1 . On a bright early summer morning, many young swimmers gather at a local swimming pool in the state of Maryland. They are members of a competitive summer swim team, and that’s a regular part of their daily life. As they train and cut seconds off their times, which makes them closer to the championship in the following large-scale (大规模的) competitions, they are getting lots of physical exercise and vitamin D from the sun. However, the benefits of belonging to a sports team are not just honor or health related. You can learn useful life skills.

Paul Waas, coach of the swim team, explains, “The discipline (自制力) comes into play when you’re talking about concentrating on the details that your coaches are saying as it makes you faster rather than going up and down the pool the same way you have every time. When you focus on what you’re doing right and what you can do better, then you’ll see the improvement.”

Besides, there is also responsibility, goals and workings within a group. Again, here is Coach Waas. “It’s really great! It’s so fun to watch from year to year. I’ve had kids who as 7-year-olds on the team could barely pay attention in practice and were only interested in who was going first. Now they’ve come back as 8-year-olds, having set some goals and having things that they want to achieve. These skills can help them a lot.”

But playing the sports is not without harm. Some can be hard on the body. Young athletes suffer serious injuries that follow them into adulthood. Coach Waas says that in fact, swimming is different from most others. First, it poses a lower risk of injury. The second one relates to how swim teams are structured. Actually, children are not the only ones who can benefit. Adults can also benefit from team sports.

1. Why do the swimmers gather at a swimming pool in the early morning?

A．To obtain vitamin D from the sun.	B．To build practical skills for future.
C．To join in a large-scale competitive.	D．To carry out their routine practice.

2. What do Paul Waas’ words imply in paragraph 2?

A．Swimmers should concentrate on details.

B．Members get disciplined and focused in the team.

C．Coaches play a key role in layers’ improvement.

D．Most swimmers enjoy sinning in the same way.

3. What happens to the kids after a year’s training?

A．They are more aware of what to do.	B．They pay less attention to training.
C．They devote more time to practice.	D．They care more about who goes first.

4. What does the author want to convey in the text?

A．Exercise benefits everyone.	B．Swimming is better than other sports.
C．Team sports teach life lessons.	D．Physical exercise should be a habit.

2 . Playing tennis regularly could help keep people off death, but football, rugby and running may not help people to live longer, a study suggests.

A study followed more than 80,000 people for an average of nine years to find out if certain sports protected them against early death. It found that people who played racket sports regularly were the least likely to die over the study period, reducing their individual risk by 47 percent compared with people who did no exercise. Swimmers also reduced their chance of death by 28 percent, aerobics (有氧运动) fans by 27 percent and cyclists by 15 percent. Yet running appeared to have no impact at all on dying early, and neither did playing football or rugby.

Scientists say the difference may lie in the social aspect which goes alongside sports like tennis and squash (壁球), which often involve clubs and organized activities outside of the game. It means that people often have larger social net-works and tend to keep up activities into later life, both of which are proven to be good for health.

In contrast, people who play team sports often do not move onto a new sport once their teams break up for family, or injury reasons. They become watchers rather than participants in their chosen activity.

The researchers found that playing racket sports was associated with a 56 percent lower risk from heart death. Similarly, swimmers lowered their heart disease or stroke risk by 41 percent, and people who took part in activities like aerobics, dance or gymnastics lowered their risk by 36 percent. But again running, football and rugby had no significant impact on heart deaths.

However, other experts argue that this study must not be misinterpreted as showing that running and football do not protect against heart disease. In this study both runners and footballers had a lower rate of death from heart disease.

1. Which sport has hardly any impact on protecting people against early death?

A．Cycling.	B．Swimming.
C．Rugby.	D．Tennis.

2. According to the study, which makes a big difference in keeping healthy?

A．Playing basketball with their friends occasionally.

B．Watching football games every day.

C．Taking up gymnastics and joining a club.

D．Doing running in the park every day.

3. What is considered more important to people's health?

A．Social networks.	B．Staying at home.
C．Physical examinations.	D．Setting up families.

