When my friend first suggested that we join the new Tai Chi Club at school, I hesitated. I always believed tai chi was for old people. After the first class,     1    , I had to admit that I had been wrong about tai chi. It was amazing! One year later, I can honestly say it has had a huge effect on me physically and mentally. Just as importantly,     2     (practise) tai chi has inspired me to explore the Chinese culture behind it.

The first few tai chi classes were fun and easy, and the moves really caught my imagination, with     3     (describe) names like “white crane spreading its wings” and “golden rooster standing on one leg”. When I asked my coach where these interesting names came from, he told me about     4     history of tai chi. Zhang Sanfeng, a 13th-century Taoist, was said to have invented tai chi after drawing inspiration from a fight between a snake and a bird. However, nowadays people tend to believe that Chen Wangting, a 17th-century master of Chinese martial arts, developed tai chi based     5     martial arts skills. No wonder some tai chi moves are named after animals—Chinese martial arts have a long-standing practice of imitating animals. Chen Wangting’s original set of moves is called Chen-style tai chi, but other styles of tai chi have since been developed, including Yang-style, Wu-style and Sun-style.

After learning the basics of tai chi in those first few classes, I found myself bored and aching from doing the same moves over and over again. Luckily, my coach taught me how to relax my muscles and focus on peace of mind while performing the routine. With these     6     (require) of tai chi in mind, I found to my satisfaction that my balance and flexibility slowly improved, that I was able to do     7     (difficult) moves, and that my love for tai chi returned stronger than ever.

In time, I began to look into the ancient Chinese culture behind tai chi. I discovered that tai chi is deeply rooted in the Chinese philosophy of yin and yang,     8     are believed to form the unity of opposites. Neither can exist independent of the other, for example, there is no shadow     9     light. The practice of tai chi aims to maintain the balance of yin and yang in the body through opposite movements: forwards and backwards, up and down, left and right, breathing in and breathing out. Eventually, tai chi brings about a state of physical balance and mental peace.

A year of practising tai chi has had a positive effect     10     my everyday life. I sleep better at night, and I am more energetic during the day. I feel happier and more confident. Tai chi has taught me to relax my mind, enabling me to stay cool in stressful situations. I am sure I will continue to practise tai chi and enjoy the benefits it has brought me.

I’m writing to persuade you to take part in morning jogging after arriving at school every day.

Wantang Primary School,     1     (locate) in Honghe Hani and Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, came into the spotlight after all     2     (it) 536 students cleared the myopia (近视) test.    3     (surprising), no nearsighted student was found in the school.

A national myopia survey     4     (conduct) from September to December 2020, which found 52.7% of Chinese students had myopia in 2020, 2.5 percentage points     5     (high) than that in 2019.The rate was as high as 80.5%among high school students and 14.3% among 6-year-olds.

Against this situation,    6     Wantang Primary School has achieved is no less than a miracle.

Reports say students there follow     7     healthy routine with three hours of outdoor games every day, and at least 10.5 hours of sleep. They are not allowed to carry smartphones to school. The most effective of all these     8     (measure) is the three hours of outdoor games every day. Exposure to sun is known to decrease the severity of myopia, because natural light stimulates the retina (视网膜) and releases dopamine (多巴胺). As students adjust their eyes     9     different light patterns while playing outside, from very bright to less bright, it helps prevent myopia.

In contrast, when children spend a long time     10     (study) indoors, their eyes cannot get enough sunlight and therefore produce less dopamine, which leads to them getting myopia.

Other schools should let their students play outdoors more often.

It’s my great honor to have been given the chance to share with you my opinion on health.

That’s all. Thank you!

9 . Walking might seem simple. “But it’s not,” explains Peggy Cawthon, a professor at Harvard Medical School. “It’s an amazingly complex behavior when we try to understand how to improve our lives as we age.”     1    ? Here are a few ideas.

Don’t stop exercising

Cawthon agrees that the worst thing a person can do is to stop exercising. “You’ll feel the effects almost immediately,” says Cawthon. Sitting for hours leaves her uncomfortable, and it’s the days when she types that her arthritis (关节炎) doesn’t cause much pain.     2    .

Train yourself to walk with skill

To truly improve your walking, you need to think like an athlete. Imagine you want to play tennis, but you have a bad backhand. Playing lots of tennis won’t fix the problem, Cawthon says.     3    . It’s the same thing with walking.

Give your brain a boost (激励)

    4    . So don’t forget that when working out your fitness plan. Cawthon has been studying an area of the brain related to motivation (动机) and executive function. Subjects with a boost walk more steps on average than the control group, and they have been maintaining that even several months later.

    5    

So when should we face the music about our mobility? There is no final answer for when walking problems begin to come up. “You should be as active as you can at any age,” Cawthon says, noting that people who are healthy in their 20s and 30s are best equipped to deal with future age-related challenges. “The best time to start is now. Next best is tomorrow,” she says.