3 . It will come as no comfort to a child shivering (打哆嗦) on a playing field on a cold winter’s day. But regular organized school sport helps children in their academic studies in years to come. The researchers said other “structured” activities such as music or religious activities were not as beneficial for attention as taking part in a games lesson. The difference in academic ability was noticeable even at age ten, with those who had taken in sports since the start of junior school performing better than those who hadn’t.

The Canadian study looked at children aged six and then ten. Professor Linda Pagani said:“We worked with information provided by parents and teachers to compare kindergarteners’ activities with their classroom activities as they grew up. By the time they reached the fourth grade, kids who played structured sports were clearly better at following instructions and remaining focused in the classroom. There is something special to the sporting environment — perhaps the sense of belonging to a team to a special group with a common goal — that appears to help kids understand the importance of respecting the rules and honoring responsibilities.”

Researchers began studying 2,694 Canadian children around the age of six, with teachers filled in questionnaires about their behavior in school. Meanwhile, the children’s parents were interviewed by phone or in person about their home life. The exercise was the repeated four years later to test what effect the behavior had.

Professor Pagani said: “We found children who had better behavior in the kindergarten class were more likely to be involved in sport by age ten. Nevertheless, we found those children who were specifically involved in team sports at kindergarten scored higher by the time they reached the fourth grade.” The researchers believe sporting activities and attention skills go hand in hand. Professor Pagani added: “The results should be encouraging for schools looking to cut childhood obesity rates and low attainment in schools.”

4 . For a while, my neighborhood was taken over by an army of joggers. They were there all the time: early mornings, noons and evenings. There were little old ladies in gray sweaters, young couples in Adidas shoes, middle-aged men with red faces. “Come on!” My friend Alex encouraged me to join him as he jogged by my house every evening. “You’ll feel great.”

Well, I had nothing against feeling great and if Alex could jog every day, anyone could. So I took up jogging seriously and gave it a good two months of my life, and not a day more. Based on my experience, jogging is the most overvalued form of exercise around, and judging from the number of the people who left our neighborhood jogging army, I’m not alone in my opinion.

First of all, jogging is very hard on the body. Your legs and feet take a real pounding running down a road for two or three miles. I developed foot, leg and back problems. Then I read about a nationally famous jogger who died of a heart attack while jogging, and I had something else to worry about. Jogging doesn’t kill hundreds of people, but if you have any physical weaknesses, jogging will surely bring them out, as they did with me.

Secondly, I got no enjoyment out of jogging. Putting one foot in front of the other for forty-five minutes isn’t my idea of fun. Jogging is also a lonely pastime. Some joggers say, “I love being out there with just my thoughts.” Well, my thoughts began to bore me, and most of them were on how much my legs hurt.

And how could I enjoy something that brought me pain? And that wasn’t just the first week; it was practically every day for two months. I never got past the pain level, and pain isn’t fun. What a cruel way to do it! So many other exercises, including walking, lead to almost the same results painlessly, so why jog?

I don’t jog any more, and I don’t think I ever will. I’m walking two miles three times a week at a fast pace, and that feels good. I bicycle to work when the weather is good. I’m getting exercise, and I’m enjoying it at the same time. I could never say the same for jogging, and I’ve found a lot of better ways to stay in shape.

5 . Below is a web page from http://www.parents.com/

Kid of the Year Photo Contest

Enter your kid’s photo today and win! We’re giving away 52 weekly $250 prizes from Readers’ Choice votes. Plus, our editors will select one entry to win our grand prize of $7,000.

Official Contest Rules

No purchase necessary to enter or win. The Kid of the Year Photo Contest entry period begins at 12:00 a.m. January 23, 2022, and ends January 21, 2023 (the “Entry Period”). Entries must arrive by 9:00 p.m. on January 21, 2023 (“Entry Deadline”). Entries will not be acknowledged or returned.

SPONSOR: Meredith Corporation, 1716 Locust Street, Des Moines, Iowa.

ENTRY: There will be two methods of entry.

Share My Entry: Visit http://www.parents.com/photos/photo-contests-l/kid-of-the-year/ and click the button to enter.

Facebook Entry: Visit http://www.Facebook.com/ParentsMagazine and click the Kid of 2022 tab.

Then complete the registration form and follow the instructions to upload one album of up to six photos of your child aged three months to eight years. You may provide one description and one album title that will be applied to all photos. Photos, without any brand names or trademarks, must be taken by participants, non-professional, unpublished and may not have won any prize or award. Photos must be .jpeg or .bmp image formats and cannot exceed 3 MB.

This promotion is in no way sponsored, supported or run by, or associated with Facebook. You are providing your information to Parents Magazine and not to Facebook. The information you provide will only be used to run the promotion and register for Parents.com.

Photos must not contain material that infringes the rights of another, including privacy, publicity or intellectual property rights, or that constitutes copyright violation.

