1 . Race walking shares many fitness benefits with running, research shows, while most likely contributing to fewer injuries. It does, however, have its own problem.
Race walkers are conditioned athletes. The longest track and field event at the Summer Olympics is the 50-kilometer race walk, which is about five miles longer than the marathon. But the sport’s rules require that a race walker’s knees stay straight through most of the leg swing and one foot remain in contact with the ground at all times. It’s this strange form that makes race walking such an attractive activity, however, says Jaclyn Norberg, an assistant professor of exercise science at Salem State University in Salem, Mass.
Like running, race walking is physically demanding, she says. According to most calculations, race walkers moving at a pace of six miles per hour would burn about 800 calories per hour, which is approximately twice as many as they would burn walking, although fewer than running, which would probably burn about 1,0000 or more calories per hour.
However, race walking does not pound the body as much as running does, Dr. Norberg says. According to her research, runners hit the ground with as much as four times their body weight per step, while race walkers, who do not leave the ground, create only about 1.4 times their body weight with each step.
As a result, she says, some of the injuries associated with running, such as runner’s knee, are uncommon among race walkers. But the sport’s strange form does place considerable stress on the ankles and hips, so people with a history of such injuries might want to be cautious in adopting the sport. In fact, anyone wishing to try race walking should probably first consult a coach or experienced racer to learn proper technique, she says. It takes some practice.
1. Why are race walkers conditioned athletes?| A．They must run long distances. |
| B．They have to follow special rules. |
| C．They are qualified for the marathon. |
| D．They are good at swinging their legs. |
| A．It’s less challenging physically. |
| B．It’s more popular at the Olympics. |
| C．It’s less likely to cause knee injuries. |
| D．It’s more effective in body building. |
| A．Doing regular exercises. | B．Having a medical checkup. |
| C．Hiring an experienced coach. | D．Getting experts’ opinions. |
| A．Objective. | B．Doubtful. |
| C．Tolerant. | D．Supportive. |
2 . A video of Tommy Carroll skating near his home has been viewed millions of times around the globe, gaining him fame as a skateboarder. He can’t see, but he can pull off some of the most incredible
Carroll, was born with the retinal (视网膜) cancer and lost his
“I am always constantly using the sound of my wheels to
Though courageous, Carroll learns to be
| A．images | B．tricks | C．rides | D．jumps |
| A．curiosity | B．complaint | C．fear | D．interest |
| A．weaken | B．spot | C．avoid | D．overcome |
| A．vision | B．patience | C．mind | D．touch |
| A．hoped | B．started | C．plotted | D．hesitated |
| A．navigate | B．transfer | C．balance | D．distinguish |
| A．prove | B．see | C．explore | D．check |
| A．achievement | B．security | C．direction | D．danger |
| A．affection | B．reason | C．talent | D．capacity |
| A．discouraged | B．misunderstood | C．motivated | D．abused |
| A．forgave | B．defeated | C．mouthed | D．ignored |
| A．modest | B．brave | C．safe | D．confident |
| A．helps | B．familiarizes | C．compares | D．connects |
| A．demanding | B．beneficial | C．complicated | D．thrilling |
| A．childish | B．wrong | C．impolite | D．incompetent |
3 . In a world ruled by hard exercise and complex fitness programs, the simple act of walking is often ignored(忽略).
Heart Health and Weight Management
Walking is light heart exercise that helps improve heart health by increasing blood circulation(循环).
Pressure Drop and Clear Mind
Taking a relaxing walk or quick walk has been shown to give off endorphins, the body’s natural ”feel-good” materials. This leads to lower pressure levels, improved feelings, and improved mental health. Walking outdoors in nature or in a peaceful environment can provide a refreshing escape from the daily tasks.
Joint(关节)Health and Free Movement
Unlike active sports, walking is soft on the joints, making it a perfect choice for people of all ages and fitness levels.
Social Communication and Connection
| A．It helps oil joints and make them stronger. |
| B．It’s a cheap way to lead a healthier lifestyle. |
| C．So taking a walk can make your mind relaxed and fresh. |
| D．A quick walk after meals has been shown to benefit the stomach. |
| E．It cuts down the risk of heart disease and brings down blood pressure. |
| F．Walking is useful exercise that can easily be turned into a social activity. |
| G．However, walking remains one of the easiest and most useful forms of exercise. |
4 . 2023 Illustration (插画) Competition
Enter the competition most respected and admired in the industry for creativity in illustration, the Communication Arts Illustration Competition. Selected by distinguished professionals, the winning entries will be distributed worldwide in the Communication Arts Illustration Annual and on commarts. com, ensuring important exposure of the creations. Each winner will receive a personalized Award of Excellence, made from solid aluminum (铝), and an award certificate. Communication Arts’s Award of Excellence is one of the most desired awards. If chosen, winning places you in the highest ranks of your profession.
