Sports and fitness play a (n)     1     role in maintaining a healthy and     2     lifestyle. Engaging in sports not only promotes physical     3     but also enhances mental and emotional health. Through sports, we can cultivate teamwork, discipline, and     4    . Participating in sports and fitness activities not only benefits our physical health but also     5     to overall happiness and long life.

Walking, if you do it vigorously enough, is the overall best exercise for regular physical activity. It requires no equipment, everyone knows how to do it and it carries the     1     risk of injury. The human body is designed to walk. You can walk in parks or along a river or in your neighborhood. To get     2     benefit from walking, aim for 45 minutes a day, an average of five days a week.

Strength training is another important     3     of physical activity. Its purpose is to build and     4     bone and muscle mass, both of which shrink with age. In general, you will want to do strength training two or three days a week,     5     recovery days between sessions.

Finally, flexibility and balance training are     6     important as the body ages. Aches and pains are high on the list of complaints in old age. The result of constant muscle tension and stiffness of joints is     7     and simple flexibility training can     8     these by making muscles stronger and keeping joints lubricated. Some of this you can do whenever you stretch. If you watch dogs and cats, you’ll get an idea of how natural it is. The general     9     is simple: whenever the body has been in one position for a while, it is good to     10     stretch it in an opposite position.

Experts     1     the conclusion that taking exercise regularly is beneficial to people’s health. If a man lacks regular exercise and doesn’t have a healthy lifestyle, his body may     2    .     3    , if a man takes proper exercise, he is healthier. Some students who are lacking in exercise even have difficulty     4     the PE test.

The Olympics

The Olympics are the most important international competition in terms of scale, skills, and number of athletes.

The games are divided into two parts—the Summer Games and the Winter Games. The two parts are held in such a way that there are two years in between but four years before one is     1    .

The Olympics were first celebrated in 776 BC in Olympia, Greece, and were held every four years until 393 AD. Then, they were brought to an end by the Roman emperor. It was not until the 1890s that the world     2    the modern summer games. In 1896 the first modern Summer Olympics were held in Greece because that was where the tradition started. After that the Olympics would move to a different city every four years. In 1924, the Winter Olympics were added to the     3    . The Games were to take place in a separate, colder place. The event was     4    during World War I and World War II for reasons known to all.

Examples of modern Summer Olympic events are track and     5    events, ball games, diving, gymnastics, swimming. Typical Winter Olympic events are skating and skiing.

The Olympic records are the world ones. An Olympic gold medal carries as much weight as, or even more than, any other gold medal won at other international competitions. The skills and     6    demonstrated at the Olympics have come to stand for the peak of human physical strength and will power.

It was not until the late twentieth century that Chinese athletes began to amaze the world with their     7    performance at the Olympics. Coming out number one many times in the Olympic events, Chinese athletes have brought home one gold medal after another in swimming, diving, gymnastics, weight lifting, and a number of ball games. At the turn of the twenty-first century, the world witnessed Beijing being selected by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as the     8    city for the 2008 Olympics. This has added a brilliant touch to the picture of modern Chinese sport history.

Though once     9    as “the Weaklings of East Asia”, the Chinese have always been looking forward to achieving the dream of becoming a sports giant. After continuous efforts for years the dream is     10    coming true, and it is understandable why the Chinese let out cries of joy the night Beijing’s bid to host the 2008 Olympics was approved!

Competitive Sports and Mass Sports

Soccer, boxing, badminton, marathon, skiing, gymnastics and track and field, there seem to be hundreds of sports for us. In stadiums, gyms, or homes, we can work out     1    all over. Competitive sports mean that athletes must compete against each other for medals in championships or Olympics to win     2    and glory for their country, which needs not only skills and strength but also great     3    . However, success often comes along with stress, failure and injuries. Sometimes even a master will fall apart, but he never loses heart. Finally, he makes it and becomes a legend.    4    with competitive sports, mass sports focus on fitness     5     competition. Millions of people go jogging or do push-ups to keep slim instead of going on diet by cutting out fat. However, with no audience to shout encouragement, they may give up. They cheat themselves into taking exercise the next day or     6    to have done it otherwise, which doesn’t make sense. However, even if you take exercise now and then, it will make a difference and have     7    effects, won’t it?

    1     for long hours every day in an office for several years, Nancy Jones felt that she was getting out of shape and decided that she needed to get some exercise. So, instead of going to and from work every day by bus, she started riding a bike because    2     was an enjoyable activity for her. One night she had to work till late and it was foggy outside when she left the office. Her bike did not have a light, so    3     home by bike would be dangerous.     4     (not) to risk having her bike stolen, however, she decided to ride it home anyway. The first few kilometres had plenty of street lights, but     5    onto a side road in the suburbs she found herself in the dark.     6    down, she tried to see in front of her, but it was impossible. Then without warning, her bike hit a rock,     7    her to the ground.     8    to get up, she discovered that her ankle was broken. Unable to stand or walk, she found herself in alarming pain. Fortunately, she was able to call an ambulance with her mobile phone, and they took her to a hospital. However, it was several months before her ankle recovered and she found     9    easy again.     10     a gym membership near her office, Nancy decided that there were other ways of keeping fit.

By the time Cathy and I, together with other volunteers for the city half-marathon, arrived at 4:30 a.m., tables     1     on both sides of the road. Bottles of water and paper cups     2     to different tables, so Cathy and I immediately went to help. Then, we took our place at the table and quickly started to arrange the bottles and cups so that they looked like an army of soldiers standing in line for inspection.

I took a step back, and looked at the scene with satisfaction. For the previous couple of weeks, I     3     on how to be a volunteer for the half-marathon. I decided to volunteer for this year’s half-marathon after the chairman of the organizing committee visited my school. We were told that the competitors would be raising money for charity, and while I didn’t feel that I had a strong constitution to run that far, I thought the next best thing would be to help those who could.

After all the preparations     4    , the exciting half-marathon began. Cathy and I waited patiently until word spread that the first runners would be arriving soon. As the tired, thirsty runners ran along, they     5     by the crowds. Cathy and I quickly poured water into the cups for them. After the last runner passed, I found paper cups and plastic bottles everywhere. The litter     6     around by the wind as I bent over to pick up a plastic bottle. Cathy and I started clearing up. We were tired and wet with sweat but it felt really good to know that we had been able to help others.