You may not get enough physical activity throughout the day, especially since sitting still is required or encouraged in many jobs, at school, and in social situations. But there’s something you should know.
What counts as being physically inactive?
While there is no strict definition of what can be considered a sedentary lifestyle, researchers have a few different measures to assess what a sedentary lifestyle is. One measure is the time an individual spends seated during waking hours.
Is physical inactivity dangerous?
How can you prevent being inactive?
Health authorities recommend exercise at a medium level for either 30 minutes a day for five days a week or a total of 2 hours and 30 minutes per week.
| A．Walking is an easy activity to add to your day |
| B．There are many options for exercise |
| C．Being physically inactive or sedentary can increase health risks |
| D．In the short term, being inactive can increase depression or anxiety |
| E．Fixing a sedentary lifestyle takes some conscious effort at first |
| F．Spending four to six waking hours sitting or lying down is considered sedentary |
| G． Simply walking more or doing household chores positively impacts health |
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【推荐1】In summer the extreme heat often makes people sweaty and restless.While people are annoyed by it，experts suggest summer is the best season to discharge (排放) your body's toxins (毒素) and recover your energy.
One popular option is hotstone massage (按摩). Therapists use smooth and heated stones，usually river rocks，to massage certain parts of the body，or place them on key points of the body.The warmth of the hot stones will improve blood circulation and also help relax muscles，while sweating is also believed to be good for discharging the body's toxins.
Another popular option is hotstone baths.The hotstone bath will help the body discharge toxins and humidity that accumulated during the last winter.Summer is the best season to build a good body.Rather than use water or steam to heat and wash the body，people simply wear a coat or something comfortable，and then lie on heated stone tablets made of hot stones，which are warmed to around 45℃.The body will gradually warm up and blood circulation will also be improved.More sweat will come out quickly.The sweat is smooth and fresh，not smelly like that released after sports activities.Such baths bring a number of health benefits，such as antiaging，improved blood circulation and stress relief.The slimming effect of dieting can even be promoted.
Using hot stones for healing dates back to ancient times，but the modern renewal of hotstone massage is generally credited to Mary Nelson，a native of Tucson，Arizona，America，whose trademark is “LaStone Therapy”.
The therapy is gaining wide popularity with many people，especially those who have jobs in cool airconditioned rooms.The hotstone therapy can help cure many diseases，including back pain.
1. Which of the following could be the best title for the text?| A．The origin and development of the hotstone therapy |
| B．The amazing functions of the hotstone therapy |
| C．A healthy and comfortable lifestyle |
| D．How to live comfortably in summer |
| A．Washing the body with cold water. |
| B．Discharging lots of sweat. |
| C．Relaxing muscles. |
| D．Lying on the warm beds. |
| A．Sports have greater effects on the health than hotstone massage. |
| B．There are no toxins and humidity in the body in summer. |
| C．Using water of about 45℃ to wash the body is good for the health. |
| D．People should take advantage of summer to improve their health. |
| A．It was invented by Mary Nelson，an American. |
| B．It successfully cured many people of cancer. |
| C．It is popular with people with its excellent effects. |
| D．It can help people avoid sweating too much in hot summer. |
【推荐2】Simple Health Habits Worth Adopting Into Your Life
We get it that it’s hard to break bad habits. But when it comes to building healthy habits, small decisions add up over time.
Use stairs. If you have stairs at your home or office, take them every chance you get.
Drink one extra glass of water a day. It’s nothing new that there are health benefits to drinking more water.
Correct your posture. When you were a kid, have your parents ever yelled at you for having bad posture? Well, the bad news is that they were right.
Remember that building new healthy habits can take some time and it’s OK to treat yourself to avoid feeling deprived (剥夺). Stay focused on your goal.
| A．However, don’t stop there . |
| B．Change your bad sleep habits. |
| C．Go to bed half an hour earlier. |
| D．Having good posture can help reduce stress. |
| E．It helps keep your temperature normal and gets rid of wastes. |
| F．But we ignored their warning to correct bad posture. |
| G．If you slip along the way, just start again. |
【推荐3】It’s been estimated that people touch their cell phones hundreds of times every day. That means plenty of opportunities for germs to move from our fingers to our phones.
One of the worst places to use cell phones is in the bathroom.
While many of us wash our hands regularly after going to the bathroom, we seldom consider washing our hands after touching our phones.
You can use alcohol-based wipes or sprays to clean your phone regularly. They need to contain at least 70% alcohol to disinfect phone casings and touch screens.
Do not share your phone with others if you have not first sanitized it. If children are allowed to play with your phone, sanitize it as soon as possible afterward.
| A．Do it every day if possible. |
| B．How you handle your phone will also be critical. |
| C．So it’s clear that you keep away from your phone.9125 |
| D．When toilets flush, they spread germs everywhere. |
| E．The more germs they collect, the more germs you touch. |
| F．Research has varied on how many germs are on an average phone. |
| G．Fortunately, there are easy ways to avoid your phone collecting germs. |
【推荐1】Does adversity (逆境) warm hearts or harden them? Recently, my graduate student Daniel and I set out to explore the relationship between adversity and compassion (同情).
We conducted a study online and reached more than 200 people from all walks of life. After asking them about the hardships they faced and how often they experienced compassion, we offered them the chance to donate some of the money they were about to be paid for taking part in the study to help people in need. The result showed that those who had faced serious adversities in life feel more compassion for suffering people. And as a result, they donated more money.
Now, if experiencing any type of hardship can make a person more compassionate, you might assume that the compassion would be reached when someone has experienced the exact misfortune that another person is facing. Interestingly, this turns out to be dead wrong.
