1 . For the rest of March, a disease will sweep across the US. It will keep kids home from school.
The disease, known as “March Madness”， refers to the yearly 65team US men's college basketball tournament (锦标赛).
Nearly 20 million Americans will find themselves prisoners of basketball festival madness. The fun comes partly from guessing the winners for every game. Friends compete against friends.
Bigname schools are usually favored to advance into the tournament. But each year there are dark horses from littleknown universities.
This adds to the madness. Watching a team from a school with 3,000 students beat a team from a school with 30,000, for many Americans, is an exciting experience. Two years ago, the littleknown George Mason University was one of the final four teams.
College basketball players are not paid, so the game is more about making a name for their university and themselves.
| A．Husbands against wives. |
| B．The players will go all out for the games. |
| C．But that doesn't mean money isn't involved. |
| D．College students will ignore piles of homework. |
| E．People are willing to spend more money on watching it. |
| F．It begins on March 15 and lasts through the beginning of April. |
| G．Many people had never even heard of the university before the tournament. |
The devices are designed to record your physical activity. They are usually worn around the wrist, where they measure a person’s heart rate. The research team looked at two groups of individuals. The first wore a fitness tracker and took part in health counseling (咨询) with experts to consider the best weight-loss plan. The researchers compared this group with people who only got health counseling.
The study found that those only speaking with the health experts lost nearly 6 kilograms, but those using a fitness tracker lost only 3.5 kilograms. John Jakicic, the lead researcher, questioned the use of electronic devices for weight control in place of “effective behavioral counseling for physical activity and diet. ”
The study involved 470 subjects aged between 18 and 35. Some of them were overweight, while others were considered obese (肥胖的). Over three fourths of the subjects were women. All the subjects were told to increase physical activity and start on a low-calorie diet. They had their weight measured once every six months. After six months, researchers divided the group into two parts: one continued with monthly counseling, while members of the other group were given a fitness tracker. Eighteen months later, both groups “showed significant improvements in fitness, physical activity, and diet,” with no major difference between groups. However, when it came to losing weight, the people who only spoke with experts lost nearly twice as much weight.
Jakicic said, “the study’s findings are important because effective long-term treatments are needed to address America’s obesity. ” More information is needed, he added, to learn how to best use these devices to change “physical activity and diet behaviors” in adults who want to lose weight.
1. All the subjects in the study were asked to ________.| A．start on a high-calorie diet | B．wear a fitness tracker |
| C．increase physical activities | D．record their heart rates |
| A．Wearing fitness trackers hardly helps people lose weight. |
| B．Physical activity and diet have no effect on weight loss. |
| C．Handling obesity requires effective long-term treatments. |
| D．There are great differences in fitness between both groups. |
| A．The study went on for about two years. |
| B．More than 120 men took part in the study. |
| C．Health counseling helps lose almost 6 kilograms. |
| D．Wearing a fitness tracker is useful for keeping slim. |
| A．describe how the researchers were conducting the study |
| B．indicate regular counseling for weight control is necessary |
| C．convince readers to wear fitness trackers for weight control |
| D．warn women are more likely to suffer from weight problems |
3 . If you have ever done competitive sports,you will know that starting a new season means a lot of hard work and practice.
Ask your coach if you aren’t sure what you need. New equipment can be expensive, so think about using some second-hand equipment if it’s available. Brothers, sisters and friends can be great sources of used equipment.
Your school or team will probably require a physical check before allowing you to participate. Because everyone needs to get checked at the beginning of the season, doctors tend to be busy those times of the year. Therefore, set up an appointment with the doctor earlier.
| A．Set realistic goals. |
| B．You can also consider a sports camp. |
| C．Just make sure that it’s very clean and safe to use. |
| D．It’s also normal to feel a little nervous about starting. |
| E．Making the team and getting in shape are great goals. |
| F．Start by writing an exercise plan if you don’t have one. |
| G．That can give the doctor plenty of time to fill out your paperwork. |
4 . Why play games? Because they are fun, and a lot more besides. Following the rules, planning your next move and acting as a team member are all “game” ideas that you will come across throughout your life.
