【推荐1】What's the first thing that comes to mind when you think about winter sports? Skiing( 滑雪 ) , of course. There is no doubt that down-hill skiing is the world's most popular winter sport although it's one of the most expensive as well. Few people, however, know that cross-country skiing is much easier and less expensive than down-hill skiing, and certainly also enjoyable.

Cross-country skiing has been around for much longer than down-hill skiing and it is probably the oldest winter sport. A long time before the snowmobile was invented, it was also the first means of transportation that people used to move across the snow. In fact, the oldest ski ever found, which was in Sweden, is more than 4,500 years old.

Cross-country skiing is not difficult at all. Even people who aren't professional can have fun from the beginning without having to spend a long time or lots of money taking lessons. That's why it's very common to see people of all ages enjoying cross-country skiing together. In fact, at the first Winter Olympics held in Chamonix in 1924, it was the only kind of skiing in the competition. Now for cross-country skiers, the most exciting event every year is the Engadine Marathon, where more than 10,000 men, women and children ski across the frozen( 冰冻的 )lake of St. Moritz in Switzerland. This makes more people from all over the world take part in the sport.

For cross-country skiers, what they value is the excitement of the sport. Popular holiday centers and luxurious hotels are not important. They stay in cheap houses and go skiing whenever they feel like it.

【推荐3】Tiffany, a 16-year-old girl, was very shy. Last September, her best friend, Sophie, moved abroad with her family because she had to continue her studies in America. She even said she would not come back for at least a few years.     1     “I was really sad the moment I heard the bad news and I didn’t know what to do,” Tiffany recalled. “I shut myself in my room for a whole week. It was then that my aunt took me to a sports club one Saturday and I saw so many young people playing different kinds of sports there. I signed up for a beginners’ course in volleyball and since then I have been playing this sport. Now I practice twice a week there. It is wonderful playing sports in this club and I have made lots of friends as well.     2    ”

The most basic aim of playing sports is that you can improve your health even if you are not very good at sports. Besides, you can get to know a circle of people at your age while playing sports.     3     Since she joined the sports club, she has opened up herself and now she has become very active and enjoys meeting and talking with others.

For most people, that is one of the reasons why they join a sports club.     4     You don’t have to sit down and talk to strangers. You go in for sports and it is easier to understand your partners on the same team. Now Tiffany is quite popular with her friends and she has also become more confident.

    5     The mind needs exercise as well as the body.