1 . Teenagers have long been told that being active and taking part in various sports is good for their health. But new research suggests that too much sport for teenagers could negatively affect their well-being just as much as too little sport.
Researchers from Switzerland say their study suggests that 14 hours of physical activity a week is best for promoting good health in teenagers. However, they found that more than 14 hours appears to be detrimental to their health. To reach their findings, the researchers surveyed more than 1,245 teenagers aged between 16 and 20 from Switzerland.
All participants were required to answer questions on height and weight, sports practice, sports injuries and well-being. Their well-being was assessed (评估) using the World Health Organization (WHO) Well-Being Index, and the average well-being score for all participants was 17.
The researchers divided sports participation into low (0 — 3.5 hours a week), average (3.6 — 10.5 hours), high (10.6 — 17.5 hours), and very high (more than 17.5 hours). The researchers found that participants in the low and very high activity groups were more than twice as likely to have well-being scores below 13, compared with participants in the average group. The researchers found that the highest well-being scores were gotten by participants who carried cut around 14 hours of physical activity a week, but exercising beyond 14 hours resulted in lower well-being scores.
Commenting on their findings, the researchers say physical activity has been connected with positive emotional well-being, reduced sadness, anxiety and stress disorders, and improved self-respect in teenagers.
The researchers suggest that their study stresses the importance for physicians caring for teenagers to check their level of sports practice and ask them about their well-being. Teenagers probably need a supportive and closer follow-up of their health and well-being. The findings can provide information for guideline groups who produce recommendations on sports practice for teenagers.
1. What does the underlined word “detrimental” in paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．Useless. | B．Important. | C．Reasonable. | D．Harmful. |
| A．Low sports participation causes overweight. |
| B．The sports participation is divided into four levels. |
| C．The highest well-being scores are gotten in the “high” group. |
| D．The average well-being score of teenagers between 16 and 20 in Switzerland is 17. |
| A．A research paper. | B．A health magazine. | C．A business report. | D．A fitness diary. |
| A．Measures to improve teenagers’ well-being. |
| B．Concerns of physicians about teenagers’ well-being. |
| C．Importance of physical activities on teenagers’ well-being. |
| D．Relationship between sports participation and teenagers’ well-being. |
2 . Teenagers have long been told that being active and taking part in various sports is good for their health. But new research suggests that too much sport for teenagers could negatively affect their well-being just as much as too little sport.
Researchers from Switzerland say their study suggests that 14 hours of physical activity a week is best for promoting good health in teenagers. However, they found that more than 14 hours appears to be detrimental to their health. To reach their findings, the researchers surveyed more than 1,245 teenagers aged between 16 and 20 from Switzerland.
All participants were required to answer questions on height and weight, sports practice, sports injuries and well-being. Their well-being was assessed(评估) using the World Health Organization (WHO) Well-Being Index,and the average well-being score for all participants was 17.
The researchers divided sports participation into low (0—3.5 hours a week), average (3.6— 10.5 hours), high (10.6— 17.5 hours), and very high (more than 17.5 hours).The researchers found that participants in the low and very high activity groups were more than twice as likely to have well-being scores below 13, compared with participants in the average group. The researchers found that the highest well-being scores were gotten by participants who carried cut around 14 hours of physical activity a week, but exercising beyond 14 hours resulted in lower well-being scores.
Commenting on their findings, the researchers say physical activity has been connected with positive emotional well-being, reduced sadness, anxiety and stress disorders, and improved self-respect in teenagers.
The researchers suggest that their study stresses the importance for physicians caring for teenagers to check their level of sports practice and ask them about their well-being. Teenagers probably need a supportive and closer follow-up of their health and well-being. The findings can provide information for guideline groups who produce recommendations on sports practice for teenagers.
1. What does the underlined word “detrimental” in paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．Useless. | B．Important. | C．Reasonable. | D．Harmful. |
| A．To much sport is less healthy than what is traditionally believed. |
| B．Both low and high sports participation help teenagers improve confidence. |
| C．Very high activity groups tend to get higher well-being scores. |
| D．Low spirit participation is proved to be the cause of obesity. |
| A．A research paper. | B．A health magazine. |
| C．A business report. | D．A fitness diary. |
| A．Measures to improve teenagers’ well-being. |
| B．Concerns of physicians about teenagers' well-being. |
| C．Importance of physical activities on teenagers'well-being. |
| D．Relationship between sports participation and teenagers' well-being. |
3 . Most people in their eighties would consider themselves lucky not to have health problems, but this is not the case with Toshisuke Kanazawa. The 82-year-old Japanese bodybuilder is not only in perfect physical condition, but also looks better than a lot of men a quarter his age.
