1 . “I was captivated by weightlifting during the London 2012 Olympic Games,” says Fiona Clements, a software developer working in London. “I think it’s partly because the effort is so obvious—you can see every flash of doubt, pain and happiness of success on the athletes’ faces.”

Clements was 48 at the time. She thought she’d left it far too late to even consider trying it, but then she kept thinking about it. “It took until September 2022, but I finally went for it.” Clements signed up for a beginner’s class with Sally Moss, a strength coach who is an expert in Olympic lifting, and loved it from her first class. Now 58, Clements can lift 50kg and push 21kg overhead. She says she has never felt stronger.

Resistance training, to use the term for any type of exercise where you’re working against weight, whether it’s using dumbbells(哑铃), exercise bands or just your own body weight, is extremely beneficial.

“I just thought that it would be impossible to make a difference to my body as an older woman,” says Joann a Blacker, a small business owner, who took up strength training at 53. “I’d gained weight and felt awful. I certainly didn’t think that weightlifting would be the way I would change my body.”

Blacker can now lift 40kg for 10 repetitions and feels more than ready to deal with training alone. Clements, at the same time, has already signed up with her local gym, for the days she’s not training with Moss. “I can feel these bands of hard muscle when I move my arms and legs that I’m pretty sure weren’t there before,” she says. “But the best part is that I’m actually able to understand the sport I love. It still feels like magic when that bar goes overhead.”

1. What does the underlined word “captivated” in Paragraph 1 mean?

A．Uninterested.

B．Attracted.

C．Upset.

D．Satisfied.

2. Why did Clements fail to try weightlifting in 2012?

A．She was fearful of the pain.	B．She found it hard to get a top coach.
C．She was doubtful about its lasting effects.	D．She thought she was too old to have a go.

3. What did Blacker benefit from taking up weightlifting?

A．She increased her willpower.	B．She improved her body shape.
C．She found a part-time job in this field.	D．She had her busy daily life changed.

4. What does Clements say about weightlifting?

A．She has a deeper understanding of it.	B．She suggests starting it at a local gym.
C．She enjoys muscle-building most of all.	D．She finds it more magic than hard work.

2 . I’m a walker, logging an average of 9000 steps a day several times a week around my neighborhood. On recent trips to Copenhagen and Stockholm, I noticed tall, fit Scandinavians (斯堪法尼亚人) walking along on city streets with poles, as if they were cross-country skiing without any snow.

It was a surprise to learn that the addition of the poles makes it a more vigorous, full-body exercise than simply walking – and, as a 76-year-old looking to stay healthy while enjoying the outdoors, I decided to give it a try.

There’s plenty of help online for the new Nordic (北 欧的 ) walker: stand tall, swing your arms out as if to shake hands, and plant your poles with vigour. Then there’s the little matter of the strap (带子) on the pole. This allows the walker to grip the pole when thrusting forward and then relax that hand as the other hand pushes forward – a skill of coordination that builds stronger muscles.

For a warm-up, I started slow: Nordic walking down the hall that extends from my front door to the deck. Keeping balance wasn’t my only problem. The novel use of my arms and upper body was surprisingly demanding. After half an hour, my heart was pounding and I was sweating, but I still wasn’t much good.

Still, I carried on because there’s no arguing with the exercise’s benefits. Nordic walkers’ upper-body exercise increases their heart rate significantly more than walking without poles. And according to cardiologist Dr Aaron Baggish, with poles “you’re engaging 80 to 90 per cent of your muscles.” It also helps people with Parkinson’s, says Burrill. “We put poles in their hands and it’s amazing because they start walking with real rhythm.”

After a few clumsy days of being convinced I would never succeed, suddenly everything clicked. Not only was I able to coordinate the movements, I was aware that my heart, arms and core were getting a workout. Nordic walking is a form of exercise I expect to enjoy for years to come.

1. What inspired the writer to try Nordic walking?

A．Enjoying the outdoor skiing.	B．Observing Scandinavians walking.
C．Getting tired of simple walking.	D．Fancying a healthy lifestyle.

2. What was the main challenge for the author during the initial stages of Nordic walking?

A．Building strong muscle in the arms.

B．Using arms and upper body harmoniously.

C．Sweating with heart pounding.

D．Feeling discouraged for lack of progress.

3. What does the author want to show by mentioning people with Parkinson’s?

A．The great benefits of Nordic walking.	B．The wide practice of Nordic walking.
C．The urgency to promote Nordic walking.	D．The promising future of Nordic walking.

