. |
| E．You may be pushing yourself too hard. |
| F．Find activities you enjoy to add to your fitness routine. |
| G．and even improve your range of motion. |
Extreme sports are becoming increasingly popular. In fact, activities such as mountain biking, snowboarding and skateboarding continue to attract larger numbers of people every year. At the same time, a decline has been noted, for years on end, in other outside activities that are considered to be more traditional, including basketball. This is most likely linked to several factors, ranging from the increased adrenaline（肾上腺素） all the way to the positive mental and physical health aspects of participating in an extreme sport.
Extreme sports can push you to your physical and mental limits. Individuals who regularly perform feats （超群的技艺） such as going bungee jumping actually change the chemical makeup of their mind. When this happens, you become more capable of staying calm and centered in stressful situations. In other words, extreme sports can make the rest of your life easy to manage. Besides, those who participate in extreme sports are able to turn their fears into positive experiences. There probably aren’t too many people in the world who won’t feel fearful the first time they go bungee jumping. But seeing that you manage to do them will help you reduce your fear response.
We all do certain movements during the day; however, you’ve probably felt sore after doing something that isn’t on your typical daily schedule. This is because you have asked your muscles to move in an unusual way when you are working out. Although this can cause soreness, it can also be good for your overall physical fitness. When you embrace an extreme sport, you will build up different muscles of your body, and this will be a positive thing for your health.
Extreme sports task you with overcoming difficult physical challenges. If you can complete these challenges, your rewards will be much more than merely physical. Studies have found a strong link between extreme sports and a higher level of self-confidence. This makes sense when you consider the fact that accomplishing a task so physically daunting（使人畏缩的） is something that you should feel proud of. The self-confidence increase can have a positive impact on every aspect of your life, which makes extreme sports a good idea for everyone who is physically capable of meeting the great challenges.
However, before you begin any extreme sport, ensure you’re physically and mentally capable of performing the necessary tasks. Once you’re ready to begin, you’ll be able to choose from a long list of adventurous sports that are certain to get your adrenaline flowing.
| Extreme sports | |
| Introduction | Every year |
| Reasons for enjoying | You’ll find inner You will You can Overcoming physical challenges |
| Suggestion | Make sure that you are well |
【推荐1】Opened in September 2005, Hong Kong Disneyland is the second Disney Park in Asia. It experienced a difficult time upon its opening. The Park, as well as two themed hotels, was built on Lantau Island.
The Park opened to strong competition in the form of Ocean Park. Hong Kong Disneyland is one of only two parks in Hong Kong, which has become one of the world's leading cities in recent years. It kept Chinese cultural traditions in mind when they built the Park to avoid a cultural backlash (抵制). Designers added to the custom of Feng Shui.
Disney and Hong Kong announced the Park in 1999, and construction began in 2003. The Park had one of the shortest construction periods in Disney history. Disney actually announced that the opening of the Park would be brought forward, from 2006 to September 2005.
The Park attracted 5.2 million visitors in its first year, below the expected 5.6 million. There was a lack of attractions, with Fantasyland opening with just one dark ride. Summer Passes were announced to increase the number of tourists. Autopia, Stitch Encounter and it's a Small World opened between 2006 and 2008 to offer more attractions at the Park.
The number of tourists dropped in 2007 to just over 4 million, so Disney planned a big expansion (扩大) project to attract more tourists and bring the Park back to its normal level. In July 2009, the Legislative Council of Hong Kong passed a three-land expansion of Hong Kong Disneyland, and in 2010, Toy Story Land opened.
These new attractions have certainly paid off, with the Park earning record profit (盈利) in 2013. In that year, over 7 million guests entered the Park.
With enough room for a second Park and the promise of more attractions to come, it seems that there is indeed a great beautiful tomorrow for Hong Kong Disneyland.
1. What do we know about Hong Kong Disneyland upon its opening?| A．It was the best Disney Park in Asia. | B．It wasn't very successful at first. |
| C．It didn't face much competition. | D．It was against Chinese culture. |
| A．is much smaller in size | B．has more customs to consider |
| C．had a longer preparation for opening | D．had a shorter period of time for construction |
| A．Hopeful. | B．Worried. |
| C．Uninterested. | D．Doubtful. |
【推荐2】I started the latest round of the NutriFit programme weeks ago. We took about 45 minutes to go through participants’ health records, previous diets, expectations, and levels of willingness to change to tailor the programme to meet each individual’s needs.
