2 . Taking exercise in a crowded, noisy gym will improve your muscle but may not make much difference in your stress level. By contrast, hiking improves not only your physical fitness level, but your mental health as well. “I hike with friends every week. Whether I am wandering down a flat path along a river or climbing a rock y mountain in the wilderness, hiking can be beneficial to me because it exposes (使接触) me to outdoor scenes such as mountain s and rivers, which can always offer me good ideas about paintings and music,” Marry Copper, a hiker said.

Experts agree that hiking reduces stress. According to the Anxiety Disorders Association of America (ADAA), hiking increases the body’s production of endorphins, a type of chemical that improves mood (情绪). Endorphins also help you sleep more soundly, which will lower your stress level. However, not all scientists agree that hiking raises your endorphin level. Instead, some researchers believe that hiking causes the release of the chemical norepinephrine, which helps make you less excited or upset.

The controversy (争议) is ongoing, but it is clear that however it happens, hiking is useful when you are feeling anxious. Hiking can also help improve your confidence. Walking down a path is a repetitive motion, which can lead your brain into relaxing; you may “zone out” to the point where you won’t be thinking about anything in particular. Being outside in the open air may also help you exercise better because most people do indoors; getting out from under a roof can lift your spirits.

Hiking may improve your mood more than a gym workout will, but your risks are also greater. People sometimes try to make their own way rather than stick to established paths. They are proud to say they like to have an adventure. However, people who try to do something new could be attacked by wildlife and get hurt and lost. So stick to the known roads and bring a cellphone with you, and always tell someone where and when you are going hiking, even if you have a partner going with you.

5 . Do you think you are too old to do something? Just go online and ________ the video of John Harrison doing the 50m backstroke in 2014.

He ________ the 100-104 years world record by 15 seconds! Yes, you read that ________. The 100-104 years group! A time of 1:29.78. The first ever British man to set records in that age group. The applause (掌声) is long-lasting and heartfelt from all the crowd. A(n) ________ moment.

John loved swimming. He still tried to keep ________ by swimming in his last years before he passed away at the age of 105 in January 2020. Many of John’s friends speak ________ of him saying he was a “wonderful man”.

John was born in Farnborough on 25 July, 1914. And his ________ in swimming was unusual. “When I was five years old, on the way home from school, I came across a small pond,” he said ________, “so I went swimming. It taught me two things. One, to swim; and two, not to drink the water.”

“My parents ________ two years later that I was still doing it. They were ______ at first. But their anger soon ________” when I said, “I didn’t get asthma (哮喘病) last winter. They then bought me a costume and ________ me swimming skills.”

However, John didn’t start swimming ________ until his wife told him to stop teaching swimming and life-saving classes and ________ the sport for himself at the age of 79. From then on, he didn’t look back and was full of praise for everyone who ________ him during his successes.

6 . In July 2021, kids from around the world watched the first appearance of skateboarding at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. The four medal events for men and women in park and street boarding showed the gifts of 80 athletes from all over the world.

Bryce Wettstein is one of the top competitors from the United States in park skateboarding, which requires athletes to show skills that combine (使结合) art and athleticism in a bowl that looks like an empty swimming pool. At 17, Bryce shows her skills in a way that celebrates the skateboarding community.

Skateboarding began in the late 1940s and early 1950s in small Southern California beach towns. Born into this community, Bryce has won a place at the center of the sport. “Skateboarding just seems like it can be everything and anything all washed together in some washing machine of color,” she said.

Bryce shares her California hometown with international skateboard pioneer Tony Hawk. He was chosen by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as an ambassador (大使) in its “Stronger Together” competitive sport, which celebrates this year’s athletes. In an IOC video, Hawk summarized the unlikely rise of skateboarding. “We used to see ourselves as a family of misfits (不合群),” he said. “But now the world calls us Olympians.”