4. What is the author’s intention in writing this passage?

A．To persuade readers to try Nordic walking for fun.

B．To share the experience of trying a new fitness activity.

C．To emphasize the great difficulties of Nordic walking.

D．To compare Nordic walking with simple walking.

3 . During the Covid-19 pandemic( 新冠疫情),things like eating in a restaurant or air travel are impossible. What about going to the gym?

When everybody was discussing how to make the best banana bread, during those very early quarantine( 隔离) stages, I worked out and took some online fitness classes at home, including yoga. Honestly, I just wanted to do a cool headstand by the end of quarantine.

In high school,I liked running on the track. In college and beyond, I loved the weight room. When I finally accepted that home workouts would be the best for a while, I prepared some basic gym equipment.

In some ways, I feel it stupid to admit that I missed the gym. I’m fortunate in so many ways since the start of the pandemic, but my living room is just not the same as my gym.

There’s a wider choice of equipment,and I’ve missed my gym friends. After looking into my recently-opened local gym’s safety steps in New York, I finally decided to go back.

With a spare face mask and water bottle, I made my 10-minute journey to the gym at 7 :30 am. I filled out a detailed Covid-19 survey on my gym’s app before stepping foot inside. I always feel like I get a better workout at the gym, and for me, that includes lots of extra sweat.

Please keep your mask covering your nose and your mouth. I only saw two people wrongly wearing their masks, and an employee had to call them out. The best ways to avoid Covid-19 at the gym are to wash your hands, wear your mask, wipe down equipment, and avoid standing on top of other gym-goers. If you’re used to basic, good gym rules, it shouldn’t be too challenging.

1. What was the author doing during the quarantine?

A．Making various fruit bread.

B．Searching for ways to beat the coronavirus.

C．Going out to the office for his usual work.

D．Following online healthcare classes at home.

2. What might be the advantage of going to a gym?

A．A wide choice of equipment.	B．The free food served there.
C．Discussion about good diet.	D．No need for any face masks.

3. What advice does the author give about going to a gym?

A．Avoiding standing close to the equipment.

B．Keeping a mask over your nose and mouth.

C．Taking some online classes about gym safety.

D．Choosing equipment that was challenging.

4. Which of the following is the best title for the text?

A．Difference Between Going to the Gym and Home Exercise

B．My Discussion with People About Good Food and Exercise

C．My Experience of Going to the Gym Since Quarantine

D．My Finding About Things to Do When Working at the Office

4 . These days, videos of “ diving grandpas” from north China’s Tianjin are popular on the Internet. In the videos, they jumped off the Shizilin Bridge into the 7-meter-deep Haihe River. However, on Wednesday, they announced that they would give up the sport.

With an average age of 60, the diving grandpas have much experience in diving. They started as a group of local diving lovers. They went swimming in the city’s rivers, and later they tried their hand at diving. The hobby has now lasted for more than thirty years.

Videos on the Internet have drawn lots of tourists from across the country to the Shizilin Bridge over the Haihe River, where “diving grandpas” perform diving. However, some inexperienced divers, trying to follow“ diving grandpas”, have met with accidents and got themselves injured. Some of the grandpas have begun volunteering to keep order for the crowds that come to see the performance on the bridge. However, accidents still continued to happen. As reported, members of the Blue Sky Rescue team in Tianjin said that they rescued 14 people at the risk of drowning or other injury in just two days.

The grandpas then made a difficult decision. They stopped diving off the bridge. They also prevented inexperienced locals and children as well as tourists from diving from the bridge . The grandpas welcomed the tourists to Tianjin, especially pointing out the other great places of interest and delicious food around the Shizilin Bridge.

1. What can we learn from Paragraph 2?

A．The diving grandpas made a living by diving.

B．The diving grandpas came from all over China.

C．The diving grandpas made diving a life-long hobby.

D．The diving grandpas began diving when they were little.

2. What made the diving grandpas decide to stop diving off the bridge?

A．The weather became colder.

B．They were too old to carry out the task.

C．The bridge was too crowded with tourists.

D．They hoped to prevent accidents from happening.

3. Which of the following can best describe“diving grandpas” in Tianjin?

A．Kind and honest

B．Energetic and warm-hearted

C．Brave and talented

D．Outgoing and optimistic

4. What is the main idea of the passage?

A．Diving became a popular activity in Tianjin.

B．Diving without guidance may cause injury or death.

C．“Diving grandpas” helped speed up tourism in Tianjin.

D．“Diving grandpas” gave up diving for tourists’ safety.

