1 . The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) included on December 17, 2020 China's Tai Chi on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The decision was announced during the online meeting of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage held from December 14 to 19 in Kingston, capital of Jamaica.
“Born in the mid-17th century in a small village named Chenjiagou located in Central China's Henan province, Tai Chi is not only a kind of traditional Wushu integrated with slow movements and deep breathing, but is also deeply rooted in many areas of Chinese culture, such as medicine and philosophy,” Zhu Xianghua says, who is the son of the famous Tai Chi master Zhu Tiancai.
Although it has spread to more than 150 countries and regions, attracting more than 100 million people to practice, the idea that Tai Chi is for the elderly has stopped many young people practicing the ancient Wushu. They think of it as a slow exercise, which is specially made and better suited for their grandparents. Instead, many young people are turning to the Indian practice of yoga to relieve stress, which was placed on the UNESCO's List in 2019.
In order to promote Tai Chi, joint efforts have been made from individuals and the Chinese government in the last decades. Xi'an Jiaotong University requires students to learn Tai Chi. Wang Yunbing, a professor in the university's sports center, stressed that Tai Chi is not only good physical exercise-researchers from the American College of Rheumatology find that it can help manage several diseases but is also conned ted to ancient Chinese civilization. Since 2014, the World Tai Chi Championships have been held every two years by the International Wushu Federation. It provides a platform for communication and learning between the Tai Chi masters and Tai Chi lovers around the globe. In January 2020, Tai Chi became an official event in the 2026 Dakar Youth Olympic Games.
1. What does Zhu Xianghua say about Tai Chi in paragraph 2?A.It originated from fast Kung Fu action. |
B.It was born around the 1750s in a village. |
C.It is related to other cultural fields of China. |
D.It integrates Chinese medicine and western philosophy. |
A.They think it easier to practice yoga to keep fit. |
B.The elderly stop young people practicing Tai Chi. |
C.They consider Tai Chi is custom-built for old people. |
D.Yoga was included in the world culture earlier than Tai Chi. |
A.To promote contemporary Chinese civilization. |
B.To show many efforts made to popularize Tai Chi. |
C.To stress the importance of Chinese Tai Chi masters. |
D.To advise people to practice Tai Chi to cure diseases. |
A.Tai Chi Steps on the UNESCO's List. |
B.Tai Chi is Competing against Yoga. |
C.Tai Chi Has Regained populate Globally. |
D.Opinions Greatly Differ on Tai Chi and Yoga. |
2 . My first piece of advice to people who want to start getting fit is: don’t buy an exercise bike. People who buy them usually use them for a week or so and then forget about them. The bikes are useful if they are often used but you need to be determined (有决心的). Most people will find it much easier to go for a jog (慢跑) around the park.
As well as being easy to do, jogging is also quite cheap compared to most other sports. You don’ t need to buy expensive clothes if you’ re just going running around the park or on the beach. There is one thing, however, that you will have to spend time and money on, and that’s your running shoes. Remember that you are looking for something that will support your feet and protect you from injury. They can be expensive, but if they are of good quality they will last you a long time. Ifs always best to get expert advice, and the best place for that is a sports shop.
As for jogging, the secret is to start slowly, and not to do too much at the beginning — especially if you haven’t had any exercise for a long time. Try a mixture of walking and running for ten minutes about three times a week at first. Once you are happy doing that you can then start to increase the amount (数量) you do gradually. After a few months you should hope to be able to run at a reasonable speed for twenty minutes three or four times a week.
It’s important that you feel comfortable with whatever you do. If you do, you’ll start to enjoy it and will probably keep doing it. If it makes you feel uncomfortable, you'll probably stop after a short time and return to your bad habits. Remember that training too hard is not very effective. Research has shown that somebody who exercises twice as long or twice as hard as another person doesn't become twice as fit.
1. What is the authors opinion on the exercise bike?A.It is unaffordable for most people. | B.It is easy to learn for most people. |
C.It is a helper for most people. | D.It is a waste for most people. |
A.Listening lo expert advice. | B.Keeping on jogging ever)-day. |
C.Having a pair of good jogging shoes. | D.Running for twenty minutes each time. |
A.Why it is easy to go for a jog. | B.What kind of sport jogging is. |
C.How to go jogging in a right way. | D.When is the best time to go for a jog. |
A.Good exercises stop bad habits. |
B.A partner helps a lot in exercise. |
C.Feeling good keeps one's exercise going. |
D.The more you exercise, the fitter you will be. |
3 . All over the world people enjoy sports. Sports help to keep people healthy and happy, and to live longer.