I was shocked by one thing. When it came to weight-loss goals, I usually asked, “When was the last time you were happy with your body?” The reply usually related to pre-wedding, pre-kids, pre-college — the usual suspects. However this time, almost everyone said, “Of course, I wasn’t happy with it then, but I am happy with it now!”
It made me stop to think. For most of us, no matter how much we don’t really like the body shape, there will possibly be a point in the future when we would kill for the body we currently have. I don’t mean to upset anyone who is improving their body shape right now. But maybe we need to stop and smell the roses. We should be happy with and grateful for our bodies exactly as they are.
That’s why NutriFit has changed into something much more holistic(全面的). Now we have every shape and size taking part, but the goals are so much bigger: disease prevention, more energy, better immunity, well-balanced hormones(激素)... The list goes on.
In my opinion, the key rule of a successful nutrition programme is to be based on real food. If you focus more on balanced diets and less on weight, it will become a mentally healthier process. If you’re going to maintain your new, healthy lifestyle, it needs to be something you actively enjoy — a lifestyle that you want to maintain. If you eat healthily because you want to rather than you have to, life will get 1,000 percent easier.
1. What did the author and his partners do to tailor the programme for individuals?| A．They introduced the programme in detail. |
| B．They examined participants’ physical health condition. |
| C．They got clear about participants’ health history and plans. |
| D．They analyzed and adjusted participants’ dietary structure. |
| A．People’s discontent with their previous life. |
| B．People’s optimism about their current body. |
| C．People’s satisfaction with their former body. |
| D．People’s ambitious goals of losing weight. |
| A．People’s image. |
| B．People’s health. |
| C．People’s weight. |
| D．People’s appearance. |
| A．Weight loss. |
| B．A healthy lifestyle. |
| C．A sound exercise plan. |
| D．Enough nutritious food. |
【推荐3】You might think you’re doing yourself a favor if you leave your phone behind when you head to an important meeting or dinner with the in-laws, but a new study suggests just the opposite is true.
According to new research from the University of Missouri, being separated from your iPhone can lead to “physiological anxiety” and “poor cognitive performance.” The study, “The Extended iSelf: The Impact of iPhone Separation on Cognition, Emotion, and Physiology,” was published online Thursday in the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication.
Researchers invited a total of 40 iPhone-using participants from three journalism courses at a “large university” in the Midwest. Then, they ran a couple of experiments. First, participants were told to sit in a small room and complete a puzzle while in possession of their phone; then, they were asked to complete another puzzle, but they were told that their phone was causing “Bluetooth interference” and that they needed to be moved elsewhere in the room. Researchers then called the phones, study participants could see and hear them ringing, but were unable to get up to answer them.
In each state, researchers kept track of participants’ heart rate and blood pressure. You can probably see where this is going: When the puzzle-solvers were separated from their phones but able to see and hear them ringing, they experienced “significant” rises in anxiety, heart rate and blood pressure. They also got worse at completing the puzzle.
In a new release, the researchers suggested that “iPhone users avoid parting with their phones during daily situations that involve a great deal of attention,” saying that being apart from the device can make individuals feel “a lessening of ‘self.’”
So, what should you do if you own a smartphone but need to focus?
“Our advice would be to carry your iPhone with you,” Clayton told HuffPost, “but to silence your phone during cognitively demanding tasks in order to avoid any potential distractions that may reduce your attention throughout the day.”
1. In which situation did participants perform worst in a puzzle in the research?| A．Their phones were taken away by researchers | B．Their phones were in their hands |
| C．Their ringing phones were parted from them | D．Their phones were power off |
| A．It decreases people’s heart rate | B．It makes people absent-minded |
| C．It receives psychological pressures | D．It reduces people’s intelligence |
| A．To introduce a new research | B．To state the benefits of phones |
| C．To discuss the effect of phones | D．To suggest how to keep attention |
