1 . Many of us start exercising in the hope of losing unwanted pounds. Unquestionably, aiming to be more active is a good thing. But if the main reason is to lose weight, your resolution could very well come to nothing.
For starters, exercise is typically futile for weight loss. Take walking for example. A 150-pound person who walks for 30 minutes will burn, on average, around 140 calories. That’s equal to one can of soda — not exactly a great return on your investment of time and effort. It’s much easier just to skip the soda.
When exercise is added to a diet, the results are equally unimpressive. Researchers found that a combination of dieting and exercising brought no greater weight loss than dieting alone after six months. At 12 months, the diet-and-exercise combination showed an advantage, but it was slight — about 4 pounds.
In studies where exercise has produced meaningful weight loss, participants burned at least 400 to 500 calories per session on five or more days a week. To achieve that, a 150-pound person would need to walk a minimum of 90 minutes or run 30 minutes per day. In short, sessions need to go well beyond what most of us are willing or able to do. And even if we manage to make that much effort, our bodies often compensate (抵消) by eagerness for more food and slowing down metabolism (新陈代谢), effects that over time limit how many pounds we lose.
When exercise fails to meet our weight-loss expectations, we often stop working out. Perhaps the biggest problem with exercising to drop pounds is that it turns physical activity into punishment — a price we have to pay for a slimmer body. How many times have you heard someone say “I’ll need to do extra exercise” after eating too much? We treat exercise as a form of self-punishment for being “bad.” In this case, we’re unlikely to keep doing it for very long.
The conclusion is that we’re more likely to treat exercise positively and actually do it when we focus on our well-being rather than our weight.
1. What does the underlined word “futile” in paragraph 2 mean?| A．Necessary. | B．Popular. | C．Dangerous. | D．Useless. |
| A．You will burn 140 calories every day. |
| B．You will lose 4 pounds in a month. |
| C．You might have a higher metabolic rate. |
| D．You might eat more than usual. |
| A．They are unlikely to really enjoy it. |
| B．They find it too challenging physically. |
| C．They have difficulty resisting (抵抗) delicious food. |
| D．They turn their attention to their well-being. |
| A．How long should you exercise a day to lose weight? |
| B．What are the best exercises for losing weight? |
| C．Weight loss: why exercise is the wrong path |
| D．Exercise and weight loss: a pair of brothers |
The science teacher, Mr. Moose, decided that the school would have a paper airplane contest (比赛). Each student would design a paper airplane. And then they would take turns throwing their airplanes. The student whose airplane flew the farthest would win.
When Mr. Moose announced the paper airplane contest, all the students were very excited. Paul, who was on the wrestling (摔跤) team, said to other students. “I am the strongest. And I will be able to throw my airplane the farthest.”
However, another student, Brian, was thinking how he could win. He did not play any sports and was not very strong. But he loved airplanes and really wanted to win the contest.
Brian knew what he had to do. He went to the store and bought a big pile of paper. When he got home, he took the paper into the backyard. He took a piece of paper and folded (折叠) an airplane. It didn’t go very far, so Brian took another piece and folded another airplane and threw it. This airplane went a little farther. Brian kept folding different kinds of airplanes and throwing them. Some went very far and some did not. Finally, when Brian had used all the paper, he walked up to the airplane that had flown the farthest and picked it up.
注意：1．续写词数应为150左右；2．请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
The contest day arrived in the end and all the students gathered on the playground.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Excitedly, Brian got the prize from Mr. Moose’s hand and all the students clapped their hands for him.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________3 . COOL COLD SPORTS
The Winter Olympic Games are not just a chance for athletes to win medals and honour for their countries. Every four years, the Games also help audience to get to know more about winter sports from around the world. The Winter Olympics may not have the large crowds and huge stars of its Summer Games, but they share the same Olympic spirit.
Skiing
One of the most popular sports of the Winter Olympic Games is skiing. Skiers compete in the downhill and slalom (回转赛), and in the short and long cross-country ski races. Skiing was originally (最初) a sport played only in cold northern countries, but now athletes from all over the world compete in this sport, even those from countries without any snow!
Skating
Skaters compete with each other in speed races or in figure-skating events. The figure-skaters are generally considered to be the stars of the Winter Olympic Games. These ice princes and princesses are so graceful that it’s easy to forget that they are actually highly skilled athletes.
Skeleton (俯式冰橇)
The skeleton is one of the strangest named sports of the Olympics. The skeleton is named after the shape of the metal sleds (雪橇) used in the 1890s, when the sport first started. The skeleton is a downhill sled race, usually on ice. In the skeleton, a person lies on his or her stomach on the sled, with his or her head pointing downhill!
1. Why does the writer mention the Summer Games?| A．To share the Olympic spirit. |
| B．To make a comparison on size. |
| C．To help audience learn more about sports. |
| D．To introduce the Olympic Games completely. |
| A．Senior and honorable. | B．Confident and attractive. |
| C．Amazing and responsible. | D．Graceful and highly skilled. |
| A．They all include downhill races. |
| B．All the three are newly-developed. |
| C．They are all typical games of Winter Olympics. |
| D．All the athletes come from icy northern countries. |
Nowadays, football is one of the most popular sports in the world. Its history
Football is simple and very cheap
Another factor behind
What’s more, it has become one of the
5 . Here’s a selection of the strangest races in the world.