Some sports or games go back thousands of years, like running or jumping. Chinese wushu, for example, has a very long history. But basketball and volleyball are rather new. Neither one is a hundred years old yet.
People from different countries may not be able to understand each other, but after a game together they often become good friends.
A.And think of people in cold countries. |
B.Sports help to train a person’s character. |
C.Not a few people like sports in the world. |
D.Many people like to watch others play games. |
E.People aren’t inventing new sports or games. |
F.Some sports are so interesting that people everywhere take part in them. |
G.People are inventing new sports or games all the time. |
4 . For many Americans, regular exercise is a complicated commitment—one made at the beginning of January that fades out within weeks or months. Busy work schedules, a lack of motivation and unease towards exercising in public all contribute to the discouraging statistics that only around a quarter of adults exercise enough per week.
This month, enterptiser Trent Ward and designer Yves Behar are uncovering their design for a mirror fitness system, Forme. Forme is reflective like a mirror, uses machine learning to heighten workouts, and offers attachments including ankle belts, rope handles and a heart rate monitor. When not in use, the two arms that form the resistance pulley (滑轮) system fold behind it and the display screen disappears, turning Forme into a simple full—length mirror.
Interest in home exercise has particularly increased recently around the world. Home workout apps have seen a significant uptick in downloads, and trendy brands like Peloton have rolled out free virtual workouts for everyone stuck indoors. One French athlete who was kept away from others chose to run an entire marathon on his 23-foot balcony.
But beyond the new restrictions affecting daily workout routines, Ward and Behar are tapping into the same concerns that have made every home workout appealing:the ability to save time and sweat in the privacy of one’s home. In an age of personal metrics (衡量标准)--where one can measure their heart rate and sleep cycles with smart watches and train for marathons with AI smart sneakers----Ward and Behar want to improve exercise through machine learning. Forme evaluates performance and adjusts weights accordingly. Easy access to one’s own performance data also makes it easier to track that progress and stay motivated.
Though it’s too soon to tell if mirror gyms will be the trend of the late 2010s to 2020s, Behar explained that having a screen in the home can become the basis for more than just fitness, such as shopping or telemedicine.
1. What does paragraph 2 mainly focus on?.A.The ways to operate Forme. | B.The features of Forme. |
C.The reasons to develop Forme. | D.The theory behind Forme. |
A.By offering them online workouts for free. |
B.By raising their interest in marathon. |
C.By keeping them far away from others. |
D.By entertaining them with all kinds of downloads. |
A.The better results than outdoor activities. |
B.The fresher air at home. |
C.The privacy of home. |
D.The convenient access to mass data. |
A.Can Forme Have More Powerful Functions? |
B.Does Regular Exercise Keep up with New Technology? |
C.Is the New Trend of Smart Machines at Home available? |
D.Is this AI—Powered "Mirror Gym" the Future of Home Exercise? |
5 . Why Is Exercise Cool?
•Exercise Strengthens Muscles
Did you ever do a push-up or swing across the monkey bars at the playground?
•
Can you touch your toes easily without yelling ouch? Most kids are pretty flexible, which means that they can bend and stretch their bodies without much trouble. Being flexible is having “full range of motion”, which means you can move your arms and legs freely without feeling tightness or pain.
•Exercise Keeps the Balance
•Exercise Makes You Feel good
It feels good to have a strong, flexible body that can do all the activities you enjoy—like running, jumping and playing with your friends. It’s also fun to be good at something, like scoring a basket, hitting a home run, or perfecting a dive.
But you may not know that exercising can actually put you in a better mood.
A.Exercise Makes You Flexible |
B.Exercise Makes Your Heart Happy |
C.Those are exercises that can build strength. |
D.So you want to do some aerobic (有氧的) exercise right now? |
E.But if you’re active, your body needs an extra measure of calories or energy. |
F.Food gives your body fuel in the form of calories, which are a kind of energy. |
G.When you exercise, your brain releases a chemical which may make you feel happier. |
6 . Race walking shares many fitness benefits with running, research shows, while most likely contributing to fewer injuries. It does, however, have its own problem.
Race walkers are conditioned athletes. The longest track and field event at the Summer Olympics is the 50-kilometer race walk, which is about five miles longer than the marathon. But the sport’s rules require that a race walker’s knees stay straight through most of the leg swing and one foot remain in contact (接触) with the ground at all times. It’s this strange form that makes race walking such an attractive activity, however, says Jaclyn Norberg, an assistant professor of exercise science at Salem State University in Salem, Mass.
