I was never a fast runner and thus I always didn’t like running. Throughout my childhood, whenever we competed in the 50-meter run, the 400-meter, or any other type of race, I would finish in the bottom half. In my late teens, as a member of a baseball team, I was the slowest runner on the team. In the preseason training, I was always the one running by myself at the end.
Therefore, twenty years later, when I entered my first official running race — a 3,000-meter challenge in my city — at age 38, I certainly didn’t expect to win or come close to winning.
I was there because my college friend Jim Hosek was the director of the race, and he asked me to run. The race was aimed at raising money for the unfortunate patients in a hospital and encouraging the patients and their fanilies to be brave, determined, and confident with sportsmanship.
It was a heartwarming program.I wanted to support it, so I showed up, paid the entrance fee, had a number pinned (把……别住) on my back, and moved over to the starting line. There, I waited with about 300 other runners for the race to begin. I was nervous. Would I be the last one to finish a race again? Could I even finish the race? I wondered.
Before long, someone spoke into a microphole, “Anyone weighing over 200 pounds comes down to the scale (秤), please.” Knowing I was over 200 pounds, I walked down to the scale. A man told me to stand on it. “Two hundred and three pounds,” he said. Then he wrote down the race number that was on my back. Out of curiosity, I asked him why he did so,and then I was told there would be an award ceremony (仪式) after the race. One award was for the first finisher in the over 200-pound group, and this special award would be announced at the end of the ceremony.
Not expecting the award, I ran towards the starting line, never realizing there were only two runners weighing over 200 pounds.
Paragraph 1:Soon after, the race started.
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Paragraph 2:
Then came the last award, and to my surprise, my name was announced.
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“World record broken!” On Aug 12, 2022, 17-year-old Ma Jiajun from Jilin excitedly posted
He has set a new world record for “the most consecutive jump rope triples (连续三摇跳绳)” with 701 times. Ma is more than 180 centimeters tall, but he used to be short and thin in primary school.
“The training was much
After breaking the record, Ma
3 . Instead of working overtime in hopes of getting a pay rise, maybe you should go to the gym, as it could make you just as happy as that extra money.
An interesting new study shows people who are physically active have a greater sense of well-being (幸福) than those who are inactive, and that active people feel as good as inactive people who earn $25,000 more per year.
Researchers from Oxford and Yale Universities used data collected from 1.2 million Americans. They were asked, “How many times have you felt mentally unwell in the past 30 days, for example because of stress, depression, or emotional problems?” They were also asked about their exercise habits, choosing from 75 different physical activities, including mowing the lawn, doing housework, running, weightlifting, and cycling.
The researchers found that people who exercised often felt had for an average of 35 days per year while inactive people felt bad for an additional 18 days. All exercise types had a good influence. Social physical activities, for example team sports, were considered to have a better influence although cycling ranked highly.
However, it is possible to get too much exercise. According to a study, the mental health of those who exercised for more than three hours a day suffered more than that of those who weren’t physically active. The proper amount seems to be three to five times per week, lasting 30 to 60 minutes each.
1. What’s mainly talked about in the first two paragraphs?| A．Doing exercise brings happiness. | B．Working overtime is bad for our health. |
| C．Going to the gym can help get a pay rise. | D．Exercising can make us healthy. |
| A．Oxford and Yale Universities | B．the physical activities |
| C．the researchers | D．1.2 million Americans |
| A．Problems and Advice | B．Sports and Health |
| C．Sports and Wealth | D．Education and Health |
“Village Basketball Association” or “Village BA” is
The village-level basketball
5 . With our already busy lives, finding time to exercise can feel like one more thing on our “to do” list. So maybe it would help if there was “a best time” to exercise? Could exercising at certain times help maximise our fitness goals?
So, good news is for early birds, but what if you’re not a morning person?
But our bodies are different, after all, so the best time to exercise may be different too. A 2022 study from Skidmore College, New York, looked at exactly this question and the results showed that there are some differences. Want to reduce your blood pressure and you’re a woman? Exercise in the morning. Want to improve your heart health and you’re a man?
So what time is best?
| A．Evening is better for you. |
| B．The answer is ‘yes’, but it’s easier than you think. |
| C．It seems the answer is: whatever time is best for you! |
| D．There are clear benefits to exercising in the morning. |
| E．You can hurt yourself by more exercising in the afternoon or evening. |
| F．Many people have more free time in the morning than later in the day. |
| G．Working out in the afternoon or evening also has benefits, just different ones. |
Sixth-grader Zoey York is fast becoming famous in the sporting world of Brazilian jiu-jitsu (柔术), winning national competitions and earning lots of honors.
In September 2020, when Zoey was 10, her brother took a jiu-jitsu class just
In the gym where Zoey trains, she is
“I couldn’t ask for a
7 . A cheerleader amazed everyone at the Nebraska State High School Cheer & Dance Championship (锦标赛).
