1 . On Oct. 11, hundreds of runners competed in a cross-country race in Minnesota. Melanie Bailey should have _________ the course earlier than she did. Her _________ came because she was carrying a _________ across the finish line.

As reported by a local newspaper, Bailey was more than two-thirds of the way through her _________ when a runner in front of her began crying in pain. She _________ to help her fellow runner, Danielle Lenoue. Bailey took her arm to see if she could walk forward with _________. She couldn’t. Bailey then _________ to let Lenoue climb onto her back and carried her all the way to the finish line, then another 300 feet to where Lenoue could get _________ attention.

Once there, Lenoue was _________ and later taken to a hospital, where she learned that she had serious injuries in one of her knees. She would have struggled with extreme __________ to make it to that aid checkpoint without Bailey’s help.

As for Bailey, she is more __________ about why her act is considered a big __________. “She was just crying. I couldn’t __________ her,” Bailey told the reporter. “I feel like I was just doing the right thing.”

Although the two young women were strangers before the __________, they’ve since become friends. Neither won the race, but the __________ of human kindness won the day.

2 . Some Winter Activities

Winter activities are underestimated (低估). The days may be shorter, but the list of fun activities isn’t. Don’t let the winter blues take over.     1    

Finding your favourite.     2     Nobody likes cardio (有氧运动) for a long time, but signing up for an adult sports team, or taking a yoga class on the weekend can be a fun way to break up the boredom of going to the gym. Recreational (娱乐的) sports are also a great way to meet new people.

Walking on snow.     3     Walking with snowshoes is friendly to beginners, and suitable for kids and seniors alike. You can buy a set for under $100 or rent some for the afternoon. Take a friend or walk alone to enjoy the peacefulness of the outdoors in winter.

Skiing. Those that love it really love it. Hitting the ski hills is an old wintertime tradition. It gets you outside, boosts your mood, and serves as a core workout. You don’t need the latest gear (设备) to be able to have fun.     4     If you’re feeling tired of too much indoor time, get your heart pumping at a nearby ski hill.

    5     Taking an online class, or picking up an instrument for the first time, can be incredibly rewarding. Expanding your professional skill can do wonders for your future job prospects. It may take a little planning, but consider learning something new this season.

3 . Trainers and parents saw children play sports at a young age and then saw them become professional. Many correlated the training to success. Competitive sports are good for young children because they teach children life skills, provide health benefits, and offer special opportunities.

To begin with, sports teach children life skills. A formal athlete stated, “I played soccer in high school and college and found team sports weren’t just about winning, but also about developing a solid ethic(行为准则), and learning why that’s important.” In short, playing highly competitive sports teaches kids many life skills like teamwork. People will have to use teamwork for the rest of their life, and sports can help them improve that skill. Taking part in sports can help develop a positive attitude towards life, which will help in the long run.

Sports are also good for kids because they provide health benefits. It is healthier for a kid to play a sport competitively than to waste time playing video games all day. Furthermore, a research group of University of California said, “96 percent of the participants(参与者) said they enjoy their sports. They’re all loving life.” That is to say, kids playing highly competitive sports tend to enjoy life instead of doing something else like watching TV.

On the other hand, some people might argue that competitive sports are bad for young children because they are so time-consuming. However, the time spent is not “robbing” kids of their childhood, but offers unique opportunities. Athletes can get success to live their dream life by playing sports. Even though sports are time-consuming, they offer distinctive opportunities.

In conclusion, competitive sports are good for children because they can provide wholesome benefits, create new experiences, and build skills that will last a lifetime.

There are no big screens or superstars and yet an outdoor basketball court in rural China has attracted tens of thousands to its matches     1    the atmosphere equals America’s National Basketball Association (NBA) games.

Widely known as CunBA, the basketball event     2     (hold) in Taipan Village in Taijiang County in Guizhou Province every year, which is an important part of a Miao ethnic harvest festival. The matches are organized     3    (local) by villagers, without any involvement from authorities.

