1 . Running is often tiring and a lot of hard work, but nothing beats the feeling you get after finishing a long workout around the track.

But while it’s long been believed that endorphins (内啡肽) —chemicals in the body that cause happiness—are behind the so-called “runner’s high”, a study suggested that there may be more to this phenomenon than we previously knew.

According to a recent study published by a group of scientists from several German universities, a group of chemicals called endocannabinoids (内源性大麻素) may actually be responsible for this familiar great feeling.

To test this theory, the scientists turned to mice. Both mice and humans release high levels of endorphins and endocannabinoids after exercise. After exercising on running wheels, the mice seemed happy and relaxed and displayed no signs of anxiety. But after being given a drug to block their endorphins, the mice’s behavior didn’t seem to change. However, when their endocannabinoids were blocked with a different drug, their runners’ high symptoms seemed to fade.

“The long-held notion of endorphins being responsible for the runner’s high is false. Endorphins are effective pain relievers, but only when it comes to the pain in your body and muscles you feel after working out,” Patrick Lucas Austin wrote on science blog Lifchacker.

Similar studies are yet to be carried out on humans, but it’s already known that exercise is a highly effective way to get rid of stress or anxiety. The UK’s National Health Service even prescribes (开药 方) exercise to patients who are suffering from depression. “Being depressed can leave you feeling low in energy, which might put you off being more active. Regular exercise can improve your mood if you have depression, and its especially useful for people with mild to moderate (中等的) depression,” it wrote on its website.

It seems like nothing can beat that feeling we get after a good workout, even if we don’t fully understand where it comes from. At least if we’re feeling down, we know that all we have to do is to put on our running shoes.

1. What did scientists from German universities recently discover?

A．Working out is a highly effective way to treat depression.

B．The runner’s high could be caused by endocannabinoids.

C．Endorphins may contribute to one’s high spirits after running.

D．The level of endorphins and endocannabinoids could affect one’s mood.

2. Why did the scientists give mice drugs in their experiment?

A．To find what reduces the runner’s high symptoms.

B．To see the specific symptoms of the runner’s high.

C．To identify what is responsible for the runner’s high.

D．To test what influences the level of endocannabinoids released.

3. What does the underlined word “notion” mean?

A．Effect.

B．Goal.

C．Opinion.

D．Question

4. What can we know about regular workouts according to the UK’s National Health Service?

A．They can help ease depression symptoms.

B．They are the best way to treat depression.

C．They only work for those with serious depression.

D．They can help people completely recover from depression.

2 . 为增强学生体质，你校将在下周举办一次“Love Sports, Love Life”的体育活动。假定你是学生会主席李华，请你用英文写一篇倡议信，呼吁同学们积极进行体育锻炼。

内容要点包括：

1.活动的目的；

2.进行体育运动的益处；

3.提出倡议，表达期待。

注意：1．词数 80 左右；

2．开头已给出，不计入总词数。

Dear friends,

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

With best wishes.

The Students’ Union

7 .     1    . The legendary volleyball coach Lang Ping gave the answer in the recent documentary (纪录片) The Iron Hammer.

The documentary displays Lang’s inspiring journey from her gold medal victory as a volleyball player in the 1984 Olympics to her amazing career as a successful coach for both Team USA from 2005 to 2008 and China since 2013. She was the first person to win Olympic volleyball gold as a player and coach. Lang Ping revealed the secret to such remarkable achievements in the documentary. As she said, “    2    ”.

    3    . Troubled by severe injuries to her cervical vertebra, back, waist and knees, caused by intense exercise and hard work, the 60-year-old has undergone more than 10 surgeries. “No parts of my body function well,” she joked.

But illness is certainly not the only difficulty Lang has faced. In 2005, she struggled with balancing raising her daughter Lydia Bai Lang, who lived in the US, and her coaching career. She eventually decided to work for USA Volleyball that year.     4    “I’m proud of being Chinese”   Lang responded in an interview. Later she returned to head the Chinese women ’s volleyball team in 2013, leading the team successfully defending its World Cup crown with a perfect record of 11 straight wins last year.

There is no doubt that Lang is one of the greatest players and coaches in history. As an American athlete commented in the documentary,     5    .

A．Who is Lang Ping?

B．Lang is the hardest to defeat.

C．I believe volleyball was my life.

D．What makes one a great person?

E．Glory and challenges go hand in hand.

F．Lang Ping is like Michael Jordan in our minds.

G．This decision aroused a lot of negative comments in China.

8 . All over the world people enjoy sports. Sports help to keep people healthy and happy, and to live longer.     1    . They buy tickets or turn on their TVs to watch the games. Often they get very excited when their player or team wins.

    2     Football, for example, has spread around the world. Swimming is popular in all countries near the sea or in those with many rivers. What fun it is to jump into a pool or lake, whether in China, Egypt or Italy!     3    . Think how many lovers to skate or ski in Japan, Norway or Canada.

Some sports or games go back thousands of years, like running or jumping. Chinese wushu, for example, has a very long history. But basketball and volleyball are rather new. Neither one is a hundred years old yet.    4    . Water-skiing is one of the newest in the family of sports.

People from different countries may not be able to understand each other, but after a game together they often become good friends.     5    . One learns to fight hard but fight fair, to win without pride and to lose with grace.(胜不骄，败不馁)

A．And think of people in cold countries.

B．Sports help to train a person’s character.

C．Not a few people like sports in the world.

D．Many people like to watch others play games.

E．People aren’t inventing new sports or games.

F．Some sports are so interesting that people everywhere take part in them.

G．People are inventing new sports or games all the time.

9 . 语篇填空

The term “extreme sports”, which we might have seen on a magazine or a website,     1    (be) becoming more and more common as the concept of extreme sports gains     2     (popular). But what are extreme sports on earth?

During the 1970s and 1980s, the term was used for sports with high risks     3     (involve). Today, however, the sports also include activities that give a feeling of adventure without    4    (necessary) putting a participant’s life in danger. For every extreme sport, there is professional equipment that has been developed     5     (protect) your body, improve your performance and give you    6     advantage in the competition.

Extreme sports cover a wide range. Some     7     (develop) from familiar activities so far, like mountain biking, climbing and drag race. Some may not be well known. For instance, bouldering is a kind of rock climbing     8     no rope is used.     9     usually takes place in an area with large rocks or in climbing center.

Nowadays, such sports have become more popular     10     young people all over the world than ever before.

10 . Before there was the written word, there was the language of dance. Dance expresses love and hate, joy and sorrow, life and death, and everything else in between.

    1    We dance from Florida to Alaska, from north to south and sea to sea. We dance at weddings, birthdays, office parties and just to fill the time.

“I adore dancing,” says Lester Bridges, the owner of a dance studio in Iowa. “I can’t imagine doing anything else with my life.” Bridges runs dance classes for all ages. “Teaching dance is wonderful.     2    It’s great to watch them. For many of them, it’s a way of meeting people and having a social life.”

    3    “I can tell you about one young couple,” says Bridges. “They’re learning to do traditional dances. They arrive at the class in low spirits and they leave with a smile.     4    ”

So, do we dance in order to make ourselves feel better, calmer, healthier? Andrea Hillier says, “Dance, like the pattern of a beating heart, is life. Even after all these years, I want to get better and better.    5     I find it hard to stop! Dancing reminds me I’m alive.”

A．So why do we dance?

B．Dance in the U.S. is everywhere.

C．If you like dancing outdoors, come to America.

D．My older students say it makes them feel young.

E．I keep practicing even when I’m extremely tired.

F．Dancing seems to change their feeling completely.

G．They stayed up all night long singing and dancing.