1 . Soreness (疼痛) Is Good and Scales Are Pointless: The Ten Biggest Myths in Fitness

It’s easy to think that fitness is confusing-but it isn’t. The basics stay the same, and we know the science. These are the ten biggest myths in fitness-memorize them, and exercise with confidence.

1. Soreness is a sign of a good workout

Sore muscles don’t mean progress. They are probably caused by small tears in muscles and happen when you do movements you’re not used to or when you do too many repetitions. So reduce the number of repetitions. You can make progress without pain.

2. Lifting heavy weights will make you strong

There are two ways to get stronger: increasing the size of each muscle and getting more muscles to work together when you need to use them. Getting big requires specific, targeted training and extra calories and protein-and it almost never happens by accident.

3. ?

Actually, it’s the opposite: exercises done correctly will strengthen the muscles around your knee joints, protecting you from injury. As for running, a 20-year study by Stanford University found that regular runners suffered less from arthritis (关节炎) than non-runners as they got older.

4. You can target fat and reduce it

Before the days of the internet, there was a myth that you could reduce the fat around your stomach by doing hundreds of sit-ups. “The truth is, we all have areas of fat that seem to take the longest to get lean,” says Storey-Gordon. “But don’t give up. Those areas will get leaner, too. Patience is the key.”

5. Less rest means you’re working harder

“For most people — especially beginners — periods of recovery between sets mean a lower risk of injury and better results,” says coach George Anderson. Or, in other words: if you train too hard for a whole hour, you’ll have to lift smaller weights, go slower and generally do less work than you would with some recovery.

1. According to the passage, “myth” refers to ________.

A．a false belief or idea	B．a set of rules
C．a traditional way of doing things	D．an amount of money

2. Which of the following best fits in the blank with a “?” in the passage?

A．Shorter is better.	B．Scales are pointless.
C．Exercise is bad for your knees.	D．There is one “best” way to train.

3. It can be inferred from the passage that ________.

A．sore muscles mean you have made progress in working out

B．the harder you work and the less you rest, the more weight you can get rid of

C．detailed, targeted exercise alone can make you bigger

D．reducing fat takes time and patience

3 . The new federal (联邦的) physical activity guidelines were updated for the first time since 2008, and they still urge adults to do 75 minutes of intense (or 150 minutes of moderate) aerobic (有氧的) exercise each week, plus muscle-strengthening activities like weightlifting or yoga twice a week. But only 23% of Americans do so, and a recent study found that a quarter of American adults sit for more than eight hours per day. The addition of a simpler imperative to the guidelines — “move more and sit less”, no matter what form that movement takes or how long it lasts-may make people more likely to meet them.

If more Americans follow the guidelines, they stand to gain significant health benefits, including longer lives. Recent research suggests that activities you’d never think of as exercise, like cleaning the bathroom, still lead to the benefit of a long life span. In a study of older women, each half hour of light activities like these was linked to a 12% lower risk of dying early compared with their more sedentary peers.

That every movement matters may be the message Americans need to hear to get more active, says Jack Raglin, a professor at the Indiana University Bloomington School of Public Health. “The fitness industry tends to keep people focused on the standard modes of exercise, but it may not be that easy to go to a gym, especially if you are older, not fit or overweight,” Raglin says. “You want something that’s not too hard for most people, and that you can do any time or place.”

Even things like standing on the subway or walking while you talk on the phone, rather than sitting down, can have an impact, says Jacque Crockford, a certified personal trainer. Studies show that these easy activities are associated with lower body weight, better overall health and increased life span. “It’s important to recognize the difference between planned exercise and just being active,” Crockford says. “We put a lot of weight on the exercise part, rather than thinking of it as, ‘I’ll just move my body.’ ”

Of course, formal exercise may help you reach your goals faster, and intense exercise often brings the biggest health benefits, at least for young, healthy people. But even if you don’t move enough to meet the federal recommendations, any progress towards them likely contributes to better health, says Michael LaMonte, a research associate professor at the University at Buffalo. “Don’t put a time scale on it; don’t put an intensity on it,” LaMonte says. “We need to go back to the old days, when movement was a way of life.”

1. What can be inferred from paragraph 1?

A．Muscle-strengthening activities are often neglected.

B．The form of movement counts more than how long it lasts.

C．75 minutes of aerobic exercise may do more harm than good.

D．The old federal physical activity guidelines were hard to meet.

2. The “more sedentary peers”(in paragraph 2) refer to those who ________ .

A．have a higher risk of early death	B．spend more time sitting
C．are more interested in sports	D．have reached an older age

3. Jack Raglin, Jacque Crockford and Michael LaMonte are quoted to

A．argue against the standard modes of exercise	B．highlight the impact of sports on health
C．encourage people to move more	D．remind people of the old days

4. What can be concluded from the passage?

A．When it comes to exercise, every movement matters.

B．It is recommended that each activity should last 30 minutes.

C．There will be more research on how active a person should be.

D．Formal exercise works better for some people than for others.

5 . 阅读短文，按照题目要求用英语回答问题。

Gary McKee ran 365 marathons in as many days to raise funds for Macmillan Cancer Support and Hospice at Home West Cumbria.