5 . A small study out of Skidmore College examined the advantages of morning vs, evening exercise for both women and men. Paul, professor for health at Skidmore, led the study.

“We had the groups divided into evening and morning groups,” he says. “We found women and men answered differently to different types of exercise depending on the time of the day, which surprised us.”

The study showed that for women who want to lower blood pressure (血压), the risk of heart disease or reduce fat, morning exercise works best. Those women hoping for upper body muscle (肌肉) gains or mood (心情) improvement should consider evening exercise. For the men, the findings were somewhat different: Evening exercise lowers blood pressure, the risk of heart disease, and feelings of tiredness. But similar to women, they burn more fat with morning exercise.

“For many people, the best time to exercise will depend on their chronotype,” says Heisz, author of Move the Body, Heal the Mind.

“Chronotype is your body’s natural habit to sleep at a certain time—it’s what decides whether you’re a night owl or an early bird. For the 25% of the population that considers themselves a night owl, getting both enough sleep and enough exercise can be difficult,” adds Heisz.

He continues, “Sleep—which provides your body the necessary time to recover (恢复) and make gains from exercise—should always be the first choice. When it comes to exercise, regardless of research on the advantages of certain exercises at particular times of the day, your results will not be good if it doesn’t allow enough time for sleep.”

1. What can women get by doing evening exercise according to the study?

A．A fat loss.

B．A good mood.

C．A lower blood pressure.

D．A smaller risk of heart disease.

2. What does the author intend to do in paragraph 5?

A．Give an example.	B．Tell the difference.
C．Do an experiment.	D．Explain a term.

3. What does Heisz think is important to achieve good results of exercise?

A．Enough sleep.	B．Low-fat food.
C．Plenty of water.	D．Lots of exercise.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．A Night Owl or An Early Bird

B．Why Fitness Plan Being Important

C．How to Change Your Exercise Time

D．The Best Time of a Day to Exercise

6 . In a recent game of pickleball, my teammate and I were falling far behind other teams. It was her turn to serve. We were both standing behind the baseline, paddles(球拍) up in ready position, when she nodded at me and said, “In it to win it.”

“Really?” I looked at her, surprised by her use of a catchy expression that was new to me. My inner self was never ready to accept even the tiniest suggestion that we should be trying to win the game.

In my life off the pickleball court, I enjoy yoga, folk dancing—anything but games with winners and losers, and I always prefer to be a observer rather than a participant in the world of sports.

Then pickleball came along. Suddenly, I didn’t want to be an observer any longer. I wanted to be a player myself. Like many people, I was first drawn to the game simply as a safe COVID-19 activity. Playing outdoors with people in my neighborhood allowed me to break out of social isolation(隔离).

But my addiction to the game comes from the sport’s low barrier of entry. The equipment isn’t particularly expensive. It’s a relatively easy game to learn, and a participant doesn’t need to be especially strong, tall or fast. Little wonder that everyone can now be seen throwing a green, orange or yellow plastic ball with holes in it across a net.

Pickleball is the first game I’ve ever wanted to win. I think it’s because of the excitement I feel when I hit an unreturnable ball down the middle of the court and score a point. Participating in a sport myself rather than cheering for others provides real proof that I can still work hard to achieve goals.

So, I’ve made a long-term commitment to it. I am embracing the game as my pickleball buddies embrace me. I’d forgotten how much fun it is to socialize while, doing something active. In that playful space of the court, I am facing directly my fears of winning and losing. In the meantime, doing something outside of my comfort zone feels magical. Now I wonder what contests I might be brave enough to enter next.

1. Why was the author surprised by what her teammate said in the recent game?

A．She thought her teammate was too weak.	B．She hadn’t considered winning or losing.
C．She didn’t know what her teammate meant.	D．She misunderstood the rules of the game.

2. What is the main reason for the author’s love for pickleball?

A．It is what she is good at.	B．It allows her to make new friends.
C．It is affordable and accessible.	D．It has many health benefits.

3. How has the author benefited from playing pickleball?

A．She has overcome her fears of competitive sports.	B．She has realized her own limitations.
C．She has become a more energetic person.	D．She has recognized her talents for sports.

4. What does the author plan to do?

A．Become a professional athlete.	B．Recommend pickleball to more friends.
C．Explore some extreme sports.	D．Continue playing pickleball.

7 . Making day-to-day activities more intense for a few minutes — such as briefly stepping up the pace of a walk — could offer people who don’t exercise some of the health benefits that exercisers enjoy, according to a new study of roughly 25, 000 adults who reported no exercise in their free time.

