1 . After staring at a computer screen for hours at a time, the body often gives us a clue that it is stressed: unbearable neck and back pain. To fix the problem, you might have gotten advice to focus on posture, but exercise research points to another strategy as well — taking short-term exercise throughout the day to relieve tension and stress in the body.
Fitness specialists at NASA, an agency where people work in high-stress seated positions, developed a set of 20 one-minute exercises to prevent pain that anyone can do at their desk. “Movement is hydrating (补水) for connective tissues and joints, changing the stiffness that arises from too much sedentary behavior.” says Dr. Helene Langevin, director of the National Institute of Health, which recently funded more than a half-dozen studies on connective tissue and pain. “Taking small breaks and moving around throughout the day prevents your body from congealing (凝结),” Langevin says.
The NASA program included seated marches, standing calf raises, push-ups with hands on the desk, and neck, shoulder, and back stretches. “Your body is always talking to you,” said Marceleus M. Venable, a personal trainer in Washington D.C. and co-author of the NASA exercise program. “Your hands cramp (抽筋), you have hip pain and neck pain ... it’s saying: ‘Hey, can you stretch me?’ ”
No one set of exercises works for every body. Rather, people should focus on movements that challenge areas of weakness, strengthen multiple parts and that they enjoy, says Katy Bowman, a biomechanist and author of the book Move Your DNA. “It’s not as simple as asking everyone with back pain to do these four moves,” says Bowman. “It’s just like dietary nutrition. You need a range of movements that make the body strong from head to toe.”
In July 2023, Langevin published a video, demonstrating some of the movements she recommends, including taking one arm in a large gentle circle, while stretching the neck in the opposite direction and then repeating the move in the opposite direction, and on the opposite side. “Even if you are feeling sore, gentle motion can be soothing.” she says, “For musculoskeletal (肌肉骨骼) pain in general, movement is a really good thing.”
1. What does it indicate when there is unbearable pain in your neck and back?| A．You have to stare at the computer screen. |
| B．Your body is suffering from tension. |
| C．You have got advice to focus on posture. |
| D．Your body has released its stress. |
| A．Remaining too busy. | B．Staying up late. |
| C．Spending much time sitting. | D．Taking exercise overly. |
| A．Resigning from NASA and taking a light job. |
| B．Providing sufficient water for various tissues of the body. |
| C．Promoting a set of exercises to benefit everyone. |
| D．Stretching your body whenever there is a chance. |
| A．Health and Life. | B．Astronomy and Space. |
| C．Computer and Technology. | D．Office and Efficiency. |
1. Where are the speakers?
| A．At a school. | B．At the man’s office. | C．At a doctor’s office. |
| A．Quit his current job. |
| B．Change his habits and lifestyle. |
| C．Attend meetings with the woman. |
| A．$25. | B．$100. | C．$400. |
3 . Over the last half century, obesity (肥胖症) rates have skyrocketed. In 1962, 46 percent of adults in the US were considered overweight. By 2010, that figure had jumped to 75 percent.
Obesity is a complex problem with many causes. But among the likely suspects, sugar is high on the list. A variety of research has drawn a link (联系) between sugar consumption (消耗) and overweight. As sugar consumption has increased, so has our waistline.
“I don’t think we have enough evidence yet to suggest that sugar is the reason for obesity,” says Johns Hopkins, a cardiologist. “But there is enough evidence to say that too much sugar consumption is an important contributor to weight gain.”
All those sweet snacks seem to be affecting the heart as well. In a study published in JAMA: Internal Medicine in 2014, researchers compared people who consumed a lot of added sugar accounting for 17 to 21 percent of their total daily calories with people who ate less sugar—just 8 percent of their total calories. Those in the high-sugar group had a 38 percent greater risk of dying from heart disease.
Excess weight increases the risk of many diseases like high blood pressure, high cholesterol and Type 2 diabetes. Research by the team of Ndumele has shown that those factors usually explain the link between obesity and heart disease. “All of those factors make it more likely that someone will develop heart disease,” says Ndumele.
In other words, there are many reasons to aim for a healthy weight. And cutting back on sugar is a good place to start.
1. What does the underlined word “skyrocketed” in paragraph 1 mean?| A．Risen quickly. | B．Dropped rapidly. |
| C．Led to many diseases. | D．Caught much attention. |
| A．Unsure. | B．Negative. | C．Unconcerned. | D．Supportive. |
| A．Obesity can cause heart disease. | B．Sugar contributes to weight gain. |
| C．Heart disease is linked to sugar intake. | D．Overweight increases high blood pressure. |
| A．Obesity—The Heart Killer | B．Less Sugar—A Good Start for Health |
| C．What to Do with Disease | D．How to Take Care of Your Sweet Teeth |
1. What is the man doing?
| A．Preparing for a meeting. | B．Exercising. | C．Cooking. |
| A．Serious. | B．Surprised. | C．Happy. |
| A．By train. | B．By bus. | C．By bike. |
| A．Make salads for her. | B．Go jogging with her. | C．Lend a book to her. |
1. Why does the woman want to join the gym?
| A．Out of curiosity. | B．For bodybuilding hobby. | C．To improve her fitness. |
| A．Beneficial. | B．Energy-consuming. | C．Challenging. |
| A．Eat dry fruits. | B．Avoid drinking milk. | C．Get enough sleep. |
| A．The significance of doing exercise. |
| B．A balance between diet and exercise. |
| C．Some instructions on gym exercise. |
1. 健康饮食建议；
2. 表达期望。
注意：
1. 写作词数应为80左右；
2. 首句已给出可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
As the living standards getting higher, nowadays people pay more attention to their health.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________7 . Health is wealth.
