1 . It will come as no comfort to a child shivering (打哆嗦) on a playing field on a cold winter’s day. But regular organized school sport helps children in their academic studies in years to come. The researchers said other “structured” activities such as music or religious activities were not as beneficial for attention as taking part in a games lesson. The difference in academic ability was noticeable even at age ten, with those who had taken in sports since the start of junior school performing better than those who hadn’t.
The Canadian study looked at children aged six and then ten. Professor Linda Pagani said:“We worked with information provided by parents and teachers to compare kindergarteners’ activities with their classroom activities as they grew up. By the time they reached the fourth grade, kids who played structured sports were clearly better at following instructions and remaining focused in the classroom. There is something special to the sporting environment — perhaps the sense of belonging to a team to a special group with a common goal — that appears to help kids understand the importance of respecting the rules and honoring responsibilities.”
Researchers began studying 2,694 Canadian children around the age of six, with teachers filled in questionnaires about their behavior in school. Meanwhile, the children’s parents were interviewed by phone or in person about their home life. The exercise was the repeated four years later to test what effect the behavior had.
Professor Pagani said: “We found children who had better behavior in the kindergarten class were more likely to be involved in sport by age ten. Nevertheless, we found those children who were specifically involved in team sports at kindergarten scored higher by the time they reached the fourth grade.” The researchers believe sporting activities and attention skills go hand in hand. Professor Pagani added: “The results should be encouraging for schools looking to cut childhood obesity rates and low attainment in schools.”
1. What kinds of children may do better in their academic study according to paragraph one?A.Those who join in structured activities. |
B.Those who don’t shiver on a cold winter’s day. |
C.Those who don’t like school sports. |
D.Those who take part in game lessons. |
A.The classroom activities. | B.The results of the exams. |
C.The performance at kindergarten. | D.The time spent in classrooms. |
A.understand each other better | B.follow the rules |
C.respect the teachers | D.give up |
A.How scientists carried out the research. |
B.Why parents were interviewed by phone. |
C.How kids behaved at home or at school. |
D.How many sports kids did at school. |
A.The research will be of great benefit. |
B.It’s necessary for children go to kindergartens. |
C.Childhood obesity rates can lead to low attainment. |
D.Team sports will be reduced at kindergartens. |
2 . If you have an uphill hike, you may be worried about how your body will hold up over mile after mile. There are a few things you can do to keep the experience from being a painful one.
Uphill climbing requires hard work from your hamstrings. These powerful leg muscles work overtime. And if you'll be carrying a backpack, your upper body also plays a big part.
Depending on the length of the hike you're planning, you might increase your training.
As with any workout program, the key is to keep at it.
A.Warm-up is a must when jogging. |
B.This is the time to schedule that daily walk or jog. |
C.Jogging is a great way to have fun and stay in shape. |
D.You'll need the core muscles to carry your pack for hours. |
E.A little training, good planning, and a strong will can help. |
F.Now it's time to increase the difficulty of your daily walk or jog. |
G.You should make a promise to yourself that you'll at least get started. |
3 . In 1997, a group of twenty British women made history. Working in five teams with four women in each team, they walked to the North Pole. Apart from one experienced female guide, the other women were all ordinary people who had never done anything like this in their lives before. They managed to survive in an environment which had defeated several very experienced men during the same period.
Once on the ice, each woman had to ski along while dragging a sledge (雪橇) weighing over 50 kilos. This would not have been too bad on a smooth surface, but for long stretches (一片地域), the Arctic ice is pushed up into huge piles two or three meters high and the sledges had to be pulled up on side and carefully let down the other so that they didn’t crash. The temperature was always below freezing point and sometimes strong winds made walking while pulling so much weight almost impossible. It was also very difficult to put up their tents when they stopped each night.
In such conditions the women were making good progress if they covered fourteen or fifteen kilometers a day. But there was another problem. Part of the journey was across a frozen sea with moving water underneath the ice and at some points the team would drift (漂流) back more than five kilometers during the night. That meant that after walking in these very terrible conditions for ten hours on one day, they had to spend part of the next day covering the same ground again. Furthermore, each day it would take three hours from waking up to setting off and another three hours every evening to set up the camp and prepare the evening meal.
