Starting exercise

You want to start doing exercise? Congratulations! You have just taken your first step towards a new and improved you!

Most people assume that regular exercise does wonders for the body and mind—but what exactly are its health benefits? To start with, physical activity increases the efficiency of your heart and lungs. During exercise, your heart and lungs must work harder. This extra effort makes them grow stronger over the long term. Moreover, exercise is good for your mental health. Working out can help you reduce stress and get over negative feelings.

Exercise is any activity that gets your body moving. Exercise doesn’t have to mean breaking a sweat at the gym or running a marathon. Any physical activity counts towards improving your health — something is always better than nothing. If you are just starting exercise for the first time, remember to start at a level that is comfortable for you.

Scientists have long known that what you eat can make or break a workout and possibly affect your fitness results. Like cars that run on petrol, your body burns carbohydrates (碳水化合物) for energy. Foods like noodles, rice, fruit and vegetables give your body plenty of carbohydrates to keep up your energy during a long workout. To help your muscles recover and repair themselves after exercise, you need to eat foods rich in protein, such as fish, eggs and milk products.

Choose the right clothing and shoes for the exercise and physical activity you plan to do is also important. To prevent injury, make sure your clothes and footwear are both comfortable and safe. What’s more, remember to warm up before exercising and stretch at the end of your workout.

So, now you know the benefits of exercise and how to do it safely and effectively. What are you waiting for?

5 . In seventh grade, my mum suggested I join the golf league. _______ the fact that I had been taking golf lessons since I could walk, I had never played a real match of golf. And she _______ me to join a league? I was sure she had lost her _______. But as always, my mum _______ in the end. I played on the middle-school golf team in seventh grade… and eighth. When the summer before high school came, I was _______ to play on the high-school team.

At a time when most teenagers try to spend the smallest time possible with their _______, I was growing closer than ever to mine. That summer I _______ almost every Sunday morning on the golf course with my dad, and too many afternoons there with my mum. This incredible _______ with my parents continued during my high-school years. Mum and I thought it was because of the hours we spent together on the _______ course. We talked about things in the middle of a round of golf that we ________ would at home, where she is Mum and I am an annoying teenager. On the golf course, we are just two people who ________ golf.

Golfing has ________ a part of me over the past years. In the summer my friends know the place to find me is on the golf course. Golf has ________ me and made me into the person I am today. And I have to admit that all of it is ________ my mum making me join that middle-school golf league. In fact, she was ________ — as usual.

Exciting action, excellent organization and touching stories of athletes made the just finished 4th Asian Para Games in Hangzhou a huge success,     1     will benefit the host city and growth of Chinese para sports.

The whole world was     2     (amaze) by the high standards of the event as well as the improvement in the living conditions of people with     3     (disable) with the help of para sports in China. They     4     (live) better lives now thanks to para sports.

The Hangzhou Asian Para Games attracted over 3, 000 athletes from 44 countries, making it the     5     (large) one in the history of the Asian Para Games.

Organizing such     6     big event that went off smoothly     7     losing quality was not easy at all. The organizers will ensure the future use of all the facilities,     8     will keep building more so that more disabled people can enjoy sports.

At the Games, Team China won 521 medals,     9     (include) 214 gold medals. It’s said that it is the most successful Asian Para Games that     10     (hold) so far.

With the number of kids who play sports increasing rapidly, teaching good sportsmanship is more important than ever. And understanding how to be a good     1     is a big challenge kids must face in sports. For kids, the goals of sports should be physical activity and social interaction. So it’s important that parents and coaches should     2     having fun and getting exercise. Gotlin, who runs a youth basketball club,     3     that kids, coaches, and parents should have a meeting to go over rules before the game and remind every kid to just play and have fun.

Yangshan Half Marathon (马拉松), one of the most popular rural races in China, took place on March 28 in Yangshan town, Wuxi, East China’s Jiangsu province.

The race was part of the 25th Yangshan Peach Blossom Festival,     1     included a photography competition, a short video contest, a culture and arts festival.

Yangshan,     2     (locate) in west Wuxi’s Huishan district, is famous     3     its tasty and juicy honey peaches, which ripen between June and August.

The annual Yangshan Half Marathon, hosted three times from 2017 to 2019 (with a break due to the pandemic in 2020),     4     (be) a major event combining sports with local tourism features.

The half marathon race, which stuck to the same course as before, has been     5     (significant) upgraded (升级) and expanded this year     6     (show) the rural revitalization (复兴) efforts of west Wuxi as well as showing off Yangshan’s famous tourist     7     (attraction).

Pu Xiangfeng, deputy head of Huishan’s bureau of culture, sports and tourism, said the event this year was     8     hit.

“I really liked the marathon course. The spring in Wuxi is beautiful and the country life in Yangshan is     9     (comfort).” said Yu Tong, a sport teacher from Hubei province who won the first place in the men’s half marathon,     10     (add) that he would definitely join the race in Yangshan and Wuxi again.