2 . Overcoming barriers to exercising

If you’re having trouble beginning an exercise plan or following through, you’re not alone. Detailed exercise instructions and workout plans are just a click awav. But knowing how and why to exercise was far from enough. Making exercise a habit takes more.     1    

While practical concerns like a busy schedule or poor health can make exercise more challenging, for most of us, the biggest barriers are mental. Maybe it’s a lack of self-confidence that keeps you from taking positive steps.     2     . We’ve all been there at some point. There are steps you can take to make exercise-more fun and active.

You don’t have to spend hours in a gym or force yourself into dull or painful activities to experience the physical and mental benefits of exercise.     3     In fact, adding just modest amounts of physical activity to your weekly routine can have a profound effect on your mental and emotional health.

Research shows that self-sympathy increases the likelihood that you’ll succeed in any attempt. So, don’t blame yourself too much for your current fitness level.     4     Instead, look at your past mistakes as opportunities to learn and grow.

    5     Try not to be discouraged by what you can’t accomplish or how far you have to go to reach your fitness goals. Instead, focus on consistency. While the improvements in mood and energy levels may happen quickly, the physical payoff will come in time.

Baiyang Lake, also known as Lake Baiyangdian, is located in the Xiong’an New Area of Baoding. As the largest freshwater lake in North China, it has gained     1     (recognize) as the “Pearl of North China” due to its breathtaking scenery and unique ecological functions. It is referred to     2     the Kidney of North China.

The old Chinese movie “Zhang Ga, the Soldier Boy” is famous for the lake     3     Zhang Ga lived. With the beautiful lotus, flourishing reeds and plenty of fish. Lake Baiyangdian is     4     (precise) like that lake.

    5     (serve) as a crucial waterway, Baiyangdian Lake occupies an import ant location in the ancient basin of the North China Plain. Throughout the Northern Song Dynasty, the imperial court continually     6     (expand) the marshlands, resulting in the formation of a winding “Water Great Wall.” Over time, Baiyangdian Lake     7     (remain) steadfast (不变的) in fulfilling crucial ecological roles from storing floodwater to regulating the climate.

However, the lake almost dried out because of climate change from 1983 to 1988. Local governments launched 26 rehabilitation projects in 2005     8     (restore) and improve Lake Baiyangdian’s ecological environment. Now, the beauty of Lake Baiyangdian resembles the one     9     (describe) in “Zhang Ga, the Soldier Boy”, attracting visitors who hope to take     10     glance at the vivid lotus, flourishing reeds and the clear lake water.

In 1999, Esteban Zottele,     1     is a scholar from Argentina in South America, first visited China and changed his life. Then Esteban came     2     (study) at Renmin University of China and obtained a doctoral degree. In his spare time, he spent most of his time traveling around,     3     (leave) his footsteps in the cities of Baoding, Chongqing and Shenzhen.

“My study experience has made me more     4     (close) connected with China,” Esteban says. He is     5     (amaze) at the vast and rich culture, as well as the rapid development and     6     (transform) of China over the years. “Most cities are now connected by high-speed railway, unlike when I first visited here,” he adds.

Currently, Esteban teaches Spanish at a university in East China's Jiangsu Province. Since 2013, he     7     (carry) out research on the BRI — the Belt and Road Initiative (“一带一路”倡议).“In recent years, many Latin American countries, like Argentina, have joined China in constructing the BRI. As     8     result, China can expand the international market and improve commercial relations     9     the two nations,” says Esteban. Esteban thinks that cultural differences should     10    (recognize), so as to promote mutual understanding and trust among people of all countries.

7 . Honeybees command a lot of attention in insect conservation circles, as they are important for pollinating our food supply. But the findings from researchers emphasize the importance of prioritizing other pollinators or insects like wild bees, moths and butterflies in conservation efforts, too.

For the study, ecologists Joshua Kohn and Dillon Travis from the University of California, painstakingly tracked the pollination of flowers from two plant species in San Diego — white sage and Phacelia distans. Often Travis sat for hours waiting for a single pollinator, honeybees or other insects, to land on a flower. Each time he put a mesh (网状的) bag on the flower to prevent any new visitor, then back to collect seeds from different visitors. Back in the greenhouse, the team grew the seeds, analyzing characteristics that reflected their quality, such as how many seeds grew and survived and how many leaves or flower seedlings (幼苗) grew from them.

They found flowers pollinated by honeybees make fewer and lower-quality seeds than flowers visited by other pollinators. The white sage and Phacelia distans plants produced roughly half the amount of seeds from flowers pollinated by honeybees compared with other pollinators. And Phacelia distans seeds from honeybee-pollinated plants grew into seedlings with fewer flowers.

The researchers also found that honeybees visited about twice as many flowers on one plant before moving to the next than the average of other pollinators, causing honeybees to transfer more pollen in flowers of the same plant, thus resulting in fewer and lower-quality and more inbred (近亲繁殖的) seeds. Other pollinators more often flew between different plants, probably transferring more diverse pollen.

Travis says, “Honeybees’ pollination habit can impact ecosystems and agriculture in the long term. One potential consequence could be that native plant populations decline as next generations become more inbred, reducing biodiversity.”

“It is time to actually shift our dependence for pollination from largely honeybees to other native species as well,” says Jaya Sravanthi Mokkapati, an entomologist at Penn State University.

9 . When she was 61, Sian Davies decided to row across the Atlantic Ocean. In March 2021, she was one of the 12 crew members who set out on the 3,000-mile journey from Tenerife to battle sun, salt and fierce currents. “We would row in three-hour shifts and only sleep for an hour or so every six hours,” she says. “For the first 15 days, I was seasick, so I hardly ate anything. I was just rowing and collapsing. I went through some pretty dark times.”

But after 42 days on the water, Davies reached Antigua to become one of the only six women in the world over the age of 60 to have rowed across an ocean. “I was exhausted and I was also so proud of myself,” she says.

Davies began rowing when she was 53, after spotting a six-oar (桨) rowing boat in Bristol harbor. Attracted by its size and appearance, she spoke to the crew and was encouraged to do a trial run. “As soon as I got on the water, I fell in love with it,” she says. “Feeling your whole body working and the fresh air on your skin is amazing.”

It wasn’t until 2017, though, that her Atlantic plans were born. Suffering from a herniated disc (椎间盘突出), she was only able to crawl out of bed. “I began thinking of things I could look forward to after I had surgery,” she says. “One day I was reading about women adventurers when it hit me that once better, I would row across an ocean.”

After successful surgery, Davies began driving to meet other women who had undertaken rows. Hearing the experiences and advice of them gave Davies the confidence. Soon after, she heard that a new boat producer was organizing a team for a voyage across the Atlantic and she joined it immediately.

“In June, I’m planning to break a few world records by rowing around the UK when I’m 64, and I want to motorcycle through the Himalayas later in the year. After all, we need things to look back on.” she says.