LIMIT: One entry per household, per child, per week. One weekly prize per child. For entries of more than one child in a family, the entry process must be completed separately for each child. No group entries.

The US Open has been in existence for more than 120 years. The first tournament (锦标赛) was held in 1881 at the Newport Casino. It was called the US National Singles Championship. Entry was limited to only those clubs which were members of the United States National Lawn Tennis Association, and the competitors were all male, competing in both singles and doubles. Richard Sears won the men’s championship and he went on to win the next six men’s singles championships.

In 1875, the All England Croquet Club was troubled financially due to declining membership. A new sport called lawn tennis was gaining fast in popularity and taking away the members. Two years later, a new roller was needed for maintaining its lawns so the club proposed to hold a tournament to raise money. Twenty-two players entered that first Wimbledon tournament which was won by Spencer Gore in straight sets over W. C. Marshall. Two hundred spectators each paid a shilling to watch the final game, enabling the club to buy the needed roller plus some extra cash.

The very first French Championship was held way back in 1891, and the tournament has since grown into one of the four tennis Grand Slam tournaments we know today. The first competition was a one-day national championship which was won by a British. The competition was poorly attended by world class players. It took 24 years before it became fully international and an accepted tennis grand slam event (大满贯赛事). After the First World War, French tennis was achieving stature (名声). Suzanne Lenglen was the predominant French player, winning the championships six times between 1920 and 1926.

The very first tennis tournament ever played in Australia was held in January 1880, on the courts of the Melbourne Cricket Club. In 1905, the Australian Open was established as the Australasian Tennis Championship and was played at the Warehouseman's Cricket Ground in Melbourne. It became the Australian Championship in 1927 and the Australian Open in 1969. Women’s events were added in 1922.

9 . In 2016, 60-year-old Marshall Reeves got onto his bike in California. He began the Race Across America, a 3,000-mile _______ that runs from coast to coast.

The goal was to _______the finish line in Maryland in two weeks. This goal had_______him twice already: In 2011 he made it to Manchester, Ohio, and in 2014, he was forced to stop at West Union, West Virginia. But for his third_______, Reeves had a new source of motivation: He was racing with 3,000 miles to a Cure, which raised money for brain cancer_________

The race is one of the longest running and _______respected events in the country. But it’s also one of the most_______. Only about half the competitors are able to finish. Unlike other long-distance bike races that are done in timed_______, it is continuous---once the clock starts in California, it doesn’t _______until Maryland. To stay on track, racers have to meet________time cutoffs(截止点)along the way.

Racers are typically________ in cars by a small crew. It’s the crew’s job to keep the racer not only physically ________, but also mentally motivated. In the early days of the race, when Reeves had ________to stop at a hotel, he would be ________ to a full-body massage （按摩）and a good night’s sleep. But after three days,________ was a luxury（不常有的乐趣）as he raced to make the time cutoffs biking for more than 20 hours a day.

After crossing the two points where his________attempts had ended, Reeves entered a new, unknown area. With just 25 miles left, Reeves struggled to stay ________, catching quick naps（小睡） in the car. At last, he crossed the finish line in 12 days, 13 hours, and 52 minutes.

This year, Reeves will________across America again, but this time, he’ll be working the other side of the race. Some of his road crew members will create a relay team（接力队）, and Reeves will________ them as road chief,________the favor for his crew’s hard work.

10 . A cancer survivor has become the first woman to complete an exhausting “Sea to Summit” triathlon（三项全能运动） which saw her swim, cycle, and run over 330 miles in just five days. Andrea Mason was overjoyed when she crossed the finish line early Wednesday morning.

The race was set in the French Alps. Setting off at 6:15am on Friday, 39-year-old Mason battled through severe pain, and hallucinations(幻觉)，but she pushed on --managing to complete the race in an impressive four days, 23 hours, and 41 minutes. Andrea had been diagnosed with cancer and needed life-saving surgery. Following a successful operation, she is now hoping to raise awareness of women’s health. In the past year，Andrea set up her own charity, Lady Talk Matters, in order to improve surrounding female’s health.

Andrea, from Blackpool in Lancashire, England, said，“I am so happy all went according to plan as there were so many things that could have gone wrong. I wanted to do it in five days， and I did，but it was very tough. I had some low moments, particularly when I couldn’t sleep in my limited rest periods, and when I couldn’t keep any food down as I was running. For sure I had some doubts along the way as I was exploring the unknown with such a huge run, particularly as large parts of it were in the dark. It was bigger than I imagined, the impact on my body was huge. But every time I felt like giving up，I thought about all the women out there in pain or who still hadn’t been diagnosed. That is why I put myself through this.”

Andrea had to swim 23 miles around Lake Annecy, cycle 205 miles with 30,000 feet of vertical climbing around Mont Blanc, and run 105 miles with 4,000 feet of vertical climbing around The Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc. You could say Andrea’s actually spent a lifetime training for an event like this. She completed her first three-mile race “powered by chocolate bars＂ when she was just four.