So, how did they manage to succeed? They realized that they were part of a team. If any one of them didn’t pull her sledge or get her job done, she would endanger the success of the whole expedition (远征探险). Any form of selfishness could result in the efforts of everyone else being completely wasted, so personal feelings had to be put to one side. At the end of their journey, the women agreed that it was mental effort far more than physical fitness that got them to the North Pole.
1. What was so extraordinary about the expedition?A.It was a new experience for most of the women. |
B.The women did not have any men with them. |
C.The women had not met one another before. |
D.There was no one leading it. |
A.being left behind | B.damaging the sledges |
C.falling over on the ice | D.breaking the ice |
A.they got too tired | B.they kept getting lost |
C.the ice was moving backwards | D.the temperatures were very low |
A.Strict but caring. | B.Proud but patient. |
C.Honest and devoted. | D.Determined and strong-willed. |
A.Experience must be bought. |
B.Facts speak louder than words. |
C.He who risks nothing gains nothing. |
D.Motivation and teamwork achieve goals. |
4 . 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. |
5 . When it comes to making healthy lifestyle changes, which should come first-changing your diet or becoming more physically active?
Previous studies suggested that providing people with too much information about nutrition and physical activity at once tends (趋向) to be discouraging. That has led to the popularity of advising people to make changes gradually, and set smaller goals.
So the scientists divided 200 inactive participants who were 45 or older into four groups. One group was instructed in making diet and fitness changes at the same time; the second group was taught about diet changes first, and then fitness changes four months later; the third group changed their exercise habits first and made changes in their eating habits four months later; and the final, control group was not instructed in either diet or fitness changes but in how to manage their stress.
The researchers followed the groups for a full year. Compared to the control group, the three intervention (干预) groups made healthy changes in their diet. Those who changed their fitness habits first significantly increased the amount of exercise they received daily compared to the other groups after four months. However, at the end of the year, the group that changed both diet and exercise at the same time was the only one that met the nationally recommended targets for both exercise and nutrition levels, while those who worked on improving their nutrition first were unable to meet the recommended levels of fitness after a year. The researchers suspect that changes to diet are easier to make than changes to physical activity.
The findings show, however, that pairing diet and exercise changes may help to overcome some of the barriers people face in adding more physical activity into their lives. If folks change diet and exercise orderly, the scientists say, they may end up placing more importance on the first set of behavior changes and feel less pressured to address the second set.
1. How is Paragraph 3 developed?A.By giving examples. | B.By making comparisons. |
C.By analyzing causes. | D.By making classifications. |
A.The first group. | B.The second group. |
C.The third group. | D.The control group. |
A.Changing eating habits first may be reasonable. |
B.Diet and exercise changes should be made orderly. |
C.Diet and exercise changes are equally hard to make. |
D.Diet and exercise should be processed at the same time. |
A.Changing your habits for better health |
B.Ways to lead a healthy and balanced life |
C.Making healthy lifestyle changes really counts |
D.Timing matters in making diet and exercise changes |
6 . It is hard, it hurts —and yet more than two million of us in the UK run at least once a week.
Of course, some people run to lose weight, or to get fit, and these are great reasons. Running is also easy to do, it's cheap, and you can do it when you want. All these factors certainly contribute to the fact that running is one of the most popular sports in the UK.
But for many of those two million runners, the real reason we head out to beat the roads until our legs hurt is more intangible (无形的) than weight loss or fitness.
Many runners become interested in times. They try to break the 40-minute barrier for the 10K, or run under four hours for the marathon. Yet, really, these times are almost meaningless. And as soon as they are achieved, another target is thrown out almost immediately.
The times are only the carrots we put in front of ourselves. But why do we put them there in the first place? Nobody ever gives a wise answer Deep down, we all know the answer.
Running brings us joy. Watch small children when they are excited, at play, and mostly they can't stop running. There's a great moment inThe Catcher in the Ryewhen Holden Caulfield, caught in the uneasy space between childhood and adulthood, is walking across his school grounds one evening and he suddenly starts to run. “I don't ever know what I was running for一I guess I just felt like it,” he says.
This will to run is born. In fact, humans may well have evolved (进化) the way we did because of our ability to run. As children, and even adolescents, we can respond to this natural call to run whenever the feeling takes us.
As we run, we begin to sense that childish joy, which is born to live a wilder existence. As we run, the layers of responsibility and identity we have gathered in our lives, father, mother, lawyer, teacher, all fall away, leaving us with the raw human being.