Like running, race walking is physically demanding, she says, According to most calculations, race walkers moving at a pace of six miles per hour would burn about 800 calories(卡路里) per hour, which is approximately twice as many as they would burn walking, although fewer than running, which would probably burn about 1,000 or more calories per hour.
However, race walking does not pound the body as much as running does, Dr. Norberg says. According to her research, runners hit the ground with as much as four times their body weight per step, while race walkers, who do not leave the ground, create only about 1.4 times their body weight with each step.
As a result, she says, some of the injuries associated with running, such as runner’s knee, are uncommon among race walkers. But the sport’s strange form does place considerable stress on the ankles and hips, so people with a history of such injuries might want to be cautious in adopting the sport. In fact, anyone wishing to try race walking should probably first consult a coach or experienced racer to learn proper technique, she says. It takes some practice.
1. Why are race walkers conditioned athletes?A.They must run long distances. |
B.They are qualified for the marathon. |
C.They have to follow special rules. |
D.They are good at swinging their legs. |
A.It’s more popular at the Olympics. |
B.It’s less challenging physically. |
C.It’s more effective in body building. |
D.It’s less likely to cause knee injuries. |
A.Getting experts’ opinions. |
B.Having a medical checkup. |
C.Hiring an experienced coach. |
D.Doing regular exercises. |
A.Skeptical. | B.Objective. |
C.Tolerant. | D.Conservative. |
7 . 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. |
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. |
A.Social networks. | B.Staying at home. |
C.Physical examinations. | D.Setting up families. |
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. |
8 . Until two weeks ago, sixth graders could be found playing football. Recess(课间休息)was a time to play, learn, and exercise. Then, football was banned for being “too dangerous”. Now you'll find us lying on the grass and wishing for something to fill our time with.
Football is a good source of exercise. The TIME for Kids article, “Fighting Fat in Kids,”talks about different ways to fight obesity(肥胖).
Some people think football is only for boys.
Football helps us learn important things.
Please allow football again at recess.
A.In fact, that's not true. |
B.We will be healthier, stronger kids if you do. |
C.For example, we can learn to solve problems. |
D.Football is a game that everyone can participate in. |
E.These are the basic football rules for school children. |
F.One of the reasons kids get fat is because they don't get enough exercise. |
G.Football is a dangerous sport with injuries happening frequently to the head. |
9 . Spring and summer are the best seasons of the year for lots of activities, especially jogging(慢跑). This kind of running is the choice of many people who live in the city, work in the office and want to keep healthy.
1. Make good preparations before jogging.
2. Do fitting warming-up activities
Every runner, especially the beginners should know that all physical activities without proper warming up can cause a terrible pain and result in harm to muscles. It will probably lead to a final discomfort in your body or even disease.
3.
Every type of sport is special and useful in its own way. While jogging can sometimes bring pain and discomfort, it really offers you greater joy and satisfaction. So don’t step back.
A.Listen to your body signals. |
B.Never give in to difficulties while jogging |
C.However, jogging without preparation will bring great harm. |
D.One of the best ways to prepare is to go to specialized (专门的) shops. |
E.Just go in for jogging, but remember to follow the above rules |
F.Therefore, you should make it a habit to warm up before jogging |
G.Here are some basic rules to make jogging safe, useful and comfortable |
10 . Nature soothes(抚慰)our stressed-out souls. We know that nature is the best prescription, and new research suggests we can gain benefits while visiting parks.
"In general,we found park visitors reported an improvement in emotional well-being(幸福感)after the park visit.”the study's lead author and University of Alabama at Birmingham professor Hon K. Yuen said in a statement.“
For the study, 94 adults visited three city parks in Mountain Brook, Alabama, completing a questionnaire about their subjective well-being before and after their visit.
The study group was truly small. as the study's co-author and another UAB professor, Gavin Jenkins, acknowledges.
A.Something was used to track their physical activity. |
B.You usually visit a small green space in your neighborhood. |
C.However, its findings pointed out the importance of city parks. |
D.If you want to feel happier, you just need to exercise for 20 minutes in a park. |
E.The best part is that you needn't visit a national park or go far out of your way. |
F.This means people can benefit from visiting a nearby park, regardless of physical ability. |
G.But we didn't find levels of physical activity are linked to improved emotional well-being. |