Skateboarders celebrate each other’s natural abilities and achievements, while working to help the sport develop. This is shown in the friendship between Bryce and top Australian competitor Poppy Starr Olsen. Both athletes have dreamed of acting for their own countries at the Olympic Games since they skateboarded together as kids.

“I think skateboarding is going to be really different from all the other sports,” Poppy said. “We’re all kind of like a family.” Bryce agreed. “That’s what makes skateboarding such a great sport,” she said.

A Californian woman has become a fitness influencer in her 50s after losing more than 40 pounds and taking up bodybuilding.

Denise Kirtley, 52, was inspired     1     (turn) her life around two months before her 50th birthday after finding that her wedding ring no longer fit on her finger.

“When I     2     (start) my transformation in 2020, I had been sedentary (惯于久坐不动的) for     3     long while,” Kirtley explained. She began lifting light weights in her spare bedroom, saying she was     4     unfit for the first two weeks that she quickly felt     5     (breath) and tired. But Kirtley said the secret to     6     (get) started on a body transformation is     7     (simple) to repeat workouts five times per week because action “often precedes (先于) motivation.”

“Action leads to more action. We can’t wait for motivation to kick in as it usually comes     8     (late),” she said. “If you can start taking action, any action, you will build momentum (推进力). That momentum will push you forward. It DOES get easier.”

The 52-year-old said she’s also transformed her attitude toward growing older. “We really do get to choose     9     we age. It’s all about your mindset,” she said. “Old and aging are very different — there’s nothing wrong     10     aging, and I embrace (欣然接受) my age. I’m aging, but I’m strong and spirited.”

9 . How to Fall Off a Skateboard Safely

Skateboarding is very popular exercise. Learning how to fall safely in the course of skateboarding will keep you safer and relatively pain-free. In skateboarding, falling is a big part. It’s unavoidable.     1    

Roll to land on your shoulder or back instead. When you fall, roll to land on your shoulder or back instead, tucking (收拢) in your elbows. The roll takes the energy out of the fall. If you can, roll with the fall — land on your shoulder and let the force of the fall play itself out with the roll.     2     Keep your limbs loose to absorb the fall. Stiffening up (变得僵硬) increases the risk of breaking bones.

Learn to run out of tricks. This is where you try something thrilling and the board goes wrong and you catch yourself running.     3     But if you do this right, you’ll get out of a lot of falls!

Wear kneepads on ramps (斜坡). If you are skateboarding on ramps, wearing kneepads can keep you safer from injuries. Teach yourself to always fall to your knees and slide down the ramp.     4     Just run up the side of a ramp, drop to your knees and then slide down. Practice like this for a while to get it in your head.

    5     Your instincts (直觉) when you fall are to throw your hands out. But you shouldn’t do that when there’s concrete below you. You could break your wrists. You can buy wrist guards for skateboarding. These can help if you’re afraid of catching yourself with your hands. But it’s better to learn to overlook and control your instincts so you can fall more carefully.

10 . You throw a flying disc (飞盘). Your friend catches it. Well done!

Flying discs are fun toys. They are becoming popular in China. On the Internet, there are more than thousands of posts about disc games, talking about things like rules and dress codes.

Flying discs are very beginner-friendly. It is easy for anyone to throw a disc almost anywhere they want to, from a field to a beach. No special skills are needed. Boys and girls can also play together, making it a good activity to socialize.     1    

For those who want to compete, there are many choices. They can try the team disc sport called “ultimate”.     2     There are no judges. You must overcome your desire to cheat. Put simply, it makes us better people. In another game called “disc golf”, players try to hit faraway targets with a disc. Like in golf, the lowest number of throws wins.

    3     They started with pie tins (烤盘), which inspired the birth of the toy. After enjoying the pies, some university students soon found that the empty pie tins could be tossed (扔)around. They had great fun with them in the 1930s. In 1948, a man named Walter made a plastic disc with his partner Warren.     4     The discs quickly became popular.