Think about some of the games you played as a young child, such as rope-jumping and hide-and-seek. Such games are entertaining and fun. But perhaps more importantly, they translate life into exciting dramas that teach children some of the basic rules they will be expected to follow the rest of their lives, such as taking turns and cooperating .
Many children’s games have a practical side. Children around the world play games that prepare them for work they will do as grown-ups. For instance, some Saudi Arabian children play a game called bones, which sharpens the hand-eye coordination (协调) needed in hunting.
Many sports encourage national or local pride. The most famous games of all, the Olympic Games, bring athletes from around the world together to take part in friendly competition. People who watch the event wave flags, knowing that a gold medal is a win for an entire country, not just the athlete who earned it. For countries experiencing natural disasters or war, an Olympic win can mean so much.
Sports are also an event that unites people. Soccer is the most popular sport in the world. People on all continents play it — some for fun and some for a living. Nicolette Iribarne, a Californian soccer player, has discovered a way to spread hope through soccer. He created a foundation to provide poor children with not only soccer balls but also a promising future.
Next time you play your favorite game or sport, think about why you enjoy it, what skills are needed, and whether these skills will help you in other aspects of your life.
1. What are children expected to learn Through playing hide-and-seek?| A．Be a team leader | B．Obey the basic rules |
| C．Act as a grown-up | D．Predict possible danger |
| A．Games can describe life in an exciting way |
| B．Games can turn real-life experiences into a play |
| C．Games can make learning life skills more interesting |
| D．Games can change people’s views of sporting events |
| A．It inspires people’s deep love for the country. |
| B．It proves the exceptional skills of the winners. |
| C．It helps the country out of natural disasters. |
| D．It earns the winners fame and fortune. |
| A．Bringing fun to poor kids. |
| B．Providing soccer balls for children. |
| C．Giving poor kids a chance for a better life. |
| D．Attracting soccer players to help poor kids. |
5 . All over the world people enjoy sports. Sports help to keep people healthy and happy, and to live longer.
Some sports or games go back thousands of years, like running or jumping. Chinese wushu, for example, has a very long history. But basketball and volleyball are rather new. Neither one is a hundred years old yet.
People from different countries may not be able to understand each other, but after a game together they often become good friends.
| A．And think of people in cold countries. |
| B．Sports help to train a person’s character. |
| C．Not a few people like sports in the world. |
| D．Many people like to watch others play games. |
| E．People aren’t inventing new sports or games. |
| F．Some sports are so interesting that people everywhere take part in them. |
| G．People are inventing new sports or games all the time. |
6 . People need to relax and enjoy themselves. One way they can have a good time is to watch a baseball game or another sports event.Even thousands of years ago，groups of people gathered to watch skilled athletes(运动员)．
Over 2，000 years ago in Greece，certain days in the year were festival days. These were holidays when people stopped work and enjoyed themselves. They liked to watch athletes take part in races and other games of skill.
The most important festival was held every four years at the town of Olympia. It was held in honour of the Greek god Zeus. For five days，athletes from all parts of the Greek world took part in the Olympic Games. At the Olympic Games，people could watch them box，run，jump and so on. There was a relay race between two teams of men in which a lighted torch(火炬) was passed from runner to runner. The Olympic Games were thought to be so important that cities which were at war with one another had to stop fighting. People were allowed to travel to the games freely. Thousands of people came to Olympia from cities in Greece and from its colonies(殖民地) in Africa，Asia and Italy. They met as friends to cheer their favourite athletes and to enjoy themselves.