Gary McKee, 53, from Cleator Moor in Cumbria raised his arms in victory and was cheered by a crowd of supporters as he completed his 365th marathon of the year on New Year’s Eve. As of 4 pm on Saturday, he had raised more than £ 890,000 for the charities Macmillan Cancer Support and Hospice at Home West Cumbria, just shy of (缺少) his £1 million fundraising target. The father of three has gone through 22 pairs of sports shoes and has run 9,563 miles in rain, snow and sunshine to raise money for the charities.

“The support has been amazing and it always is and the West Cumbrians get behind us, but cancer affects everybody so it isn’t just a West Cumbrian thing, it’s a national thing,” said Gary. “I just hope that people do get behind us and we do raise those million pounds.” Gary has not only raised money for two fantastic charities, but he has also sprinkled magic on the local community and brought people together to support him with the challenge.

Chris Young, 29, ran 90 marathons with Mr. McKee. “Gary set a good example to me this year when I began running frequently with him and has given me both physical and mental resilience (适应力) that I don’t know if I would have ever discovered in myself in a million years. I know I don’t just speak for myself on that front as he has inspired not just me or the few, but the entire local community and beyond,” said Chris, “This challenge has raised a great amount of money for two fantastic charities, but the impact Gary has provided to the community and people around him is immeasurable. A lot of people’s lives will be much better off thanks to Gary’s efforts, mine included.”

1. What did Gary do when he completed his 365th marathon? (no more than 10 words)
_______________________________________________________________________
2. What is Gary’s goal of running 365 marathons? (no more than 10 words)
_______________________________________________________________________
3. How do you understand the underlined part in Paragraph 3? (no more than 10 words)
_______________________________________________________________________
4. In what ways has Gary McKee influenced Chris Young? (no more than 5 words)
_______________________________________________________________________
5. What does Gary’s story inspire you? Put it in your own words. (no more than 20 words)
_______________________________________________________________________

6 . When watching sports events, we often notice athletes with their earphones on while preparing in the locker room or entering the stadium. They keep their eyes shut, and gently nod along the beats. It seems as if the music is empowering them and toughening them up for the competition. But is there any science behind such practice?

According to a recent research, it turns out there is. Music actually does make us feel powerful, but not all songs have the same effect. The research was led by Dennis Hsu of the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in the US. His team had people listen to 31 songs of different types. The listeners felt powerful after listening to some songs, such as Queen’s We Will Rock You and 2 Unlimited’s Get Ready for This. Researchers also found that high-power music made people want to take control in social events and come first in competition. As for the reason for music’s magical power, Hsu’s team came up with one possible explanation: When people hear music that expresses a sense of power, they mimic these feelings in their mind.

So, when choosing music, we need to look at the type of music. In previous research by the Music in Exercise and Sport Group at Brunel University in London, they found that pop was perfect for slower, more repetitive-type tasks. Dance music was found to be best suited to strength and weight training because it’s “fast and rhythmical”. During high-intensity workouts, though, you’d better not listen to rock. Its different changes in tempo can affect your rhythm.

1. Why athletes were mentioned in the first paragraph?

A．To list things athletes have in common with other people.

B．To describe athletes’ common habits before sports games.

C．To get readers to wonder whether music matters in sports.

D．To explain why athletes like listening to music before games.

2. Which of the following statements might Dennis Hsu agree with?

A．Listening to music can always boost the athlete’s performance.

B．People listening to powerful music are likely to produce similar feelings.

C．The result of a game is mainly affected by the physical condition of the players.

D．Most athletes don’t know the effects of high-power music on their performance.

3. If you want to cool down after exercise, what kind of music will be suitable?

A．Pop music.

B．Dance music.

C．Rock.

D．Blues.

4. How did the author make his points clear?

A．With comparisons.	B．Through examples.
C．By giving general rules.	D．Through listing figures.

7 . Is Adventurous Sports Teaching Good or Bad?

In recent years, adventurous sports such as bungee jumping have become increasingly popular. More and more people are taking these kinds of sports whatever the cost is. They say it is so exciting and enjoyable to take part in an adventure, which can relieve pressure or stress.

According to ED, some schools in the U.S. have also been urged to increase class teaching about adventures. And many have.     1     Injuries increased one hundred fifty percent between 1997 and 2007.

The study involved injuries treated in hospital emergency departments. Only two percent were serious.

The researchers did not try to identify the causes of the increase, but they have some theories. Lara McKenzie from Ohio State University was the lead researcher. She says one possibility is a decrease in the number of school nurses during the period they studied. For example, a study in 2004 showed that the number of school nurses nationally failed to meet federal guidelines.     2    

Another possible reason for more injuries is a change in the traditional idea of adventure. Cheryl Richardson is with the National Association for Sport and Physical Education. From her point of view, this “New adventure” expands the kinds of sports that are taught.     3     Also, she says not all states require relevant teachers to be specially trained. Untrained teachers could be less likely to recognize unsafe conditions. Cheryl Richardson points to one of the study’s findings — that injuries are often the result of contact with a person or a structure.

The researchers say larger class sizes are another possible reason for the increase in injuries.     4     The National Association for Sport says twenty to thirty students in such kind of class teaching should be the limit.

A．Classes on large scales can mean less supervision and cause potential injuries.

B．Yet now comes a study showing an increase in the number of injuries in “adventurous” class.

C．Generally speaking, untrained nurses could be more likely to be unemployed.

D．Adventurous sports help to relax students’ pressure and benefit their mental health.

E．But high-risk activities some schools offer now, like bungee jumping, can also expand the risks.

F．Schools without a nurse on duty may be more likely to send an injured child to a hospital.