1 . As athletes get stronger and faster, the pace of play continues to increase. The burden of making sure games are played according to the rules and that the officiating (裁判) is accurate is now being taken out of human hands and falling more and more into the lap of technology. It’s called the video replay.
The National Football League is expanding its replay system this upcoming season to include pass interference (传球干扰). Major League Baseball now relies on it for safe-or-out and home run calls. If you’ve been watching the FIFA World Cup, you may have noticed that the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) played a key role in almost every game. And in the Kentucky Derby, a horse was disqualified for knocking another horse. No one knew why until a video replay confirmed the call and controversy was avoided.
However, many purists—those who want people to follow rules carefully and do things in the traditional way—especially in soccer, argue it’s not the way the game was invented, and that the video replay is tainting the sport. But don’t you want to see the proper application of the rules throughout the games? I know I do. Yes, it can slow the game down, but I feel it is worth it. If technological advancements allow fans watching from home to spot mistakes instantly, those same views need to be available to the officiating crews. Another example occurred in the most recent National Football Conference (NFC) Championship Game between the Los Angeles Rams and the New Orleans Saints. When obvious pass interference was committed by the Los Angeles Rams player Nickell Robey-Coleman, with just 109 seconds to play, no flag was raised on the field. It weakened the New Orleans Saints spirits. The Los Angeles Rams won a 26-23 overtime victory. The no-call deeply angered the public. The video replay showed the referees had just missed one of the most apparent pass interference calls.
There are no easy answers regarding replay technology and whether it is a curse (魔咒). But for me, keeping the officiating honest and on task is the right step in limiting controversy.
1. What trend in sports can be observed in paragraph 2?| A．The video replay has been widely used. |
| B．League games have become competitive. |
| C．Rules of professional games are becoming stricter. |
| D．People are showing more interest in sports than before. |
| A．Tricking. | B．Promoting. | C．Damaging. | D．Restoring. |
| A．They relied a lot on the video replay. |
| B．They cared too much about details. |
| C．They were definitely stressed out. |
| D．They were terribly disqualified. |
| A．Video replays: high-end technology in sports |
| B．Is technology like VAR a blessing in sports? |
| C．Officiating: a duty that requires honesty |
| D．What do qualified referees really mean? |
2 . Running is often tiring and a lot of hard work, but nothing beats the feeling you get after finishing a long workout around the track. But while it’s long been believed that endorphins (脑内啡), chemicals in the body that cause happiness, which are behind the so-called runner's high, a study suggested that there may be more to this phenomenon (现象) than we previously knew.
According to a recent study published by a group of scientists from several German universities, a group of chemicals called endocannabinoids (内源性大麻素) may actually be responsible for this familiar great feeling.
To test this theory, the scientists turned to mice. Both mice and humans release high levels of endorphins and endocannabinoids after exercise, along with many other chemicals. After exercising on running wheels, the mice seemed happy and relaxed and displayed no signs of anxiety. But after being given a drug to block their endorphins, the mice’s behavior didn't seem to change. However, when their endocannabinoids were blocked with a different drug, their runner's high symptoms (症状) seemed to fade.
“The long-held notion of endorphins being responsible for the runner’s high is false. Endorphins are effective pain relievers, but only when it comes to the pain in your body and muscles you feel after working out,” Patrick Lucas Austin wrote on science blog Lifehacker.
Similar studies are yet to be carried out on humans, but it’s already well known that exercise is a highly effective way to get rid of stress or anxiety. The UK's National Health Service even prescribe (开药方) exercise to patients who are suffering from depression. “Being depressed can leave you feeling low in energy, which might put you off being more active. Regular exercise can boost your mood if you have depression, and it’s especially useful for people with mild to moderate depression,” it wrote on its website.
It seems like nothing can beat that feeling we get after a good workout, even if we don’t fully understand where it comes from. At least if we're feeling down, we know that all we have to do is put on our running shoes.
1. What did scientists from Germany universities recently discover?| A．Endorphins may contribute to one’s high spirits after running. |
| B．The runners’ high could be caused by endocannabinoids. |
| C．The level of endorphins and endocannabinoids could affect one's mood. |
| D．Working out is a highly effective way to treat depression. |
| A．To test what influences the level of endocannabinoids released. |
| B．To see the specific symptoms of the runner's high. |
| C．To identify what is responsible for the runner’s high. |
| D．To find what reduces the runner's high symptoms. |
| A．belief. | B．activity. | C．effect. | D．question. |
| A．Workouts can help people completely recover from depression. |
| B．Workouts are the best way to treat depression. |
| C．Workouts only work for those with depression. |
| D．Workouts can help ease depression symptoms. |
3 . Race walking shares many fitness benefits with running, research shows, while most likely contributing to fewer injuries. It does, however, have its own problem.
Race walkers are conditioned athletes. The longest track and field event at the Summer Olympics is the 50-kilometer race walk, which is about five miles longer than the marathon. But the sport’s rules require that a race walker’s knees stay straight through most of the leg swing and one foot remain in contact (接触) with the ground at all times. It’s this strange form that makes race walking such an attractive activity, however, says Jaclyn Norberg, an assistant professor of exercise science at Salem State University in Salem, Mass.
