2 . Many hear endlessly how good exercise is for our health,but you might be surprised to know just how good.    1    

It helps you breathe better.

Frequent exercise improves the volume of oxygen you can use in your body.This is what makes you fit and the benefits aren’t limited to sport.    2     Attending some professional courses can build core strength and improve shape,and so strengthen breathing muscles. 

Physical activity enhances your mental health.

Doing something active releases “happy” brain chemicals that make you more positive.The more you do it,the better you’ll feel.But you do need to work up a sweat.If you’ve had a bad day,treat yourself to a little bit of exercise.    3    

    4    

The way your guts (内脏) feel often impacts on your mental and physical health.Walking,running and yoga strengthen abdominal (腹部的)muscles,increase the heart rate and encourage your muscles to move digestive waste through your body more efficiently and digest food more quickly.

Keeping active keeps you young.

There may not be an elixir (灵丹妙药) of youth just yet,but keeping fit comes close.Just 15 minutes of exercise a day for eight years can increase your lifespan by three years.The more you do,the longer you could live.    5     It can be low-intensity exercise—swimming,a long walk on a running machine at the gym,or a low-intensity workout via special APPs.

3 . Exercise and I had never had a good relationship due to my fear of sports. From a young age, my dad _______ me into a dozen sports. I didn’t like any of them, _______.

When I entered the University of Regina, my dad _______ telling me “You have to find a way to stay _______.” or “You don’t want to get the Freshman 15, do you?” So I _______ to give swimming a shot, but I _______ managed to go to the pool twice during the fall semester (学期). Worse still, I was _______ to convince myself that’s OK.

The spring semester came. A friend of mine _______ me if I wanted to try Zumba (尊巴) with her. All I knew about Zumba was that it was basically a kind of exercise: dancing to Latin pop songs. It didn’t sound too bad, but I couldn’t be _______.

I went, and that was it. Zumba became my ________ of tea. The instructor would always say, “Don’t worry about the steps. Have fun. Do your own thing.” That removed my ________ of sports. I didn’t have to be ________. I didn’t even have to be good. I just needed to ________ the music and move. Zumba did ________ me from the Freshman 15, and it also did so much more. It let me make ________ with my unpleasant past about physical exercise, and enjoy staying healthy.

4 . The beach may seem like an inviting place to run on a cool summer morning, but is running on the sand good for your body? It can be, but it’s important to be aware of the challenges that some beach runners experience before you get ready.

Running on the beach can be a good thing. It’s certainly different from running on a track or a pavement. For starters, sand can be a challenge because it has an uneven(不平坦的) surface. As you push off, you’re going to lose some of your push as the sand moves. So, you’re not going to be able to push yourself forward as you would on a track or a pavement. But this unevenness has an upside: It gives your body an extra workout, forcing you to exercise muscles that don’t get as much use during runs on firm surfaces. For example, your feet, ankles and lower back might feel sorer and more tired than usual after a beach run just because the surface is constantly moving and changing step to step.

You also might feel sore afterward because beaches tend to slope (倾斜) down to the water. If you’re going for a long run on the beach, you might notice that one side of your body might feel sorer because you’re putting more pressure on it due to the slope.

Some beach runners prefer to run barefoot-- not wearing anything on feet. However, if you’re not used to barefoot running, start slowly and don’t run long distances at first. That’s because running barefoot uses more different muscles than running with shoes does, and it’s important to strengthen these muscles and adapt your feet. If you want to run barefoot and as long as you run carefully enough into it, go for it!

Running on the sand can be a smart choice for you, because running on softer ground surfaces can reduce muscle damage.

9 . On Wednesday, nearly 300 kids will take part in the National Spelling Bee. Fewer will make it to the following day’s semifinals, where one mistake means elimination(淘汰). I’d bet that many of them will be silently praying—not on the first word. I knew it because I was there 17 years ago.

I was 14 year old then. My mother and I had flown from Kentucky to Washington, but she was no strange to the capital. My older sister had already competed at nationals.

When my sister was 14 and I was 12, we trained together. We began with the Suggested List given out at school—hundreds of words printed on a poster that folded up like a map. When the words along the creases(折痕) began to disappear, we bought additional spelling bodes.

Sometimes my mother tested us, reading words most English teachers wouldn’t know how to pronounce, let alone my Indian-born mother. When she pointed out the misspelled words, I blamed her accent for my errors!

When it was my turn, I approached the microphone and waited for my first word.

The announcer was somewhere to my left, a man who pronounced clearly. “Barbican,” he said.

It seemed that my competitors were secretly complaining at the relative ease of my word. Would they laugh at me if I couldn’t spell it? Would my mother be disappointed in me? That last syllable could go two ways: C-A-N or C-O-N. Which one was right? Finally I decided on C-O-N.

Of course, I was eliminated and guided to the Comfort Room, where parents couldn’t enter. Inside, recent losers were sitting around a table abundant with junk food.

We casually mentioned the words that defeated us, like a special ceremony to welcome each new arrival. Then we changed the subjects if we’d already moved on from missed words and lost opportunities.

Eventually, I went out and saw my mother.

“Well,” she said, “I guess you won’t be doing this again.” Yes, next year I would be 25 and not allowed to take part in the competition.

A swing (秋千) could be important for learning, according to one girls’ school. At Brighton Girls, a private school for children     1     (age) 4-18, a swing is to be installed in the sixth-form study center after some of the teenagers asked for one.

After some research, the headmistress, Rosie McColl, said she discovered a swing would be     2     (benefit). She said, “I knew     3     student in a previous school who used to go out and swing in a park between lessons.     4     (current), what we are doing is bringing the swing into the school     5     (help) build a culture. This leads to better results     6     students in terms of both their wellbeing and academic achievement.”

Recent studies show physical activity can improve brain function as well as calming the mind and body, at a time when     7     (anxious) among teenagers is at record levels. So far, McColl’s decision     8     (support) by parents, including Sam Cartwright-Hatton, a psychologist at Sussex University,     9     wrote a letter to the government before schools returned in September calling for new, more creative lessons to help children settle back into class.

McColl advises students     10     (prepare) for exams over the Christmas holiday to find a swing in a local park between revision classes. “No one is ever too old to go on the swings, to play, to think and to dream,” she said.