【推荐3】Being able to read is one thing, but really enjoying books is completely different. That's what a family book club is all about: exploring books—simply for the fun of it.    1       Here are some tips for choosing books for the family book club and getting fun out of them.

▲    2    When parents choose all the books, it can feel too much like school. Let kids make choices too! Grown-ups, when it's your turn to choose, try to think of books you truly loved and want to share, especially those books that kids might not necessarily come across in school.

▲Try new genres(体裁) and styles.     3     If your family normally prefers fiction, choose a biography(传记) or a non-fiction book instead. Just finished a historical fiction book? Choose a biography next, followed by a mystery.

▲Set aside a whole afternoon or evening. When everyone's had a chance to read the book, make your family book club time something special. You could just chat about it over dinner, but why not turn it into an event instead? Schedule the time in advance, and plan for it together.     4    

▲Include a hands-on activity or craft (手艺). Most kids will get bored pretty quickly if they're just sitting around talking about a book.     5     Color a picture, make a craft, bring together your snacks and so on. Anything fun and hands-on will work.

【推荐2】Some people believe that international sport creates goodwill between the nations and that if countries play games together, they will learn to live together. Others say that the opposite is true: international competitions encourage false national pride and lead to misunderstanding and hatred (憎恨). There is probably some truth in both arguments, but in recent years the Olympic Games have done little to support the view that sport encourages international brotherhood. Not only was there the tragic incident including the murder of athletes, but the Games were also ruined by incidents caused mainly by smaller national contests.

One country received its second-place medals with visible anger after the hockey final. There had been noisy scenes at the end of the hockey match, the losers objecting to the final decisions. They were sure that one of their goals should not have been disallowed and that their opponents’ victory was unfair. Their manager was in great anger when he said, “This wasn’t hockey. Hockey and the International Hockey Federation are finished.” The president of the Federation said later that such behavior could result in the suspension (停赛) of the team for at least three years.

Incidents of this kind will continue as long as sport is played competitively rather than for the love of the game. The suggestion that athletes should compete as individuals, or in non-national teams, might be too much to hope for. But in the present organization of the Olympics there is far too much that encourages aggressive patriotism (爱国主义).

【推荐1】Success and Risk in Extreme Sports

What is it that drives some to take extreme risks, while the rest of us hurry for the safety of the sidelines?

Lester Keller, sports-psychology expert, says that not everyone has the mental makeup to do well in extreme sports. He notes that most of us hit a natural ceiling that limits our appetite for extreme risk in tricky conditions. But others have a much higher tolerance for risk. Keller points to a top ski racer. He told Keller that “the high element of risk makes you feel alive, tests what you are made of and how far you can take yourself”. He said he would get nervous on some of the courses, but that this would just make him fight more.

Psychologists note that some people seem to have a strong desire for adrenaline(肾上腺素)rushes as a behavior seeking excited feelings. Like many extreme athletes, Emily Cook`s appetite for risk appeared at a young age. “I was a gymnast,” she said. “I was one of those kids who enjoyed and did well at anything where you were upside down.” As she started doing harder tricks, she was drawn to the challenge. “There are moments when you`re up there doing a new trick and it seems like an impossible thing. But overcoming that is just the coolest feeling in the world.”

Shane Murphy, sports professor, has worked with groups climbing Everest. “To me, that just seems like the height of risk,” he said. “But to them it was the next step in an activity that they`ve prepared for years.” Murphy said the view of extreme athletes is different from our own. “We look at a risky situation and know that if we were in that situation we would be out of control. But from the athletes` view, they have a lot of control, and there are many things that they do to minimize risk.”

Another aspect of risk perception(认知)may be something referred to as “the flow”, a state in which many athletes become absorbed in the acts that focus the mind completely on the present. “Something that makes you try doing a tougher climb than usual, perhaps, is that your adrenaline flows and you become very concentrated on what you`re doing,” Murphy says. “After it`s over, there`s great excitement.”

People of different skill levels experience the flow at different times. Some may always be driven to adventures that others consider extreme. “I can enjoy hitting a tennis ball around, because that`s my skill level,” Murphy says. “But others might need the challenge of Olympic competition.”

【推荐2】Various sports attract fans for different reasons: Spectator sports draw even more fans who just love to watch. Here are some of the most beloved sports worldwide.

Football, better known as soccer in the US, is by far the most popular sport in the world. Experts estimate that the origin (起源) of football may go as far back as two thousand years, beginning in ancient China during the Han Dynasty. One major reason for football’s global popularity is that, unlike other sports that require expensive equipment, all you need to play football is a ball and your feet.

Volleyball pits two teams across a high net, each attempting to smash the ball onto the opponent’s (对手的) floor. A popular variant, beach volleyball, is competed on sand by pairs rather than the regular six players per team. The crowd appeal of beach volleyball has grown greatly in recent years.

An estimated one billion people worldwide follow professional tennis tournaments and matches. In tennis, players on both sides of a net try to hit a ball with a racket so that it either goes past their opponent or bounces twice on their opponent’s side of the court to score points. Tennis superstars like Rafael Nadal, and Serena Williams are now household names around the world, with huge international fan bases.

Hockey, both on ice and on a field, wins a following of two billion enthusiastic fans worldwide. Field hockey is mainly played in Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia, while ice hockey is particularly popular in Canada and the US, where kids grow up playing pond hockey. Unlike ice hockey, field hockey usually does not have body contact in the form of checking and hitting.

【推荐3】With the cold weather drawing nearer, few people will choose swimming as a daily or usual activity.     1     Here come the reasons.

Good for your brain.

Swimming is one of the best activities you can do all year round, which benefits your body and your mind. Swimming has been found to increase blood flow to the brain, which leads to more oxygen.     2    

Work your muscles.

Every time you swim, it is like doing a mini-resistance workout. Each kicks and pull works your muscles more than you could imagine, especially your arms, shoulders and gluteus — the muscles that are inactive all day when you’re sitting at your desk.     3     So along with building fitness, it is a wonderful full body exercise.

Lift your spirits.

    4     They can cause a positive feeling into your body which makes you happy. Swimming has been shown to reduce stress and tension. The repetition, movement and the breathing can help you to relax , and that’s why swimming is also regarded as a relaxing exercise.

    5    

While swimming is an individual sport, it is also very social. You can meet people from all walks of life when swimming. Have a chat in the lap pool, join a swimming club or get involved in social water sports to get to know people in your community. Besides, the great thing about swimming is that you can do it — rain or shine. Although your backyard pool, the river or beach cools down over winter, most inside swimming pools run heated pools year round, so you’ve got no excuse to stop swimming.