1 . Tai chi, a traditional, slow-moving form of Chinese physical exercise, is known to increase flexibility and improve balance. New research has been conducted to determine whether tai chi has an influence on lowering blood pressure in people with prehypertension (高血压前期).

In the study, Chinese scientists put 342 adults with prehypertension into two groups. The average age of people taking part in the study was 49. About half the participants (参与者) took part in aerobic exercise, including jogging, climbing stairs and cycling. The other half was trained to practice tai chi. Both groups got hour-long exercises four times a week.

Nearly 22% of the people who practiced tai chi saw their blood pressure fall to be normal, compared with nearly 16% of people in the aerobic exercise group. And fewer patients in the tai chi group went on to develop high blood pressure than patients in the aerobic exercise group.

So what is it about tai chi that helps lower blood pressure? “The practice tends to get more of a response from the parasympathetic (副交感的) nervous system, which is the network of nerves that relaxes your body after periods of stress or danger,” says Ruth Taylor-Piliae, a professor at the University of Arizona’s College of Nursing.

“I think the beauty of tai chi is that you don’t have to have a special gym membership, you don’t have to have special clothing,” Taylor-Piliae says. “Once you learn tai chi, you can do it anytime and anyplace. And it does provide a calming and relaxing effect.”

Evidence suggests it can also help protect against cognitive fall and even improve memory. But you have to practice it continually to get the most benefit.

1. What is the function of paragraph 1?

A．To offer some examples.	B．To explain a definition.
C．To introduce the topic.	D．To give people suggestions.

2. What can we know about the participants in the study?

A．They were divided into two groups.	B．They suffered from heart disease.
C．They were 49 years old.	D．They got exercises five times a week.

3. What might Taylor-Piliae agree with about tai chi?

A．It can make people calm down.

B．It requires training and specialized equipment.

C．It has no influence on the parasympathetic nervous system.

D．It is suitable for individuals with aerobic exercise experience.

4. Which is the most suitable title for the text?

A．A Traditional Sport	B．The Benefits of Aerobic Exercise
C．Exploring Chinese Physical Exercise	D．Managing Blood Pressure with Tai Chi

2 . 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.

A．It could fly farther and higher than a pie tin.

B．Flying discs have a history of nearly 100 years.

C．Unlike other games, it encourages honesty and fair play.

D．All these make the flying discs popular with young people today.

E．In fact, young people enjoyed this fun activity almost a century ago.

F．Social activities like attending parties will improve your communicative skills.

3 . Imagine the perfect baguette — a kind of French bread, crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. Sri Lankan-origin baker Tharshan Selvarajah made one just like that. He was given the title of “king” of the baguette in Paris, winning the city’s oldest baguette competition in France in May, reported CNN.

At this year’s 30th edition of the contest, 176 bakers came from across the city to enter their tasty baguettes. They faced an 18-person group of judges, which consists of former winners, baking industry officials, food bloggers, and six local citizens.

The loaves must be “traditionally made”, not industrially made. They are judged on their appearance, smell, baking technique and flavor. However, 40 of them were eliminated early. Their baguettes were either too long, short, heavy, light or used the wrong flour, said CNN.

For Tharshan Selvarajah, winning the top prize was extra special. “I cried because we are foreigners and we came here to learn how to make traditional French bread,” Selvarajah told AFP. “I didn’t have the slightest idea that I could win the prize.”

That was not all that contributed to Selvarajah’s emotions. As the winner, he got 4,000 Euros (about 30,380 yuan) in prize money and the right to make baguette for the official home of the Frenchpresident for one year.

Selvarajah who owns a simple bakery in eastern Paris said his bakery’s secret is baking a certain amount every 20 minutes so it’s always hot and fresh, reported CNN.

The baguette is a cultural symbol in France. In November 2022, UNESCO recognized baguette as world heritage, reported AP. French bread can be found in every neighborhood in Paris. Oliver Polski, the mayoral deputy for commerce and artisanship, told CNN. “Industrial baking has pretty much disappeared in Paris.”