1. What happened in Greece over 2，000 years ago?| A．People stopped work and enjoyed themselves. |
| B．The cities there were often against one another. |
| C．People watched baseball games. |
| D．People didn't go to any games at all. |
| A．They fought. |
| B．They just talked to friends. |
| C．They cheered for good athletes. |
| D．They tried to find friends. |
| A．were weak |
| B．were strong |
| C．couldn't go to other cities freely |
| D．could see each other |
| A．Greece at War | B．Together for the Games |
| C．Stop Fighting | D．Sport |
7 . The dangers of sitting all day are obvious. Researchers have shown that remaining sitting for extended periods of time (like at your 9-to-5 desk job) can do harm to your health. While exercise is a big part of reducing the harmful effects of sitting, it was unclear how many gym periods were needed to help – until now.
A new study, published in The Lancet, shows the ideal formula for reducing the negative effects of a sedentary（久坐的）job. Instead of a fixed number of hours spent exercising, the ratio（比率）depends on how much you sit: people who work a typical eight-hour day should spend at least one hour each day moving. If you sit six hours a day, you should spend half an hour exercising. The research also indicates that the exercise doesn’t have to be all once – or rigorous（严格的）. It can be spread throughout the day and be as simple as walking.
The team behind the study analyzed data from a pool of a million adults over the age of 45 in Western Europe, the United States, and Australia. Using previous data, the researches examined data from 16 published studies and used it to determine how much exercise is required to compensate for sitting. Their recommended daily exercise goal is higher than previous advice but not necessarily less achievable, given it can be completed throughout the day.
Fitting in an hour of exercise a day sounds especially discouraging if you have a desk job, but there are plenty of workouts you can complete before and after work. Even if it means taking a 10-minute walk during lunch, your body will thank you in the long run.
1. The underlined words “compensate for” can be best replaced by ________.| A．make up for | B．break away from |
| C．give up | D．take the place of |
is that ________.
| A．workouts may reduce the harm of sitting for long |
| B．the harm of sitting for long has been proved |
| C．they don’t have to exercise as long as suggested previously |
| D．the time spent on exercise is flexible |
| A．The best form of workouts is walking. |
| B．The longer you exercise, the better. |
| C．The new exercise goal is practical though higher. |
| D．A desk job makes it impossible to exercise regularly. |
| A．by example | B．by process |
| C．by comparison | D．by contrast |
8 . Recently a study，led by Pedro Hallal of the Federal University，suggests that nearly a third of adults，31%，are not getting enough exercise. That rates of exercise have declined is hardly a new discovery. Since the beginning of the industrial revolution，technology and economic growth have helped to create a world in which taking exercise is more and more an option rather than a necessity. But only recently have enough good data been collected from enough places to carry out the sort of analysis Dr. Hallal and his colleagues have engaged in.
There are common themes in different places. Unsurprisingly，people in rich countries are less active than those in poor ones，and old people are less active than young ones. Less obviously，women tend to exercise less than men—34% are inactive，compared with 28% of men. But there are exceptions. The women of Croatia，Finland，Iraq and Luxembourg，for example，move more than their male countrymen.
Malta wins the race for most slothful country，with 72% of adults getting too little exercise，and Swaziland and Saudi Arabia are in close behind，with 69%. In Bangladesh，just 5% of adults fail to exercise enough. Surprisingly，six Americans in ten are active enough according to Dr. Hallal’s study，compared with fewer than four in ten British.
These high rates of inactivity are worrying. Human beings seem to have evolved to benefit from exercise while deliberately avoiding it whenever they can. In a state of nature it would be impossible to live a life that did not provide enough of it. But that is no longer the case. Actually lack of enough activity these days has nearly the same effect on life span as smoking.
1. We may learn from Paragraph 1 that ________.| A．the decline of exercise rates is newly discovered |
| B．the study suggests 31% of female adults get too little exercise |
| C．the industrial revolution has changed the way people live to some degree |
| D．the good enough data has been collected from only one country |
| A．have little time to exercise |
| B．hate to get regular exercise |
| C．take more exercise to lose weight |
| D．exercise more than men in their country |
| A．lazy | B．rich |
| C．powerful | D．unpopular |
| A．Benefits of Taking Exercise |
| B．New Health Discovery |
| C．Evolvement of Human Beings |
| D．Worldwide Lack of Enough Exercise |
9 . Olympic host cities are generally considered to be equipped with advanced technology and expensive facilities. Now, people can just go there for a little Olympic-level entertainment.
