1 . Everyone knows that running is a good way to stay in shape. The simplicity of running appeals to many people. You don’t need a lot of complicated or expensive equipment; you just need a good pair of running shoes. Well, that idea is changing.     1    

This is not a surprise to the Tarahumara Indians, who live in northwest Mexico. The rough terrain (地势) in their area makes it easier to travel on foot than by horse or by car. Traditionally, the Tarahumara were hunters. They follow their prey over long distances, sometimes, for days, until the animals became exhausted.     2     They are known for their endurance, running races of 50 miles or longer. When Tarahumara athletes ra n in the marathon at the 1968 Olympics, they didn’t understand that the race was over after only 26.2 miles, so they kept running. “Too short, too short,” they complained.

But here is the amazing part: Tarahumara runners don’t wear running shoes. Tarahumara shoes are very simple. The sole (鞋底) is a piece of rubber held to the foot with homemade belt. These rubber soles protect against sharp objects, but they don’t provide any support or cushioning.

How is it possible that some of the best runners in the world don’t wear running shoes? Scientific studies are beginning to point to something the Tarahumara have known for centuries: Human beings are built for running barefoot. In a recent study, researchers used a video camera to examine how athletes run when they are barefoot.     3     When they do this, the arch (足弓) of foot absorbs the impact. Then that force is redirected back up through the leg.

    4     Walk into a sporting goods store today and you will find sections that are devoted to the shoes using the simplest structure. With a thin sole and heel, they are designed to be the shoes that feel like no shoes. The increasing number of these shoes on the market is evidence of this new trend. It is clear that shoe companies and runners are beginning to accept the wisdom of Tarahumara — barefoot may be the best.

A．The study revealed that barefoot runners land on the middle of their foot.

B．Some researchers suggest that perhaps you do not need shoes at all.

C．As a result, for the Tarahumara, running very long distances became part of daily life.

D．Many of these shoes have higher heels that are equipped with special materials.

E．As the force of impact drives the foot toward the ground, the arch flattens and expands.

F．In response to this research, shoe companies started to reconsider the design of running shoes.

2 . Directions: Read the following passage. Fill in each blank with NO MORE THAN 10 words.

Starting exercise

You want to start doing exercise? Congratulations! You have just taken your first step towards a new and improved you!

Most people assume that regular exercise does wonders for the body and mind—but what exactly are its health benefits? To start with, physical activity increases the efficiency of your heart and lungs. During exercise, your heart and lungs must work harder. This extra effort makes them grow stronger over the long term. Moreover, exercise is good for your mental health. Working out can help you reduce stress and get over negative feelings.

Exercise is any activity that gets your body moving. Exercise doesn’t have to mean breaking a sweat at the gym or running a marathon. Any physical activity counts towards improving your health — something is always better than nothing. If you are just starting exercise for the first time, remember to start at a level that is comfortable for you.

Scientists have long known that what you eat can make or break a workout and possibly affect your fitness results. Like cars that run on petrol, your body burns carbohydrates (碳水化合物) for energy. Foods like noodles, rice, fruit and vegetables give your body plenty of carbohydrates to keep up your energy during a long workout. To help your muscles recover and repair themselves after exercise, you need to eat foods rich in protein, such as fish, eggs and milk products.

Choose the right clothing and shoes for the exercise and physical activity you plan to do is also important. To prevent injury, make sure your clothes and footwear are both comfortable and safe. What’s more, remember to warm up before exercising and stretch at the end of your workout.

So, now you know the benefits of exercise and how to do it safely and effectively. What are you waiting for?

Starting exercise	1	Physical benefits
		Mental benefits
	Starting at a comfortable level
	2
	3	4
		Warm up before and stretch after exercising

3 . The tennis ball is such an unassuming object in our lives that we take its appearance for granted. Who hasn’t stumbled upon one of them, forgotten, in the far corner of their closet or garage? Despite its passive presence, one of the most crazy internet debates of 2018 centered on its distinctive color: Is it actually yellow, or is it green? The shade in question originates from an unlikely source: David Attenborough, the legendary British documentarian known internationally for his Planet Earth series, played a central role in how we see the tennis ball today.

The sport of modern tennis was born out of the English game of lawn tennis, which by most accounts was invented in the 1870s. Lawn tennis was an outdoor adaptation of the indoor racket game “real tennis,” which itself was an adoption of the French pastime jeu de paume, or “the palm game.” After many iterations (迭代), including balls made of cork, wool, and even human hair, the tennis ball found what was then its ideal form: a ball made of a rubber core encased in white or black melton, a tightly woven and felted fabric.