A study published in 2019 concluded that consumption of more than 4 servings of extra-processed food was associated with a 62% increased danger for all-cause deaths. For each additional serving, all-cause deaths increased to 18%. These foods can cause chronic inflammation (慢性炎症), a normal bodily process that can contribute to heart disease, diabetes and even cancer.
Get your cholesterol (胆固醇) checked.
When checking your cholesterol, your test results will show your cholesterol levels in milligrams per decilitre. It’s crucial to get your cholesterol checked because your doctor will be able to advise you on how to maintain healthy levels.
Watch your blood pressure.
Get up and get moving.
Throw away any common misconceptions about exercising like that it has to be in a gym or a structured environment.
| A．Watch your body mass. |
| B．Make healthy food choices. |
| C．Frequency, intensity and time are what matter most. |
| D．Sleep restores us and has a huge effect on how we feel. |
| E．In turn it lowers your chances of getting heart disease and stroke. |
| F．Normal blood pressure is defined as blood pressure <120/80 mmHg. |
| G．This common saying holds a lot of weight because it has truth behind it. |
8 . You already know that playing sports helps keep you fit. But you might not know why it’s so important to get a sports physical at the beginning of your sports season.
A sports physical can help find out and deal with health problems that might affect your sports performance or increase the chance of getting hurt. For example, if you have frequent asthma (哮喘) attacks, the doctor can change your medicines.
Most teens go to their regular doctor’s office to get a sports physical, since your doctor knows you and your health history best. Some get their sports physical at school.
Plan your sports physical at least 6 weeks before your sports season starts.
Sports physicals are usually good for 1 year, though you probably will have to complete a sports form each season. If there are any changes in your health history, like a new injury or you notice new symptoms (症状), you may need to see the doctor before being allowed to play.
| A．That way, you can breathe more easily when you run. |
| B．Let your gym teacher or coach know if your health has changed. |
| C．During school physicals, you may go to “stations” set up in the gym. |
| D．The medical history questions are usually on a form that you can bring home. |
| E．Mention you need a sports physical so your doctor can set aside time to do both. |
| F．The sports history and exam help to tell if it’s safe for you to take part in your sport. |
| G．If your doctor finds a problem, this should leave enough time to for tests or treatment. |
9 . Vegetables are filled with nutrients. However, kids usually hate eating them. Here are five of the most common reasons why most kids don’t really enjoy them.
Kids lack in exposure. The best way to get kids to eat their vegetables is to ensure that they are exposed to them early on.
The vegetables taste bitter. Kids are super into the sweet and salt y flavors, but sometimes vegetables have a bitter taste. The good news is that the more you eat vegetables, the less unpleasant they’ll taste. If your kids just won’t eat them, you can mix them with other food or cook them differently.
Kids are allergic(过敏的). Vegetables contain vitamins and minerals.
Kids are forced to consume. If you have no idea why they don’t eat them, try giving them a snack with some vegetables.
| A．Just keep trying |
| B．Family hate vegetables |
| C．However, this doesn’t mean they’re for everyone |
| D．Don’t try too hard to get your kids to eat vegetables |
| E．Some vegetables are not fresh and don’t look appealing |
| F．Most kids don’t start eating vegetables until about age 2 or 3 |
| G．What they hear about vegetables affects their thoughts about them |
10 . It is challenging to teach children about seasonal foods in a modern-day grocery store (杂货店). Having lots of choices of fresh produce from all around the world means that a sense of the seasons is lost. That’s why I like being part of a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. Every week I receive a share of vegetables that comes from a nearby farm. I do not know ahead of time what I’m getting, nor do I have any say on what comes home; I take whatever was harvested earlier that same day, based on the week’s weather conditions, and use them to the best of my ability.
My kids have had a good knowledge of the supply of certain vegetables throughout the harvesting season. They know what it’s like to eat a lot of asparagus (芦笋) until they’re sick of it, only to move on to dark greens and leafy salads, then eggplants, and tomatoes, and finally the root vegetables that mark the arrival of cold weather.
The funny thing is, when you’ve eaten a ton of something for a few weeks, you’re ready to move on to the next crop (作物) and leave the other behind, but when its time comes the following year, the expectation will return. In this way, a CSA share creates excitement at vegetables that can’t be felt when everything can be bought all the time, as it is in a grocery store.
A farmers’ market can offer similar lessons in seasonality to a CSA, but it differs in that you have more choices about what you buy. A CSA share, however, only offers few kinds of vegetables and sometimes fruits, forcing you to work out ways of using them up. I enjoy this challenge because it tests my cooking skills and introduces my family to new and unusual vegetables. What’s more, it is glad to know I’m supporting local farmers by eating what they want to grow, not just what I’m used to eating.
1. What is special about the vegetables offered by the CSA program?| A．They are free. |
| B．They are cheap. |
| C．They can’t be found in local grocery stores. |
| D．They make the author full of expectations. |
| A．It provides enough supply of vegetables. |
| B．It makes people choose vegetables freely. |
| C．It keeps people’s excitement for vegetables. |
| D．It makes people become sick of eating vegetables. |
| A．It encourages him to support local farmers. |
| B．It helps him learn about the community. |
| C．It gives people more choices of foods. |
| D．It causes local farmers a lot of stress. |
| A．Local food is becoming more popular |
| B．The CSA program is making a difference |
| C．People are encouraged to experience farm life |
| D．Naturally grown food improves people’s health |