Those who include three one- to two-minute bursts of intense activity per day saw a nearly a 40 percent drop in the risk of death from any cause compared with those without such activity. The risk of death from cancer also fell by nearly 40 percent, and the risk of death from cardiovascular (心血管的) disease dropped almost 50 percent, researchers report online December 8 in Nature Medicine.

“This study adds to other literature showing that even short amounts of activity are beneficial,” says Lisa Cadmus-Bertram, a physical activity epidemiologist (流行病学家) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “So many people are daunted by feeling that they don’t have the time, money, motivation, transportation, etc. togo to a gym regularly or work out for long periods of time,” she says. “The message we can take is that it is absolutely worth doing what you can.”

The researchers were looking for bursts of intense activity that met a definition determined in a laboratory study, like reaching at least 77 percent of maximum heart rate and at least 64 percent of maximum oxygen consumption. In real life, the signs that someone has reached the needed intensity level are “an increase in heart rate and feeling out of breath” in the first 15 to 30 seconds of an activity, Stamatakis says.

Regular daily activities offer several opportunities for these bursts, he says. “The simplest one is maximizing walking pace for a minute or two during any regular walk.” Other options, he says, include carrying grocery bags to the car or taking the stairs. “The largest population health gains will be realized by finding ways to get the least physically active people to move a little more.”

1. What was found about intense activity in the new study?

A．It helped to lower the risk of death.

B．It was more beneficial to exercisers.

C．It relieved the pain of cancer patients.

D．It cured people of cardiovascular disease.

2. What does the underline word “daunted” probably mean?

A．Inspired.

B．Surprised.

C．Discouraged.

D．Confused.

3. Which activity might be suggested by Stamatakis?

A．Working out every day.

B．Taking stairs at an even pace.

C．Keeping running at a high speed.

D．Adding short bursts to a regular walk.

4. What might be a suitable title for the text?

A．The Simplest Daily Exercise Activities

B．Brief Intense Activities Can Be Helpful

C．The Guidance on Brief Intense Activities

D．Regular Exercise Is Necessary for Everyone

8 . Many of us start exercising in the hope of losing unwanted pounds. Unquestionably, aiming to be more active is a good thing. But if the main reason is to lose weight, your resolution could very well come to nothing.

For starters, exercise is typically futile for weight loss. Take walking for example. A 150-pound person who walks for 30 minutes will burn, on average, around 140 calories. That’s equal to one can of soda — not exactly a great return on your investment of time and effort. It’s much easier just to skip the soda.

When exercise is added to a diet, the results are equally unimpressive. Researchers found that a combination of dieting and exercising brought no greater weight loss than dieting alone after six months. At 12 months, the diet-and-exercise combination showed an advantage, but it was slight — about 4 pounds.

In studies where exercise has produced meaningful weight loss, participants burned at least 400 to 500 calories per session on five or more days a week. To achieve that, a 150-pound person would need to walk a minimum of 90 minutes or run 30 minutes per day. In short, sessions need to go well beyond what most of us are willing or able to do. And even if we manage to make that much effort, our bodies often compensate (抵消) by eagerness for more food and slowing down metabolism (新陈代谢), effects that over time limit how many pounds we lose.

When exercise fails to meet our weight-loss expectations, we often stop working out. Perhaps the biggest problem with exercising to drop pounds is that it turns physical activity into punishment — a price we have to pay for a slimmer body. How many times have you heard someone say “I’ll need to do extra exercise” after eating too much? We treat exercise as a form of self-punishment for being “bad.” In this case, we’re unlikely to keep doing it for very long.

The conclusion is that we’re more likely to treat exercise positively and actually do it when we focus on our well-being rather than our weight.

1. What does the underlined word “futile” in paragraph 2 mean?

A．Necessary.

B．Popular.

C．Dangerous.

D．Useless.

2. What happens when you run 30 minutes on a daily basis?

A．You will burn 140 calories every day.

B．You will lose 4 pounds in a month.

C．You might have a higher metabolic rate.

D．You might eat more than usual.

3. Why do people who want to lose weight through exercise often give up?

A．They are unlikely to really enjoy it.

B．They find it too challenging physically.

C．They have difficulty resisting (抵抗) delicious food.

D．They turn their attention to their well-being.

4. What can be the best title for the text?

A．How long should you exercise a day to lose weight?

B．What are the best exercises for losing weight?

