1 . 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.

2 . The first basketball game was played in the late 19th century in Massachusetts, America. On a cold winter day,_______it was impossible to do much outdoor sports, Canadian Doctor James Naismith came up with the idea of a new ball game,_______he hoped people would enjoy during the long winter months.

James wrote some simple rules for the new ball game, most of_______rules are still in place today. But some of the rules have changed a bit. For example, in the original game rules, bouncing the ball was prohibited.

After the new ball game was introduced to the public, it was such a hit_______attracted many people’s attention. Many people came to indoor sports centers in groups______they could avoid the extremely low temperature outdoors to play this new ball game together. The first basketball game_______consisted of 18 players was standard to the baseball teams of the day.

Since Naismith didn’t have the money to design a new ball, early games used the soccer ball,______the price was relatively low. Later on,William R. Chase made the ball go into the basket, and thus became the first player to ever score in a basketball game. It was during this game_______someone suggested a name for this new sport --- basketball.

3 . In the World Cup, the U. S. and England aren't traditionally rivals. But, off the field, a different type of ______ has dominated for more than a century: what to call the world's most popular sport.

To Americans, it's soccer. The most of the rest of the world (including England, the birthplace of the modern sport), it's football. But what most people don't know is that the word "soccer" is not ______ an American invention. On the contrary, it was a(n) ______ from England, and one that was commonly used there until relatively recently, when it became too much of an Americanism for British English to bear.

At least, that's the ______ made by Stefan Szymanski, a professor of sports economics at the University of Michigan. In a paper from 2014, Szymanski writes that "soccer" ______ late 19th-century England, as a way of differentiating between variants of the game which at the time did not have a commonly ______ set of rules.

In the early 1800s in England, football and rugby existed as different ______ of the same game. But in 1863, the Football Association was ______ to standardize the rules of football so that nobles boys from different schools could play against one another. In 1871, the Rugby Football Union followed suit. The two sports ______ became known as Rugby Football and Association Football.

In England, Szymanski writes, noble boys ______ the shortened terms "rugger" and "soccer" to differentiate between Rugby Football and Association Football. To support this argument, he cites a letter to The New York Times, published in 1905: "It was a ______ to Oxford and Cambridge to use 'er' at the end of many words, such as foot-er, sport-er, and as Association did not take an 'er' easily, it was, and is, sometimes spoken of as Soccer."

And the term, Szymanski says, was widely ______ in England through the first half on the twentieth century. It became even more popular after World War II - driven, he suggests, by the number of American soldiers in the country and the ______ with American culture around the world that came after the war.

But by the 1980s, Brits started to ______ the word, as soccer became a more popular sport in the United States. "The penetration of the game into American culture," Szymanski writes, "has led to backlash against the use of the word in Britain, where it was once considered a(n) ______ to the word 'football'".

4 . Monaco Grand Prix

The air is fresh with the heat of early summer as you arrive in the beautiful country of Monaco on the day of the race. Your______ to the Monte-Carlo neighborhood is bursting with color as classic styles of European architecture catch your eye. When you reach the race course area, you are led to the harbor where you will watch the race from the ______ of   a   friend’s   yacht (游艇）.Soon, the Formula One cars will pull onto the starting point and the race will begin.

Each of the cars in the Monaco Grand       Prix is ______, but all of them are fast   and modern. The race course also ______ as   being   complex   and   difficult,   with     a   frightening hairpin (发夹）turn along a very narrow street. ______ these streets at speeds over 150 kilometers per hour, drivers must take over. Even       the slightest ______ could turn a multi- million dollar car into a pile of waste. The driver who claims first place receives an award and will go down ______ as one of the world’s finest drivers.

Indianapolis 500

On race day the grandstands (大看台）are filled with excitement as you enter the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. You find your seat, ______ yourself against the harsh heat and marvel at the huge black oval (椭圆形的）track below. Moments later, a fleet of Indy Cars rolls onto the track, ______ themselves in 11   neat rows of three. The sound of 33 turning engines rings in your ears, and you cheer with the crowd as the powerful cars take off from the starting line.

Unlike Monaco Formula One cars, Indy cars are more uniform in their ______. They tend to be much longer, and reach 260 kilometers per hour. Since the drivers must race for 500 miles, the race is quite long, ______ three to five hours. The resulting wear and tear on each     car is managed with short stop. The driver’s excellent team performs ______ at amazing speeds. The dangerous nature of this   race requires ______ communication between the drivers   and their teams.   They   must   plan short stops ______ or the driver   loses precious time   and it   could ______ them the race.