Kanazawa is a living example that you’re never too old to hit the gym and achieve the body you’ve always dreamed of. A champion bodybuilder in his youth, Kanazawa stopped exercising completely after he retired(退休) at age 34, drinking, smoking and eating whatever he liked. It wasn’t until he turned 50 that he wanted to regain the perfect body of his younger years.
Kanazawa’s wife felt sick frequently, and the former bodybuilder remembered that she had never been happier than when he won the national championship. So, to please her, he decided to return to the gym and completely change his diet.
His workout schedule had to change according to his age. In his youth, he would spend up to six hours training in the gym every day, and his body would recover within two days after a particularly intensive workout, but that was not the case anymore. He cut the daily gym time to three hours and started giving his body one week to recover after exercising every muscle group.
Kanazawa’s efforts paid off. In 2016, at the age of 80, Kanazawa defeated many opponents and placed sixth in the world in a match for bodybuilders over 65, and won the admiration of the crowd.
Sport keeps this elderly man healthy, as he has not suffered so much as a cold since he started bodybuilding again at age 50.
“I want to be a super old man in the bodybuilder community,” Kanazawa said, “If I have a goal, I can continue moving forward. I have to work much harder.”
1. What can we learn about Kanazawa from paragraph 2?| A．He started bodybuilding at the age of 34. |
| B．He seldom exercised when he was young. |
| C．He had serious health problems in his youth. |
| D．He developed an unhealthy lifestyle after he retired. |
| A．To make a living | B．To help change his diet. |
| C．To cheer up his wife. | D．To recover from illness. |
| A．He went on a diet. |
| B．He turned to the doctor for advice. |
| C．He combined relaxation with exercise. |
| D．He spent up to six hours training every day. |
| A．Bodybuilding: No Age Limit |
| B．Champion: The Result of Workout |
| C．Understanding: A Secret to Happiness |
| D．Exercise: The Best Medicine for Illnesses |
4 . We all want to keep fit and stay healthy, but a few things may prevent it: laziness, a busy schedule, and maybe even a limited spend.
Babysit.
If you have your own kids, you’ll probably agree that looking after kids can help keep you fit. If you don’t, you can experience the wonderful world of toddlerhood by volunteering or signing up for a babysitting job. The best ages to babysit are those toddler years (2 through 5). Why?
Care for your yard.
Have you checked your storeroom, basement and kitchen lately? Well, moving small items from their storage areas and turning them into boxes for sale, donation pick-ups or just further storage will get your blood exciting. Even just pushing around a dust cleaner, or sweeping your garage floor should oil your joints (关节).
Use someone else’s sports or exercise equipment (设备).
Have you checked under your bed lately? All around the nation, there is a flood of unused exercise equipment sitting around in garages and hiding in spare rooms and basements.
| A．Be your own gardener |
| B．Volunteer or get active work |
| C．Clean out or organize your house |
| D．Actually there are some free ways to move your body! |
| E．You could have these things right under your very nose. |
| F．It doesn’t really take much to get yourself into better shape. |
| G．In that case, you have to carry, lift, run and follow them around all day. |
5 . For people suffering from depression, there’s an all-natural treatment they should use — getting more exercise. It could help fight depression, even if people have a genetic risk, new research shows.
For the study, researchers collected information from nearly 8,000 people and found those with related genes were more likely to have depression over the next two years after examining them. But that was less likely for people who were more active at the study’s start, even if they had a family history of depression. Higher levels of physical activity helped protect even those with the highest genetic risk of depression.
Both high-intensity (高强度) exercise and low-intensity activities were associated with a reduced risk of depression. Adding four hours of exercise a week could lower the risk of a new episode (一段经历) of depression by 17%, according to the study. “Our findings strongly suggest that, when it comes to depression, being physically active has the potential to remove the added risk of future episodes in individuals who are genetically risky,” said lead author Karmel Choi. “On average, about 35 additional minutes of physical activity each day may help people to reduce their risk and protect against future depression episodes.”
Depression is a common mental illness globally, with more than 264 million people affected. “Depression is so ubiquitous, and that underlines the need for effective approaches that can impact as many people as possible,” Choi said. And mental health and primary care providers can use the findings to advise patients that there’s something meaningful they can do to lower their risk of depression.