For nearly a century, tennis balls were white or black. It wasn’t until 1972 that tennis balls took on their bright neon colour. At the time, Attenborough was working as a studio controller for the BBC. In the late 1960s he had led the charge for the BBC to broadcast Wimbledon, perhaps the most iconic of tennis tournaments, in color for the first time ever.

Broadcasting tennis in color brought the matches to life, but it made tracking the ball on screen difficult—especially when it fell near the white courtlines. So the International Tennis Federation undertook a study that found that yellow tennis balls were easier for home viewers to see on their screens. An official 1972 ITF rule change required that all regulation balls have a uniform surface and be white or yellow in color. However, Wimbledon did not change the ball color to yellow until 1986.

In 1991, the Chicago Tribune ran a story about white tennis balls making a comeback. In reality, most manufacturers never stopped producing white balls in smaller quantities. Grant Golden, a former United States clay court champion, declared that the comeback of white tennis balls would “go right down the toilet” because “the yellow ball is perfect.”

The unmistakable shade of the tennis ball is officially called “optic yellow” by the ITF. The next time a tennis ball comes rolling out from the recesses of your closet, take a moment to regard the power of its humble design.

1. According to paragraph 2, tennis originated from _________.

A．English real tennis	B．French palm game
C．English lawn tennis	D．French indoor racket

2. Which of the following is most likely to be the major reason for changing the ball color to yellow?

A．The comment made by Grant Golden.

B．The production of tennis balls with a rubber core.

C．The proposal raised by David Attenborough.

D．The finding of a study conducted by ITF.

3. Which of the following statements is true about Wimbledon, the tennis tournament?

A．Tennis balls at Wimbledon adopted a bright neon color in 1972.

B．Attenborough was the first to convince BBC to broadcast Wimbledon on TV.

C．It wasn’t until the late 1960s that Wimbledon was broadcast in color.

D．Golden suggested that white tennis balls make a comeback to Wimbledon.

4. Which of the following might be the best title of the passage?

A．The new color of tennis balls

B．The unmistakable history of modern tennis

C．The evolution of broadcasting tennis matches

D．David Attenborough’s contributions to Wimbledon

4 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。1.

A．Basketball.	B．Table tennis.
C．Badminton.	D．Football.

2.

A．Negative.	B．Positive.
C．Neutral.	D．Objective.

3.

A．The choices and benefits of children’s sports.

B．The reasons for children to play sports.

C．The importance of playing sports for children.

D．The kind of children’s sports.

5 . Why Is Exercise Important to Teenagers and How to Get Started?

Teens get involved in a lot of things in high school. Some are involved in clubs and others are part of the band. There are many reasons why sports are great for teens and here’s how they can get started.

One of the biggest benefits for teens to be involved in sports is that it keeps them active. Some teens would be content to play video games or watch television all the time they’re at home. If a teen spends all their waking time being inactive they could gain weight and become unhealthy.     1    

Be sure your child knows to warm up properly before playing any sport. Warming up before any physical activity will help your child avoid injury.     2    

Encourage your teens to try out for one high school sport. Perhaps they’re not comfortable with football, but that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t excel in swimming or tennis. They may also enjoy playing baseball or soccer. Girls may enjoy basketball, swimming.

Many sports team will require that students try out before being able to join. Try-outs may include showing how active your teen is, running, jumping or if they are quick enough. They want to ensure your teen has at least the minimum skills required for the sport they’re trying out for.     3     That shouldn’t prevent them from trying to play team sports. There are often teams with the YMCA or other leagues which are just for fun.

Being a part of a sports team can also help your teen make friends.     4     They spend so much time during practice and at games that they can become very close. Of course, no one will be able to take your place as their family, but you’ll be glad they’re able to make good friends.

A．Athletes almost become like a second family.

B．This is a good practice whether they’re practicing with the team or exercising on their own.

C．Do everything you can to encourage your teen.

D．Being a part of a sports team will help them burn calories so they will remain healthier.

E．Your teens may not feel that they’re good enough to make their high school sports team.

F．High school coaches are going to do their best to keep their team members healthy.

6 . Have you tried to run or walk for exercise and then given up? If you answered yes, you should try a new kind of exercise: aquatic (水中的) exercise. Aquatic exercise is like exercise on land, but you do it in a swimming pool. More and more people are trying aquatic exercise now.

Aquatic exercise feels easier than exercising on land. Why? You weigh about 90% less in the pool. It is better for your knees than running or walking. Water is about 1,000 times thicker and heavier than air. To move through the water, your body has to work four times as hard. As a result, you can burn more calories (卡路里).

In fact, most people say they feel more relaxed in the water. They stop thinking about the things that make them worried. They feel in control of their bodies. The cool, quiet environment makes them feel good.

