1 . Ten minutes of gentle exercise can immediately change how certain parts of the brain communicate and coordinate(协调) with one another and improve memory function, according to an encouraging new study.

The scientists invited 36 students to the lab and had them sit quietly on a fixed bicycle for 10 minutes or, on a separate visit, pedal the bicycle at a pace so gentle that it barely raised their heart rates. It also was short, lasting for only 10 minutes. Immediately after each session of the sitting or slow pedaling, the students completed a computerized memory test during which they would see a brief picture of, for instance, a tree, followed by a variety of other images and then a new image of either the same tree or a similar one. The students would press buttons to show whether they thought each image was new or the same as an earlier shot. The test is difficult, since many of the images closely resemble one another. It requires rapid, skilful scanning recent memories to decide whether a picture is new or known. Next, the scientists had each student repeat this process — riding or sitting on the bike for 10 minutes and then completing memory testing — but the testing now took place inside an M.R.I. machine(磁共振成像仪) that scanned the young people’s brains while they responded to the images.

Then the researchers compared results. The effects of the exercise, undemanding as it was, were clear. The young people were better at remembering images after they had ridden the bike, especially when the images most closely resembled one another. In other words, the harder their memories had to strain(尽量使用), the better they performed after the exercise. The M.R.I. scans showed that memory parts of each student’s brain lit up at the same time with parts of the brain associated with learning, indicating that these physically separate parts of the brain were better connected now than when the students had not first exercised.

1. How did the researchers conduct the study?

A．By filling up questionnaires.

B．By comparing experiment data.

C．By interviewing many students.

D．By referring to historical reports.

2. Who might benefit most from the study?

A．Those unable to have many sports.

B．The marketers promoting fixed bicycles.

C．The young people crazy about body building.

D．The students with heavy schoolwork burdens.

3. Which of the following statements agrees with the study result?

A．The light exercise is only good for young people.

B．The more the exercise is, the better the brain works.

C．The exercise can coordinate different parts of the body.

D．The exercise has more effect while the brain works harder.

4. What is the main idea of the text?

A．Even a bit of exercise can improve memory.

B．Parts of the brain can communicate coordinately.

C．Ridding the bicycle can improve the heart health.

D．The students completed a computerized memory test.

2 . For the first time in 10 years, the United States government has changed its guidance on how much exercise people need to stay healthy and when they should start.

For children and teens

The new guidance states that the most important time for children to begin exercising is between the ages of 3 and 5.     1     That could be light activities, moderate activities, or even vigorous(剧烈的)activities.

Doctors say it is important to start young.They add that from birth to age 5, a child’s brain develops more than at any other time in life.     2     Also, children who start exercising at a young age are more likely to establish healthy behaviors they will continue into adulthood.

But that does not mean putting a small kid on a treadmill(跑步机)or other exercise equipment.     3       After all, it's a kid’s nature to play freely and happily.

    4     But it shouldn’t be less than one hour a day three times a week.Their activities should mostly be aerobic(有氧的)exercise, such as biking, swimming or running, which can strengthen the heart and lungs.Such exercise should also include muscle-and-bone-strengthening activities；such as climbing trees or playground equipment and playing sports.

For adults

For adults, the guidelines recommend exercising 150 minutes a week. That could be walking, gardening, dancing, etc.    5     Experts say that even short amounts of aerobic exercise can provide health benefits, such as lowering blood pressure, reducing anxiety and improving sleep.

A．Any kind of activity that gets people exercising will do.

B．Aerobic activity works only if it lasts for at least 10 minutes.

C．Simply giving a kid the time and space to play actively is enough.

D．Children above 5 can have a relatively shorter time for daily exercise.

E．Children in this age range require about three hours’ active activities daily.

F．Attaining the health benefits from exercise may be harder than earlier thought.

G．These developments have a 1asting effect on a child’s ability to succeed in life.

3 . Girls should take part in competitive sport to build confidence, the leader of a group of girls’schools will argue this week. Helen Fraser, director of the Girls Day School Trust (GDST), will tell the group that sport can help girls cope with failure.

“All girls and not just the sporty ones should take physical exercise”, Ms Fraser will say. Research that girls are far less active than boys is worrying, she argues. Ms Fraser will tell the group that she backs “sport for all”. “That’s why I love it when our schools have A, B, C and D teams and beyond”, she will say.

The GDST draws on research from the Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation which suggests only a quarter of girls in England meet basic levels(水平)of activity each week. One in five girls do no activity at all, twice the proportion (比例)of boys, the research suggests.

Ms Fraser says other research suggests that more than 80% of women business leaders played sports while growing up. She uses the examples of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, once a skater and tennis player, while the head of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, was in the French national swimming team. Ms Fraser says Olympic medallists like Jessica Ennis, Katherine Grainger and Nicola Adams are excellent role models for young women but says women’s sport needs more money and more news reports.

Valerie Dunsford, head of Sheffield High School, part of GDST, said it was important to offer a large number of sports to attract different types of girls. “Not everyone wants to be out playing the hockey (曲棍球)”, said Ms Dunsford.

1. Which of the following ideas would Ms Fraser agree with?

A．Those taking part in the sport are always failures.

B．More should be done to make girls do sports.

C．Girls are less confident than boys.

