3 . Mark asked, “Do you think they’ll let me play?” Mark’s father knew that few boys would want someone like Mark, mentally and physically disabled, on their team, but the father still approached to ask the boys if Mark could play. They exchanged glances with each other and said, “We’ll try to put him in to bat.”

Mark struggled over to the team’s bench and his father had a small tear in his eye and warmth in heart. The boys saw the father’s joy at his son being accepted.

In the bottom of the final inning, Mark was scheduled to be at bat. Everyone knew that a hit was almost impossible. The first pitch (投) came and Mark missed. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to throw the ball softly towards Mark. As the pitch came in, Mark swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher.

The pitcher could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman, but he just threw the ball right over the head of the first baseman, beyond the reach of all teammates. The audience and the players from both teams started screaming, “Mark, run to first!” Never in his life had Mark ever run that far but made it to first base, wide-eyed and shocked.

By the time Mark rounded towards second base, the smallest guy on their team, who had a chance to be the hero for his team for the first time, understood the pitcher’s intentions and he too intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third baseman’s head.

All were screaming. “Mark, run to third.” As Mark rounded third, all were on their feet, crying, “Mark, run home!” Mark ran to home, stepped on the home base and was cheered as the hero who won the game for his team. Tears rolled down the father’s cheeks.

That day, the boys from both teams helped bring true love and humanity into this world.

The devices are designed to record your physical activity. They are usually worn around the wrist, where they measure a person’s heart rate. The research team looked at two groups of individuals. The first wore a fitness tracker and took part in health counseling (咨询) with experts to consider the best weight-loss plan. The researchers compared this group with people who only got health counseling.

The study found that those only speaking with the health experts lost nearly 6 kilograms, but those using a fitness tracker lost only 3.5 kilograms. John Jakicic, the lead researcher, questioned the use of electronic devices for weight control in place of “effective behavioral counseling for physical activity and diet. ”

The study involved 470 subjects aged between 18 and 35. Some of them were overweight, while others were considered obese (肥胖的). Over three fourths of the subjects were women. All the subjects were told to increase physical activity and start on a low-calorie diet. They had their weight measured once every six months. After six months, researchers divided the group into two parts: one continued with monthly counseling, while members of the other group were given a fitness tracker. Eighteen months later, both groups “showed significant improvements in fitness, physical activity, and diet,” with no major difference between groups. However, when it came to losing weight, the people who only spoke with experts lost nearly twice as much weight.

Jakicic said, “the study’s findings are important because effective long-term treatments are needed to address America’s obesity. ” More information is needed, he added, to learn how to best use these devices to change “physical activity and diet behaviors” in adults who want to lose weight.