1 . 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. |
2 . If you like dangerous and exciting sports, maybe skydiving (跳伞) is for you. First skydivers jump from an airplane.
It’s difficult to see what skydivers do when you’re standing on the ground. Often, people fly in airplanes to make a tape of the skydivers.
If skydiving doesn’t sound fun to you, there are plenty of other sports.
A.You can always try surfing. |
B.Then, skydivers fall quickly toward the ground. |
C.It is the best choice for you to skydive or try surfing. |
D.With a video camera, the operator records their performances. |
E.It is not easy to jump out of the airplane when you are in the plane. |
F.Judges watch the skydivers and give them points for doing amazing things. |
G.The parachute helps slow the skydiver so he or she lands on the ground safe. |
3 . E-Sports,short for electronic sports,is one of the growing industries in the world,with prizes totaling around $25 million up for grabs in some tournaments. E-Sports are professional multiplayer video game competitions. Any video game with a strong competitive element is considered e-Sports.The competition models itself after traditional professional sports in several ways: it uses corresponding tournament formats,involves player contracts, and is governed by regulations. The athletes who compete in e-Sports competitions are gamers.
The history of e-Sports dates back to 1972 when some Stanford University students competed in the Intergalactic Space War Olympics for the opportunity to win a one-year subscription to the Rolling Stone Magazine. E-Sports pretty much continued on the rather quiet path until the 80s when competitions like the Space Invaders Championship shot them to the spotlight. 2002 marked the beginning of a new era for the sport and laid the foundation for what e-Sports would become thanks to the release of the Xbox live, which brought online play to consoles. Halo Ⅱ became the first game to be shown on national television for Major League Gaming in 2004, paving the way for e-Sports to become a global phenomenon.
Today, e-Sports are growing at a rapid pace thanks to advance in technology and the arrival of streaming services like Twitch which have exposed video game competitions to a new audience due to their extensive reach.
To understand how much impact Twitch has made, data from gaming analyst group Newzoo show that e-Sports global audience increased 43 percent from 204 million to 292 million between 2014 and 2016. Interestingly, this coincides (一致) with Amazon's acquisition of Twitch in 2014 and its effort to make the competition a spectator sport.
1. What do we know about e-Sports?A.They are strongly competitive. |
B.They spread worldwide overnight. |
C.They totally differ from traditional ones. |
D.The athletes in the sports are programmers. |
A.The origin of e-Sports. |
B.The variety of e-Sports. |
C.The advantages of e-Sports. |
D.The development of e-Sports. |
A.Doubtful. | B.Uncertain. |
C.Hopeful. | D.Worried. |
A.To introduce Newzoo. | B.To conduct a research. |
C.To show the influence of Twitch. | D.To arouse the audience's interest. |
4 . How often do you exercise? A new study found that most kids aged 12 to 15 weren't getting enough physical activity. The results were based on about 800 kids. As part of the study, the kids tracked and reported on their own activity levels, and took physical exams.
U. S. fitness guidelines suggest an hour or more of physical activity every day. According to the study, only 1in 4 U.S. kids get enough physical activity.
"It's certainly worrying to see that our kids have such a limited amount of physical activity each day,” said Dr. Stephen Pont. He is an expert on children's health.
Few kids in the study met the guidelines on physical activity that raises the heart rate and makes people breathe harder. Overall, about 25% said they got an hour of that kind of exercise every day. Kids also reported on which activities they did most often outside of school gym class--basketball for boys and running for girls.
The study found that fat teenagers were less active than normal-weight girls and boys. Fat girls were slightly less active than normal-weight girls, but levels were similar among overweight and normal-weight boys. The study also said that the percent of fat children aged 2 to 19 was 17%, or about 12.5 million kids.
"There's always room for improvement," said Tala Fakhouri, who was the leader of the study. She also said the results provide useful information to help with fitness campaigns such as Let's Move, which was initiated by Michelle Obama in 2010. To inspire kids to eat right and get in shape, Michelle visits schools and holds exercise events. She also calls on schools to offer regular gym classes.
The study also found kids who get physical education at school may get better grades.
1. What is the result of the new study?A.800 kids don't get enough physical activity. |
B.Most U.S. kids don't get enough exercise. |
C.Kids should get physical activity every day. |
D.It's important to take physical exams. |
A.Swimming. | B.Basketball. | C.Running. | D.Gym. |
A.To help kids to keep fit. | B.To provide useful information. |
C.To offer regular gym classes. | D.To hold exercise events. |
A.be less active than fat children | B.be more willing to help others |
C.do better in their studies | D.try their best to get in shape |
5 . For the first time in 10 years, the United States government has changed its guidance on how much exercise people need to stay healthy and when they should start.