1. How did the researchers reach their conclusion?| A．By analyzing a mass of data. |
| B．By conducting genetic research. |
| C．By comparing various levels of activity. |
| D．By tracking the subjects for many years. |
| A．Physical activity betters medical treatment. |
| B．Exercise is able to decrease and prevent it. |
| C．Different levels of exercise intensity matter the same. |
| D．Exercising 35 minutes daily is the most effective treatment. |
| A．Harmful. | B．Complex. |
| C．Unusual. | D．Common. |
| A．To discuss a disease. |
| B．To introduce a method. |
| C．To analyze a genetic risk. |
| D．To explain a phenomenon. |
6 . Marathon is one of the most difficult races in track and field, at a little over 42 kilometers. To be a world-class marathoner, you must run that distance in two and a half hours. But for some, completing a marathon race is a lifelong dream.
Jacqueline’s dream of being a world-class runner began when she was a child in Kenya. She soon realized she had the talent and the willpower to compete. She also knew she would have to train full-time, which meant not being able to work to help support her family. But she was confident that she could bring home prize money.
Jacqueline traveled to China to compete in the Zheng-Kai marathon knowing she had a good shot at winning the race, but more importantly, the $10,000 prize that went with it. She was leading the women’s division when a male runner arrived at the water station. The man had trouble drinking water because a birth defect (缺陷) had left him without hands, and he struggled to drink from a plastic bottle. But any assistance from fans or race officials would result in his disqualification. Jacqueline noticed the man and immediately knew that he needed help. She grabbed a water bottle and helped him get the water his body needed to complete the race.
Runner after runner passed Jacqueline. Her hopes of winning were getting lost in numerous runners ahead of her. With only 4 kilometers left in the race, and certain that the male runner would now finish, Jacqueline picked up her pace and finally finished second.
That day, Jacqueline missed out on first place, but she finished something more important: humanity. She returned home with the smaller prize of second place, but to her family, she brought home something much more valuable to home: the right example.
1. What can we know about Jacqueline from paragraph 2?| A．Her goal was to win a championship. | B．Her family opposed her going for a run. |
| C．She was born with little sports gift. | D．She had to train full-time to achieve her dream. |
| A．No assistance was allowed. | B．He was disabled. |
| C．He had no access to the water station. | D．He competed with other runners for water. |
| A．She won second place at last. | B．She was disqualified for going against rules. |
| C．She was criticised by her family. | D．She fell behind several runners and gave up. |
| A．Cautious. | B．Approving. | C．Indifferent. | D．Disappointed |
7 . Walking in the city is very different from walking in the park. A small psychology study suggests urban(城市的) environments can slow your step and possibly increase your mental load. A walk through nature, on the other hand, appears to ease your mind and quicken your pace. The findings show that natural settings may potentially reduce cognitive (认知的)tiredness and improve reaction times straight away. The study, which includes two experiments with two different approaches, was conducted among 65 university students in the lab.
The first of the two experiments in the new study focused on people’s way of walking and cognitive load. During this trial, participants were fitted with sensors and a dozen motion control cameras were set up to watch them repeatedly walk down a 15-metre room at their natural speed. The wall opposite them showed an image of either a nature scene or a city scene. After each walk, participants were asked to rate their feelings of discomfort in the visual environment. On the whole, when walking in city settings, people reported more discomfort and they walked at a slower pace, indicating a higher cognitive load.
The second experiment dug into some of the higher-level cognitive processes that might be at play. In the trial, participants were asked to distinguish between basic visual shapes on the computer while also in the presence of a natural or urban image(the same ones from the first experiment). Measuring reaction times in both natural and urban settings, the team found results to support their idea. In urban environments, participants were slower in distinguishing between simple shapes. The authors think this is because urban environments are more distracting(令人分心的) for our brains and take longer to process, but more research is needed to prove that idea.
1. How were the experiments conducted mainly?| A．By comparing. | B．By giving data. |
| C．By giving examples. | D．By explaining facts. |
| A．It can make us feel relaxed and react quickly. | B．It can activate our thinking and speed up our step. |
| C．It can make us less tired and improve our memory. | D．It can make us become more focused and creative. |
| A．They had a lower cognitive load. | B．They had to slow down their pace. |
| C．They couldn’t concentrate properly. | D．They felt uncomfortable after walking. |
| A．Urban environment makes us more concentrated. | B．People’s feelings are decided by their pace of walking. |
| C．The result of the experiments is widely appreciated. | D．People tend to get tired more easily walking in the city. |
8 . Tennis great Billie Jean King is a great athlete and a pioneer in sport and she won four singles titles at the US Open between 1967 and 1974. Now, the same tennis officials with whom she often competed with have paid her a special honor. US Open organizers named their venue (会场) the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center at the beginning of this year’s championship. The decision came as a surprise to the star.