If we push on, running harder, deeper into the loneliness, further away from the world and the structure of our lives, we begin to feel strangely excited, separated yet at the same time connected, to ourselves. With nothing but our own two legs moving us, we begin to get a sense of who, or what, we really are. After a long run, everything seems right in the world. Everything is at peace. To experiencethisis a powerful feeling, strong enough to have us coming back, again and again, for more.
1. Why does the author think setting time goals is almost meaningless?
A.Because those time goals can' t be achieved. |
B.Because those time goals can be achieved easily |
C.Because people will be very proud once the time goals are achieved. |
D.Because there will always be a new time goal once the former one is achieved. |
A.challenging ourselves | B.running away from responsibility |
C.losing weight and keeping fit | D.bringing us joy and peace in mind |
A.Uncertain. | B.Doubtful. |
C.Supportive. | D.Puzzled. |
A.breaking the 40 -minute barrier for the 10K. |
B.running under four hours for the Marathon. |
C.feeling separated from the world after running |
D.feeling everything is right after a long run. |
A.Running to Keep Fit | B.Running to Break Records |
C.Running to Be the Real You | D.Running to Become an Adult |
7 . Working out can help teenagers boost their grades, a new study suggests. Adolescents who routinely engaged in moderate to vigorous(剧烈的)exercise showed long-term improvements in their academic performance, the British Journal of Sports Medicine study reported.
“Our study suggests that the effect of physical activity may be quite large,” John Reilly, a professor at the University of Strathclyde said. The researchers looked at a sample of about 5000 children who were involved in a long-term study that tracks children born in the UK between 1991 and 1992. When children reached 11 years old, their daily physical activity levels were measured using an accelerometer(加速器)for three to seven days. The device, similar to a pedometer(计步器)tracking the number of steps taken, recorded the average time children exercised, which was 29 minutes a day for boys and 18 for girls.
“The actual levels of daily physical activity at age 11 were quite low,” Mr. Reilly noted. The children had their academic performance tested at ages 11 and 13 with compulsory national tests for students, and also at 15 or 16 with the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) exam. The tests assessed the children’s abilities in English, math and science subjects. The results showed that the more children participated in moderate to vigorous physical activity, the higher their test scores were at age 11 in all three subjects. For girls, science scores were most strongly linked to exercise.
When children were tested again at age 13, their academic scores were still linked to how much they had exercised when they were 11 years old. By the time the youngsters took the GCSE exam, each 17-minute-per‑day increase in physical activity for the boys was linked to an improvement in their scores. Every additional 12-minute increase a day in exercise for the girls was also linked to an increased score, especially in the science category.
The researchers have called for more studies to look at the possible academic benefits that could be derived if students exercised the recommended 60 minutes or more a day.
1. What’s the study about?A.The influence of exercise on students’ scores. |
B.The secrets of students’ ranking high in class. |
C.The causes of students’ participating in sports. |
D.The ways of improving students’ physical conditions. |
A.To record how long students exercise. |
B.To record the walking speed of students. |
C.To record how many steps students walk. |
D.To record the number of calories students consume. |
A.Students at age 11 do more exercise than at other ages. |
B.Boys at age 13 get more benefits by doing more exercise. |
C.Girls’ science scores are more closely related to exercise. |
D.More and more students do exercise to improve their scores. |
A.adopted. | B.acquired. |
C.concluded. | D.displayed. |
8 . Exercise helps to keep us in good health. Doctors at the American Heart Association suggest getting at least 150 minutes of moderate physical activity every week. Many people exercise for a few minutes every day or every other day. So, getting 150 minutes every week is easy.
But what about those times when you are sick? If you do not feel well, should you keep following your exercise habit? Following are the answers from health experts.
Edward R. Laskowski is a doctor at the Clinic. He and other experts have a general rule about exercising when you are sick. It is usually fine to exercise mildly, he explains, if your symptoms are all “above the neck”. These signs may include a runny nose, nasal congestion, sneezing or a minor sore throat.
Geralyn Coopersmith, a physical fitness trainer who has written several books on exercise and nutrition offers similar advice. However, both Coopersmith and Dr. Laskowski suggest taking a break from exercising if signs of your illness appear “below the neck.” Pay special attention to symptoms such as chest congestion, extreme cough or pain in the stomach.