For children and teens
The new guidance states that the most important time for children to begin exercising is between the ages of 3 and 5.
Doctors say it is important to start young.They add that from birth to age 5, a child’s brain develops more than at any other time in life.
But that does not mean putting a small kid on a treadmill(跑步机)or other exercise equipment.
For adults
For adults, the guidelines recommend exercising 150 minutes a week. That could be walking, gardening, dancing, etc.
A.Any kind of activity that gets people exercising will do. |
B.Aerobic activity works only if it lasts for at least 10 minutes. |
C.Simply giving a kid the time and space to play actively is enough. |
D.Children above 5 can have a relatively shorter time for daily exercise. |
E.Children in this age range require about three hours’ active activities daily. |
F.Attaining the health benefits from exercise may be harder than earlier thought. |
G.These developments have a 1asting effect on a child’s ability to succeed in life. |
6 . 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 |
7 . For many adolescents, “screen time” is almost a full-time job that could lead to obesity, diabetes and other health issues, a Canadian researcher says.
Adolescents now spend an average of six hours a day in front of some type of screen, whether it’s a television or computer screen or one of the many portable devices now popular with young people, studies done by Dr. Ian Michael Janssen show. “They spend more hours daily in front of a screen than they do in a classroom in a given year,” said Janssen, a researcher at Queen’s University in Kingston, Canada. The result is a rise in obesity rates among adolescents. Unfortunately, fixing the problem isn’t as easy as simply cutting down screen time, Janssen cautions. “Decreasing screen time will not automatically increase physical activity levels,” said Janssen, Some active kids also spend a lot of time in front of television and computer screens, and some kids who have low screen times also have low levels of physical activity, he points out.
As well, screen time is not necessarily bad, Janssen said. “The tricky part is that children today need to be using computers,” he said. Computers are required for schoolwork, and technological skills are important for future job prospects. The quality of screen time matters too, along with the quantity---consider the negative health messages found in food advertising during children’s shows, he said. Ideally, children should aim for no more than two hours of recreational screen time a day.
Janssen’s real worry about the rise in childhood obesity rates is not that there are now rare cases of type diabetes in kids, where once there were none, but the health problems these children are likely to face in the future as adults, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol and cardiovascular disease.
1. Which one doesn’t belong to “screen time” according to the passage?A.Watching TV. | B.Surfing the Internet. |
C.Seeing a film on an MP4. | D.Making a telephone call. |
A.lose weight. | B.decrease screen time |
C.take physical activities | D.go on a diet |
A.Concerned. | B.Passive. |
C.Positive. | D.Frightened. |
A.many of the people having full-time jobs suffer from obesity and diabetes. |
B.decreasing screen time can’t really solve the problem |
C.children today most use computers to finish their school work |
D.a new type of obesity in kids becomes Janssen’s real worry |
8 . It’s cold and dark outside, and your bed is so warm and comfortable. Going for a run seems like such a bad idea. But before you hide your running shoes, it might be worth giving that crazy idea a go.
According to The Huffington Post, an outdoor run in winter, as opposed to one on a treadmill (跑步机), burns more calories because the body is working hard to regulate (调节) its core temperature. Furthermore, research shows that race times are faster in cold weather than in warmer temperatures—and quicker runs burn more calories. Similarly, cold weather also makes the heart work harder to distribute blood through the body, making that vital muscle even stronger.
Outdoor exercise also turns up your energy and rids you of the stress and depression that build up every day. The heat and humidity in the summer can drag you down and tire you faster, but cold weather is refreshing. It adjusts you to your surroundings, making you feel alive.
Of course, the threat of smog in some built-up areas is a further hurdle to winter exercise. Heart attacks, stroke, lung cancer and asthma are all dangers of running in smog. The combination of air pollution and exercise increases the potential problems. If you do choose to run outside on smoggy days, take a path in a park or residential area to avoid car exhaust (尾气), and go early in the morning, before rush hour. But staying inside on smoggy days and waiting for the next clear day to run is best.
1. How does cold weather benefit runners, compared with warm weather?A.They can run more slowly. |
B.They can take in more calories. |
C.Their hearts can function harder. |
D.Their body temperature can get lower. |
A.It builds up their energy quickly. | B.It makes runners tired easily. |
C.It lessens runners’ stress. | D.It causes heart attack. |
A.Stop driving cars. | B.Do more exercise. |
C.Avoid outdoor exercise. | D.Run late in the morning. |
A.Refresh with a Winter Run | B.Take Outdoor Exercise in Summer |
C.Go to Run in a Park | D.Follow the Tips to Reduce Stress |
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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