3 . You always found me on a basketball court or with a ball in my hand. It taught me many things about life. It also taught me that success requires hard work.

I played the sport up until one day my plans were cut short. I had my knee broken, unfortunately, terminating my career as a player. Giving up basketball was one of the hardest things I’ve done in my life.

I did not want to lose that part of my life forever. I decided to realize my dream of basketball from a different angle; I signed up to coach a seventh grade basketball team. I’m not going to lie, at first I was a bit apprehensive. After all, I was only a senior girl in high school coaching a seventh grade basketball team.

My basketball team consisted of seven seventh grade girls and we practiced twice a week for one hour. It was not a lot of time, which often made it difficult to make progress in skill development. However, my skills were able to develop, but not in basketball. As a coach, I am supposed to be the one teaching them. But the girls that I coached did not realize that while they were learning, so was I. My players taught me many things like patience and confidence, and above all, a better understanding of myself as a person. They taught me how to be a good role model, and how to hold myself accountable for my choices. They taught me how to heighten my love for the game, and heighten my love for seven girls I didn’t know I could grow so close to. Thank you for helping me grow as an individual and as a coach.

The Asian Games is the largest sporting event in Asia. Its predecessor (前身) was the Far Eastern Games. In 1948, Guru Dutt Sondhi, leader of Indian sports, felt the Far Eastern Games were not good enough     1     (reflect) the level of Asian sports and the unity spirit of Asian people, and suggested     2     (establish) the Asian Games so that all Asian countries could participate.

The 19th Asian Games was held in Hangzhou from September 23 to October 8, 2023,     3     12,417 athletes from all 45 Asian countries and regions participating. Several rising sports     4     are popular among young people made their first     5     (appear) at this year’s Games, such as break dance and e-sports. After a 13-year absence     6     it first appeared at the Guangzhou Games in 2010, Weiqi,     7     mind sport, returned to the Hangzhou Games. Certain     8     (region) sports in Asia, especially dragon boat racing, though not     9     (recognize) as Olympic sports,     10     (be) medal-awarded events at this Asian Games.

8 . Discover the Huge Health Benefits of Strength Training

One of the best ways to stay fit and healthy as you age is to do strength and power training exercises. It is known that when you are in your thirties, you will begin to lose muscle mass. This loss actually contributes to achy joints, the increased risk of injury, and the “middle-age spread” we all fear. What’s more, the older you get, the faster muscle mass loses. It means that eventually, simple tasks like getting out of a chair and climbing stairs can become more difficult.

Strength training can help you build muscles, make you strong, increase your staying power and make everyday activities easier. By combining strength and power training exercises, you’ll not only get stronger, but also improve your reaction speed. As you grow older, that’s critical because it can help prevent falls. Here is a book, Strength and Power Training for All Ages, for your reference.

·The key muscles to work for an injury-free body

·How to tell how much weight is suitable for you

·How to strengthen the bones most likely to break

·How to take pressure off your knees when walking or running

·Why you’ll want to apply heat to sore joints before you exercise

·Build bones

·Fight diseases

·Improve balance

·Strengthen muscles &Increase muscle power

Get a copy, start training, and then you’ll discover a whole new self.

The English Channel crossing, one of the most famous global swimming challenges,     1     (refer) to as the peak of endurance swimming.

A relay team of winter swimming     2     (enthusiasm) from Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, swam the English Channel in less than 12 hours on Friday. They     3     (choose) to swim the shortest route across the channel, the 33.8 kilometers from Dover in the UK to Cap Gris Nez, a cape near Calais in France.

In fact, the team took exactly 11 hours and 54 minutes to make the crossing,     4     (swim) more than 50 km to avoid obstacles and strong currents. During the team’s crossing, each team member swam     5     at least an hour before alternating until they reached France.

Xie Derong, a member of the team, said that although the relay went     6     (smooth) for the most part, the final 6 km proved to be an enormous test of     7     (they) endurance. “We encountered counter currents that caused us     8     (slow) down.”

    9     idea of crossing the English Channel first came to them in 2019. Training started several weeks before Friday’s swim in the Sanqi Reservoir in Wencheng county,     10     the water temperature was similar to the English Channel.