1 . 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.

2 . During my first three years of college, I put on about 30 pounds of weight. Between classwork and a part-time job, I had zero time for _______. Besides, I ate a lot of fast food. Not surprisingly, I got a fat stomach.

After leaving college, I _______ to take exercise. Invited by a friend, I began working out with exercise machines three times a week. I was the kind of person who did not try something _______. I ate the same foods; I did the same things. Clearly, I _______ my routines (习惯). My friend, however, became _______. One day, he said, “We’re not getting enough exercise. We should play tennis instead.”

Me? Play tennis? No way. I was strongly against his _______. 1 was not good at sports. Besides, I was _______ the exercise machines. However, weeks later, I found myself standing on a tennis court (球场). As I held my racket (球拍), I felt _______. I gave my friend some looks that could kill. I ran after every ball he served to me, completely _______ about 90% of them, and hitting the rest into the other court. The first few months were quite __________. But one day, as the ball enough came flying toward me, my racket and the ball finally met in the place where it is most effective to hit a ball. I watched __________ as my return landed where I had aimed (瞄准) it, I had finally. __________ how to play tennis properly!

Tennis would finally become my __________. I played it for several years, only __________ because of a knee injury. I learned a lesson during my journey toward learning to play tennis: I can do whatever I set my mind to. I just __________ to put in the work, and the results will follow.

One summer weekend, my wife, my son and I entered a running race on mountain trails. When the race started, our son took off ______, but my wife and I stayed back, enjoying the scenery. After some time, while running down a narrow, ______ trail, I walked on a big stone and had a ______. I realized I'd got my toe ______, but I didn't check my damage. Instead, we kept running.______, after going half the course, I realized my watch on my wrist was______. I encouraged my wife to go on ahead, and returned to see if I could find it. Later, I ______ my broken watch and quickly put it into my pocket. Then I ______ down the trail. In the end, I saw my son, who had finished 30 minutes earlier, had run back up the trail to ______ me. He ran with me to the end.

______ it turned out, both my wife and son had won first place in their age groups, but I had no chance of placing. After the race, I took off my shoe and found that my sock was in blood. Luckily, the race ______ had a special award for the most injured runner.

Although everyone wants to live a life of comfort, the ______ is that we often face pain and ______. However, the key to happiness is ______ pain into something positive. In other words, ______ can make us stronger if we face them bravely.

4 . Every time I passed boys who were playing basketball, I stopped to silently watch them. I really envied them. But as a girl, I once thought that I could _______ play basketball.

I like playing basketball though I’m not good at it. I’ve had a basketball _______ I was a child. At first, I could play freely because no one _______ when I was just a kid. But as I grew up it seemed harder for me to enjoy basketball. At school, boys always played basketball during PE classes. The girls were _______ allowed to play volleyball or badminton. My parents did not _______ me play basketball at home.

“Basketball is not fit for girls,” they said. _______ I went to play basketball with my friends, boys _______ at me on the court as if I were an alien. I was feeling _______ and had lost hope of playing basketball. _______, something changed the first day of high school. I made some friends who also enjoyed playing basketball. They ________ me to get back on the court.

One of them told me with a smile, “Go your own ________, let others talk.” This girl would always play basketball with me. Even the boy who sat next to me in class talked about ________ with me almost every day.

I was inspired by them. Confidence and passion ________ to my heart. I will play as well as I can, ________ for me, even the sky is boundless (无限的).

Basketball has become an important part of my ________. I am interested in it. I watch matches and enjoy playing almost every day. Through basketball, I not only feel happy and confident, but also ________ a lot.

I’ve heard the NBA star Tracy McGrady say, “Nothing is impossible.” I have ________ to realize that life is just like playing basketball. You should have an ________. After that, just be confident and ________ going. Never give up and you’ll make it sooner or later.

I love the motto of the NBA. It can ________ my strong feelings for basketball, “I love this game!”

5 . 15 years ago, when I was playing basketball in one of Australia’s premier basketball leagues, I remember a sports psychologist we had for the season. As young professional athletes with high egos (自我价值感), the team were not quite convinced the techniques of psychology would ____   performance, especially when it didn’t involve using the physical strength and endurance needed to _____ the weeks of training and games. I, ____ , was interested.

We were trained in a visualization technique used before games. It involved moving ourselves into a meditative (冥想的) state and taking ourselves on a journey into the ____ to recreate the experience of a game, From ____ home, getting to the stadium, being in the change room, walking out onto the ____ and then finally visualizing how we would play and see ourselves ____ . The most important part of the ____ was to bring to life the vivid details of each stage, while also focusing on the ____ that came with it. We were trained to ____ fear, doubt and learned to go beyond them, so that by the time we got onto the court, we were grounded, ____ and ready to play.