Like running, race walking is physically demanding, she says, According to most calculations, race walkers moving at a pace of six miles per hour would burn about 800 calories(卡路里) per hour, which is approximately twice as many as they would burn walking, although fewer than running, which would probably burn about 1,000 or more calories per hour.
However, race walking does not pound the body as much as running does, Dr. Norberg says. According to her research, runners hit the ground with as much as four times their body weight per step, while race walkers, who do not leave the ground, create only about 1.4 times their body weight with each step.
As a result, she says, some of the injuries associated with running, such as runner’s knee, are uncommon among race walkers. But the sport’s strange form does place considerable stress on the ankles and hips, so people with a history of such injuries might want to be cautious in adopting the sport. In fact, anyone wishing to try race walking should probably first consult a coach or experienced racer to learn proper technique, she says. It takes some practice.
1. Why are race walkers conditioned athletes?| A．They must run long distances. |
| B．They are qualified for the marathon. |
| C．They have to follow special rules. |
| D．They are good at swinging their legs. |
| A．It’s more popular at the Olympics. |
| B．It’s less challenging physically. |
| C．It’s more effective in body building. |
| D．It’s less likely to cause knee injuries. |
| A．Getting experts’ opinions. |
| B．Having a medical checkup. |
| C．Hiring an experienced coach. |
| D．Doing regular exercises. |
| A．Skeptical. | B．Objective. |
| C．Tolerant. | D．Conservative. |
4 . Roller coasters are fast and exciting. But passing a painful kidney (肾) stones is not. The process is painful and can take a long time. But American researchers have found that a roller coaster ride just might help those suffering from a kidney stone. They say such rides help patients pass the stones with a 70 percent success rate.
David Wartinger led the study. He found that where the person sits on the roller coaster can make a big difference. He said, “In the pilot study, sitting in the last car of the roller coaster showed about a 64 percent passage rate. Sitting in the first few cars only had a 16 percent success rate.”
It also mattered where the stones were located in the kidney. The researchers found that stones located in the upper part of the kidney model were passed 100 percent.
When it comes to passing kidney stones, not all roller coasters are equal. The researchers used 174 kidney stones of differing shapes, sizes and weights to see if each model worked on the same ride and on two other roller coasters. They found that Big Thunder Mountain was the only one that worked. The other two roller coasters both failed the test. Wartinger said the other rides were too fast and too violent. The movement forced the stones against the side of the kidney. He said that the ideal roller coaster is rough and quick with some twists and turns.
Wartinger thinks roller coaster rides could also be used as a preventative measure. He said that a yearly ride on a roller coaster could even prevent stones from developing. “You need to heed the warnings before going on a roller coaster,” he said. “If you have a kidney stone, but are otherwise healthy and meet the requirements of the ride, patients should try it.”
He adds that it’s definitely a lower cost alternative to other treatments. And riding a roller coaster is definitely more fun!
1. According to the text, passing kidney stone is ______.| A．fast | B．exciting |
| C．interesting | D．painful |
| A．Sitting in the first car of a roller coaster. |
| B．Sitting in the middle car of a roller coaster. |
| C．Sitting in big roller coasters with doctors’ care. |
| D．Sitting in rough and fast roller coasters with twists and turns. |
| A．Worried. | B．Negative. |
| C．Supportive. | D．Skeptical. |
| A．Some treatments of kidney stones |
| B．Advantages of riding roller coasters |
| C．Roller coasters can help pass kidney stones |
| D．Kidney stones can be cured by riding roller coasters |
Born in 1949, Diana Nyad took an early interest in swimming as a sport and was a Florida State High School swimming champion. Like many young athletes, she had Olympic dreams, but a serious illness kept her from competing in the Games. The disappointment didn’t stop her from going forward. Instead, she became interested in marathon swimming. A brilliant athlete, she was well-conditioned for spending long periods of time in the water. As a long-distance swimmer, she would compete against herself and the obstacles presented by distance, danger, cold, and exhaustion.
For ten years Nyad devoted herself to becoming one of the world’s best long-distance swimmers. In 1970, she swam a ten-mile marathon in Lake Ontario, setting the women’s record for the course. In 1972 she set another record by swimming 102.5 miles from an island in the Bahamas to the coast of Florida. Then she broke a third record when swimming around Manhattan Island in 1975.
Nyad attempted to swim the distance between Florida and Cuba in 1978. Though the span of water is less than 100 miles wide, it is rough and dangerous. After battling the water for two days, she had to give up for the sake of her own health and safety. Even so, she impressed the world with her courage and strong desire to succeed. For Nyad her strength of purpose was just as important as reaching Cuba. That is how she defined success. It did not matter that her swim came up short; she believed she had touched the other shore.
When Nyad ended her career as a swimmer, she continued to try new things---travelling the world as a reporter, writing books and giving public speeches about her life. Diana Nyad works to inspire others, just as she did when she swam the waters of the world.
1. What prevented Nyad from taking part in the Olympic Games? (Not more than 5 words)_______________________________________________________________________
2. What does the underlined word “obstacles” mean? (1 word)
_______________________________________________________________________
3. What achievement did Nyad make in 1970? (Not more than 10 words.)
_______________________________________________________________________
4. Why did Nyad believe that she had touched the other shore? (Not more than 10 words)
_______________________________________________________________________
5. Please explain how you are inspired by Nyad. (Not more than 20 words)
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