2 . Reasons to Put on Your Rollerblades and Hit the Pavement

Rollerblading (旱冰) is great for building balance, strengthening muscles, and improving mental health. It’s also a cheap, fun, and eco-friendly way to get your daily exercise in.

It’s fun

We all know that we should be exercising several times a week, and picking a workout that is fun naturally motivates us to get up and get going.     1     The top benefit of rollerblading is exercise in ways that are fun, soul-filling, and mental health-improving.

It’s cheap

Rollerblading is also a great exercise choice because it costs very little.     2     There’s no need to pay for a monthly gym membership or expensive equipment. Rollerblades cost a lot less than a bike.

It’s eco-friendly

    3     Rollerblading is much faster than walking and can take you up to ten miles. Maybe that’s why some Viennese citizens are choosing to use this sustainable (可持续的) activity for their means of transportation.

Skater and climate activist, Gerhard Ladstatte explains why he started Friday Night Skating, a free street skating event. “We want to move without burning fuel.” People looking for an oil-free way to get to a workplace that isn’t too far from home, while combining daily exercise into their routine, can consider rollerblading to work.     4    

It’s good for your mental health

Like any form of aerobic exercise, skating is associated with a number of wellness benefits.     5     By fixing your attention on both the body and its surroundings, you can shift focus away from negative thought patterns and anxieties. Rollerblading can also increase self-confidence and positive feelings.

5 . Competing for a Trip to Soma Bay, Egypt

Soma Bay is a perfect place for sunny relaxation. If you take a trip there, you can also take part in the competition we organize.

Lapped by the Red Sea on three sides and with views of sandy beaches and desert mountains, Soma Bay can attract nature lovers most, Spreading across almost 2,500 acres, the Egyptian tourist attraction has an 18-hole golf course designed by Gary Player, a golfing enthusiast, as well as the largest Thalasso spa in Africa. Kiteboarding, diving and horse riding are all on offer, too.

Of Soma Bay’s five accommodation options, a five-star hotel enjoys a fantastic location on the highest point of the Soma Bay peninsula. It has a number of guest rooms and suites with private balconies, as well as four on-site restaurants, You can enjoy beach-side pizza, take afternoon tea, or stop for a drink by the 18th hole. They are all offered by the hotel.

With the official permission of Soma Bay, the winner can enjoy a four-night stay in a classic room at the five-star hotel on a half-price basis. The prize includes return economy class flight tickets with overhead cabin luggage from the UK to Hurghada International Airport up to the value of £650 per person, with direct routes available from cities including London, Manchester and Bristol, plus return airport transfers to Soma Bay (UK transfers aren’t included).

Answer the following question online at natgeotv,com/uk/competitions:

ON WHICH SEA IS SOMA BAY LOCATED?

Competition closes on 31 October 2023.

The winner must be a UK adult resident, aged 18 or over.

7 . It might be a shock, but video games might be added to the 2024 Olympics. The debate over this gives both sports and video game fans something to consider.

The Olympic Games were created in the 1890s with the inspiration of replicating (重现) the ancient Olympic Games which were a celebration for the ancient Greek God, Zeus. Thereafter, it changed to be a great competition to show off the athletes’ strength, physical abilities, and skills. On the other hand, video games were first made for entertaining the people. It wasn’t until 1972 that the first competitive video game was created. Afterwards, people held competitions to exhibit players’ skills: hand-eye coordination (手眼协调), quick thinking, and even teamwork. With these two types of similar events, it’s easy to see why people are considering combining the two.

With this addition to the Olympic Games, it gives the competitors more competing events, gives different types of entertainment to viewers, and allows more people to join the Olympics. Besides, allowing video games in the Olympics will not only exhibit physical strength, but also bring intelligence, reaction speed, and more teamwork to the competition.

However, every coin has two sides. One disadvantage of this extension of the Olympic Games is the increase of “Haters”. There have already been cases of people who dislike video games in their everyday lifestyle. If the two activities were to combine, the popularity of this event would be lowered.

The worst downside appears. If video games were to enter the Olympics, it would not be the competition that it was originally made to be. The Olympics were made for great athletic abilities and skills, not for pushing buttons to control something that isn’t physically real.

With both positive and negative effects, it will be a hard choice whether or not to place video games in the Olympics. Although the final decision hasn’t been made yet, we’d better keep open-minded about that.

9 . Soccer, basketball, baseball, and the like are popular all around the world, However, do you look for something a bit different? There may be some new sports that you want to try out!

One of the new sports is regball. It is a Russian sport adding basketball, wrestling (摔跤) and rugby. As in basketball, the players have a ball that they try to shoot through a hoop (篮筐) . But nobody will be calling “that’s a travel” while watching this sport, because there is no need to dribble (运球) . Players also wrestle with each other during the game.

Another kind of sport you don’t see every day is soapbox racing. Handmade vehicles are pushed down a hill, and competitors have to drive their vehicles through a course with different kinds of things in their way. Not all competitors are engineers, so the vehicles are easy to break apart. Competitors are judged for their soapbox’s creativity. Therefore, speed is not everything, and creativity plays the most important role. Competitors often design their vehicles based on themes from pop culture or history. Of course, the competitors dress up to play the role, too.

Cheese rolling race is not seen very often, but it is exciting. This is a game that is extremely funny for audience, but painful for competitors. During the game, competitors race down a very steep (陡峭的) hill, chasing after a round of Double Gloucester cheese that can weigh up to nine pounds and can travel some 70 miles per hour. Whoever gets to the bottom first wins the cheese.

10 . What are the limits of the human body? Is there a point at which it is physically impossible to do something?

“One thing we’ve all learned in the last 30 years or so is that just about anything is humanly possible,” says Dr. Jack Wilmore, author of Physiology of Sport and Exercise. “As time goes by, I think you’ll see more records continue to fall in every sport. The talent pool is better than ever. With more and better athletes involved and competing, records will fall and new standards will be set.”

Many believed it was physically impossible for a human to run a mile in under four minutes, but Roger Bannister proved that theory wrong with a three-minute, 59-second mile in 1954. Today, sub-four-minute miles are considered routine even in high school. And Bob Beamon stretched human performance in the 1968 Olympics with his historic long jump of 8.90 metres. In an event where a record is usually broken by mere inches, he broke the previous jump record by more than 21 inches, but even his record was broken in 1991.

One factor is now becoming more understood and heavily emphasized: sports psychology. Getting inside the athlete’s head can be as effective as training and long workouts. According to Wilmore, the psychological aspect of sports has become more and more esteemed. He points out that most professional teams have hired sports psychologists for their players.

In addition, every aspect of athletics --- training, nutrition, injury treatment --- is far better than it’s ever been. “Besides, children today tend to specialize in one or two sports instead of competing in several as was common twenty-five years ago,” Wilmore says. “That means they start concentrating on a sport much earlier and more intensely, and they become much better at it.”

“There’s a lot we don’t know yet about the human body,” he adds. “And one of those   things is the full range of human potential. It would be foolish to try and put limits on what the human body can do.”