Athens, Greece (1896 and 2004)
Home to the first modern Olympic games in 1896, Athens' history of the Olympic tradition dates back several thousand years. Every four years, the Olympic torch is lit at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens before beginning its long journey to the new host city. Visitors can walk through the Olympic Velodrome in the Olympic Sports Complex and step back in time at the 50,000-seat stadium.
Barcelona, Spain(1992)
These days Barcelona is among the world's most visitable cities even without Olympic fame, but that isn't always the case. The telecommunications tower built for the games by Spanish architect Calatrava is also an iconic(图像的） device of the city's skyline, and its Olympics stadium- Montjuic Stadium is regularly used to host A-list musical performances like The Rolling Stones, Madonna, and Beyonce.
St Moritz, Switzerland(1924 and 1948)
Appropriately, the town that invented Alpine tourism has hosted the Winter Olympics twice, and continues to make use of its many sports facilities-if you can afford to get there. Stay at the Kulm Hotel for the easiest access to the Kulm Country Club, where guests can skate on the same lake used by mid-century Olympians, or test your courage on the Olympia Bob Run, one of the few places where you can ride a full-speed Olympic bobsled(双人雪橇） on a run constructed entirely of ice.
Sydney, Australia (2000)
The turn-of-the-century Sydney Summer Olympics were named the "Green Games" by the International Olympic Committee (10C) and were designed to introduce a more environmentally conscious way of hosting the event. The structure that best shows Sydney's efforts to be an example of continuing Olympic development is the ANZ Stadium.
1. Where does the host city get the Olympic torch lit?| A．At the Panathenaic Stadium. |
| B．At the Olympic Sports Complex. |
| C．At the Montjuic Stadium. |
| D．At the ANZ Stadium. |
| A．Those fond of ice-sports. |
| B．Those fond of listening to opera. |
| C．Those interested in popular music. |
| D．Those interested in Olympic history. |
| A．Their designers are from Spain. |
| B．They are thought poorly of by the IOC. |
| C．They are hosted in an environmentally friendly way. |
| D．Their design intention is proposed by Sydney authority. |
10 . The Winter Olympics is also called the White Olympics. At this time, many colorful stamps are published to mark the great Games. The first stamps marking the opening came out on January 25, 1932 in the United States for the 3rd White Olympics. From then on, publishing stamps during the White Olympics became a rule. During the 4th Winter Olympic Games a group of stamps were published in Germany in November 1936. The five rings of Olympics were drawn on the front of the sportswear. It was the first time that the rings appeared on the stamps of the White Olympics. In the 1950’s, the stamps of this kind became more colorful.
When the White Olympics came, the host countries (东道国) as well as the non-host countries published stamps to mark those Games. China also published four stamps in February 1980, when the Chinese sports men began to take part in the White Olympics. Japan is the only Asian country that has ever held the White Olympics. Altogether 14,500 million stamps were sold to raise money for this sports meet. Different kinds of sports were drawn on these small stamps. People can enjoy the beauty of the wonderful movements of some sportsmen.
1. The White Olympics and the Winter Olympics _______.| A．are the same thing | B．are different games |
| C．are not held in winter | D．are held in summer |
| A．after the year 1936 | B．after the 3rd White Olympics |
| C．before the 3rd White Olympics | D．before the year 1932 |
| A．every two years | B．every three years |
| C．every four years | D．every five years |
| A．Only the host countries can publish stamps to mark those Games. |
| B．Only the non-host countries can publish stamps to mark those Games. |
| C．All the countries can publish stamps to mark those Games. |
| D．Japan can’t publish stamps to mark those Games. |
| A．Basketball. | B．Table tennis. | C．Football. | D．Skating. |