What I learnt most from this technique was that winning games was important but how we ____   to play was even more vital. And ____ visualization was a powerful way to see through to the ____ , there were absolutely no ____ in the hard work of getting there.

6 . Hailing from Sweden, “plogging” is a fitness craze that sees participants pick up plastic litter while jogging adding a virtuous, environmentally driven element to the sport. Plogging appears to have started around 2016, but is now going global, due to increasing awareness and __ over plastic levels in the ocean.

The appeal of plogging is its __—all you need is running gear and a bin bag, and the feeling of getting fit while supporting a good cause. By adding regular squats(蹲) to pick up junk and carrying __ to jogging. we can assume the health benefits are increased.

Running and good causes have always gone __ — just think of all the fundraising marathon runners do. But there couldn’t be a more on-trend way of keeping fit than plogging.

Anything that’s getting people out in nature and connecting __ with their environment is a good thing, says Lizzie Carr, an environmentalist who helped set up Plastic Patrol, a nationwide campaign to __ our inland waterways of plastic pollution. There’s been a real __ in the public mindset around plastics, helped by things like Blue Planet highlighting how disastrous the crisis is,” she says.

We need to keep momentum high and the pressure up, and empower people through __ like plogging and Plastic Patrol.

The plastic Patrol app allows users to __ plastic anywhere in the world by collecting discarded items, photographing them and __ to the app, giving us a better knowledge of what sorts of plastic and which brands are being thrown out. “I’d urge all ploggers to get involved,” adds Carr.

Plogging isn’t the first fitness trend to combine running with a good cause, Here are some of our favourites:

Good Gym

Its idea is simple: go for a run, visit an elderly person, have a chat and some tea, and run back.

__ among the elderly is a growing problem in the UK. With over 10,000 runs so far, __, Good Gym is finding a solution.

Guide Running

Guide runners volunteer their time to helping blind people get __. By linking themselves together, the __ —impaired individual can feel safe while both work of a sweat.

___for the Homeless

Start-up Stuart Delivery and the Church Housing Trust collaborated last year in bringing clothing and healthy food to the homeless. Deliveries are mostly made by bike, so those who deliver keep fit while helping rough sleepers(无家可归者).

7 . Although it is difficult to make direct year-to-year comparisons because of increase in viewing on digital devices, the trend over the past decade is clear in numerous studies, including the Nielsen ratings. The average age of those who watch nationally televised Major League Baseball games has been _____ these years. Asked in a survey whether they _____ baseball, nearly two-thirds of those ages 18 to 36 said no.

Michael Haupert, a professor of economics at the University of Wisconsin ----la Crosse who studies baseball as a business, explains why many young people might be _____ by what to an older and more knowledgeable fan is one of the most exciting experiences in sports: a no-hitter. ” Failure is more ______ than success,” he says. ”If my students get a third of the answers right on their test, they fail. However, if a ballplayer gets a hit a third of the time, he’s often one of the _____ .” But watch an NBA game for 15 seconds, and you will likely see one team score.

It is not surprising that ______ the length of games----about three hours in recent years-----and increasing the pace of action has become a subject of discussion among those who love baseball. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred is strongly ______ of both. For the 2018 season, the league issued a set of new rules designed to do just that. Mound visits are limited. A timer countdown is designed to shorten the break between innings(局).

No one knows if any of these changes will significantly shorten games. According to MLB, the average length of a nine-inning outing this season has been three hours---about five minutes shorter than the 2017 average, itself the longest mean on record.

All of those proposed changes seem to ______ the point. I interviewed at least 100 semi-fans in their late teens and early 20s for my recent book. All considered themselves fans to some degree, though they ______   watched more than snatches—on iPads or smartphones. They told me it made no difference whether a game lasted two or three hours: they would not pay attention for _____ amount of time.

The historic May 14 Supreme Court decision allowing all states to legalize sports betting could have an impact on all this. More people will soon be able to gamble on sports while watching a game on their couch. But whether ______ gambling will attract more young people to baseball is a huge unknown. Many already gamble, both legally and illegally, on fantasy sports, but legalization will provide yet another ______ during games in real time. Will some states allow betting reports in broadcasts? Will it make the young more likely to bet on baseball than on other sports? Stay tuned.

