2 . The Importance of Getting Kids to Be Active

Everyone knows that kids should be physically active and need to exercise regularly to be physically fit.     1    , regular physical activity is considered by most experts to be an important part of a healthy lifestyle. However, that doesn’t mean every child needs to spend four or five hours a day exercising.

How Much Exercise Do Kids Need?

It is recommended that kids should be physically active for at least 60 minutes per day.     2    . For example, if your eight-year-old played soccer for 20 minutes during PE at school and then played basketball with his friends for 40 minutes after school, he would meet the recommendation of 60 minutes of physical activity for that day.

Exercise and Calories

    3    . It can help them build self-respect, sleep better, have more energy, and reduce depression. And as most people know, along with a healthy diet, regular exercise is the best way to lose weight and prevent childhood obesity (肥胖). Since your child is not likely to get his exercise using exercise equipment, it can be hard to always tell how many calories he is burning while exercising.     4    , as long as your child is getting his 60 minutes or more of physical activity each day and maintaining a healthy diet.

Youth Exercise and Fitness

Remember that kids, even teens, don’t usually stick with exercise programs.     5    . Instead, kids do better with lifestyle exercise programs, such as active free play and organized team sports.

3 . According to a review of studies, running just a mile a day five or six days a week can vastly improve your health.     1     That’s less than an hour a week for most people, even beginners, in their aerobic workouts.

The Mayo Clinic reviewed studies published in PubMed since 2000 that included at least 500 runners and spent five years following to analyze the relationship between running and health.     2     Runners who ran five to six miles a week weighed less. They also had a lower risk of obesity than people who ran fewer than five miles a week or not at all. That’s not all. Non-runners were more likely to have high blood pressure, diabetes (糖尿病) and certain forms of cancer.     3    

In addition, evidence suggests there should be a maximum number of miles. Dr. Carl J. Lavie, lead author of the review, told that running hard for more than about an hour every day could slightly increase someone’s risks for heart problems, as well as for running-related injuries and disabilities.

    4     Changing the routine suddenly will unavoidably cause bad effects on health. If you want to be faster and competitive, you can still keep up your mileage.     5     You should also watch out for common running injuries as well as overtraining. If you begin to frequently injure yourself, that’s a sign you may be running too much. And it’s clear you can still get remarkable health benefits at decreased mileage.

History has been written by Eileen Gu, and not only once. In just 24 hours, the Chinese teenage skier swept three medals,     1     (include) two golds, in three events at her first X-Games — a feat accomplished by no rookie in the event’s 25-year history.

Just about one year before the Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, the 17-year-old rising star has fixed her eyes     2     winning golds on home snow and     3     will be no surprise that Gu makes the next Chinese sports icon if she could continue such great momentum.

Speaking fluent Mandarin and English, the California-born girl switched     4     (nation) from the US to China, her mother’s home country, in 2019, which allowed her     5     (represent) China in international     6     (compete) since then.

One reason to make the decision is no doubt her “deep connection” with China. “When I was a child, many people called me a Beijing girl because they said I speak Mandarin with a strong Beijing accent,” Gu said in     7     interview with Xinhua recently. “Every time I went to China, no matter to Beijing or Shanghai, I got a feeling like back home.”

But she has one greater ambition as a Chinese skier: to encourage more people in China to get to know and participate in the sport     8     may not be so popular in the country before.

    9     makes a professional athlete also a top student in the classroom? Gu concluded that her secrets are “passion, focus and balance.”

“I’m not skiing just for the Olympic Games. I’m skiing for my passion for the sport. I started skiing at a young age because I love the feeling of snow.     10     when you do the things you have passion for can you put all your heart into that,” said Gu.

Taijiquan (also known as Tai Chi) is a traditional Chinese martial art, or wushu. Appearing during the mid-seventeenth century in Wenxian County in Henan Province, this wushu form builds upon the yin and yang cycle and     1     (practice) throughout the country by people     2     all ages now.