Billie Jean King had her first tennis lesson at the age of 11, and became interested in it. Six years later she made herself known winning the first of 20 titles at Wimbledon in the doubles championship. King went on to become the first female athlete to earn $100,000 in a year. But her greatest achievements may have been off the game. She devoted herself to fighting for equal status (地位) for women and women in sports that went far away from tennis.
A unique chance arrived and it proved a perfect way for King to further change the place of women in sports in 1973. She was challenged to play a man-tennis great Bobby Riggs. The men organizing the event expected it would provide great fun and the event was reported by sportscaster (体育评论员) Howard Cosell. But King found he focused on her appearance, never mentioning her athletic achievements. King saw it as a crossroad in her fighting for women’s equality in sports. She did win, further opening chances for girls in sports.
But some young female athletes now don’t take these chances seriously. When asked what they knew about Billie King, they looked puzzled. “They’ve got many chances to play and it’s a good thing. However, we still have a long way to go for girls and women in sports and that’s what I want-- I want the dream to be equal” She said.
1. Billie Jean King fought with tennis officials for ______.| A．better pay for herself | B．more chances to compete |
| C．the equality (平等) for women in sports | D．a special honor from them |
| A．her competition with Bobby Riggs in 1973 |
| B．being the first athlete to get a yearly income of $100,000 |
| C．the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center |
| D．her victory in the doubles championship |
| A．To attract more audience for the interests of the organizer. |
| B．To increase Billie King’s fame in the sports field. |
| C．To make the sport tennis popular: |
| D．To further open chances for women in sports. |
| A．has always been respected and honored in sports from the start |
| B．thinks that the status women have got in sports is high enough |
| C．is disappointed at not being recognized by young female athletes |
| D．thinks inequality between men and women in sports still exists |
| A．beautiful female athletes were not quite common |
| B．women athletes were looked down upon at that time |
| C．Billy King remained unknown at that time |
| D．he didn’t know much about Billie King. |
9 . Sports can help us a lot. Taking exercise can make us strong. In collective (集体的) sports like basketball, volleyball, or football, we will learn the importance of cooperation. And sports can also help us relax after work or study.
However, as the saying goes, “There are two sides of everything.” Sometimes we may hurt other players or ourselves if we are not careful enough when participating (参加) in sports activities. What’s more, too much or hard practice can be bad for our health.
Sports can make us healthy both physically and psychologically (心理地). It is also a good way for people to know each other and can improve friendship between people. So long as we are careful enough, sports can do us nothing but good.
1. What can make us strong?| A．Taking exercise | B．Singing |
| C．Sleep in | D．Making friends |
| A．Good | B．bad | C．helpful | D．enough |
| A．Sports and health | B．Everybody must do sports |
| C．Sports are nothing to people | D．No one likes sports |
10 . A month before my first marathon, one of my ankles was injured and this meant not running for two weeks, leaving me only two weeks to train. Yet, I was determined to go ahead.
I remembered back to my 7th year in school. In my first P. E. class, the teacher required us to run laps and then hit a softball. I didn’t do either well. He later informed me that I was “not athletic”.
The idea that I was “not athletic” stuck with me for years. When I started running in my 30s, I realized running was a battle against myself, not about competition or whether or not I was athletic. It was all about the battle against my own body and mind. A test of wills!
The night before my marathon, I dreamt that I couldn’t even find the finish line. I woke up sweating and nervous, but ready to prove something to myself.
Shortly after crossing the start line, my shoe laces (鞋带) became untied. So I stopped to readjust. Not the start I wanted!
At mile 3, I passed a sign: “GO FOR IT, RUNNERS!”
By mile 17, I became out of breath and the once injured ankle hurt badly. Despite the pain, I stayed the course walking a bit and then running again.
By mile 21, I was starving!
As I approached mile 23, I could see my wife waving a sign She is my biggest fan.
She never minded the alarm clock sounding at 4 a. m. or questioned my expenses on running.
I was one of the final runners to finish. But I finished! And I got a medal. In fact, I got the same medal as the one that the guy who came in first place had.
Determined to be myself, move forward, free of shame and worldly labels (世俗标签), I can now call myself a “marathon winner”.
1. A month before the marathon, though injured, the author __________.| A．lost hope | B．felt scared | C．was well trained | D．made up his mind to run |
| A．To share a special memory. | B．To thank his teacher for his support. |
| C．To show he was not talented in sports. | D．To amuse the readers with a funny story. |
| A．He made it. | B．He gave up halfway. | C．He walked to the end. | D．He got the first prize. |
| A．One is never too old to learn. | B．Failure is the mother of success. |
| C．A winner is one with great effort of will. | D．A man owes his success to his family support. |
| A．Not athletic | B．Go for it, runner | C．A marathon winner | D．My first marathon |