4. What is the main idea of the text?

A．Thousands of people participated in a 9-year research.

B．Study finds playing tennis helps people live longer.

C．It is wrong to say running has no impact on heart disease.

D．There are differences between racket sports and team games.

3 . There’s nothing magical about the number 10,000. In fact, the idea of walking at least 10,000 steps a day for health goes back many years to a marketing campaign started in Japan for the sale of a pedometer (计步器). And, in the years that followed, it was accepted in the US as a goal to build up good health. It’s often the default setting (默认设置) on fitness trackers, but what’s it really based on?

“The original basis of the number was not scientifically determined,” says researcher I-Min Lee of Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She was curious to know how many steps you need to take a day to maintain good health and live a long life, so she and her workmates designed a study that included about 17,000 older women. Their average age was 72. The women all agreed to wear devices to track their steps as they went about their day-to-day activities.

It turns out that women who took about 4,000 steps per day got an increase in longevity (长寿), compared with women who took fewer steps. In fact, women who took 4,400 steps per day, on average, were about 40 percent less likely to die during the follow-up period of about four years compared with women who took 2,700 steps. The findings were published Wednesday in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Another surprise: The benefits of walking maxed out at about 7,500 steps. In other words, women who walked more than 7,500 steps per day saw no additional increase in longevity.

Janz, who released the new national exercise recommendations last November, says the message that comes from this study was encouraging. “I think it’s really good news for women who may not be particularly active.” says Janz. “All they have to do is walk. To me, this study suggests there are more benefits to light activities than we were previously thinking there might be.”

1. How did the idea of walking 10,000 steps a day come into being?

A．It was made up by a group of elderly ladies.

B．It was indeed the result of a scientific research.

C．It actually came from a business advertisement.

D．It was based on a test by both Japan and the US.

2. Which is an ideal choice for women walkers according to the study?

A．2,700 steps.	B．4,400 steps.
C．10,000 steps.	D．17,000 steps.

3. Which of the following does Janz agree with?

A．Light activities benefit people most.

B．The study is not as satisfying as expected.

C．Women should be more active than before.

D．The result of the study is a little surprising.

4. In which part of a newspaper can you read the passage?

A．Health.	B．Culture.
C．History.	D．Tourism.

4 . We’ve all been there: Just when you’re getting used to your new workout routine, suddenly your knee is killing you.     1     Before injury strikes, listen to these signs that might show your body needs some time off.

You’re always sore (酸疼).     2     But if you’re exercising regularly, you shouldn’t constantly be feeling sore. You should always give your muscles 24 to 48 hours to recover between training sessions. If you still feel sore, it’s possible you’re overtraining.

    3     Anger, anxiety, and tiredness are also signs. It is known that exercise can make us happier because of endorphins — a stress-fighting chemical — in the brain. However, those endorphins are also accompanied by cortisol, a stress chemical. And when cortisol levels remain high for an extended period, they cause harm on mental health.

Your heart rate is abnormal. One of the best ways to tell if you’ve been overtraining is to check your heart rate. If you’re above your normal, then your body is not really ready for a hard workout that day.     4           

The best thing about noticing these symptoms (症状)?     5     A little R&R (rest and recovery) is just what your body ordered!

A．You’re constantly tired or emotional.

B．Yes, you’ve over-worked yourself into an injury.

C．Fortunately, recovery is simple — just take it easy for a few days!

D．That’s one of the best ways to judge your readiness to exercise.

E．Sure, a bit of muscle soreness after some workout is totally normal.

F．It’s much easier to relax and check heart rate than it is to recover from an injury.

G．Doing the same activity over and over without proper recovery is going to cause injury.

5 . Most young people enjoy some form of physical activity. It may be walking, cycling or swimming, or in winter, skating or skiing. It may be a game of some kind, football, hockey, golf or tennis. It may be mountaineering.