1. What does the underlined word “eliminated”in paragraph 3 probably mean?

A．Chosen as final competitors.	B．Commented carefully.
C．Refused to enter the competition.	D．Given special recognition.

2. How did Selvarajah feel after winning the baguette contest?

A．Shocked.

B．Confused.

C．Overjoyed.

D．Anxious.

3. What does Selvarajah think contributes to the success of his bakery?

A．The use of traditional French flour.	B．The freshness of bread.
C．The support of the local community.	D．The unique taste of fresh bread.

4. What does Olivia Polski think of industrial baking in Paris?

A．It is no longer popular in the city.

B．It has become more common recently.

C．It is being revived due to increased demand.

D．It will continue to exist with traditional bakeries.

4 . Knowing how many kilometers or miles per hour you’ll likely cover while hiking is of great importance.     1     It’s also important to build in time for breaks and extra time in case of bad weather or harder situations than expected.

If you’re not sure what your average hiking speed is, don’t worry.     2     Naismith’s rule is considered useful and was invented by the Scottish mountaineer William W. Naismith. It’s a great way to work out how long it will take you to complete your chosen path and it takes into consideration both distance and elevation (海拔高度).

It can be worked out as follows. One hour for every 3 miles plus an additional hour for every 600m of ascent (升高). So let’s say you wanted to know how long it would take to hike 6 miles with an elevation gain of 1,200m. That’s 2 hours for the distance and another 2 hours for the ascent, for a total of 4 hours.     3     It doesn’t include breaks.

    4     You can choose exercises that you enjoy, whether that’s running, cycling, dance classes or something else. As long as it helps you build muscle (肌肉) strength, it will help you get your average hiking speed where you want it to be. Interestingly, specific weight training also helps increase your average walking speed on the path. It’s common knowledge that hikers should focus mainly on leg strength.     5    

A．Note that’s only your hiking time.

B．There’s an easy way to work it out.

C．Your hiking speed isn’t an exact science.

D．It can ensure that you safely reach your destination.

E．But some hiking places do require you to use your upper body too.

F．Consider how to increase your hiking speed on and off the mountain.

G．One of the best ways to hike faster is to train when you’re not hiking.

5 . Taking exercise can be boring. The good news is that there are some tips which we can apply to our everyday fitness routines

•Have an objective.

When we’re playing a game, there’s always an objective. It helps us focus on the task at hand and motivates us to keep playing until we win the game. Exercise should be no different. Create a clear fitness goal.     1    .

•Add an element of whimsy (奇思妙想)

Some people love video games because there’s a lot of unexpectedness and surprise.     2    . Take photos of at least 5 different flowers on a neighborhood walk. Ride a bike from one friend’s house to another.

•    3    

In a study, a team of researchers challenged 602 overweight workers from a single company to take part in a step-tracking challenge. The group asked to compete against other workers ended up walking more steps than any other groups in the study. If we’re seeking a similar motivation, look into fitness programs that encourage friendly competition.

•Team up with others.

    4    . In that same study, another group of workers was asked to divide into teams of three. Each day, one member of the group was selected to represent the entire team with his/her individual step count of the day. This approach encouraged each member of the group to try to achieve the day’s step goal.     5    . We can try to be energetic by working towards an exercise goal together with other people.

A．Compete against others.

B．Aim to walk 10,000 steps a day, for example.

C．Play against a friend to get competitive.

D．No one wanted to let their team members down.

E．And there are plenty of digital tools that can help with this.

F．We can copy these features into our own fitness game designs.

G．Getting a group to work together is also an effective way.

6 . 语法填空

For many students，it is a great honour     1     (participate) in all kinds of     2     (compete). Some regard competitions     3    a good chance to improve themselves while others complain that on such     4     (occasion), they have no freedom and there     5     (exist) stress. In my opinion, when an opportunity comes, you should embrace it and make every effort     6     (make) it. If you fail, it is all right, because you lose nothing. Instead, during the process, you harvest experience and courage.