What To Enter With
Any illustration first published or produced from Jan. 2022 to Jan. 2023 is fit. Entries may originate from any country. Descriptions in English are necessary for the judges to read.
Entries Can Be Submitted In The Following Formats
Digital Images: RGB images in JPG format with a maximum file size of 2 MB. GIF images may be livelier, but would be turned down, and so would the PNG ones.
Motion Entries: In MOV, MP4 or MPG format, with a maximum file size of 500 MB.
Illustration Competition Categories & Entry Fees
Category | Single illustration | Series of illustrations |
Books (covers, jackets, interiors, etc.) | $40 | $80 (limit of five) |
Motion (media for films, videos, etc.) | $90 | $180(limit of three) |
Student Work (school assignments) | $20 (Image) $45 (Video) | $40 (Images, limit of five) $90 (Video, limit of three) |
For more categories (advertising, self-promotion, etc.), please download the category PDF.
Late Fees
Entries must be registered no later than Jan. 13, 2023. Entries registered after that date will be charged a fee of $10 each. No entries can be registered after Jan. 27, 2023.
1. What will the winner gain?| A．Exposure to world-famous works. | B．A personalized award certificate. |
| C．A bonus from Communication Arts. | D．Wide recognition in the industry. |
| A．A newly produced motion entry. | B．A student work from China. |
| C．A PNG image with a file size of 1 MB. | D．A series for covers of three illustrations. |
| A．$80. | B．$90. | C．$110. | D．$120. |
5 . Playing tennis might add years to your life, according to a new study of Danish men and women. The study found that adults who frequently participate in tennis or other racket (球拍) and team sports lived longer than people who were spending a lot of time sitting down. They also lived longer than people who took part in activities such as jogging, swimming and cycling. The results raise interesting questions about the role that social interactions might play in enlarging the benefits of exercise.
No one doubts that being physically active improves our health and can extend our longevity (寿命). But whether some activities might be better than others remains in argument. One widely publicized 2017 study of more than 80,000 British men and women found that those who played racket sports like tennis tended to outlive those who jogged.
The researchers widened their inquiry and looked at a variety of sports and their associations with life. To start, they turned to the same data resource they had used for the jogging study, the Copenhagen City Heart Study. The study’s participants had all completed health exams and lengthy questionnaires about their lifestyles and whether and how often they took part in some sports common in Denmark, including cycling, swimming, running, tennis, soccer and, perhaps unexpectedly, badminton.
According to the data, cycling added an average of 3.7 years to riders’ lives, compared to sedentary Danes. Running added 3.2 years while tennis 9.7 years. These associations remained unchanged even when the researchers controlled for people’s education, socioeconomic status and age.
“Why and how some sports might add more years to people’s lives than others is impossible to know from this kind of observational study,” says Dr. James O’Keefe, a study co-author. “But we know that social support probably has unique effects on helping people get more benefits from the exercise.”
For now, people who run or ride alone might consider finding a group or partner to work out together. “Raising your heart rate is important for health,” he says. “But it looks like connecting with other people is, too.”
1. According to the passage, which activity may help people live longer?| A．Cycling. | B．Running marathon. |
| C．Swimming. | D．Playing badminton. |
| A．Inactive. | B．Outgoing. | C．Depressed. | D．Easygoing. |
| A．Exercising alone. | B．Working out together. |
| C．Working out regularly. | D．Raising one’s heart rate. |
| A．women who prefer team sports live longer than men |
| B．people’s education and socioeconomic status affect their longevity |
| C．the reason why some sports might add more years to people’s lives is still unknown |
| D．80,000 Danish men and women participated in the survey |
6 . Fourteen-year-old Harini Logan won the Scripps National Spelling Bee last Thursday, defeating 12-year-old Vikram Raju in a tiebreaker. It’s the first time that the contest has ever been decided by a tie-breaking round of spelling.
A spelling bee is a contest where players take turns spelling words. Though the bee is mainly about spelling, it also focuses on the meaning of the words. During parts of the contest, students were asked to choose the correct meaning of a word.
That caused trouble for Harini. She was asked about the meaning of the word “pullulation”. She said the word described the nesting of birds. The contest organizers had expected the answer to be the “swarming of bees”. Harini was removed from the contest. But soon she was back in- the judges double-checked and learned that Harini’s definition was also correct. One by one, the other students spelled a word wrong and got out. Finally, only Harini and Vikram were left.
To make ties much less likely, a “spell-off” was added to the contest in recent years. In the spell-off, Vikram and Harini each took turns trying to spell the words they were asked, but both made blunders. At one point, Harini could have won by spelling the word “drimys” (a kind of plant) correctly. But she missed it.
