3 . A fresh and gentle wind on your face, soft sand under your feet and blue waters as far as the eye can see. Is there any other Olympic sport that is played in such pleasant conditions as beach volleyball？

“I’ve gone to a lot of beautiful places, and met a lot of beautiful people. That wouldn’t have happened if I had been playing another sport.” said Randy Stoklos, America’s most famous beach volleyball player.

The sport began as a four-a-side game on beaches in Southern California in the 1920s. The first recorded two-man game took place there in 1930, and the first tournament (锦标赛) was held in Los Angeles 18 years later. The winners were awarded a case of Pepsi. In the 1950s, women started playing and the sport soon spread to Europe and South America. Yet at that time, beach volleyball was more an entertainment show than a sport, with beauty contests included. The Association of Volleyball Professionals was founded in 1983 and beach volleyball developed into a fast, athletic sport. Its world-wide popularity won beach volleyball a place at the 1996 Olympics in Atalanta, where 24 male teams and 16 female teams took part. At present, the US and Brazil are the best in the world at beach volleyball.

The game came to China in the early 1990s and there have been national tournaments since 1994. It became an official event at the Eighth National Games in 1997. China’s You Wenhui and Wang Lu finished ninth in the women’s beach volleyball world championships in Brazil.

5 . A recent study shows that more years of school could help students get higher scores on intelligence tests. That was the finding of a study of teenage males in Norway. Now, other research shows that_______activity may help students do better in their classes.

The research comes as educators in some countries are reducing time for activities like physical education. They are using the time instead for_________subjects like math and reading.

Researchers at VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam_______the results of fourteen studies, which included more than fifty-five thousand children, aged six to eighteen.

Research Amika Singh says the studies showed a _______between physical activity and scores on subjects such as Math, English and reading. “Based on the results of our study we can conclude that being physically active is_______for academic performance.”

Ms. Singh_________some possible explanations. “There are, first, physiological explanations, like more blood flow, and so more oxygen to the brain. Being physically_______means there are more hormones produced like endorphins（内啡肽）. And endorphins make your stress level lower and your mood improved, which means you also_______better.”

Also, students_______in organized sports learn rules and how to follow them. This could improve their classroom________and help them keep their mind on their work.

The study__________some questions unanswered, however. Ms. Singh says it is not possible to say whether the amounts or kind of activity________the level of academic improvement. This is because of differences among the studies.

Also, they were mostly observational studies. An observational study is where researchers do not do controlled comparisons. They only describe what they observe. So they might observe a link that students who are more active often have better grades. But that does not__________mean being active was the cause of those higher grades. Therefore, more high-quality studies are needed to ________their findings.

Still, the general finding was that physically active kids are more likely to do better in school. Ms. Singh says schools should consider that finding before they________physical education programs.

From China's Changcheng Research Station in the South Pole to Tuktoyaktuk, Canada in the North Pole,   Guizhou runner Bai Bin took 433 days and ran 24,000 kilometers     1     (complete) this journey.

    2       (bear) in Sinan county, Tongren, Southwest China's Guizhou province, Bai     3    (be) a running enthusiast since childhood. In 2006, Bai took 50 days to run from Guiyang to Lhasa. In 2011, Bai took 150 days to run from Istanbul to Xi'an.     4     (he) previous experience in grueling sports laid the foundation for him to push his limits. In 2018,     Bai and his friend Li Zhenyu     5    (plan) the route for running from the South Pole to the North Pole. According to the plan, the route will be by way of 219       6     (city) and towns in 14 countries. His journey started on March 2. 2018. In addition to       7    (run) , the extreme environment posed a major challenge for him.    8    the help of his team, local citizens, and overseas Chinese, Bai overcame massive difficulties and arrived in the North Pole on May 8.

However, Bai is continuing on to    9    new challenge. Next, he plans to cross the Bering Strait from the Arctic Ocean and run back to Xi'an,     10     climb Mount Qomolangma.

Regular exercise can increase your body's energy consumption and it is also a great way    1    (improve) your productivity and mental focus throughout the day. The increased energy levels that occur as a result of exercise     2    (be) also likely to lead to more active habits throughout the day, such as taking the stairs rather than the lift, or    3    (walk) to speak to workmates instead of emailing. This increased activity will then bring physical and mental benefits.

Physical activity can help us to improve the     4     (long) and the quality of our sleep, which will in turn make further contributions    5    our health and well being. While there is no absolute figure we should aim for in terms of sleep time, most people will find that they fall somewhere between six to nine hours a night. Quality is    6    (sure) more important than quantity.

