1 . Green exercise is a term used to describe any type of physical exercise that takes place in a natural environment rather than in a health club or gym.
A slightly different approach to green exercise puts more stress on the fresh air, sunshine and involvement with the natural world, rather than the equipment or clothing used during the exercise.
Many consider green exercise helps to reconnect human beings with the natural world. The interaction with nature helps to lower people's blood pressure, refresh their mind, and actually improve their self-esteem.
Not everyone believes that the green exercise is more beneficial than working out in a health club or gym.
A.A green gym uses as little equipment as possible |
B.Spirits are also believed to be positively affected |
C.Opinions on what truly green exercise means differ |
D.Green exercise includes a range of activities exposed to nature |
E.So riding a bicycle in the forest can be called a type of green exercise |
F.It usually doesn't use fitness equipment that is normally found in a gym |
G.Some point out that many health clubs are built to make full use of natural light |
2 . You may be surprised to learn that one of the best steps you can take to protect your health is to step outside and spend some time in the grass, dirt and water. Our ancestors enjoyed the healing power of nature, and now scientists are starting to catch up. Researchers have documented how contact with nature can decrease mental tiredness, and enhance moods, concentration and problem-solving. Just having a view of nature has been shown to improve hospital patients’ recovery and reduce illness rates. Exposure to the open air, horseback riding, hiking, camping can be helpful for a variety of health conditions in adults and children. Much of this type of research is focusing on children, and in fact an entire movement has quickly developed to connect kids with the healing power of nature.
Obesity. Rates of childhood, adult obesity and related conditions including diabetes (糖尿病) and heart disease have grown greatly in recent years, partly because of reducing the time of outdoor activities. This problem can be partly addressed by increasing the time students spend learning about nature, both in and outside the classroom. Such lessons are often more engaging to students and often lead them to become more active outside.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (注意力缺失症). An exposure to ordinary natural settings in the course of common after-school and weekend activities may be widely effective in reducing attention shortness symptoms (症状) in children. Participation in green activities helps ADHD patients keep focused and complete tasks.
Stress. Access to nature, even houseplants, can help children deal with stress.
Depression and seasonal emotional disorder. Major depression requires medical treatment, but physical activity, especially those done outdoors, can help ease symptoms. Staying in the sunshine for just a few minutes can also help supply bone-building vitamin D. Experts say that simply walking in a city park can enjoy nature’s benefits.
1. According to the passage, which of the following is the most important for you to keep healthy?A.Healthy diet. | B.Exercises. |
C.Outdoor activities. | D.No smoking. |
A.improve | B.add |
C.destroy | D.control |
A.People didn’t enjoy the healing power of nature until recent years. |
B.Having a view of nature is the only way to improve health conditions. |
C.Outdoors activities are good for people’s health. |
D.Researchers have found out what causes people’s mental tiredness and illness. |
A.helping people to control stress |
B.helping children to increase the vitamin D level |
C.helping people to reduce the symptoms of ADHD |
D.helping scientists to believe the rates of adult obesity and the healing power of the open air |
A.Contact with Nature | B.The Benefits of Nature to Health |
C.Exposure to the Open Air | D.Some Health Conditions |
3 . One of the presents in my house this Christmas was a late 18th-century volume of the Encyclopaedia Britannica (大英百科全书). It is a window into the discoveries and thinking of the time. The encyclopaedia is an entertaining reminder of how
Our confusion is the theme of Spoon-Fed, a book by one of Britain’s leading nutrition researchers, Tim Spector of King’s College London. Its subtitle is: “Why almost everything we’ve been told about food is wrong.” It is a call for us to
One by one Spector offers answers to recent food
Spector also offers more than a set of currently
Some combination of food choices, genes, environment and the chemical reactions generated by our microbiome — the unique microbe (微生物的) combinations in our body ― yes different
A.well-known | B.aim-oriented | C.ill-founded | D.long-lived |
A.certain about | B.ignorant of | C.capable of | D.worried about |
A.decisions | B.courses | C.focuses | D.suggestions |
A.facts | B.chances | C.reasons | D.features |
A.investigate | B.demand | C.concentrate | D.spend |
A.supplies | B.shortages | C.standards | D.myths |
A.culture | B.history | C.economy | D.health |
A.equally | B.practically | C.socially | D.impossibly |
A.effectiveness | B.consciousness | C.competitiveness | D.emptiness |
A.serves | B.shares | C.recognizes | D.dismisses |
A.pointless | B.topical | C.defensible | D.additional |
A.emotional | B.significant | C.questionable | D.forgivable |
A.individual | B.unpredictable | C.important | D.available |
A.changes | B.outcomes | C.profits | D.addicts |
A.start | B.analyze | C.stop | D.reflect |
4 . Do you like to exercise?
You know that exercise is good for your body. It helps you grow stronger. It can also help keep your heart and other important organs in excellent shape. But can it make you smarter?
Maybe! The work you do at school every day is like exercise for your brain. Learning and thinking can help you become smarter.
Some researchers point out that exercise stimulates the body’s nervous system, causing it to release chemicals that make us feel happy and calm. This helps to explain why many people feel more alive and active after exercising.
Others point to studies that show that exercise can stimulate the growth of new brain cells. As your brain gets bigger, the areas in connection with memory and learning get bigger and brain function improves.
Exercise is good for your body in so many ways, so include as much exercise as you can into your daily or weekly routine.
A.But how can physical exercise help? |
B.Can you explain why exercise matters? |
C.What is your favorite way to exercise? |
D.Basically, exercising can help you do whatever you do better. |
E.And if you feel better, you can think more clearly and focus better. |
F.Just take it easy starting until your body is ready to get more exercise. |
G.So how much exercise do you need to help your brain work at its best? |
5 . Are you sitting more than ever?