Surf Dog Competition
Hundreds of participants from all over the US come to fight for the first prize. This annual event is an official dog surfing competition taking place in Imperial Beach in August and Huntington Beach in September. The attendance to the event is free of charge, however, donations are welcome.
Bring Your Own Big Wheel Race
If you think wheel toys are designed for kids only, you’re wrong. The race was initiated by John Brumit in 2000 when he rode down Lombard Street on his plastic wheel toy. That day, he was the only participant in the race. He continued his tradition every year, but few joined him. In 2006, someone posted a video of his race and as a result, the next year’s race featured hundreds of participants though there was no prize money. Since then, the annual race has been held on Easter Sunday in San Francisco.
World’s Ugliest Dog Contest
It’s an annual event held in June in Petaluma, California. But it’s not about making fun of the ugly dogs, but about encouraging them and showing the world that such dogs can also be happy and adorable. The competition has been held since the 1970s. The winner gets a check for $1,000.
Fur Rondy
Like the famous Spanish Bullfighting Festival, Alaska has its own tradition. It’s a bit transformed. Speedy reindeer (驯鹿) run after the participants in the race. This event is held every February in Anchorage, Alaska. Participants pay a small fee to attend it; some of them wear funny dresses, which children enjoy very much.
1. Of the following races, which is held in two places?| A．Fur Rondy. | B．Bring Your Own Big Wheel Race. |
| C．Surf Dog Competition. | D．World’s Ugliest Dog Contest. |
| A．The prize money of the race. | B．A video of Brumit in the race. |
| C．Brumit’s strange race device. | D．The joy brought by the race. |
| A．They are free of charge. | B．They have ancient traditions. |
| C．They are favored by children. | D．They are held annually. |
1.招募目的；
2.招募条件；
3.培训时间和地点。
注意：1.写作词数应为80左右；
2.请在答题卡的相应位置作答。
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7 . Are you preparing for a big test? If so, you may want to go play some basketball in between hitting the books. Doctors are starting to find more and more information that suggests a connection between exercise and brain development. Judy Cameron, a scientist at Oregon Health and Science University, studies brain development. According to her research, it seems that exercise can make blood vessels (血管), including those in the brain, stronger and more fully developed. Dr. Cameron claims this allows people who exercise to concentrate better. As she says, “while we already know that exercise is good for the heart, exercise can really cause physical changes in the brain.”
The effects of exercise on brain development can even be seen in babies. Babies who do activities that require a lot of movement and physical activity show greater brain development than babies who are less physically active. With babies, even a little movement can show big results. Margaret Barnes, a doctor, also believes in the importance of exercise. She thinks that many learning disabilities that children have in elementary school or high school can be traced back to a lack of movement as babies. “Babies need movement that encourages and excites their five senses. They need to establish a connection between motion and memory. In this way, as they get older, children will begin to connect physical activity with higher learning,” says Margaret.
Older people can develop their brains as well. Columbia University studied a group of seniors who have a short-term memory of up to 40 percent after exercising just three hours a week. The exercise does not have to be very difficult, but it does have to increase the heart rate. Also, just like the motion for babies, exercise for older people should not be too simple. Learning some new skills or actions, such as with yoga or tai-chi, helps to open up memory paths in the brain that may not have been used for a long time. For most people, any type of physical activity that increases the heart rate is helpful. The main goal is to increase the brain’s flow of blood. And your brain can benefit from as little as two to three hours of exercise a week.
1. What is the main idea of this reading?| A．How to exercise. |
| B．How exercise helps the brain. |
| C．How to get good scores on a test. |
| D．How the brain can change. |
| A．Exercise helps make our blood vessels. |
| B．The brain needs special mental exercise. |
| C．The more exercise, the bigger the brain is. |
| D．Physical exercise helps us think better. |
| A．three hours per week | B．40 hours per week |
| C．three hours per day | D．40 hours per month |
| A．It is easy to remember. | B．It can be done in groups. |
| C．It does not increase the heart rate. | D．It includes learning new motions. |
The British spend a lot of their free time watching and playing sport. One of the
Rugby is another sport that is very popular in the UK. It is also played
There are a lot of marathon races all over the UK and
1. 你喜欢的运动项目及原因, 如有益于身心健康，增强自信等。
2. 何时喜欢上这项运动, 现在参加该运动的情况如何。
3. 询问对方的体育爱好。
注意：1. 词数：100左右。（信的开头和结尾已经给出，不计入总词数。）
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Dear Harry,
I am glad to receive your letter.
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Yours sincerely,
Li Hua
1. 运动的名称；
2. 推荐的理由；
3. 温馨的提示。
注意：
1. 词数100左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
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