Those who have a passion for climbing high and difficult mountains are often looked upon with astonishment. Why are men and women willing to suffer cold and hardship, and to take risks on high mountains? This astonishment is caused probably by the difference between mountaineering and other forms of activity to which men give their leisure.

Mountaineering is a sport and not a game. There are no man-made rules, as there are for such games as golf and football. There are, of course, rules of a different kind which it would be dangerous to ignore, but it is this freedom from man-made rules that makes mountaineering attractive to many people. Those who climb mountains are free to use their own methods.

If we compare mountaineering and other more familiar sports, we might think that one big difference is that mountaineering is not a "team game". We should be mistaken in this. There are, it is true, no "matches" between teams of climbers, but when climbers are on a rockface linked by a rope on which their lives may depend, there is obviously team work. The mountain climber knows that he may have to fight forces that are stronger and more powerful than man. He has to fight the forces of nature, his sport requires high mental and physical qualities.

A mountain climber continues to improve in skill year after year. A skier is probably past his best by the age of thirty, and most international tennis champions are in their early twenties. But it is not unusual for a man of fifty or sixty to climb the highest mountains in the Alps. They may take more time than younger men, but they probably climb with more skill and less waste of effort, and they certainly experience equal enjoyment.

1. Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?

A．Differences between Golf and Mountaineering.	B．Sports and Games.
C．Mountaineering.	D．Why are so many people crazy about mountaineering?

2. The mountaineering can also be called a team sport because_______.

A．mountain climbers usually compete in groups

B．mountaineers depend on each other while climbing

C．mountaineering climbers are free to use their own rules to climb

D．mountaineering is a sport not a game

3. The biggest difference between golf and mountaineering lies in_______.

A．team game	B．enjoyment
C．age	D．rules

4. In the author's opinion, one of the most important reason why so many people enjoy mountaineering is that_______.

A．there are no man-made rules for mountaineers

B．mountaineering is a sport and not a game

C．it is one of the most dangerous sports

D．mountaineering bring us more enjoyment than other sports

6 . Finding time to do both homework and exercise is getting easier for students at a growing number of schools. Workout machines are appearing in many school libraries. The latest school to fix the Fit Desk Bike Desk is Troy University， which now has a total of six in the libraries. Over the past three years， the Bike Desks have also been fixed at four other universities.

The idea of pushing "active workplaces" is far from new. From standing offices to treadmill （跑步机）meetings， companies have been exploring the benefits of getting employees up from their desks-benefits that include higher morale （士气）and improved work performance. And a recent study that focuses on younger children suggests a strong connection between physical activities and good grades.

Chris Shaffer， who is director of library services at Troy University， says he thought it would be worth experimenting with the machines. "The final goal is to make the library a welcoming place that our students want to visit"， says Shaffer， "If we can find a way to let our students study and become healthier at the same time， then I am all for it. " He says the experiment is so successful so far that the university has ordered three additional Bike Desks.

Troy junior Niquette says the bikes have been in use every day he has visited the library. "Keeping a proper diet and exercise schedule during college is near impossible， "he says， "These offer a special way to study and I hope the university continues to add more." Senior Raven hasn't used the Bike Desks yet but says she wishes they'd been fixed sooner. "I remember being a junior and the gym is so crowded， with the smell of sweat， loud music and people moving around，" Raven says， "I think the machines are a great idea. You can do sports quietly while others focus on their study.

1. What can we learn from the first paragraph？ ______

A．University students are doing more exercise now.

B．Doing homework is easy for university students now.

C．Troy University introduced the Bike Desk to other schools.

D．Fixing workout machines in libraries is becoming popular.

2. What is the second paragraph mainly about？ ______

A．The types of exercise at workplaces.

B．The explanation of work performance.

C．The development of active workplaces.

D．The benefits of exercising during work and study.

3. What is the purpose of fixing the Bike Desks according to Shaffer？ ______

A．To make the library attractive to students.

B．To make students become healthier.

C．To help students to get good grades.

D．To do experiments on the machines.

4. What do Niquette and Raven think about the bikes？ ______

A．They are easy to ride.

