1     physical activity is one of the most important things you can do for your health. Being physically active can improve your brain health, help manage weight, reduce the risk of     2    ,     3     bones and muscles, and improve your ability to do everyday activities.

With the number of kids who play sports increasing rapidly, teaching good sportsmanship is more important than ever. And understanding how to be a good     1     is a big challenge kids must face in sports. For kids, the goals of sports should be physical activity and social interaction. So it’s important that parents and coaches should     2     having fun and getting exercise. Gotlin, who runs a youth basketball club,     3     that kids, coaches, and parents should have a meeting to go over rules before the game and remind every kid to just play and have fun.

5 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

Boat of Power

Dragon boat racing began in China more than 2,000 years ago as part of a cultural community event to memorize the ancient poet, Qu Yuan. The traditional holiday was a time to perform    1    for good fortune and well-being, and to drive off evil spirits. Over time, dragon boat racing    2    into a global sport.

The Toronto-based Dragons Abreast team stands out at this sport for a few reasons. For one, the79-member team includes people ranging in age from 30 to 93. Prior to joining Dragons Abreast, some members hadn’t been part of a sports team since childhood and wouldn’t have described themselves as particularly athletic ones. And what has brought these women together is something    3     — living with breast cancer.

The breast cancer survivors on this team are in the same boat in every way. For many, being part of a community that knows    4    how life changes after breast cancer is as beneficial as the physical gains. The team offers a supportive space to    5    all the complexities of survivorship.

“I was so surprised at how    6    the racing was for me,” says Liz Johnston Hill, the race coordinator for Dragons Abreast. “It’s almost overwhelming how people encourage, no matter what.”

Being out on the water and connecting to the environment is an important aspect of dragon boating for many of the team members. They talk about how it provides    7    of peace and encourages mindfulness, something we could all use more of in our lives. Outside of dragon boat, the members are a(n)    8    part of each other’s life. “We’ve all been through    9    the same thing in our various ways,” says the race coordinator Liz Johnston Hill. While the number of breast cancer survivor teams grows, barriers to the sport remain such as cost, time,     10    to water and practice facilities and the lack of cultural and language diversity. But there are ongoing efforts to introduce more people living with breast cancer to dragon boat.

Rongjiang county, tucked away in the rainy hills of south-west China, has little going for it at first glance. The grey tiles covering houses in the county sea give it a rather drab feel. Locals often have to find work elsewhere, travelling to distant factories and construction sites.

Yet this summer it was Chinese from far-off cities who flocked to Rongjiang. They came to watch an amateur football league involving 20 of the county’s villages. It started in May and quickly became a       1    . Weekend matches between teams made up of butchers and farmers drew crowds of nearly 50, 000, straining the local stadium. Millions more watched on Weibo, a Twitter-like platform, and Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok.

There are many reasons behind the popularity of the Rongjiang league, which is men only. Start with the     2     of professional football. Despite decades of investment, the country’s players are not very good. The men’s national team, made up of players from China’s top league, ranks 78th in the world (the women rank 14th). It has only qualified for the World Cup once, in 2002, when it failed to score a single goal.

The Rongjiang league, by contrast, has an authentic, even wholesome feel. Football in the county dates back to the 1940s, when it was     3     by university students who were fleeing China’s cities during the invasion by Japan. Today the games are free to watch and feel enjoyably low pressure. Players     4     off their missed shots with smiles. After a penalty shoot-out in the semi-finals, fans swarmed the pitch waving China’s national flag. The winners of this year’s tournament, from a village in Chejiang township, walked away with a cow. The two runners-up won three pigs and three goats, respectively.

The league’s cultural diversity is another     5    . The players come from several minority ethnic groups, of which the biggest are the Dong and the Miao. During breaks in the matches, villagers in traditional silver headdresses often dance for the crowd.

To the delight of officials at all levels, the league appears to have stimulated the local economy. During the Dragon Boat festival in June tourism spending     6     up, much of it coming from football fans. Vendors at the hundreds of stalls set up by the local government outside the stadium     7     a brisk trade. A man hawking barbecue skewers says he has doubled his income.

But there are concerns that the success of Rongjiang may be fleeting. Attracting crowds to this part of China is not easy. The city of Zibo, in the northern province of Shandong, provides a     8     tale. It became a social-media phenomenon when word of its delicious kebabs began making the rounds earlier this year. Tourists flocked to the city, where officials turned arenas into makeshift dining halls. But after a few months of this barbecue craze, interest in Zibo slumped.

Still, officials think they have found a winning strategy for the countryside. A new football league began this month and will     9     until October. It involves nearly 300 amateur teams from all around China. Each is named after a food. On August 13th a team called the Sour Soups from the nearby city of Kaili beat the Bamboo Shoots from the southern province of Guangdong. The stadium in Rongjiang was still     10    .

During all those hours of doing jump shots     1    , he used Bogues as his     2    . Paul once said, “If Bogues could     3    , why not me?”

However, our coach was not so sure. Paul had to     4     many times just for making the team. He was still usually     5    , being just a replacement, which was really tough on him. Though Paul had real skills and     6     to play for the team, he didn’t get a chance.

One day, a player and I     7     each other, which made me unable to play any more. Some one     8     that the coach     9    . The coach was hesitant (犹豫) at first, but he finally agreed. To our surprise, Paul didn’t     10     and we finally won the game.

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.

How I Tricked Myself into Enjoying Healthier Foods and Exercise

Most of us would like to think that when we reach a certain age or point in our careers, we automatically evolve past the point of worrying about our appearance. Body image and self-confidence, or our lack of confidence, is something that we never really talk about for fear of drawing attention to our     1    .

But the truth is that our body image issues affect us more than we’d like to     2    . Over the last eight years I’ve worked hard to     3     my business. My main focus has been my work—writing books, creating products, launching products, growing my team—and I’ve dedicated long hours to my company’s success. My diligence has definitely paid off and my business is thriving, but all of that hustling has come at a(n)     4     cost. I’ve spent long hours at the computer and little time exercising or eating     5    . I tried to ignore it and I told myself that no one noticed, but my weight steadily crept up.

As a result, my confidence slowly decreased, and I retreated from the     6     —both personal and professional—that I loved. I stopped going out with friends, stopped sharing photos of myself on social media and avoided media interviews. Even if I didn’t want to admit it, I knew that the underlying problem was that I just didn’t feel     7     about myself. I had to make a change. I started by getting clear about my goals, which included getting into the best shape of my life, changing the way I ate and running a 10K on my 40^th birthday. But more importantly, I got honest with myself about why those goals were so     8     and then I asked the people that I trust the most to hold me accountable. From there, I had to make the daily decision to     9     through.

It wasn’t easy. In fact, there were many     10     that were downright painful. But I’m succeeding, and I’m happy to see that I’ve made changes and am now leading a healthier life.

So, what is plogging? As a matter of fact, it is a    1    of picking and jogging, which means picking up garbage while working out. Many people    2    it because plogging benefits us a lot. It not only helps us keep    3    and mentally healthy but also is of great    4    to protect the environment and our homeland. People of all ages can participate in this kind of exercise. More than that, it raises the public    5    of environmental issues and develops their sense of responsibility.