2 . Benefits of Sports

Doing sports is a physical, mental and social adventure. It’s a great way for children to take a break from studies and release extra energy. It also helps them lead fuller and happier lives as regular sports have proven beneficial to overall well-being.

The physical benefits of doing sports are probably the most obvious. Regardless of your fitness level when you start playing sports, you’ll notice an increase in your overall fitness once you’re involved.     1     Basketball players focus on strength training; football players work on speed while track athletes train through longer runs. The training process helps promote physical fitness and performances in competitions.

    2     Playing sports also contributes to mental health, helping to increase confidence and self-worth. A pat on the back, a high five from a teammate, or a handshake after a match really boosts a child’s confidence. Words of praise and encouragement from the coach, parents and other players raise self-worth.     3     So after a game, it’s a better idea to ask “Did you enjoy the game?” rather than “Did you win?”

Children who participate in sports might also benefit from the social aspect, feeling part of a group, building up responsibility and leadership.     4     Teamwork involves both being dependable as a teammate and learning to rely on your teammates to achieve a positive outcome. Teamwork breeds responsibility and challenges you to be responsible for your actions. Being part of a team gives you an opportunity to be a leader.

Discipline is another social advantage. Most organized sports require a strict training and practice schedule. As a student-athlete, you need to balance studies and athletics.     5    

There is no shortage of reasons to find a sport to get involved in. Are you ready to go? Pick one and get moving!

A．It’s not just your body that benefits from sports.

B．Therefore, playing sports is going to make you more fit.

C．But remember, a child’s self-worth should not be distinguished by victory or loss.

D．If you play group sports, you’ll be part of a team that takes direction from a coach.

E．Nearly every sport requires physical activities and the competitive skills.

F．Among these, learning how to function as part of a team is the most important advantage.

G．Only with strict discipline can you be successful both in the classroom and in the sports field.

3 . Teenagers’ fitness is now a major concern，and physical exercise is very important. It reduces stress and improves fitness. Exercise makes your body strong，and helps you to keep the right body weight. Sports scientist Dr. Helen Lopez offers the following advice to teenagers：“First，you need to find out your present level of fitness. Then you can design a programme that will help you become healthier.”

Dr. Lopez suggests that there are three levels of fitness that need a change of lifestyle.“Overweight”means that the person gets very little exercise and often has a serious weight problem. “Inactive” means that the person does not join in many physical activities，but is not seriously overweight.“Active”refers to people who take part in sports and other physical activities，but do not have a high fitness level.

According to Dr. Lopez，overweight teenagers should work out to keep healthy.“Ride a bike，play volleyball or basketball for a while，and go for a twenty­minute walk each day. All these will help to burn calories.”Inactive teenagers should do similar activities, but add some bending and stretching exercises, such as push­ups and sit­ups, starting with twenty of each a day.“Inactive people can take a little more exercise than overweight people because their bodies are stronger，”Dr. Lopez said. The same rule applies to active teenagers.

Dr. Lopez suggests one hour a week or more on running and other forms of intensive exercise，together with fifteen minutes a day spent on stretching and bending activities.“These are really important in order to prevent injuries,” Dr. Lopez said. Some weight­training and other body­strengthening exercises could also be planned in the programme in order to increase the person’s strength.

1. What can we learn from the passage?

A．Active people always have a high fitness level.

B．Overweight people always take more exercise.

C．Keeping fit means changing teenagers’ lifestyle.

D．Inactive teenagers are not seriously overweight.

2. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the text?

A．Physical exercise can make the teenagers grow taller.

B．Physical exercise can help teenagers become healthier.

C．Physical exercise can help to burn up calories.

D．Physical exercise can increase teenagers’ strength.

3. In order to prevent injuries you should do some ________．

A．walking exercises	B．streching and bending
C．riding	D．weight­training

4. What is the best title for the passage?

A．Doing Exercise

B．Teenagers’ Fitness

C．Different Lifestyles

D．Overweight Teenagers

4 . In Fairfax, Virginia, the couple team Christopher Pei and Zhang Guifeng are training their students while observing their emotions before their USA Wushu Kungfu Federation National Team Trials (选拔赛).

“They are so nervous because they are experiencing competition anxiety, ” says Peigy, co-founder of US Wushu Academy. “The anxiety allows me only an hour of sleep every night during the competition.”