C．Weight loss: why exercise is the wrong path

D．Exercise and weight loss: a pair of brothers

9 . When I first began running in high school on the track team, it made sense to carefully clock every mile and push myself to race for personal bests. But as I changed from running for sport to running for amusement as an adult, I found that tracking my workouts often just ended with frustration. And it wasn’t until my watch battery died several years ago that I first experienced the sense of calm that came with running for the pure joy of it. I never replaced the watch battery, and that might not be a bad thing for my fitness goals.

This is the idea of unplugged (不插电的) running, which is gaining steam in the fitness community. And recent research has shown that getting rid of your running watch, especially if it’s a smartwatch or fitness tracker, could actually improve your workout — or at least your enjoyment of running.

“People used to have an interest in their sport and get enjoyment out of the sport, but now that’s switching to the data,” said Eoin Whelan, a senior lecturer at the National University of Ireland Galway. “They will compare themselves to people who are better than them, who are running faster or running longer. And in the end we know that makes them feel bad. ”

Whelan also noted that people who are very dependent on smart watches or fitness trackers are more likely to skip their workouts if the batteries on their tracking devices are dead.

Instead, running watch-free is beneficial. Some professionals also have had success with leaving their watches at home. Welsh runner Steve Jones famously set a world record at the 1984 Chicago Marathon without wearing a watch. More recently, Olympic marathoner Trevor Hofbauer made headlines for winning the 2019 Canadian Marathon Championships without a watch.

“If you have too much information being fed to you in real time, it can kind of get in your head,” Hofbauer said. “For me, the simpler, the better.”

1. The author began to find the pure joy of running when he/she ________.

A．ran for the school track team	B．achieved his/her fitness goals
C．tracked his/her own workouts	D．stopped using a running watch

2. What does Eoin Whelan say about fitness tracking watches?

A．They can enrich the wearers’ social life.

B．They can lead to harmful consequences.

C．The way people use them is proper.

D．The data provided by them is unreliable.

3. How is paragraph 5 developed?

A．By giving examples.	B．By listing official data.
C．By answering questions.	D．By making comparisons.

4. What is the main idea of the text?

A．It's good to abandon your running watch.

B．Unplugged running actually has two sides.

C．Comparing with others should be avoided.

D．Racing for personal bests requires simplicity.

10 . Over the past decades, experts have done a considerable amount of research to explore different ways to encourage children’s learning. Especially, there has been a common focus on how physical activity, separated from the learning activities, can improve children’s learning. However, there has been less of a focus aimed the potential of integrating physical activity into the learning activities.

The main purpose of the Basket Mathematics study conducted at five Danish primary and elementary schools by researchers from the University of Copenhagen therefore was to develop a learning activity that integrates basketball and mathematics and examine how it might affect children’s motivation for mathematics.

756 children from 40 different classes at Copenhagen area schools participated in the project, where about half of them－once a week for six weeks－had Basketball Mathematics during gym class, while the other half played basketball without mathematics.

“During classes with Basketball Mathematics, the children had to collect numbers and perform calculations associated with various basketball exercises. An example could be counting how many times they could sink a basket from three meters away vs at a one-meter distance, and adding up the numbers. Both the math and basketball elements could be adjusted to suit the children’s levels, as well as being adjusted for whether it was addition, multiplication or some other operations that needed to be practiced,” explains Linn Damsgaard, a leading researcher.

The results showed that children’s motivation for math integrated with basketball was 16% higher compared to classroom math learning. Children also experienced a 14% increase in self-determination compared with classroom teaching. Meanwhile Basketball Mathematics improved their math confidence.

“We are planning to do research to examine whether the Basketball Mathematics model can strengthen performance in mathematics. Once we have the final results, we hope that they will inspire school teachers and principals to prioritize more physical activity and movement in such subjects. Eventually, we hope to succeed in putting these tools into school system and teacher education,” says Associate Professor Jacob Wienecke.

1. What is the purpose of paragraph 1?

A．To show the advantage of the study.	B．To explain the reason for the study.
C．To conduct a review of past research.	D．To introduce a way to raise math grades.

2. What can we learn about the study?

A．All kids didn’t play basketball.	B．Kids were divided into 40 groups.
C．It studied kids’math performance.	D．It tailored activities to different kids.

3. What effect does basketball have on the participants?

A．More motivation for exercise.	B．More confidence in basketball.
C．A gain in desire to learn math.	D．A rise in determination to learn.

4. How does Jacob Wienecke expect the study to help educators?

A．Make math learning easier.	B．Inspire students’ math confidence.
C．Build physical activity into teaching.	D．Notice the benefits of physical exercise.