But what if you are afraid of the water? No problem! There is nothing to worry about. Aquatic exercise is safe and easy to learn. It doesn’t require any special skills. You don’t even need to know how to swim. Aquatic exercise is for everyone.

1. What is Paragraph 2 mainly about?

A．Difference between air and water.

B．Weight change of one’s body.

C．The advantages of aquatic exercise.

D．The ways to do aquatic exercise.

2. What do most people think of aquatic exercise?

A．Relaxing.	B．Worrying.
C．Challenging.	D．Boring.

3. According to the passage, aquatic exercise is _________.

A．done in groups	B．fit for everyone
C．difficult to learn	D．done with special skills

4. In which part of a magazine can we read the passage?

A．Culture.	B．Health.
C．Nature.	D．Travel.

7 . Running is a great form of exercise. However, running under certain conditions can cause a variety of injuries.

The National Running Association recently released the results of its latest survey on common running injuries, as illustrated in the picture on the right. According to the survey results, the most reported cases are related to knee injury and muscle pull, with the former occurring a little less frequently. About a quarter of the respondents say they have had plantar fasciitis, The number of respondents suffering from Achilles tendonitis or shin splints is nearly twice that of those with stress fracture, which is also what fewest respondents report.

There are two main causes of running injury: structural imbalance and training volume. Structural imbalance occurs when a certain muscle group is weak and requires other muscle groups to help. The body adapts to stresses and becomes stronger. This is the basic principle of training. However, if you push too fast or run too far, you can stress the body in such a way that it never has time to fully recover. Training progression and moderation are the keys to avoiding overuse injury.

Here are several ways to avoid running injury.

● Prepare your body for running by walking.

● Understand your body type and be patient.

● Follow a sensible training plan or find a coach.

● Wear the right shoes.

The cause of the injury is not easy to diagnose. For example, a foot problem can cause a problem in the knees or back. Finding and treating the cause of a running injury is the job of a trained doctor. More importantly, listen to your body and recognize the signs of overtraining so that you can avoid running injury.

1. Which group of injuries best fits the blanks numbered ①, ②, ③ and ④ in the picture?

A．① knee injury; ② muscle pull; ③ stress fracture; ④ shin splints

B．① muscle pull; ② knee injury; ③ stress fracture; ④ Achilles tendonitis

C．① knee injury; ② muscle pull; ③ shin splints; ④ stress fracture

D．① muscle pull; ② knee injury; ③ Achilles tendonitis; ④ stress fracture

2. According to the passage, which of the following leads to structural imbalance?

A．Using some muscles more intensely than others.

B．Training weak muscles more often than strong ones.

C．Adapting your body to stresses slowly.

D．Giving your body little time to recover.

3. According to the passage, if you want to find out why your back and knees hurt after running. you had better _____.

A．turn to a coach for help	B．consult a trained doctor
C．understand your body type first	D．wear another pair of running shoes

8 . How Exercise may tame our anxiety

To better cope with all the dispiriting news this winter about rising Covid-19 _________, you might want to get out and play in the snow, according to a new report. The large-scale study of almost 200,000 cross-country skiers found that being physically active _________ the risk of developing anxiety over time.

Science already offers plenty of encouraging evidence that exercise can lift our _________. Experiments show that when people (and lab animals) start _________ they typically grow calmer, happier and less apt to feel sad, nervous or angry than before. Studies that focus on the links between one type of activity or behavior and various aspects of health or longevity, likewise find that more exercise is linked with substantially lower chances of developing severe depression; conversely, being _________ increases the risk for depression. A remarkable neurological study from 2013 even found that exercise _________ reductions in rodent anxiety, by prompting an increase in the production of specialized neurons that release a chemical that soothes over-activity in other parts of the brain.

_________, most of these studies were small, short term or mainly relevant to mice, leaving _________ many questions about what kinds of exercise might help our mental health, how long mood enhancements might potentially last, whether men and women _________ equally and whether it is possible to work out too much and perhaps increase your likelihood of feeling emotionally worse off.

So, for the new study, which was published in Frontiers in Psychiatry, exercise scientists at Lund University in Sweden and other __________ decided it would be worthwhile to __________ the long-term mental health of the thousands upon thousands of men and women who have raced Sweden’s famous Vasaloppet cross-country skiing event over the years.

The Vasaloppet, which celebrates its 100th anniversary this winter, is the largest series of cross-country ski __________ in the world, with crowds of racers annually lining up in the woods of central Sweden to fastly move and glide through races __________ in length from 30 kilometers, or almost 19 miles, to 90K, about 56 miles. Because this kind of endurance event requires abundant health, stamina and training, researchers previously have used data about Vasaloppet racers to study how exercise influences cancer risks, heart __________, and longevity.