Wushu is a sport that combines elements of performance and martial arts. The US AWKF National Team Trials happen every two years. Coaches and students get up at 7 a.m. each day to practice for the trials.

Pei, moved to the United States from China with his family in 1972. “ When we moved to Vestal, New York, I did not know any English and started learning English from alphabets,” Pei says. “ So I figured it might be a better idea to start learning Wushu in case I got into a fight and could protect myself.” But he later realized Wushu is composed of two Chinese characters, “zhi” (止) and “ge” (戈) which means to stop fighting.

The couple opened their first academy in Virginia in 1988. Students start as kindergartners and many continue all the way to college.

Chinese culture emphasizes mastering both literacy and martial arts in order to become a complete person. Zhang believes Wushu helps youth develop concentration because its two main principles include focus and respect. “Many parents who grew up in the U. S. as second - or third-generation Chinese need their children to not only learn traditional Chinese culture but also the correct way to become a better person,” Peigy says.

1. How does Peigy feel during the US AWKF National Team Trials?

A．Excited.

B．Stressed.

C．Relaxed.

D．Inspired.

2. What is the true meaning of Wushu?

A．Winning fights.	B．Defending ourselves.
C．Loving peace.	D．Showing power.

3. What is the main idea of Paragraph 6?

A．Many young people lack literacy skill.

B．It is important to become a better person.

C．Wushu is a way to cherish Chinese culture.

D．More and more people are interested in Wushu.

4. Where are you likely to read the passage?

A．On a newspaper.	B．On a guidebook.
C．On a training handout.	D．On a travel brochure.

5 . Five tips for safe running

We all know that exercise is good for our health. But some kinds of exercise may be better than others. Running, for example, may help to protect against heart disease and other health problems.

Running is good exercise, but it can be hard on the body.     1    

Take it easy. Do not run too much, too soon or too fast. Most people get running injuries (受伤) when they push themselves too bad. The body needs time to get used to increase in distance or speed.     2    

Listen to your body. Most running injuries do not come unexpectedly (意外地).     3    

They may include body aches, sore muscles (肌肉) and pain that does not go away.

    4     There is no single best shoe for every runner. You should find the shoe that offers the best fit and support for your feet. More importantly, you should replace your shoes every 500 to 800 kilometers.

Take good notes. Take time after each run to write down what you did and how you felt. Look for patterns, things that happen over again. These notes will help you find the best exercise for you.

Cross train. As we said earlier, running is hard on your body. So physical fitness experts suggest some form of cross training to improve muscle balance and to help you stay injury free. They say, besides running, swimming, yoga, and riding a bicycle are good exercises.     5    

A．Get good running shoes.

B．Here are five ideas to reduce the risk of injury.

C．Muscles and joints (关节) need time to recover.

D．Running may also help you live longer

E．These exercises are easier on the body.

F．Usually, there are warning signs.

G．As advertisements for the running shoe Nike say, “just do it.”

6 . Recently, the organizers of the 2024 Paris Olympics have suggested that breakdancing be included in 2024, making it closer to becoming an Olympic sport. The other 3 sports—surfing, skateboarding and sport climbing—all made debuts in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. That is to say, audience watched these three sports as Olympic events for the first time.

The organizers stressed that four sports had been chosen since they would reflect the city’s identity and help take the Olympics to the street. They added that the purposes were to deliver a Games that was able to keep up with the times and encourage new audience and attract young people. Breakdancing is a typical example which can be played without the limitations of time and places in urban and other environments.

As one of the sports at the Young Olympic Games in Buenos Aires in 2018, breakdancing now could see its popularity greatly raised. But the International Olympic Committee (IOC) needs to approve the French suggestion before it can be formally added to the 2024 Paris Olympics sports programme.

With new IOC rules first introduced to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Host cities can select sports and propose them for inclusion in those Games if they are popular in that country and add to the Game’s appeal.

Antonio Espinos Ortueta, the president of the World Karate Federation said, “Our sport has grown rapidly over the last years. We believe that we have met all the requirements and that we have the perfect conditions to be added to the sports programme. However, we have learned today that we still haven’t had the chance to prove our value as an Olympic sport.”

