2 . As an ordinary senior school student, I’ve discovered a wonderful way to _________ life with a positive attitude — my daily bicycle rides. Riding my bike has become more than just a fun activity. It’s like a little _________ that has taught me important lessons about staying positive, facing challenges and being _________.

When I get on my bike and ride around familiar streets, it feels like I’m on a small quest. It’s not just about reaching a(n)_________; it’s about enjoying the ride itself. Cycling has turned into a kind of teacher, helping me understand the _________ of practice and having a can-do spirit. One of the coolest things I’ve learned is about not giving up when things get hard. You know, when I’m trying to pedal up a steep hill, it’s hard! But guess what? Even when my legs feel super tired, I keep going and do not give up, till I reach the _________. Life is kind of like that too. When I have a challenging task or any problems in my studies, I remember those steep hills. I know if I keep trying, I can _________ anything.

Another thing that cycling has taught me is to be ready for surprises. The road isn’t always _________. Sometimes there are bumps, and you have to ride around them. When something is wrong with my bike, I do not _________. I try to find a solution. Life’s a bit like that too. It’s not always easy, but being flexible and staying positive helps me rise to the challenge and handle __________ problems.

The most important part, though, is how cycling makes me feel happy and __________. The wind in my hair and the rhythm of pedaling makes everything seem OK. It’s like a secret power — no matter what’s going on, it keeps me happy, lets me __________ my batteries, and lets me come back feeling __________.

In the end, my daily bike rides have become more than just a way to get around. They’ve become a(n) __________ for how I want to live my life. Cycling has shown me that being positive, facing challenges with __________, and keeping an optimistic attitude can turn the life journey into a fantastic adventure. So, here’s to more bike rides and more fun!

3 . Risks of Overtraining

Getting in shape and training for an event such as a marathon requires long-lasting and intense physical commitment.    1     But the truth is, sometimes the very acts we do to get healthy can actually push us past our physical limits.

Specifically, overtraining is a set of signs that occur when your body is not able to recover sufficiently before going into your next workout.     2    People tend to ignore them. Over time, the cycle of starting the next training session before allowing recovery causes breakdown of the very parts of the body that you work so hard to build up.

The structures and systems of your body adapt to the demands you have placed on them before the rest time. If your workout slightly goes beyond your current ability, it will adapt toward what you did in a positive way.     3    

Two main factors are necessary in recovery: nutrition. and rest. Good nutrition, including water and protein intake, is extremely important, especially within 40 minutes of your workout.     4    Your body uses the nutrients you have given it during the rest time. especially sleep, to strengthen.

One of the best ways to prevent overtraining is to focus on your morning resting heart rate.     5    Generally, you will detect an increase in your heart rate before the other signs show up. Tracking it in a log can be a great way to monitor your recovery.

4 . A new study involving nearly 50,000 people from four continents offers new insights into identifying the quantity of daily walking steps that will best improve adults’ health and longevity(长寿), and whether the ideal number of steps differs across people of different ages. The study represents an effort to develop an evidence-based public health message about the benefits of physical activity. The often-repeated 10,000-step-a-day saying grew out of a decades-old marketing activity for a Japanese pedometer(计步器), with no science to back it up.

Led by physical activity professor Amanda Paluch, an international group of scientists conducted an experiment among adults aged 18 and older. They grouped the nearly 50,000 participants into four comparative groups according to average steps per day. The lowest step group averaged 3,500 steps; the second, 5,800; the third, 7,800; and the fourth, 10,900 steps per day. Among the three higher active groups, there was a 40—53% lower risk of death, compared to the lowest step group.

More specifically, for adults 60 and older, the risk of early death leveled off at about 6,000—8,000 steps per day, meaning that more steps than that provided no additional benefit for longevity, while for adults younger than 60, about 8, 000—10,000 steps per day.

“So, what we saw was this continuing reduction in risk as the number of steps increases, until it levels off. Interestingly, the study found no definitive association with walking speed.” Paluch says.

The new study supports and expands findings from another study led by Paluch before, which found that walking at least 7,000 steps a day reduced middle-aged people’s risk of early death. “There’s a lot of evidence suggesting that moving even a little more is beneficial, particularly for those who are doing very little activity.” Paluch says. “More steps per day are better for your health.”

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.

8 . The Netherlands is the only country in the world with more bicycles than residents. By 2022, the Netherlands has had a total of about 23 million bicycles, with an ownership rate of 1.35 bikes per person. One study published by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) reports that in the Netherlands cycling prevents about 6,500 early deaths each year, and that Dutch people have 1.5 years longer life expectancy (预期寿命) due to cycling.

“The time spent cycling was about 74 minutes per week for Dutch adults aged 20 to 90 years old. The time was fairly stable over adulthood and reached its apex in the early days of retirement, in one’s 60s. The death rate reduction, which was a direct result of the average time spent cycling for a certain age group, was therefore also the highest among the seniors who just retired,” said Jeremy Smith, an expert from NIH.

What is it that makes cycling so beneficial? Obviously, cycling is a form of exercise. It is a great form of cardio (有氧的) exercise, which gets your heart pumping and helps strengthen the heart muscles. Doing cardio exercise may also help lower your blood pressure.

Furthermore, solid evidence proves the link between cycling and better thinking skills. Even younger adults claim that a bike ride helps shift their thinking to a higher level — and research backs them up. In one small study, young men are required to cycle for 30 minutes every day for 3 weeks. They also completed a series of cognitive (认知的) tests before and afterward. After cycling, they scored higher on memory, reasoning and planning, and they were able to finish the tests more rapidly than before.

Besides all the benefits mentioned above, cycling, as many Dutch put it, is a way of life. In their simplest form, bikes are tools for travelling. But they’re so much more. They are cognitive improvement, environmental protection, satisfaction and an expression of freedom. They bring people of the same passion together and connect them to a greater journey of life.