3 . In an ideal world, we would be able to devote as much time to sports as we feel we need. But in reality, with growing demands in both work and family, we can only jump at the chance for our physical exercise when we can. Making the most of that time to practice Yin Yang yoga, which mixes the dynamic and slow-paced elements of yoga, helps keep you active and relaxed.

Yin and Yang are the Taoist concepts representing a balance of opposite forces which are also interconnected. Yin is inactive, cooling, and negative, associated with the female force. Yang is active, warming, and positive, associated with action and movement. They are complementary to one another, as one cannot exist without the other.

Yin Yang yoga is a combination of high-energy movement which builds energy, increases strength and promotes stamina (耐力), followed by the more restful practice of Yin to give us a deeper stretch (拉伸) and calm the nervous system.

If you have a busy and active life you may feel more in Yang, so taking some cooler, slower Yin yoga practice into your routine may help you feel calmer and more balanced.

If you are practicing for an hour, divide the time in half, Warm up with sun salutations (拜日式瑜伽), continue into a dynamic flow and then move on to some standing postures. After half an hour your heart will be pumping, muscles tighten up and you are hopefully feeling energetic, but ready for a rest. Then pick five Yin postures to hold for 3-5 minutes, or even longer if you are enjoying them!

As ever with yoga, if you are a beginner or have health issues, always attend a class with a trained instructor first to guide you safely through the yoga practice and avoid injury.

1. What can be inferred from paragraph 1?

A．Most of our sports time should be spent on Yin Yang yoga.

B．We’d better devote as much time to physical exercise as we can.

C．Busy schedule makes it impossible for us to do any form of sports.

D．Yin Yang yoga can be a choice of physical exercise when time is tight.

2. What does the underlined word “complementary” in the second paragraph probably mean?

A．Independent from one another.

B．Competitive against one another.

C．Similar to each other but unable to work together as a whole.

D．Different from each other but together making a good combination.

3. Which of the following might be the benefit of Yin postures?

A．Relaxing muscles.	B．Building stamina.
C．Strengthening the body.	D．Quickening the heartbeat.

4. What suggestion does the writer give in the last two paragraphs?

A．Hold each Yin posture for longer than 5 minutes.

B．Do not practice yoga when you are not in good health.

C．Start your yoga practice under the guidance of a trainer.

D．Spare half an hour for five Yin postures in every yoga practice.

4 . The village super league, or “Cun Chao” in Chinese, is a soccer game among different villages in Rongjiang county, Guizhou Province, and it is so down-to-earth but popular that it has attracted not only the attention of football legend Michael Owen but also millions of Chinese netizens (网民), who are paying attention to this non-professional football league.

The players come from a variety of backgrounds. They are vendors, drivers, students, carpenters, tilers, former butchers, and brick factory workers. Their ages range from 15 to over 40 years old. At the game site, representatives wearing various traditional national costumes play national musical instruments and enter the field with the players, and perform songs and dances.

“This kind of football game is natural and with ‘pureness’ and it is driven by the love of the ordinary people not the economic benefits. The game is providing not only values of sports, but also a way of socializing with low costs,” an expert noted. This kind of atmosphere is very rarely seen and is treasured, especially for people in urban areas who are getting increasingly busy and under great work pressure, and when they look at the fun, relaxing and down-to-earth way of life in the countryside, they will naturally be interested, experts said. There is at least one good effect brought by the “Cun Chao” to Chinese soccer—to make more people see the pureness of joy and encourage them to play soccer.

Today, more and more grassroots sports events are held in the mountains and are using sports as a medium to showcase the unique charm of the local area, reflecting an energetic lifestyle filled with agricultural activities and rural fun.

1. Why does the author mention Michael Owen in Paragraph 1?

A．To show he is a household name in China.

B．To voice his view on modern soccer game.

C．To show the great popularity (流行) of “Cun Chao”.

D．To stress the importance of “Cun Chao”.

2. What do we know about the players of “Cun Chao”?

A．They are from all walks of life.

B．Seniors are welcome to join the team.

C．They are able to play national musical instruments.

D．They wear traditional costumes on the soccer field.

3. Which of the following best describes “Cun Chao” according to Paragraph 3?

A．Slow-paced (慢节奏的).	B．Highly stressed.
C．High-cost.	D．Nonprofitable.

4. Which is the best title for the text?

A．The village super league wins the hearts of Chinese.

B．The village super league: From nobody to somebody.

C．The village super league bridges the countryside and the city.

D．The village super league promises the future of Chinese soccer.

6 . Running and walking are both excellent forms of exercise. Those who regularly do either usually have healthier hearts, stronger bones and lower body weights than those who do little exercise. But does it matter whether you spend time walking or running? Arguments can be made for both, and which is right for you depends on your goals and your present fitness level.

“The key difference between running and walking is how many calories you are burning — not per mile, but per minute of exercise,” says Paul D. Thompson, a doctor at Hartford Hospital. “Running is a more efficient movement and it’s more demanding on the body, so it burns more calories per minute,” Thompson says. “But if you’ve got the time to walk long enough to burn the same amount of calories, then walking is fine.” That said, if your final goal is to lose weight, chances are that neither running nor walking alone is going to do the trick. Research has shown that it needs to be done along with calorie control.

