1 . For people suffering from depression, there’s an all-natural treatment they should use — getting more exercise. It could help fight depression, even if people have a genetic risk, new research shows.

For the study, researchers collected information from nearly 8,000 people and found those with related genes were more likely to have depression over the next two years after examining them. But that was less likely for people who were more active at the study’s start, even if they had a family history of depression. Higher levels of physical activity helped protect even those with the highest genetic risk of depression.

Both high-intensity (高强度) exercise and low-intensity activities were associated with a reduced risk of depression. Adding four hours of exercise a week could lower the risk of a new episode (一段经历) of depression by 17%, according to the study. “Our findings strongly suggest that, when it comes to depression, being physically active has the potential to remove the added risk of future episodes in individuals who are genetically risky,” said lead author Karmel Choi. “On average, about 35 additional minutes of physical activity each day may help people to reduce their risk and protect against future depression episodes.”

Depression is a common mental illness globally, with more than 264 million people affected. “Depression is so ubiquitous, and that underlines the need for effective approaches that can impact as many people as possible,” Choi said. And mental health and primary care providers can use the findings to advise patients that there’s something meaningful they can do to lower their risk of depression.

Liu Genghong, a Taiwan-born singer, has taken the Internet by storm and sparked a fitness wave with his workout livestream on Douyin, China’s version of TikTok. Liu’s workout sessions are so popular that they     1     (break) Douyin’s livestreaming record for 2022 to date. Within     2     month, Liu’s livestreams have been viewed nearly 100 million times,     3     his most popular session attracting over 44 million live views.

Chinese     4     (music) Jay Chou’s songs often serve     5     Liu’s background music. One of his most-watched fitness routines     6     (set) to “Herbalist Manual” (本草纲目) from Jay Chou’s Still Fantasy Album. “I want to slap my leg whenever I hear ‘Herbalist Manual’ now,” shared a netizen.

    7     Liu’s dance moves look simple, they are often too intense (剧烈) for his audience     8     (follow). Many netizens even joked that the 49-year-old was facing a popularity contest with Li Jiaqi, China’s “livestreaming king”     9     (know) for his sales tactics (策略). “Li Jiaqi empties our wallet,     10     Liu Genghong empties our body,” joked a netizen.

3 . With the cold weather drawing nearer, few people will choose swimming as a daily or usual activity.     1     Here come the reasons.

Good for your brain.

Swimming is one of the best activities you can do all year round, which benefits your body and your mind. Swimming has been found to increase blood flow to the brain, which leads to more oxygen.     2    

Work your muscles.

Every time you swim, it is like doing a mini-resistance workout. Each kicks and pull works your muscles more than you could imagine, especially your arms, shoulders and gluteus — the muscles that are inactive all day when you’re sitting at your desk.     3     So along with building fitness, it is a wonderful full body exercise.

Lift your spirits.

    4     They can cause a positive feeling into your body which makes you happy. Swimming has been shown to reduce stress and tension. The repetition, movement and the breathing can help you to relax , and that’s why swimming is also regarded as a relaxing exercise.

    5    

While swimming is an individual sport, it is also very social. You can meet people from all walks of life when swimming. Have a chat in the lap pool, join a swimming club or get involved in social water sports to get to know people in your community. Besides, the great thing about swimming is that you can do it — rain or shine. Although your backyard pool, the river or beach cools down over winter, most inside swimming pools run heated pools year round, so you’ve got no excuse to stop swimming.

4 . Many hear endlessly how good exercise is for our health,but you might be surprised to know just how good.    1    

It helps you breathe better.

Frequent exercise improves the volume of oxygen you can use in your body.This is what makes you fit and the benefits aren’t limited to sport.    2     Attending some professional courses can build core strength and improve shape,and so strengthen breathing muscles. 

Physical activity enhances your mental health.

Doing something active releases “happy” brain chemicals that make you more positive.The more you do it,the better you’ll feel.But you do need to work up a sweat.If you’ve had a bad day,treat yourself to a little bit of exercise.    3    

    4    

The way your guts (内脏) feel often impacts on your mental and physical health.Walking,running and yoga strengthen abdominal (腹部的)muscles,increase the heart rate and encourage your muscles to move digestive waste through your body more efficiently and digest food more quickly.

Keeping active keeps you young.

There may not be an elixir (灵丹妙药) of youth just yet,but keeping fit comes close.Just 15 minutes of exercise a day for eight years can increase your lifespan by three years.The more you do,the longer you could live.    5     It can be low-intensity exercise—swimming,a long walk on a running machine at the gym,or a low-intensity workout via special APPs.

