1 . You might say I found marathoning, step by step. Or perhaps it found me. I was _____________ an athlete growing up. In fact, I have a hard time _____________ that term to myself even today.

It started when I joined a group of women in my neighborhood for a daily three-mile walk. At first it was _____________. But soon, my body adjusted and I wanted _____________. Before long, I was running 5 miles. Then I set a goal to run a half marathon. And I did complete the Covered Bridges Half Marathon. I thought, “Now what?” I started to _____________ a marathon.

It so happened that I _____________ a meeting one night and listened to the speaker and coach, Rick Muhr, and was so _____________ by his words. I told him that I had signed up for the Ocean State Marathon, just a week away, and that I really didn’t believe I could _____________. Rick locked eyes with me and said, “Trish, you’ve done enough training. You’ll finish!”

I never had someone _____________ me like that, let alone a real, live coach. He gave me the ________________ I needed. I set out to run my ________________ marathon and completed it in 4:25:00. Little did I know that this would be the beginning of nearly a decade of marathon and distance running.

Running a marathon isn’t for everybody. But it is for anybody, anybody who wants to ________________ the unreachable and to take that ________________ into the rest of their life. When you cross the finish line you may never have a ________________ picture of what you are made of and capable of accomplishing. Your ________________ of the world and, more importantly, of yourself will forever be changed!

2 . A small study out of Skidmore College examined the advantages of morning vs, evening exercise for both women and men. Paul, professor for health at Skidmore, led the study.

“We had the groups divided into evening and morning groups,” he says. “We found women and men answered differently to different types of exercise depending on the time of the day, which surprised us.”

The study showed that for women who want to lower blood pressure (血压), the risk of heart disease or reduce fat, morning exercise works best. Those women hoping for upper body muscle (肌肉) gains or mood (心情) improvement should consider evening exercise. For the men, the findings were somewhat different: Evening exercise lowers blood pressure, the risk of heart disease, and feelings of tiredness. But similar to women, they burn more fat with morning exercise.

“For many people, the best time to exercise will depend on their chronotype,” says Heisz, author of Move the Body, Heal the Mind.

“Chronotype is your body’s natural habit to sleep at a certain time—it’s what decides whether you’re a night owl or an early bird. For the 25% of the population that considers themselves a night owl, getting both enough sleep and enough exercise can be difficult,” adds Heisz.

He continues, “Sleep—which provides your body the necessary time to recover (恢复) and make gains from exercise—should always be the first choice. When it comes to exercise, regardless of research on the advantages of certain exercises at particular times of the day, your results will not be good if it doesn’t allow enough time for sleep.”

3 . On June 15, the 100-day countdown to the Hangzhou Asian Games, the medal of the 19th Asian Games was released. The medal of the 19th Asian Games is named Shan Shui, which is another core element of the Asian Games, along with the official emblem (徽章) Tides Surging, mascots Congcong, Chenchen, Lianlian, color system Meeting the World and torch Eternal Flame. It is an important addition to the overall aesthetic (审美) of the event.

Shan Shui is characterized by the ceremonial jade (玉) Cong in the Liangzhu Culture(5,300BC-4,300BC). This square jade, integrated with a round medal, is truly unique and highly recognizable.

Shan Shui presents the geographical features of Hangzhou. By using prominent lines, the picture scroll of Hangzhou is outlined on the front side of the medal with misty hills on three sides and the city on one side, a rippling lake, and wavelike mountains beyond. The back side is shaped like a square seal, which means the athletes leave a beautiful mark on the Hangzhou Asian Games,

Shan Shui expresses the character of Hangzhou as the capital of ecological civilization, with natural landscape, clear water and green hills, creating invaluable assets, casting gold and silver medals.

Shan Shui shows the sportsmanship of climbing the heights. Reaching the top, one will become even higher. On the way to the summit, athletes strive hard, challenge themselves, and overcome one peak after another.

The medal will be made by painting, milling, trimming and polishing, gold and silver plating effect treatment, and protection treatment. The medal ribbon (绶带) will be hand-sewn on both sides using weave technology and environmentally friendly printing techniques. The bridge shaped buckle at the top of the ribbon highlights the Jiangnan characteristics of the water town and the bridge town. The linking method adopts the raw ear structure of the spring buckle shaft (弹簧扣轴) to fix the ribbon inside the medal.

Tai chi is a centuries-old Chinese martial art and an internationally popular form of exercise. It is a series of postures (姿势) and motions that develops one’s     1     (strong)and flexibility through careful, flowing movements and focused breathing. Each posture     2     (slow) transforms into another, and we gradually need to shift our weight     3     (maintain) balance. At the end, we return to the starting position: in other words, all of the movements     4     (connect) in an endless, continuous flow.

The practice of tai chi is rooted in     5     (tradition) Chinese philosophy, particularly the ancient concept of yin-yang. The tai chi symbol, or taijitu,     6     (show) yin and yang together: yin symbolizes the dark, female force in nature,     7     yang represents the bright, male force. Yin cannot exist without yang, and yang cannot exist without yin. Tai chi aims to achieve balance     8     opposites in life: yin and yang; soft and hard; mind and body, and so on. At the heart of tai chi is the concept of qi,     9     generally translates as “vital energy”. The different exercises help move the qi through your body,     10     (produce) positive effects on one’s mental and spiritual health.

Yoga(瑜伽) is     1     (high) recognized for improving balance and bringing calm. But when it comes to weight loss, many people think that other kinds of exercise, like running, will be more     2     (help). But studies show that yoga,     3       is an exercise that uses your large muscle groups     4     raises your heart rate, is beneficial for you to lose weight. Just how many calories(卡路里) you burn differs, depending     5     how long your exercise is, as well as other     6     (factor), such as your weight and age. Practicing yoga can help you burn more calories long after exercise.

Better yet, recently several studies     7     (prove) that yoga has an effect on the body’s stress response and reduces     8     production of chemicals linked to weight gain. And someone experiencing a more positive mood by     9     (practise) yoga is less likely to overeat when experiencing negative emotions.

Remember     10     (choose) the best kind of yoga that fits for you. There are now many styles of yoga that meet you no matter what your size, age, or physical challenge is. Everybody can benefit from a yoga practice.

In 1949, the Basketball Association of America (BAA) and the National Basketball League (NBL) came together to form the National Basketball Association (NBA). In 1996 the NBA     1    (create) the WNBA, the Women’s National Basketball Association. And in 2001 the NBA set up a development league    2     (help) train future players.

The NBA is one of the four major professional sports     3     (league) in the US. It is made     4     of thirty teams in major cities in the United States and Canada.

In 1992, the United States Olympic men’s basketball team was called the “Dream Team”. For the first time there were players from the NBA. Among them were Michael Jordan and Larry Bird. There’s no doubt     5     the Americans brought home the gold medal that year from Barcelona. It was during the 1990s that the number of top NBA players from outside the US began to grow     6    (rapid), In 2002, Yao Ming was the first choice in the NBA draft (选秀). He    7    (pick) by the Houston Rockets.

Yao Ming became the first international player without college experience in the US     8    (choose) first overall (状元). He was a     9    (talent) player and proved     10    instant hit in the US.

Yao became the third Chinese national ever to play in the NBA. The first was Wang Zhizhi. He joined the Dallas Mavericks in 2001. The second was Mengke Bateer. He made his first NBA appearance in 2002.