B．They are really useful.

C．They make the library noisy.

D．They distract students.

7 . It seems every major city and town around the world hosts an annual marathon, with thousands of athletes running a gruelling 42.1 kilometres. While many runners' motivation is to beat their personal best and cross the finishing line without collapsing, they're also doing it for a good cause—to generate funds for charity. But like other major events, the marathon also generates a massive carbon footprint. Thousands travel —some by plane—to the location, and waste from food packaging and goody bags gets left behind by spectators and runners. This is becoming a big issue for cities—how to host a worthwhile event, encouraging people to exercise and help charities, while protecting the environment? Several cities have developed formal plans to reduce their environmental impact and promote sustainable （可持续的） ideas. One event in Wales, for example, introduced recycling for old running kit .

It's something that this year's London Marathon tried to tackle by reducing the number of drink stations on the running route, giving out water in paper cups and offering some drinks in eatable seaweed capsules. They also trialled new bottle belts made from recycled plastic so 700 runners could carry water bottles with them during their run. London Marathon event director Hugh Brasner told the BBC: “There are a lot of initiatives （倡议） we are using this year that we think will lead to some huge behavioural changes in the future.”

Meanwhile, some people still think running a marathon could be our best foot forward in helping the planet. Dr Andrea Collins from Cardiff University told the BBC: “Training for a marathon makes you more sustainable in day-to-day activities. I started walking or running to work every day and shunning public transport altogether. Being environmentally friendly while training sticks with you and becomes a way of life. ”

1. Why do many people enter for a marathon?

A．To achieve their own ambitions.

B．To generate a massive carbon footprint.

C．To improve themselves both physically and mentally.

D．To challenge their personal limitations and raise money for charities.

2. What did Hugh Brasner think of this year's London Marathon?

A．It may bring a large profit to London.

B．It saved a lot of water resources and power.

C．It may improve people's behaviour in the future.

D．It may make Londoners more friendly when running a marathon.

3. Which of the following can replace the underlined word “shunning” in the last paragraph?

A．Damaging.	B．Avoiding.
C．Choosing.	D．Changing.

4. What can we infer from the last paragraph?

A．Running a marathon can make more money.

B．Running a marathon can do great damage to the earth.

C．Running a marathon can change people's life completely.

D．Running a marathon can contribute to protecting the earth.

8 . Try This at Home!

Are you looking for a new pastime that will create a balance between physical activity and relaxation? Then yoga may be the perfect choice for you. Yoga can be practiced by people of all ages and levels of fitness.    1     It's a great way to strengthen your muscles and become more flexible.

In the 1930s, Indian Sri Tirumali and K. Pattabhi developed one of the most popular forms of yoga practised worldwide today. They worked together using an ancient Sansknt text called Yoga Korunta to create a set routine of yoga movements and breathing exercises.     2    

Ashtanga is different from other forms of yoga. It is a very powerful form of aerobic (有氧的)exercise which creates deep heat in the body.     3     In other forms of yoga, however, the routine can change each time and the stretching exercises aren't aerobic.

    4    As well as making you stronger and more flexible, it can also help you to stay calm. By focusing on your breathing while doing physical exercise, you are able to get a balance between mind and body. In addition, yoga helps to make us healthier so we are less likely to get common illnesses like colds.

Furthermore, yoga encourages you to think about what you're doing. Often you will close your eyes while doing certain movements.    5    After a few lessons you'll stop looking at what the others around you are doing. You will stop comparing yourself and start focusing on yourself.

A．It can also be done anywhere at any time.

B．The result of their co-operation was ashtanga yoga.

C．Whatever kind of yoga you choose, there are many long-term benefits.

D．This allows you to concentrate better and it makes you less competitive.

E．Every time someone practices ashtanga, he or she does exactly the same movements.

F．If you're interested in yoga, but can find a class near you, then it might be     an excuse to travel.

G．Recently, it has become extremely common for beginners as well as advanced yoga students to go on yoga holidays.