There are other symptoms(症状) that can tell you to avoid exercise. They include: a higher than normal body temperature, a sense of feeling extremely tired, and widespread muscle pain.
Both Coopersmith and Dr. Laskowski suggest listening to your body. If you feel really bad, take a break and let your body rest. If you don’t feel too bad, these experts both suggest reducing the amount of exercise. For example, if you usually run, take a quick walk instead.
1. Which of the following statements is true?A.It is a hard thing for people to exercise for 150 minutes every week. |
B.It is fine to do light exercise when you have a runny nose and chest congestion. |
C.Edward suggests doing exercise when you have muscle pain all over your body. |
D.Geralyn holds people can exercise mildly when their symptoms are above the neck. |
A.stop exercise | B.walk instead of run |
C.ignore the symptoms | D.cut down the amount of exercise |
A.Warnings against exercise when you are ill |
B.Harmful effects of exercise when you are ill |
C.Suggested time for exercise when you are ill |
D.Professional tips on exercise when you are ill |
9 . How often do you exercise? A new study found that most kids aged 12 to 15 weren't getting enough physical activity. The results were based on about 800 kids. As part of the study, the kids tracked and reported on their own activity levels, and took physical exams.
U. S. fitness guidelines suggest an hour or more of physical activity every day. According to the study, only 1in 4 U.S. kids get enough physical activity.
"It's certainly worrying to see that our kids have such a limited amount of physical activity each day,” said Dr. Stephen Pont. He is an expert on children's health.
Few kids in the study met the guidelines on physical activity that raises the heart rate and makes people breathe harder. Overall, about 25% said they got an hour of that kind of exercise every day. Kids also reported on which activities they did most often outside of school gym class--basketball for boys and running for girls.
The study found that fat teenagers were less active than normal-weight girls and boys. Fat girls were slightly less active than normal-weight girls, but levels were similar among overweight and normal-weight boys. The study also said that the percent of fat children aged 2 to 19 was 17%, or about 12.5 million kids.
"There's always room for improvement," said Tala Fakhouri, who was the leader of the study. She also said the results provide useful information to help with fitness campaigns such as Let's Move, which was initiated by Michelle Obama in 2010. To inspire kids to eat right and get in shape, Michelle visits schools and holds exercise events. She also calls on schools to offer regular gym classes.
The study also found kids who get physical education at school may get better grades.
1. What is the result of the new study?A.800 kids don't get enough physical activity. |
B.Most U.S. kids don't get enough exercise. |
C.Kids should get physical activity every day. |
D.It's important to take physical exams. |
A.Swimming. | B.Basketball. | C.Running. | D.Gym. |
A.To help kids to keep fit. | B.To provide useful information. |
C.To offer regular gym classes. | D.To hold exercise events. |
A.be less active than fat children | B.be more willing to help others |
C.do better in their studies | D.try their best to get in shape |
10 . A new urban sport, parkour, is hitting the streets. It has evolved from obstacle course training into a fitness option for young people. In parkour, the outside world is the gym!
Mark Toorock, who teaches the techniques of parkour at his fitness gym, says that parkour is a method to train the body and mind using obstacles as the medium. He says that this new sport is demanding and takes years to master.
But Toorock, who used to be a martial arts expert, says that everyone can benefit from learning the basic skills involved in parkour like running, jumping and crawling (爬行). These are the things that humans used to have to do all the time.
Georges Hebert, a French navy officer, was so impressed by the effortless athleticism of African tribes that he devised a training method based on running, climbing, jumping, balancing and throwing. The word parkour comes from parcours de combatant, the French term for a military obstacle course.
Dr Kenneth Kao explains that the sport of parkour is not extreme — it is the environment which is extreme and dangerous. Being outside, jumping off railings and flipping over park benches can be quite frightening, so parkour courses in gyms concentrate on practicing all the individual moves to make everything easier.
A.Gyms provide thick floor matting (垫子) for rolling and rubberized boxes for jumping over. |
B.The bridges, buildings and railings (栏杆) of each and every city are the equipment. |
C.Every action in parkour is natural, so everyone must have the ability to move in this way. |
D.Parkour was introduced into china in recent years and has gained popularity. |
E.But today, due to modern transport, these basic skills are no longer used on a regular basis. |
F.The French word for people who participate in the sport is traceurs or traceuses. |
G.Beginners should realize that they won’t be jumping over buildings any time soon! |