【推荐2】As a kid, I was always chubby (圆胖的). In college I started blowing up. It got out of control when I went to law school.

I’d made a decision a thousand times: I’m going to lose weight now. But what motivated me to get serious about it was turning 30. I weighed 414 pounds. I was always tired. Some of my family members have suffered from heart disease, and I was scared. I also wanted to look better. So after my birthday, I walked into the office of a weight­loss doctor.

She was very understanding. Her focus was on balanced meals and she wanted me to exercise.

Walking was all I could do at first. I started by walking a few blocks and gradually increased the distance, until one weekend, I found myself saying, “Wow, this seems pretty easy.” So I started to run.

I was losing nine or ten pounds a month, and I had more energy. I started to think about the New York City Marathon. For years, I watched the runners and thought, “This looks like fun, but I could never do that.” But now I realized that maybe I could. I joined the New York Road Runners. I ran a 10 km, then a half­marathon. I still wasn’t confident I could run a full 26 miles. But I told myself I was going to do it, no matter what.

By my 33rd birthday, I was down to 180 pounds. I started formally training for the marathon. And on the morning of November 1, I stood on the Verrazano Bridge in Staten Island with more than 40,000 other runners, waiting for the event to start.

It was unbelievable to have the audience cheering me on, handing me cups of water. And I crossed the finish line. My friends sprayed me with beer, as if I’d won the Super Bowl. And at that moment, I knew: If I set my mind to something, nothing is impossible.

1. The underlined phrase “blowing up” in Paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to________.

A．going weaker	B．becoming fatter
C．becoming healthier	D．growing high

2. The author who was at the age of 33 had lost ______pounds in weight during the past three years.

A．180

B．414

C．594

D．234

3. What do we know from the passage?

A．The author formally trained for the marathon for three years.

B．The author started by running when losing weight.

C．The marathon the author ran started on the Verrazano Bridge.

D．The author has won the Super Bowl.

4. Which of the following proverbs can best summarize the passage?

A．Where there is a will, there is a way.	B．Pride comes before a fall.
C．A good beginning is half done.	D．Practice makes perfect.

【推荐3】When it comes to being fit and healthy, we’re often reminded to aim to walk 10,000 steps per day. This can annoy many, especially when we’re busy with work and other commitments—and yet where did this number actually come from?

The 10,000 steps a day target seems to have come about from a trade name pedometer sold in 1965 by Yamasa Clock in Japan. The device was called ”Manpo-kei“, which translates to ”10,000 steps meter“. This was a marketing tool for the device and has seemed to have stuck across the world as the daily step target. It’s even included in daily activity targets by popular smartwatches, such as Fitbit.

Research has since investigated the 10,000 steps a day target. But while some research has shown health benefits at 10,000 steps, recent research from Harvard Medical School has shown that, on average, around 4,400 steps a day is enough to significantly lower the risk of death in women. This was when compared to only walking around 2,700 steps daily. The more steps people walked, the lower their risk of dying was, before leveling off at around 7,500 steps a day. No additional benefits were seen with more steps. Although it’s uncertain whether similar results would be seen in men, it’s one example of how moving a little bit more daily can improve health and lower risk of death.

Recent research at the University of Texas has also demonstrated that if you’re walking fewer than 5,000 steps a day, your body is less able to metabolize(新陈代谢)fat the following day. A buildup of fat in the body can also increase a person’s likelihood of developing cardiovascular disease and diabetes. This is further supported by previous research which shows people who walked less than 4,000 steps a day could not change this decreased fat metabolism.

If you want to increase how many steps you get daily, or simply want to move more, one easy way includes walking to work if possible, or taking part of an online exercise program if you’re working from home. Meeting with friends for a walk—rather than in a cafe or pub—can also be useful.

1. What can we know about the 10,000 steps per day in paragraph 1?

A．It is likely to go out of style quickly.

B．It is a rising tendency of mental health.

C．It is effective in reducing pressure on work.

D．It is an upsetting target to achieve.

2. What does research from the Harvard Medical School suggest about the 10,000 steps a day target?

A．It matters as much as 7,500 steps a day.

B．The more steps, the lower risk of death.

C．About half that target appears to be beneficial to women.

D．A bit more than the target can improve health.

3. What does the fourth paragraph mainly tell us?

A．Problems of less daily walking.

B．Recent findings of fat buildup.

C．Absence of previous research.

D．Possible causes of physical challenges.