D．Boys are born to be sport lovers.

2. What’s the proportion of boys who never take exercise?

A．1/10.	B．1/4.
C．1/5.	D．2/5.

3. Ms Fraser mentions those famous women to show ________

A．hard work will pay off.

B．it’s not easy to be great.

C．sport can help girls to succeed.

D．it’s necessary to balance work and sport.

4. What’s the purpose of the text?

A．To explain the key to success.

B．To show the importance of sport.

C．To introduce more games to girls.

D．To encourage more girls to do sports.

4 . For generations, students were taught to stretch before playing games. Then the practice fell out of favor. Studies seemed to show that such stretching temporarily reduces muscular power, weakens athletic performance and increases the risk of injury. So most fitness experts currently advise against stretches before exercise. But now a new research indicates that they might not be such a bad idea after all.

This month, the journal, Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism (APNM), published a study by four distinguished exercise scientists who analyzed more than 200 studies of how stretching affects the following exercise. In broad terms, they found that stretching can briefly prevent the ability to generate power. So if you reach for your toes and hold that position, tightening your hamstrings (腿筋), you might not then be able to leap as high or start a dash as forcefully as you don’t stretch.

Those undesirable effects were generally found, however, only if each stretch was held for more than 60 seconds and the subject then immediately became fully active, with no further warm-up. “Outside the lab, most people are unlikely to hold a warm-up stretch for longer than about 30 seconds.” Dr. McHugh, the co-author of the study says. The review found few lasting negative impacts from these short stretches, especially if the volunteers followed that stretching with several minutes of jogging or other basic warm-up movements. In fact, these short stretches turned out to have a positive effect.

Do these findings mean that all the athletes should stretch in advance before a match? “Not necessarily,” Dr. McHugh says, “Runners and cyclists don’t have much risk for acute muscle injuries.” Stretching before these activities is unlikely to protect against injury. Runners and cyclists can adequately warm up by jogging or pedaling lightly. But he suggests that people who play basketball and other ball sports should stretch in advance. Those who haven’t stretched since childhood gym class might want to consider consulting an athletic trainer about the best upper and lower body stretches, particularly for the shoulders and hamstrings.

1. Which of the following statements agrees with most fitness experts?

A．Before playing a game you should stretch your legs and arms.

B．After attending a match you should stretch your legs and arms.

C．It’s harmful to stretch your legs and arms before playing games.

D．It doesn’t matter whether you stretch or not before playing games.

2. According to the new research, people may suffer negative impacts when _______.

A．they do stretches after attending a game

B．they reach for toes and hold that position

C．following a stretch with several minutes’ jogging

D．dashing immediately after one 60-second plus stretch

3. We can learn from the passage that _______.

A．all athletes should not stretch in advance

B．the four scientists published the journal APNM

C．it’s unnecessary for a tennis player to do warm-up stretches

D．players ought to have done warm-up stretches since childhood

4. What’s Dr. McHugh’s attitude toward stretches?

A．Concerned.	B．Doubtful.
C．Disapproving.	D．Objective.

5 . A new study, a project of the researchers from the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, finds the fitness tracker probably does not help with weight loss.

The devices are designed to record your physical activity. They are usually worn around the wrist, where they measure a person’s heart rate. The research team looked at two groups of individuals. The first wore a fitness tracker and took part in health counseling (咨询) with experts to consider the best weight-loss plan. The researchers compared this group with people who only got health counseling.

The study found that those only speaking with the health experts lost nearly 6 kilograms, but those using a fitness tracker lost only 3.5 kilograms. John Jakicic, the lead researcher, questioned the use of electronic devices for weight control in place of “effective behavioral counseling for physical activity and diet. ”

The study involved 470 subjects aged between 18 and 35. Some of them were overweight, while others were considered obese (肥胖的). Over three fourths of the subjects were women. All the subjects were told to increase physical activity and start on a low-calorie diet. They had their weight measured once every six months. After six months, researchers divided the group into two parts: one continued with monthly counseling, while members of the other group were given a fitness tracker. Eighteen months later, both groups “showed significant improvements in fitness, physical activity, and diet,” with no major difference between groups. However, when it came to losing weight, the people who only spoke with experts lost nearly twice as much weight.

Jakicic said, “the study’s findings are important because effective long-term treatments are needed to address America’s obesity. ” More information is needed, he added, to learn how to best use these devices to change “physical activity and diet behaviors” in adults who want to lose weight.

1. All the subjects in the study were asked to ________.

A．start on a high-calorie diet	B．wear a fitness tracker
C．increase physical activities	D．record their heart rates

2. Why does Jakicic think the findings are important?

A．Wearing fitness trackers hardly helps people lose weight.

B．Physical activity and diet have no effect on weight loss.

C．Handling obesity requires effective long-term treatments.

D．There are great differences in fitness between both groups.

3. What can we infer about the study mentioned in the text?

A．The study went on for about two years.

B．More than 120 men took part in the study.

C．Health counseling helps lose almost 6 kilograms.

D．Wearing a fitness tracker is useful for keeping slim.

4. The purpose of the text is to ________.

A．describe how the researchers were conducting the study

B．indicate regular counseling for weight control is necessary

C．convince readers to wear fitness trackers for weight control

D．warn women are more likely to suffer from weight problems