9 . Running seems easy enough: Just grab a pair of sneakers and put one foot in front of the other, right? Well, anyone who struggled to get through a mile knows it’s not quite that simple. We’ve asked experienced runners to tell us something wrong they did when they started running. The following are some of their answers.

I got excited and signed up for a half-marathon with a few more experienced runner friends, but I wasn’t adequately prepared and didn’t train efficiently. I ended up with blisters(水泡) on my feet. I couldn’t wear shoes for two days!

—Cali Lavey

I have always been athletic and I have never been badly injured, but one day I felt a slight pain in my knee. I ignored it for a month until I realized I was having a hard time putting weight on my right leg. I finally went to a doctor. It took four months of weekly physical therapy(治疗) to heal. I shouldn’t have done that.

—Arnold

My biggest mistake was treating running like soccer practice: If I wasn’t exhausted by the end of practice, I felt as though I didn’t work hard enough. I run all of my runs at 80 percent effort, or the equivalent of what I now call tempo runs (节奏跑). I wasn’t warming up to the pace or cooling down effectively.

—Kate

I decided to go out for a run during the hottest part of the day. At the time, I told myself that it would be refreshing to sweat a little, but I didn’t bring adequate water. I returned feeling completely rundown, dehydrated (脱水的), and exhausted. If you must go out on a run during unfavorable weather, wear proper suits and bring enough water to keep you feeling strong.

— Sarah

1. Why did Cali suffer from her half-marathon?

A．She ran all the way barefoot.

B．She didn’t get ready for it.

C．She ran with experienced runners.

D．She did not have self-confidence.

2. What did Arnold regret doing?

A．Thinking he would never get injured.

B．Putting heavy weight on his right leg.

C．Spending about four month s treating his knee.

D．Waiting for so long to get his knee examined.

3. Who didn’t get enough water when running?

A．Cali

B．Arnold

C．Kate

D．Sarah

4. The examples of the four runners mainly show that ________.

A．we should warm up before running

B．we should bring enough water when running

C．we shouldn’t think running is very easy

D．we shouldn’t ignore any pain when running

10 . Sports can help you keep fit and get in touch with nature. However, whether you are on the mountains, in the waves, or on the grassland, you should be aware that your sport of choice might have great influence on the environment.

Some sports are resource-hungry. Golf, as you may know, eats up not only large areas of countryside, but also tons of water. Besides, all sorts of chemicals and huge amounts of energy are used to keep its courses （球场） in good condition. This causes major environmental effects. For example, in the dry regions of Portugal and Spain, golf is often held responsible for serious water shortage in some local areas.

There are many environment-friendly sports. Power walking is one of them that you could take up today. You don’t need any special equipment except a good pair of shoes; and you don’t have to worry about resources and your purse. Simple and free, power walking can also keep you fit. If you walk regularly, it will be good for your heart and bones. Experts say that 20 minutes of power walking daily can make you feel less anxious, sleep well and have better weight control.

Whatever sport you take up, you can make it greener by using environment-friendly equipment and buying products made from recycled materials. But the final goal should be “green gyms”. They are better replacements for traditional health clubs and modern sports centers. Members of green gyms play sports outdoors, in the countryside or other open spaces. There is no special requirement for you to start your membership. And best of all, it’s free.

1. Which of the following is the author most probably in favor of?

A．Cycling around a lake.

B．Motor racing in the desert.

C．Playing basketball in a gym.

D．Swimming in a sports center.

2. What do we know about golf from the passage?

A．It is popular in Portugal and Spain.

B．It causes water shortages around the world.

C．It pollutes the earth with chemicals and wastes.

D．It needs water and electricity to keep its courses green.

3. The author uses power walking as an example mainly because _________.

A．it is an outdoor sport

B．it improves our health

C．it uses fewer resources

D．it is recommended by experts

4. The author writes the passage to _________.

A．show us the function of major sports

B．encourage us to go in for green sports

C．discuss the major influence of popular sports

D．introduce different types of environment-friendly sports