4. Which of the following is one of the suggested ways according to the passage?

A．Working at home if possible.

B．Treating friends in a cafe or pub.

C．Driving to work from home.

D．Signing up for online exercise programs.

【推荐1】On James Owen’s 70th birthday, he saw a video of himself walking slowly to the podium (讲台) where he was giving a talk. his feet hardly off the ground. “I looked like an old man. said Owen, who built a successful career on Wall Street. Even worse. he felt like an old man.

He was about 25 pounds overweight and he had chronic trouble with his back knees, and shoulders. But instead of giving in to age, Owen decided to set an ambitious five-year goal: He wanted to be pain-free,and he decided the way to get there was through exercise-even though at the time he couldn’t do a single push-up.

Owen began his new exercise plan by walking, though he started huffing and huffing after five minutes.But that didn’t discourage him. He kept at the walks every day, along with some stretching. Once he had those basics down, he started weight lifting and hired a personal trainer to teach him and design a routine he could follow on his own. The last piece was finding other activities he enjoyed, which turned out to be cycling and swimming.

In less than five years, Owen was able to do three sets of 50 push-ups each and walk for miles each day. And yes, he was free of aches and pains. “Aging well is only about 20 to 25 percent genes, and the rest is lifestyle,” he says.

Owen used his experience to write a book called Just Move:A New Approach to Fitness After 50, in which he details how older adults can safely get off the couch and add more movement to their lives. “Think of it as movement, not exercise, just get started,” he says. “The key is slow and steady progress.”

Now 81 and retired, Owen exercises an hour a day, six days a week. “It is the best investment I’ve ever made in my life,” he says.

1. Why did Owen decide to set a five-year goal?

A．To keep healthy.	B．To build a career.
C．To lose weight.	D．To give a talk.

2. How can Owen’s exercising process be described?

A．Tough and discouraging.	B．Boring and painstaking.
C．Slow but productive.	D．complex but ineffective.

3. What can we learn from Owen’s story ?

A．It’s better to get started earlier

B．Successful careers need investment

C．Genes play a key role in aging well

D．Lifestyle is vital for one’s health

4. What’s the author’s attitude toward the workout?

A．Negative

B．Positive

C．Neutral

D．Indifferent

【推荐3】When it comes to being fit and healthy, we're often reminded to aim to walk 10,000 steps per day. This can be a frustrating target to achieve, especially when we're busy with work and other commitments.

The 10,000 steps a day target seems to have come about from a trade name pedometer sold in 1965 by Yamasa Clock in Japan. The device was called "Manpo-kei", which translates to "10,000 steps meter". This was a marketing tool for the device and has seemed to have stuck across the world as the daily step target. It's even included in daily activity targets by popular smart-watches, such as Fitbit.

In ancient Rome, distances were actually measured by counting steps. In fact, the word "mile" originated from the Latin phrase mila passum, which means about 2,000 steps. It's suggested the average person walks about 100 steps per minute，which would mean it would take a little under 20 minutes for the average person to walk a mile. So in order for someone to reach the 10,000-step goal, they would need to walk about five miles a day, nearly two hours of activity.

Researchers have investigated the 10,000 steps a day target. The fact that some studies have shown this step target improves heart health, mental health, and even lowers diabetes (糖尿病) risk, may, to some extent, explain why we have stuck with this number.

But while some research has shown health benefits at 10,000 steps, recent research from Harvard Medical School has shown that, on average, nearly 4,400 steps a day is enough to significantly lower the risk of death in women. This was when compared to only walking around 2,700 steps daily. The more steps people walked, the lower their risk of dying was, before leveling off at around 7,500 steps a day. No additional benefits were seen with more steps. Although it's uncertain whether similar results would be seen in men, it's one example of how moving a little bit more daily can improve health and lower risk of death.

1. From which does taking 10,000 steps for walkers originally come?

A．Ancient Rome.

B．Fitbit.

C．Mila passum.

D．Manpo-kei.

2. How many steps will you take on average to cover two miles?

A．2000.

B．2700.

C．4000.

D．7500.

3. What does the underlined phrase "leveling off" mean?

A．Remaining steady.	B．Increasing greatly.
C．Decreasing sharply.	D．Disappearing suddenly

4. What can we learn from the last paragraph?

A．The more you walk daily, the healthier you will be.

B．7,500 steps or so a day is the ideal number for women.

C．To be healthy you'd better walk ten thousand steps.

D．The number of effective steps is the same for men and women.