I don’t know what will hook young people on baseball. But abandoning the game’s unique selling proposition---the timelessness that provides both suspense and great conversationhe educated fan -----is not the ______ . Baseball, Clark told me, is like a game of chess---and too many ______ - changes might turn it into something “more similar to a game of checkers.” Baseball may survive in spite of its challenges, precisely because it stands out and stands up against the short ______ spans that negatively affect every aspect of our culture, including politics and education. As Casey Stengel is reported to have said,” Never make predictions, especially about the future. ”

8 . Cali Scores a Goal

It was the last game of the season. Cali had been playing soccer all summer. She really enjoyed __________ around with the other players in her blue uniform, chasing the black and white ball across the grassy field. As much as she tried, __________, Cali still had not scored one single goal.

“Don’t give up,” said her coach. He showed Cali and her team how to pass the ball to each other and take shots at the goal. Cali was pretty good at passing the ball, but she couldn’t kick the ball __________ the goalkeeper. She wondered if she should __________ soccer.

“Don’t give up,” said her teammates. ”You just need to keep trying and you will get __________ .” So Cali stayed on the team and did her best.

“Don’t give up,” said Aunt Lisa. But it was half-time, and Cali was feeling __________ . She was trying! Every time she got a(an) __________ to kick the ball, it would go in the __________ direction or a player from the other team would take control of it.

The break was over and the referee(裁判) blew her whistle to __________ the game again. The two __________ walked back onto the field, both __________ to win. Cali heard her aunt whisper in her ear. “Look for an opportunity to get the ball. You can do it.”

Cali took a deep breath. __________ she didn’t get one goal all summer, she knew that she had tried her best. She dreamed she’d leave her team after the game was over. Suddenly, she was woken by some __________ that was the sweet, happy jingle of the ice cream truck. It was driving right beside the soccer field, playing its music loudly to attract __________ .

The players on both teams turned to __________ at it. A few girls pointed to it and cheered. The soccer game had nearly stopped. Cali looked around and saw the soccer ball close by, __________ by the nearest player from the other team. Cali dashed over to the ball. She dribbled(带球) it between her feet, moving forward toward the net of the yellow team. By the time the other girls had __________ , Cali was positioned right in front of the net. The goalkeeper was __________ to one side, looking at the ice cream truck. She turned back __________ to guard the net as Cali kicked the ball hard.

The keeper __________ out her gloved hand. The ball touched the tips of her fingers as it swooshed past, right into the net. “Goal!”

9 . A recent study shows that more years of school could help students get higher scores on intelligence tests. That was the finding of a study of teenage males in Norway. Now, other research shows that_______activity may help students do better in their classes.

The research comes as educators in some countries are reducing time for activities like physical education. They are using the time instead for_________subjects like math and reading.

Researchers at VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam_______the results of fourteen studies, which included more than fifty-five thousand children, aged six to eighteen.

Research Amika Singh says the studies showed a _______between physical activity and scores on subjects such as Math, English and reading. “Based on the results of our study we can conclude that being physically active is_______for academic performance.”

Ms. Singh_________some possible explanations. “There are, first, physiological explanations, like more blood flow, and so more oxygen to the brain. Being physically_______means there are more hormones produced like endorphins（内啡肽）. And endorphins make your stress level lower and your mood improved, which means you also_______better.”

Also, students_______in organized sports learn rules and how to follow them. This could improve their classroom________and help them keep their mind on their work.

The study__________some questions unanswered, however. Ms. Singh says it is not possible to say whether the amounts or kind of activity________the level of academic improvement. This is because of differences among the studies.

Also, they were mostly observational studies. An observational study is where researchers do not do controlled comparisons. They only describe what they observe. So they might observe a link that students who are more active often have better grades. But that does not__________mean being active was the cause of those higher grades. Therefore, more high-quality studies are needed to ________their findings.

Still, the general finding was that physically active kids are more likely to do better in school. Ms. Singh says schools should consider that finding before they________physical education programs.

10 . After having a child, I found my regular exercise interrupted. I was not only busy: I also lacked the motivation. Solo gym sessions or some quick______following the DVD while the baby sleeps didn’t______me at all. So I decided to sign up for a hiking______in Peru, hoping that it would get me______again.

Looking over my travel arrangements before I left. I______phrases such as “3-hour hike______primitive forests” and “sliding with a rope down waterfalls”, and I started to feel a little______.

However, as we made our way through the forests and were______with amazing views of______waterfalls, this team of strangers______me to go on. Being physically active with a group motivated me to reach the______or the valley below-rather than simply lying down on the forest floor and giving up,______I might have done if I were alone.

____confirm my experience: Group exercise can really start a new attitude toward fitness. “People get a better______in a group than they do on their own,” said Allison Kimmel, a group______instructor. That’s because other people______both support and competition. “Humans are______animals and the shared experience of facing a challenge______is compelling(不可抗拒的),” said David Ezell, the CEO of fitness provider Darien Wellness.

With the______of a group, I'm slowly getting back into a______lifestyle.