In a recent study that analyzed data from nearly 50, 000 people, researchers found that runners’risk of heart disease was 4.5 percent lower than that of those who were inactive. But walkers who burned the same amount of calories daily had a risk level that was 9 percent lower than those who were inactive.

“Running gets the reputation for causing injuries because many people who are just starting to run try to do too much too quickly,” says Carol Ewing Garber, a professor at Columbia University. “And they often get injured as a result. If you want to progress from walking to running, do it slowly, gradually increasing your speed, distance and the frequency of your runs?”

Running may be more highly-intense and calorie-burning than walking, but walking is a great way to ease into exercise and make sure you are staying physically active every day. The bottom line is that getting exercise of any kind is beneficial — if you keep doing it.

“The best exercise is the one you are going to do,” Thompson says. “There are extra benefits to be gained from running, but what’s most important from a public health point of view is that everyone gets out and does some kind of exercise?”

1. What can we infer from Paragraph 2?

A．Walking is more demanding on the body.

B．Walking is better than running for busy people.

C．Running can reduce people’s fat quickly and safely.

D．Exercise on its own is not enough to lose weight.

2. What can we learn from the recent study?

A．Walking can reduce the risk of having heart disease.

B．Walkers are more likely to get heart disease than runners.

C．Running burns fewer calories than walking.

D．Inactive people are free from heart problems.

3. Which of the following would Thompson most probably agree with?

A．We’d better walk slowly.

B．Any exercise is better than none.

C．We’d better choose to run.

D．Just walk before you run.

7 . Competing in the Mongol Derby

Standing at the finishing line, 70-year-old Bob Long spent a while reflecting on the achievement he’d just made. Behind him was the wild, endless Mongolian grassland extending into the distance. This American had just become the oldest person to ever complete and win the Mongol Derby, the world’s longest horse race.

Long, a rider all his life, entered the race after being inspired by All the Wild Horses, a movie based on the exhausting event.

Fearing that he wouldn’t be able to complete it, he set about preparing his mind and body for this “hardest, toughest, most demanding thing you can do on a horse”, an annual 1,000-kilometer race that was recognized as the world’s longest horse race by The Guinness Book of Records in 2011. He confirmed his belief that preparation can surpass (超过；胜过) youth, as some of the other riders were less prepared.

Although Long had been riding horses for many years, the hardship and uncertainty of the task pushed him to his limit and forced him to depend entirely on his own will. The race organizers had provided an extensive support network to keep an eye on the participants from afar. Despite that, the physical pressure of riding such a long distance made simple things like squatting (蹲) down at the end of the day almost impossible.

Along the vast race course there were unpredictable circumstances beyond Long’s control, however well prepared he’d been. Weather was one of them, which could switch from heavy rain to burning sun unexpectedly.

Above all else, the biggest obstacle was the state of mind. Without a living soul in sight, Long was desperate for interaction, guidance, and comfort. This feeling of loneliness accounted for his hope that one of his fellow competitors would catch up.

Regardless of the hardship, Long felt a sort of spiritual adventure while traveling through the wilderness. He was provided with some memorable moments while connecting with nature. He also grew to love the country and the communities along the route.

Still holding the passion for riding, Long never dismisses the idea of competing in another Mongol Derby.

1. What distinguished Bob Long from other competitors in the Mongol Derby?

A．He rode the whole race course alone.

B．He completed the toughest part of the course.

C．He was the oldest participant of the horse race.

D．He was most likely to enter the competition again.

2. What played a decisive part in Long’s achievement?

A．His strong willpower.	B．His thorough preparation.
C．His passion for nature.	D．An extensive support provided by the organizers.

3. What was the biggest challenge that Long faced during the race?

A．The changeable weather.

B．The psychological condition in the course.

C．The difficulty in finding the competitors.

D．The physical demand of riding a long distance.

4. What is the text mainly about?

A．An introduction to the Mongol Derby.

B．A review of a film based on the longest horse race.

C．The experience of the Mongol Derby’s oldest winner.

D．The preparations before a long and difficult horse race.

8 . These days, football is one of the most popular sports in the world.     1     Football as we know it today started in Great Britain, where the game was given new rules.

That football is such a simple game to play is perhaps the basis of its popularity.     2     You don’t need expensive equipment; even the ball doesn’t have to cost much money. All over the world you can see kids playing to their hearts’ content with a ball made of plastic bags.

    3     It is fun enough to attract millions of people. You do not have to be a fan to recognize the skill of professional players—how they use their bodies to pass, score and defend can be amazing to see—or to feel the excitement of a game ending with a surprising twist.

What’s more, football has become one of the best ways for people to communicate: it does not require words, but everyone understands it.     4     Take, for example, the famous football game on Christmas Day 1914. World War I had broken out months before, but British and German soldiers put down their guns and played football together—one moment of peace to remember during years of conflict.

“Some people believe football is a matter of life and death, ... ” said Bill Shankly, the famous footballer and manager. “    5    ” This might sound funny, but one only has to think about the Earth to realize that our planet is shaped like a football.

A．It is also a game that is very cheap to play.

B．While others think football is just a matter of exercise.

C．I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.

D．It breaks down walls and brings people together on and off the field.

E．Besides, football can help people improve physical exercise and skills

F．The history of the game goes back over two thousand years to Ancient China.

G．Another factor behind football’s global popularity is the creativity and excitement on the field.