Modern Taijiquan serves a wide variety of needs. Some practice Taijiquan as     3     slow graceful exercise for health reasons. Others study it as a traditional fighting sport,     4     (equal) stressing the fast-paced, explosive combat aspects along with the softer movements. Still others perform Taijiquan which has been standardized for wushu sport competitions.

Despite the styles or schools, all popularly     5     (recognize) forms of Taijiquan are based on a perfect balance of yin and yang and stress breathing and qigong     6     (build) up internal strength, and the balance of both the mind and body.

So far this unique practice     7     (attract) people from around the world, with about 100 to 150 million people     8     (study) Taijiquan. And after centuries of development by generation of     9     (master), Taijiquan is still a living, breathing art, one     10     is continuously advancing to meet the needs of people in today's society.

8 . You may have seen them coming quickly towards you or passing you swiftly. They’re moving steadily, swinging what looks like a ski pole in each hand.     1     These people aren’t skiing. They’re enjoying a type of exercise called Nordic (北欧的)walking. They use poles not for balance but to get their arms working. And their arms do work! In fact, in Nordic walking, the whole upper body gets plenty of exercise.

    2     Some of the time, they have to go up hills! They use their poles to help push themselves along. Nordic skiers were the first to use poles while walking. It was a way to train for their sport when there was no snow. Then other people, learning of the health benefits of the exercise, began to do it, too.

In the early days of Nordic walking, all walkers -- skiers and non-skiers alike- used ski poles. In 1988, an American company began making and selling poles especially for walking.     3     That’s because they usually aren’t used in snow. And they don’t stick very deeply into the ground. Some of them come with various tips, or ends, for use on different surfaces.

Although regular walking is healthy, studies have shown that Nordic walking is even healthier.    4     This produces strength in the muscles (肌肉) of the arms and chest. It makes the heart and lungs work harder. For young and old, Nordic walking is a great way to exercise the whole body outdoors.     5    

Ski resorts in northern China are seeing their business skyrocket, as winter sports     1     （get）more popular in China supported by a multi—year national campaign ahead of the 2022 Winter Olympics.

“When we opened a few years ago, there was no one here     2     （ski）; even during the Chinese New Year, there were only around 300 people. Now, we have over 3, 000 each day,” Luo Li, chairman of Zhangjiakou Wanlong Sports and Tourism Co. in the ski resort city of Zhangjiakou, told the Global Times.

Luo’s resort is not the only one in Zhangjiakou     3     has more business. A recent report from the city, which is also     4     host site for the Winter Olympics, said that the city     5     （expect）to see 2. 4 million people come to ski by 2022       6     the winter sports sector will drive 1 percent of the city’s total GDP by 2025.

Luo said that the increasing business has been supported by long—term investments by private businesses, as well as a national campaign to increase the     7     （popular）of winter sports ahead of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

    8     （national）, as part of the preparation for the Winter Olympics and national exercise campaign, Chinese     9     （official）announced that measures would be taken     10     （encourage）as many as 300 million people to play winter sports.

10 . Swimming is an excellent form of exercise for beginners because it is gentle on the body. It does not shake your bones or damage your joints, but swimming is still effective for weight loss. Swimming improves your cardiovascular (心血管的) fitness and flexibility.     1    .

If you do not know how to swim, adult lessons are often available at gyms.     2    . You can learn how to more effectively work out in the pool with just a few lessons. Swimming styles include freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly.

    3    . It is important that you stick to the posted guidelines, which are meant to keep the swimming pools running properly. There are different rules for different pools. But the majority request that you shower before you enter the pool.     4    .

You will find that there are also posted rules about using the lanes (泳道) of the pool. This simply means that the pool is divided up so multiple people can use it at the same time. At times, you may share a lane with one or more other swimmers.     5    . You need to stay in the appropriate lane. Find a lane in the pool where the other swimmers are similar to you. When several swimmers are using the same lane, all swimmers swim in a counterclockwise (逆时针方向的) direction.