We know sitting too much is bad, and most of us naturally feel a little guilty after a long-time TV watching.
“Sit less, move more” is what the Heart Association encourages us to do.
A.Now it’s time to get up and move around. |
B.Take a moment to think about your sitting activities. |
C.Health experts also suggest exercising on a daily basis. |
D.But this guideline is just too simple and abstract to make a difference. |
E.As of today, average adult will spend 56-86% of their daily time sitting. |
F.But what exactly goes wrong when we park ourselves for nearly eight hours per day? |
G.To make up for the weakness, a research team is working on a more specific guideline. |
6 . My name is Michelle Rogers. For most of my life I had been fighting with my body weight. I was either gaining weight or trying to lose it. I wasn’t happy with myself, and I certainly wasn’t able to fully enjoy life. Not only did I feel bad physically, but I felt terrible emotionally. I also knew I wasn’t able to be the best I could be, and with failure after failure in losing weight, I just felt so hopeless to make it.
One day in 2008, I was looking through ads online and saw a treadmill (跑步机) for $100. This time I decided to start small and keep it doable. The first week I started walking 15 minutes on the treadmill at a fixed time every day. The next week I did 16 minutes. Each week I added a minute. Gradually, I increased speed as well as time. Once I got to 30 minutes, the weight started dropping off.
I didn’t lose weight at first, but I didn’t give up like I did in the past. I realized I started feeling better. My legs were getting stronger. I didn’t feel painful like I used to when I got up from my desk. All the efforts I’d been putting into fitness made me want to start eating healthier, too. I began with small changes as well. After these years I started listening to my body. It was refusing food and habits that were bad for me.
Today, the extra weight is gone. I still exercise every morning. I look and feel the best I have never done. Every area of my life has improved and benefited from this change in me. Not only do I have my youthful energy, looks and health back, but also I have more confidence than I have ever had.
1. How did Michelle feel about losing weight before 2008?A.Confident. | B.Hopeless. | C.Addicted. | D.Annoyed. |
A.15 weeks. | B.20 weeks. | C.25 weeks. | D.30 weeks. |
A.Doing exercise regularly. | B.Eating healthier. |
C.Refusing bad food and habits. | D.Gaining extra weight. |
A.Time is everything. |
B.Interest is the best teacher. |
C.Start with small things. |
D.Nothing is more important than confidence. |
A.Travelling. | B.Exercising. | C.Relaxing just a bit. |
8 . It’s truly never too late to begin exercising, according to the researchers led by Pedro Saint-Maurice of the U.S. National Cancer Institute. Even for people who were “couch potatoes” in their youth, starting regular exercise in middle-age can still greatly cut the probability of death from any cause.
The study tracked the lifetime exercise patterns of more than 315,000 people. The investigators found that folks who’d exercised all their lives had a 36 percent lower risk of dying during the study period, compared to people who’d never exercised. But, perhaps surprisingly, people who’d been inactive in youth but decided to get more physical in their 40s and 50s saw almost the same decline—35 percent—in their probability of an early death.
The study also found that a mid-life start to physical activity seemed to cut the probability of death from the two major killers—heart disease and cancer. For people who began exercising in their 40s and 50s, rates of death from heart disease fell by 43 percent compared to people who’d never exercised, and the cancer death rate fell by 16 percent. Those declines were similar to those seen in people who’d exercised all their adult lives.
“This study, once again, indicates the importance of physical activity in relationship to one’s long-term mortality,” said Dr. Evelina Grayver. “Whether or not you start exercising when you are younger or older, the benefits will always be there. But starting exercising at a later age and still getting the same mortality benefit doesn’t mean that one should not exercise in younger years. Overall effects of continuous physical activity decrease the risk of an early death.”
The researchers also noted that while other research linking exercise to longevity has looked at physical activity at just one point in the lifetime, theirs is the first to examine the role of “participation in physical activity throughout the different stages of adulthood.” This new research demonstrates the crucial relationship between physical activity and the prevention of death at any age.
1. What can we infer from the passage?A.Exercising at any age helps one enjoy a happier life. |
B.Lifelong exercising can guarantee a lower death rate. |
C.Exercising in 40s and 50s may add years to one’s life. |
D.Lack of physical activity leads to heart disease and cancer. |
A.To analyse a link between exercises and death rate. |
B.To compare the consequences of exercise in different ages. |
C.To explain the significant effects of continuous physical activity. |
D.To introduce a new study on the benefits of exercise in middle age. |
A.Doubtful. | B.Disapproving. | C.Supportive. | D.Neutral. |
A.To get stronger. | B.To lose weight. | C.To relax himself. |
10 . The World Health Organization (WHO) says that 80% of the world’s teens don’t get enough exercise to live healthy lives. The report, published in The Lancet, was based on research done with students aged 11 to 17 in 146 different countries. The WHO has been studying teen activity levels since 2001.
Doctors say 60 minutes’ daily exercise is needed for teens to build up their bone and muscle strength.
One big reason for the lack of activity in today’s teens is technology, such as smartphones, computers and TVs.
The WHO warns that teens need to do less playing in the digital world, and more playing in the real world. Teens should take part in sports, whether on official teams or just playing around on the playground. Exercise can also be built into a normal day’s activities.
A.Opinions are divided on this issue. |
B.Activity levels vary with countries. |
C.Everyday workout also benefits them academically. |
D.However, not much is reported to have changed since then. |
E.Many teens find it hard to pull themselves away from them. |
F.It’s also hugely important for the health of the heart and lungs. |
G.For many people, walking or biking to school is one way to make that happen. |