1. Which of the following is closest in meaning to the underlined word “debuts” ?

A．Announcements.	B．Appearances.
C．Attractions.	D．Advertisements.

2. What can we learn about breakdancing?

A．It attracts people of all ages.

B．It is the symbol of Paris.

C．It was performed in 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics .

D．It can be played anytime and anywhere.

3. What does IOC do in selecting sports?

A．Give useful advice.	B．Offer enough support.
C．Give detailed explanations.	D．Have the last word.

4. Which of the following is TRUE according to Antonio Espinos Ortueta’s words?

A．He thought it easy for a new sport to be included in Olympics.

B．He thought breakdancing was far from ready to be an Olympic event.

C．He couldn’t be sure of the final decision of IOC.

D．He found it likely for breakdancing to be performed in Olympics.

7 . All over the world people enjoy sports. Sports help to keep people healthy and happy, and to live longer. Many people like to watch others play games. They buy tickets or turn on their TVs to watch the games. Often they get very excited when “their” player or team wins.

Some sports are so interesting that people everywhere go in for them. Football, for example, has spread around the world. Swimming is popular in all countries near the sea or in those with many rivers. What fun it is to jump into a pool or lake, whether in China, Egypt or Italy! And think of people in cold countries. Think how many people love to skate or ski in Japan, Norway or Canada. Some sports or games go back thousands of years, like running or jumping. Chinese wushu, for example, has a very long history. But basketball and volleyball are rather new. They are about one hundred years old. People are inventing new sports or games all the time. Water－skiing is one of the newest in the family of sports.

People from different countries often become good friends after a game together. Sports help them to understand each other. One learns to fight hard but fight fair, to win without pride and to lose with grace．

1. Why do people all over the world enjoy sports?

A．Because they want to keep healthy.	B．Because they are happy.
C．Because they want to live longer.	D．All the above.

2. Some people get excited when they watch a game because ________．

A．their favorite team wins	B．they win the game
C．they get the good news	D．they can’t help themselves

3. Which of the sports has a long history?

A．Water－skiing.	B．Basketball.
C．Volleyball.	D．Jumping.

4. People from different countries often become friends after a game together because ________．

A．they train their character in the game	B．they understand each other
C．they are friendly to each other	D．they help each other

8 . I come from a family that loves sports. My father coaches Little League baseball. My mother swims nearly every weekend. My brother is on his high-school basketball team, and I am the best hitter on my middle-school volleyball team. All of us have benefited(受益）from sports. One of the most common ways for kids to take part in sports is to join a team. Joining a sports team should be a school requirement.

Playing sports is good for both the body and mind. Everyone knows that exercise helps people stay fit. For example, swimming helps your heart work better and it also helps build muscle strength(肌肉力量）. In addition, school athletes(运动员） often have a healthy diet. I eat a lot of fruit and vegetables and avoid fatty foods because I must stay in great condition.

Being on a team allows students to enjoy a healthier social life. They often make more friends and can be some of the most popular kids in school. Since joining the basketball team, my brother has made friends with a lot of his tea mates and has showed more interest in spending time with them.

Kids who take part in school teams sometimes earn college scholarships(奖学金）. My brother's friend, Justin, played football in high school. His family did not have money to send him to college. However, a college invited him to play on its team. The college is paying for him to go to school. Joining a team turned out to be one of the best decisions he had ever made. Now he studies at a great college and plays on its football team Not every school athlete gets a college scholarship, but joining a school team-makes it possible.

Although some people may not like the idea of forcing students to join a school team, its many benefits such as keeping kids heal thy, new friendships, and possible scholarships cannot be denied(否认）.

1. What does the author mainly tell us in Paragraph 2?

A．Joining a school team has health benefits.

B．Students should spend more time exercising.

C．Swimming is an excellent sport for students.

D．School athletes must try to eat a healthy diet.

2. How did the author's brother change after joining the team?

A．He had a busier life.	B．He got more chances.
C．He worked much harder.	D．He became more sociable.

3. What can we infer about Justin?

A．He is a good football player.	B．He will be given a scholarship.
C．He is managing a school team.	D．He comes from a wealthy family.

4. What is the author's attitude to making students join school teams?

A．He doubts it.	B．He is in support of it.
C．He is worried about it.	D．He pays little attention to it.