Regular physical activity can help us to manage life's stress much    7    (well) as a distraction technique. As discussed, exercise can help you achieve a more positive outlook as well as improving sleep quality, both of     8     are important in managing stress. Also,    9     is thought that exercise can help to improve our ability to activate the control centers in our brain and the nervous system, which is very    10     (help) when we are under stress.

Learning Quickly from Mistakes

Mercy Cherono is one of many very successful young athletes from Kenya. She was born in 1991 in the village of Kipajit. She is     1     (old) of six children, and some of the other children in her family are also athletes. Her father, John Koech, runs a training camp in the village. During the school holidays, the camp    2     attract over 50 trainees.

Cherono started running in primary school and continued when she went to secondary school in the nearby town of Sotik. At the age of 16, she participated in the 2007 International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Cross Country Championships,     3    (hold) in Mombasa. Kenya. It was her first international event. Despite the fact     4     she finished 23rd in the junior race, she had launched herself into international athletics. In the same year, at the World Youth Championships at Ostrava in the Czech Republic, she won a gold medal in the 3,000-meter race,     5    she ran in the championship record time of 8: 53:94.

In the coming years, she continued to win gold medals at famous international championships. She is a two-time World Junior Champion in the 3,000-meter race,     6    (win) in Poland in 2008, and again in Canada in 2010. She also came in first in the 3,000-meter race at the 2009 Africa Junior Championships. However, Cherono is not just a middle-distance runner. At the 2009 World Cross Country Championships in Jordan, she won a silver medal in the junior race. She lost to the Ethiopian long-distance runner Genzebe Dibaba     7     she tried to jump too early to the finishing line. After the race, Cherono claimed, "I will not repeat that mistake again.”

The following year, at the same cross-country race, Cherono proved herself when she won a gold medal. Incredibly,     8     of the three runners-up were from Kenya, too. She and the Kenyan team came home to a hero's welcome. Her coach was excited and owed the success of the Kenyan team    9     hard training and determination." And her father said, "our child is a disciplined girl who has always taken instructions." Perhaps one day Mercy Cherono     10     (instruct) future champions.

9 . One of the best parts of the school day is the time spent in the playground. It’s a chance to be with friends, run around and have fun. However, at the Rudyard Kipling Primary School in Brighton, things were getting too hard, so the teachers decided something had to be done. The school’s new rules, which restrict（限制）physical activities and encourage pupils only to touch if they are playing friendlier games, have attracted a lot of attention.

Most people say that they are a bad restriction. Parents of children at the school, in Brighton, East Sussex, talked about the bizarre rule —   saying their kids were now bored at playtime. A teacher for the school defended（辩护）the rules, saying, “We want to make sure the playground is a happy, safe and calm place where everyone can enjoy their lunchtime running around and getting the exercise that we know is important to them.”

Some people say that Rudyard Kipling Primary School’s decision is a good one because it makes the playground more fun for everyone. Not all children enjoy playing rough（剧烈的）games or sports at playtime. Friendlier games ensure everyone can join in. The teachers only have the pupils’ best interests at heart, so they should be trusted to make the right decision. Besides, if someone gets hurt in the playground, that                    could distract（分心）the teachers from other accidents.

However, some people think it’s an overreaction. Sometimes physical games can lead to injuries, but banning（禁止）such activities is unreasonable. In fact, it is only during physical games that you can build up your ability to recover quickly from falling over. Even if these physical activities aren’t your favorite way to spend break time, it’s difficult to see why they will be completely banned. Each pupil should be able to decide what they want to do. Besides, schools should be happy that their students want to exercise between classes as this will keep them fit and healthy, and teachers should encourage this, not prevent it.

10 . Are you trying to find the best time for exercise?     1     Follow these tips to figure out what fitness routine works best for you.

Dawn, dusk or dead of night — when’s the best time to work out? Well, that depends on when’s the best time for you, because the benefits of physical activity depend upon how consistent you are.     2     But if you’re not a morning person, it may not work for you to try to get up at dawn to work out. The key is to do what’s most likely to work for you consistently.

    3     If you find that working out too late in the evening keeps you from falling asleep easily, shift your exercise session earlier in the day or try less intense, more mindful forms of movement.

To stay motivated, choose activities you enjoy. If you’re a social person, do something that engages you socially. Take a group exercise class, join a recreational team or walk with a group of friends. If you prefer having time alone, walking, swimming or biking solo might be a better fit for you.     4    

There are so many choices.     5     Having a variety of fitness activities to choose from may keep you from getting bored or burnt out.