In an article recently published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, the Kellogg School of Management professor Loran Nordgren and his team found that the human mind refuses to work as usual when it comes to remembering its own past hardships: it regularly makes them appear to be less painful than they actually were. Therefore, recalling a bad experience in your own past may make you underestimate (低估) the difficulty of others’ challenges. You overcame it, you think; so should he. The result? You lack compassion.
Our findings, taken together with those of Professor Nordgren and his team, are that living through hardships doesn’t either warm hearts or harden them; it does both. Knowing suffering in life usually enhances the compassion we feel for others, except when the suffering involves specific painful events that we know all too well.
1. Which of the following is TRUE about the author’s study?| A．Those attending it had to pay for it. |
| B．Those attending it were asked questions only. |
| C．It is meant to encourage people to help those in need. |
| D．It tries to reveal the relationship between adversity and compassion. |
| A．People’s compassion for suffering people. |
| B．People’s understanding of others’ misfortune. |
| C．The findings of Loran Nordgren and his team. |
| D．The assumption that shared misfortune may lead to compassion. |
| A．Hardships make people lost in sad memories. |
| B．Hardships lead to people’s lack of compassion. |
| C．People tend to remember their hardships easily. |
| D．People suffering from adversity are easy to break down. |
| A．The way to overcome adversity. | B．The funny thing about adversity. |
| C．The hidden benefits of adversity. | D．Lessons people learn from adversity. |
【推荐2】Across Britain, burnt toast will be served to mothers in bed this morning as older sons and daughters rush to deliver their supermarket bunches of flowers. But, according to a new study, we should be placing a higher value on motherhood all year.
Mothers have long known that their home workload was just as heavy as paid work. Now, the new study has shown that if they were paid for their parental labours, they would earn as much as $ 172,000 a year.
The study looked at the range of jobs mothers do, as well as the hours they are working, to determine the figure. This would make their yearly income $ 30,000 more than the Prime Minister earns.
By analysing the numbers, it found the average mother works 119 hours a week, 40 of which would usually be paid at a standard rate and 79 hours as overtime. After questioning 1,000 mothers with children under 18, it found that, on most days, mums started their routine work at 7am and finished at around 11pm.
To calculate just how much mothers would earn from that labour, it suggested some of the roles that mums could take on, including housekeeper, part-time lawyer, personal trainer and entertainer. Being a part-time lawyer, at £ 48.98 an hour, would prove to be the most profitable of the “mum jobs”, with psychologist (心理学家) a close second.
It also asked mothers about the challenges they face, with 80 percent making emotional demand as the hardest thing about motherhood.
Over a third of .mums felt they needed more training and around half said they missed going out with friends.
The study shows mothers matter all year long and not just on Mother’s Day. The emotional, physical and mental energy mothers devote to their, children can be never-ending, but children are also sources of great joy and happiness. Investing (投入) in time for parenting and raising relationships is money well spent.
1. How much would a mother earn a year if working as the Prime Minister?| A．£ 30,000. | B．£ 142,000. |
| C．£ 172,000. | D．£ 202,000. |
| A．emotional demand | B．low pay for work |
| C．heavy workload | D．lack of training |
| A．Mothers’ importance shows in family all year long. |
| B．The sacrifices mothers make are huge but worthwhile. |
| C．Mothers’ devotion to children can hardly be calculated. |
| D．Investing time in parenting would bring a financial return. |
| A．Mothers，working hours should be largely reduced. |
| B．Mothers should balance their time for work and rest. |
| C．Mothers’ labour is of a higher value than it is realised. |
| D．Mothers should be freed from housework for social life. |
【推荐3】How Much Exercise Do I Need?
When it comes to exercise, less is not more — but it’s certainly better than none. Physical inactivity account for (占比) as many as 23% of all deaths from major chronic (慢性的) diseases, yet almost one of every three Americans is sedentary (spending a lot of time sitting down). According to the Centers for Disease Control, 29.4% of those surveyed say they have no free-time physical activity at all. City people tend to be more active than country people, with 27.4% saying they are sedentary, compared with 36.6% of those in the country.
Light activity can increase physical and mental health. While light activity is good, moderate (not very large or very small) activity is even better, and health experts encourage everyone to have at least 30 minutes a day of moderate physical activity. But you don’t have to go to a gym. As recent studies show, “lifestyle” activities, such as walking, house cleaning and gardening, work as well as a structured (特意制定的) exercise program in improving heart function, lowering blood pressure and keeping or losing weight.
In one study, overweight, sedentary middle-aged men and women who are trying to make them more physically active by walking around reduced their body fat and improved their blood pressure and heart function as much as those going to structured programs at a gym. In another study, fat women aged from 21 to 60 who chose a more active lifestyle lost as much weight as women in a low-impact aerobics (有氧健身) program —and got fewer pounds back again in the following year.
Noticing the value of different levels and types of activity, the American College of Sports Medicine accept that several short periods of exercise during the day are nearly as good as one long period of exercise.
1. By saying that almost one third of Americans are sedentary, the author means ________.| A．they take proper exercise to be healthy | B．they know nothing about light activity |
| C．they are very fond of physical activity | D．they take little free-time physical activity |
| A．Long-distance running. | B．Playing tennis at a gym. |
| C．House cleaning. | D．Playing football. |
| A．light activity is especially good for the middle-aged people |
| B．light activity is more helpful in losing weight than moderate activity |
| C．long period of exercise is better than several short periods of exercise |
| D．moderate activity can better improve health physically and mentally |
| A．No less than half an hour’s moderate activity daily can do us good. |
| B．Taking moderate activity is no better than taking light activity. |
| C．“Lifestyle” activities are better than moderate activity. |
| D．People may go to the gym to take moderate activity. |