From July 30 to August 2 this year, 16 teams from across Guizhou Province took part in the     4    (compete) named Guizhou Beautiful Village Basketball League. Most of the players were farmers, with only the referees    5     (have) professional experience. More than 10,000 people watched the games every evening and millions watched online.

Because of the popularity of the games, many had to stand outside the seating area, even climbing onto nearby hills and rooftops     6    (watch). During the breaks of these matches, local artists performed     7    (tradition) Miao-style dances, forming a kind of cheering squad. After 27 matches, a team from Liping County     8     (win) the championship after beating a team from Kaili City, with     9    score of 102 to 85. One of the players, Yang Changyi, said, “Basketball is our hobby. Although we are not professional players, we have a dream in our heart－to show ourselves     10    a bigger stage. ”

6 . Move over soccer, basketball and football, there’s a new competition sweeping Australia. It’s competitive bird calling. Yes, bird calling!

Scores of kids in New South Wales are spending their spare time practicing for the Bournda Bird Olympics, an event that aims at young bird-callers against each other to see who can deliver the clearest, most enthusiastic and most accurate bird call. The principal of the Bournda Environmental Education Centre, Doug Reckord, encourages the kids to listen to bird calls on YouTube to prepare for the event. The children also work on identifying birds by their beaks, claws and calls.

Surprisingly, the Bournda Bird Olympics isn’t Australia’s first competition with competitive bird calling. The first competition took place in Sydney in 1912. It was supported by the Gould League of Bird Lovers, a foundation that encouraged children to bird watch and learn about birds.

Even back then, New South Wales was the country’s bird calling leader. Students from the New South Wales region had access to much more bird sounds than city kids. They won the Dawson Memorial Shield for best bird calling six times between 1953 and 1962. Today, New South Wales is bringing back the bird calls. Led by the Bournda Environmental Education Centre, the Bournda Bird Olympics renewed in 2018. The event now features former bird calling champion, Bruce Chapman, as the “celebrity” judge.

When showtime finally arrives, three judges at the Bournda Bird Olympics rate people taking part on their enthusiasm, accuracy and clearness. The players can earn a maximum of three points in each type. Some 45 children took part in the 2022 event. The most popular bird call to imitate (模仿) was the kookaburra’s unique laugh. But the winner that year came from a girl copying a king parrot. Her call sounded so accurate that a king parrot in the trees actually called back to her.

8 . Sodas such as Coke or Pepsi are responsible for adding to health problems like tooth problems and obesity (肥胖). So health leaders have recommended teens cut back on sugar-sweetened sodas. However, their push may have had an unplanned result. Many of the advertisements aimed at teens show fit athletes having sugar-sweetened sports drinks. They make sports drinks look like a healthy choice for teens compared to sodas. As a result, teens are turning to this kind of drink.

Scientists at Harvard University in Massachusetts focused on teens, who are considered more likely than younger kids to buy their drinks. In 2015, 22,000 high school students were surveyed, and almost 6 in 10 of them reported having at least one sports drink in the past week. That was up slightly from 2010. The Harvard study found that almost one-third of teens drank one to three sports drinks in the previous week. Just over 1 in10 reported having four to six drinks. Teens who played on sports teams were likely to have one or more sports drinks each day. Boys were more likely than girls to have the drinks, scientists found.

The same was true for teens who watched more than two hours of television. Scientists say they are concerned because of ties between TV watching, ads, and obesity. Experts say that many children don’t need a sports drink that is full of carbohydrates (碳水化合物) and sweeteners. This especially applies to children sitting in front of a TV. The better option is water or unsweetened drinks.

“There is no reason to have carbohydrates in sports drinks unless you are in a high-level game, said Nyree Dardarian, the leader of the Center for Integrated Nutrition and Performance. “Someone on a long bike ride or in an all-day race might want to have one. If children are playing for 20 minutes, they just need water.”

There are other choices. Water and oranges would provide all of the recommended amounts of vitamin C for kids. Other ideas include flavoring water by adding fruit to it. Kids can also add a small amount ofjuice.