Just two weeks before the competition, something unexpected happened. Morrill High School cheer coach (教练) April Ott
And that was exactly
“It was the last competition in my high school life. It was certainly out of my comfort zone,” said Katrina. “That was not something I would
Katrina’s story
As for her advice to others, Katrina smiled, “Never back off. You’re
| A．acquired | B．reminded | C．broke | D．exchanged |
| A．hurried up | B．gave up | C．broke up | D．shot up |
| A．conditions | B．potentials | C．resources | D．ideas |
| A．equally | B．informally | C．originally | D．alone |
| A．where | B．why | C．what | D．when |
| A．funniest | B．loudest | C．youngest | D．strictest |
| A．dancing | B．advancing | C．watching | D．struggling |
| A．viewed | B．directed | C．judged | D．encouraged |
| A．adventure | B．management | C．operation | D．performance |
| A．mainly | B．normally | C．finally | D．immediately |
| A．usual | B．passive | C．wrong | D．low |
| A．inspired | B．attracted | C．comforted | D．discouraged |
| A．kept up with | B．broke away from | C．stood up for | D．took advantage of |
| A．efforts | B．challenges | C．desires | D．opportunities |
| A．stronger | B．luckier | C．smarter | D．kinder |
The New York Marathon (马拉松) is my goal for this year. I know I am never going to win a race but now, when I get anything negative, I will think of the kind gentleman who really believed, “You very good… you very fast.”
At the time, I was living in the Bay Area, and my mother had come to visit for a few days. On the last day of her stay, I was preparing to go out for a run. I picked up a T-shirt I just bought the other day from a Chinese clothing shop — it had some Chinese characters on the front, and a scene of Honolulu Chinatown on the back. I didn’t speak Chinese, but somehow this special T-shirt was quite soft and good for exercise.Working in a very negative environment, I found morning runs very beneficial — body tired but mind awake.
And I had always met an elderly Chinese gentleman walking on the opposite side of the trail (道路) when I was running on other mornings. I had always said, “Good morning,” and he had always smiled warmly and nodded his head slightly.
As I was going out the door, my mother suddenly said, “I don’t think running is so hot — that famous runner died.” I started to recount what I had read about Jim Fixx, and how running had probably been the contributing factor to his living far longer than most of the other members of his family, but I knew there was absolutely no point.
As I started running on my favorite trail, I found I couldn’t shake my mother’s statement. I was so discouraged that I could hardly run. I began thinking, “Why do I run at all? Serious runners probably think I look silly! I might have a heart attack on the trail — my dad had a fatal (致命的) heart attack at 50 years old, and he was seemingly in better shape than I am.”
注意：1. 续写词数应为150个左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
My mother’s statement remained in my mind like a giant blanket.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Upon hearing the man’s words, I felt more unexplained strength in my step.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________9 . Joy Chapman,70, retired from work in 2018 but decided she’d never become a “boring” granny. She joined local gym and got herself a hard workout routine which sees her in the gym every day for two and a half hours. She said, “I was afraid of turning 70, but I don’t feel my age at all.”
As her confidence in the gym improved, she hardly spent a day without going to the gym. “When I first started, I would come home feeling tired,” she said. “Every muscle ached, but as I progressed, my fitness levels improved and I got better. I would never have believed in 100 years that I would love the gym so much.”
Joy said, “Working out and staying fit stops things from getting me down.” The granny has been longing for living since losing her husband in 2011, when he was just 58—making Joy realize life is valuable. She said, “My husband died very young and very quickly. He became ill in February, was diagnosed (诊断) in March and died on April 22. No one could believe it. Everybody was shocked at his death. When he died, it made me think deeply of my life and I am quite a confident and strong person as a result.”
Every day when she does her workouts, Joy meets up with a group of pals who help keep her young. She said, “I’ve made brilliant friends. As soon as I step in the gym, there is friendly humour with the receptionists, the trainers, the cleaner-everyone. They all think I’m mad, but in a nice way. I’m the fittest granny in the town. I’d advise other people in later life not to be scared by the gym. Give it a go, because it’s just great.”
1. What caused Joy to hardly feel her age?| A．She worked out hard in a gym regularly. | B．She met with a lot of humorous friends. |
| C．She never felt exhausted from workouts. | D．She was shocked at the loss of her husband. |
| A．Exhausted. | B．Addicted. | C．Scared. | D．Bored. |
| A．It made her strong to overcome the misfortune. | B．It helped her to live a regular life happily. |
| C．It encouraged her to be kind and humorous. | D．It made her feel never bored at the age of 70. |
| A．Meeting young people to keep yourself young. | B．Playing kind jokes with cleaners at the street. |
| C．Having a try at the gym. | D．Making as many brilliant friends as you can. |
| capable disease relieve strengthen oxygen regular |