That put the two into a super tie-breaking event, where they were each given 90 seconds to correctly spell as many words as they could. The New York Times reports that the two spelled so quickly that the judges needed to review the video to see who had won. In 90 seconds, Vikram had spelled 15 words correctly, Harini had 21 correct spellings, making her the new winner.
This was Harini’s fourth at the Bee and it’s the first time she’s made it to the finals. Describing her win, she said, “This is just such a dream!”
1. What does Paragraph 2 mainly tell us about the spelling bee?| A．Its significant meaning. | B．Its competition content. |
| C．The importance of spelling. | D．Players’ struggle for spelling. |
| A．She failed to enter the final round. | B．She was confident about her answer. |
| C．Her answer was misjudged at first. | D．She refused to accept the judgement. |
| A．Efforts. | B．Ways. | C．Senses. | D．Mistakes. |
| A．A Tie-Breaking Event |
| B．Scripps National Spelling Bee |
| C．Teen Wins Spelling Bee in Exciting Tie- Breaker |
| D．A Girl’s First Time to Make Her Dream Come True |
1.体现奥运精神；
2.团结应对挑战（如疫情等）；
3.同享共创未来。
注意：1.词数要求：80左右；
2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3.开头与结尾已在答题卡上给出，不计入总词数。
Dear Mason,
Happy the Year of the Tiger! I can't wait to express my heart-felt appreciation of the new Olympic motto to you.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
8 . One of the reasons why so many people listen to music during exercise is that it has a number of benefits. The research around the positive influences of music during exercise was reviewed in a paper in the February 2020 issue of Psychological Bulletin.
Probably the biggest influence of music on exercise, based on these findings, is that listening to music during exercise can make you feel better about what you have done. Experiments find that people feel more positive about the exercise when they have listened to music than when they have not. The impact of music didn’t depend on the intensity of the exercise, and the effect appeared for both trained and untrained athletes.
Music also seems to reduce people’s feeling of how much they are exerting themselves. That is, at the same level of intensity of activity, listening to music can make you feel like you are exerting less effort than you would feel without music. Some studies have also shown that when athletes are free to set their own exertion level, they are willing to exercise more intensely with music than without. For some people (particularly when they are early in their training), music helps them focus on the music rather than on pain.
Music also appears to have a small effect on performance overall. Athletes perform better both during exercise and while engaging in their sport when there is music. In the studies analyzed, fast music, with a tempo greater than 120 beats-per-minute, was more effective than slow music. Interestingly, it doesn’t seem to matter whether the athlete chooses the music or whether it is chosen by someone else. So, the playlists selected by the teachers of an exercise class you’re taking may work even if you don’t love all of the songs.
The one place where music doesn’t seem to have much of an impact is on physiological functioning. The heart rate of an athlete is not consistently affected by music.
1. What is the main benefit of listening to music during exercise?| A．Improving performance. |
| B．Providing entertainment. |
| C．Reducing the effort of training. |
| D．Feeling better about the workout. |
| A．Try hard. | B．Break down. | C．Growing up. | D．Come back. |
| A．Soft music. | B．Calm music. | C．Gentle music. | D．Rapid-paced music. |
| A．It consistently increases their heart rate. |
| B．It consistently decreases their heart rate. |
| C．It depends on the intensity of the exercise. |
| D．It has no consistent influence on their heart rate. |
1. 上课体验；
2. 个人收获。
注意：1. 词数100左右；
2. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
提示词：体育选修课PE. optional course；太极拳：tai chi
Dear Peter,
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
10 . How to overcome gym anxiety
Here are some practical tips to help you overcome anxiety in the gym and create a positive, empowering experience for yourself.
Set realistic expectations
The first step in overcoming gym anxiety is to set realistic expectations. Understand that everyone starts somewhere and that the gym is a place for personal growth and improvement.
Plan ahead and familiarise yourself
Start slowly and gradually
Ease into your gym routine by starting with exercises and machines you are comfortable with.
Having a gym partner can provide huge support and motivation. Consider finding a friend who shares your fitness goals or seeking guidance from a personal trainer. A supportive companion or an expert can provide guidance, encourage you during workouts, and help remove anxiety by offering tips and feedback.
Practice mindfulness techniques
Mindfulness exercises can be powerful tools to fight anxiety in any setting, including the gym.
| A．Find a gym partner or seek professional help |
| B．Fight gym anxiety and unlock your true potential |
| C．Remind yourself that progress certainly takes time. |
| D．Feeling prepared can significantly reduce anxiety levels. |
| E．Stepping foot inside a gym can cause feelings of anxiety. |
| F．Prior to your workout, take minutes to engage in deep breathing or thinking. |
| G．Gradually introduce new exercises or equipment as you become more confident. |