5 . Exercise and I had never had a good relationship due to my fear of sports. From a young age, my dad _______ me into a dozen sports. I didn’t like any of them, _______.

When I entered the University of Regina, my dad _______ telling me “You have to find a way to stay _______.” or “You don’t want to get the Freshman 15, do you?” So I _______ to give swimming a shot, but I _______ managed to go to the pool twice during the fall semester (学期). Worse still, I was _______ to convince myself that’s OK.

The spring semester came. A friend of mine _______ me if I wanted to try Zumba (尊巴) with her. All I knew about Zumba was that it was basically a kind of exercise: dancing to Latin pop songs. It didn’t sound too bad, but I couldn’t be _______.

I went, and that was it. Zumba became my ________ of tea. The instructor would always say, “Don’t worry about the steps. Have fun. Do your own thing.” That removed my ________ of sports. I didn’t have to be ________. I didn’t even have to be good. I just needed to ________ the music and move. Zumba did ________ me from the Freshman 15, and it also did so much more. It let me make ________ with my unpleasant past about physical exercise, and enjoy staying healthy.

6 . It can be incredibly difficult to encourage ourselves to go for a run during winter, particularly when it’s wet and windy outside. But new research has found that even a super-quick run could have great health benefits. In fact , it seems that just a 10-minute session will not only make us feel better, but could actually improve brain health, too. Now, we all know that exercise can improve mental and physical health in many ways.

But when it comes to mental well-being, there’s been relatively little research done on the specific benefits of running, compared with other physical activities, such as cycling. So this was something put to the test during a recent study. Researchers from University of Tsukuba in Japan asked participants (参加者) to run on a treadmill (跑步机) for just 10 minutes. They then had to take a Stroop Color and Word Test which is used to measure reaction time in brain processing. Results showed there was a highest point in self-reported pleasure and an increase in degree of activity of the brain.

In other words, runners were found to have an increase in blood flow in the part of the brain that’s associated with dealing with functions and controlling mood (情绪). Researchers then compared these results to a similar study on cycling, which also showed improved cognition (认知), but no mood improvement. Therefore, it seems various types of exercise can make us feel differently.

The authors noted, “Given exercise is medicine, the effects of drugs differ depending on the type of drug, and different types of exercise such as running and cycling should be observed to have different effects on mental health and brain functions as well.”

So pushing ourselves to get outside for a run really will make us feel better, probably more than other fitness activities. And these findings show that we don’t necessarily need to do a lot of exercise to feel the benefit of it

The ancient Xi’ an held China’s 14th National Games in September. Being the capital of thirteen     1    (dynasty) throughout Chinese history, the ancient city has never been far from sports. Starting from the Western Zhou Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty (618-907),     2     city has held many sports events. Cuju, the origin of modern football, was an     3    (amaze) game requiring kicking a ball into a net.

    4    (describe) as a form of entertainment among the public, Cuju first appeared in the ancient Chinese historical work Zhan Guo Ce (Strategies of the Warring States). In this period, people played the game     5     fun. Later, Cuju was     6    (usual) played in the army for military training purposes during the Han Dynasty. Emperor Hangaozu Liu Bang, the first emperor of the Western Han Dynasty not only liked watching Cuju games, but always tried his footwork on the playground. Liu Che, emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty,     7     was crazy about Cuju, would build a Cuju field wherever his army went. He used Cuju as a way     8    (train) soldiers. The     9    (early) record of women Cuju players can date back to the Han Dynasty.

As a way of national culture protection, Cuju     10    (list) into the first group of China’s intangible cultural heritages (非物质文化遗产) in 2006.

It is known to all that exercise has a range of health benefits. The fact is the     1    (inspire) behind some people’s assumption that if some exercise is good, more is always better. So they tend     2     (exercise) for a long time without stopping. For example, some people run for several hours at a time and some work out for hours at the weekend to make up     3     their lack of exercise during the weekdays.     4    , these may become a serious health risk. Recently, several surveys     5     (make) to know that over 80% of people got injured when doing exercises. Actually, aerobic routines     6     last over 100 minutes have a certain health risk. On the other hand, they should not be     7     (short) than 10 minutes. If you do exercise for only a few minutes, you may not be working out long enough to see any benefits from it. When doing exercise, 30 to 60 minutes     8     (seem) enough for the daily aim. This will prevent you from     9     (get) hurt. Moreover, it will ensure that the exercise you do can     10     (positive) affect your physical health.