The skiers, the researchers found, proved to be __________ calmer over the decades after their race than the other Swedes, with more than 50 percent less risk of developing clinical anxiety. Their results indicate the link between exercise and reduced anxiety is strong.

1.

A．diseases

B．patients

C．cases

D．numbers

2.

A．halves

B．divides

C．takes

D．increases

3.

A．abilities

B．moods

C．feelings

D．attitudes

4.

A．working out

B．getting along

C．hanging out

D．carrying on

5.

A．inactive

B．mobile

C．lively

D．lazy

6.

A．brings in

B．reacts to

C．results from

D．leads to

7.

A．However

B．Furthermore

C．Similarly

D．Otherwise

8.

A．open

B．close

C．back

D．clear

9.

A．transform

B．benefit

C．risk

D．enhance

10.

A．companies

B．institutes

C．foundations

D．jounals

11.

A．look into

B．get into

C．look up

D．keep up

12.

A．resorts

B．destinations

C．races

D．vacations

13.

A．ranging

B．changing

C．extending

D．stretching

14.

A．rate

B．operation

C．health

D．muscle

15.

A．frequently

B．effectively

C．considerably

D．slowly

9 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. affected          B. agent            C. conditions        D. figures          E. inhabitants          F. motion G. originating       H. preserved       I. promoting        J. recognized       K. slide

The Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics saw many excellent athletes compete on the ice and snow,     1     an enthusiasm for winter sports in China. In fact, the country has had a deep relationship with winter sports since ancient times, with skiing     2     in the Altay prefecture(县) of Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

In 2005, cave paintings of Altay people hunting on skis with poles were discovered, which archaeologists estimated could be more than 10,000 years old. Since then, Altay has been     3     by many as one of the birthplaces of skiing, according to Xinhua.

As one of the richest collections of ancient rock art in China, there are herds of camels, sheep, wolves and human     4    . The painting on the roof of a cave in Dundebulake village of Altay prefecture depicts humans on skis, bending their knees as they travel alongside animals, including deer and moose.

The rock art in Dundebulake is well     5     because the pictographs are well hidden in the cave. Additionally, Altay’s dry climate has been a useful preserving     6    , according to a 2016 research paper published by the Hebei Normal University. Unique geographical and climatic     7     make skiing an indispensable part of local people’s lives. The climate in Altay is mild and not too windy, so skiers are less     8     by weather conditions, allowing them to safely move faster.

Unlike the modern skis we use nowadays, fur skis have been used as a means of transportation for the snowfield     9     of Altay for more than 100 centuries, according to rock carvings uncovered in the area.

Making skis has been a traditional skill. The handmade skis have a layer of horse skin. The fur on the horse skin can help decrease friction when they     10     down the hill, while the skis also prevent skiers from falling when they walk up. At the same time, they have a wooden stick in hand to keep balance, according to China Daily. Fur ski competitions have been held annually by the local government. Many locals would display their maneuvers at the competitions.

10 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. afford B. attention C. beneficial D. incredibly E. lowers F. memory G. opposite H. priority I. regularly J. schedule K. significant

How Does Exercise Improve Academic Performance?

You already know that regular exercise is important for controlling weight and avoiding a variety of health conditions. But it can also improve your academic performance. As an expert said, “What we know is that students who exercise     1    , at least 3 times a week, graduate at higher rates than those who do not exercise.”

It’s tempting to think you’re so busy that you can’t     2     to exercise. However, the exact     3     is true: you will have to deal with many problems because of lack of exercise. Even if you can’t spare 30 minutes, 5- or 10-minute exercises during the course of the day could make a     4     difference in your academic performance. Five-minute walking every hour had a positive impact on mood, fatigue (极度疲劳), and hunger at the end of a day. This may be particularly     5     to students who also work a full-time job and study in the evening and nighttime hours.

Exercise     6     stress and anxiety while increasing focus. A study by researchers at the University of Illinois found that physical activity increased the ability of elementary school students to pay     7    , and also increased their academic performance.

Exercise also improves academic performance in other ways. 1. Exercise requires time management. Arranging for exercise forces students to also     8     study time and this teaches them the importance of block timing, and urges them to give     9     to their studies. 2. Exercise reduces stress. These reductions are very important to students, because too much stress is bad to memory production and your ability to seep: two key things needed to score high on exams. 3. Exercise leads to a better quality of sleep. Better sleep means moving your studies from short term to long term     10     during REM, a period of sleep. That way, on test day you remember that tiny fact that gets you the scores you need.