7 . 语法填空

Last Sunday witnessed a 5 km cross­country running race organized by our school, which both students and teachers of our school were persuaded     1     (get) actively     2     (involve) in it.

Even if all athletes     3     (sweat) a lot and their legs     4     (ache), no athlete gave up halfway.     5     (ultimate), with great determination, all the athletes did everything in their power     6     (reach) the finish line.     7     (compare) with other events, the event was highly thought of. Not only did it provide a chance for us to keep fit, but it also kept all the competitors     8     (inspire).

8 . Scientists from Georgia Tech have developed a new robot named ESTHER (Experimental Sport Tennis Wheelchair Robot), which can move around the court and even return human serves.

The team believes the robot could serve as a training partner (搭档) for professional players in the future, lowering the pressure of training with another human.

The robot is the brainchild of Georgia Tech’s Matthew Gombolay, professor of robotics in the School of Interactive Computing. He wanted to develop a better training challenge than a ball feeder that stays in one place, one that would act like an always on-call partner or even team up with someone in doubles matches. The result is ESTHER, an adapted wheelchair tennis chair that can race to balls at ten metres per second and probably outplay a human.

Mr Gombolay explains: “The wheelchair has the ability to rapidly move around the court and get into position (恰当位置) to hit a ground stroke (击落地球). ESTHER can move up to two metres after a ball is struck to hit a successful return, which is comparable to the longest distance moved by human players for 80 per cent of shots (击球).”

The robot was named in homage to well-known wheelchair tennis player Esther Vergeer, who held the world No. 1 position in women’s wheelchair tennis for almost 13 years straight.

The team placed a network of cameras around a tennis court and used computer vision algorithms (视觉算法) to help ESTHER recognise an incoming tennis ball. Using cameras from different positions, they could know where the ball is in the air and feed this information to ESTHER. The team reached a breakthrough when they successfully and continually programmed ESTHER to track the tennis ball coming toward it and to hit a return.

ESTHER will now be developed to act as a highly-skilled tennis player.

1. What is ESTHER able to do?

A．Return a shot.

B．Clean up a court.

C．Push a wheelchair.

D．Control a ball feeder.

2. What does the underlined part “in homage to” in paragraph 5 mean?

A．In search of.

B．In honour of.

C．As a result of.

D．With the help of.

3. In what way are cameras helpful to ESTHER?

A．They improve its vision.	B．They direct it to the ball.
C．They help it stay in position.	D．They picture unexpected things in the air.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．Athletes in wheelchairs	B．An all-purpose robot at home
C．Rules are changing for tennis courts	D．A robot moves around the tennis court

9 . 根据提示用本部分所学词汇的正确形式完成下列短文（每空一词）

Sports like American football and ice hockey get most of the attention when it comes to concussions (脑震荡) and other forms of brain injury. But soccer is a(n)     1     (激烈的) sport for which the head can be as important as the foot.

Heading the ball is a key soccer skill. But a new study finds that players who head the ball frequently are more likely to suffer     2     (长久的) brain injury and damage their memory than players who are less likely to use their heads.

“For many people, it’s beyond belief that a slight injury could be a problem,” said Dr. Michael Lipton, an expert of neuroradiology (神经放射学) in New York City.

Lipton and his team interviewed 37 adult soccer players from New York City and took high-tech scans (扫描) to     3     (检查) their brains. They also asked the players how often they played soccer and how often they headed the ball, and they gave the players some neurocognitive tests.

The     4     (结果) was that the researchers found no link between small amounts of heading and players’ attention, ability to control their       5     (速度) when they move, or ability to manage complex thinking tasks. However, Lipton warned players not to ignore the possible risks of heading the ball too many times. Players could safely head the ball 885 to 1,550 times a year. It took almost 1,800 times a year for players to have trouble with their memory.