1 . Human bodies were actually designed for walking, a wonderful form of exercise at no cost. It’s kind to our bodies and great for our waistlines.
Probably you already love to walk, but you’re getting bored of tracing the same old route day after day, or maybe you’re new to walking and aren’t sure how to get started.
Call up your friends and schedule walks with them if socializing is your aim.
From the benefits to your heart to your overall happiness, walking is just plain good for you.
| A．This month, pick up a map and start walking. |
| B．Ask your friends where they like to walk and just go there. |
| C．You may as well consider heading to a new city for a change. |
| D．Either way, it’s time to accept the idea of walking with a purpose. |
| E．Recently, science has proved that walking is good for your body shape. |
| F．And best of all, it’s a great way to see new things and meet new people! |
| G．If you’re after walking alone, ask about local hikes that get you away from the crowd. |
2 . Fitness Magazine recently ran an article titled “Five Reasons to Thank Your Workout Partner.” One reason was: “You’ll actually show up if you know someone is waiting for you at the gym, ” while another read: “
So, how do you find a workout partner?
First of all, decide what you want from that person.
You might think about posting what you are looking for on social media, but it probably won’t result in a useful response.
My partner posted her request on the notice board of a local park. Her notice included what kind of training she wanted to do, how many days a week and how many hours she wanted to spend on each session, and her age. It also listed her favorite sports and activities, and provided her phone number.
You and your partner will probably have different skills.
| A．Your first meeting may be a little awkward. |
| B．A workout partner usually needs to live close by. |
| C．You’ll work harder if you train with someone else. |
| D．Do you want to be a better athlete in your favorite sport? |
| E．How can you write a good “seeking training partner” notice? |
| F．Just accept your differences and learn to work with each other. |
| G．Any notice for a training partner should include such information. |
3 . Exercising regularly not only helps you keep slim, but also improves your overall health and well-being. Different exercises produce different results, as they focus on alternate parts of the body. There are four broad exercise categories: endurance, strength, flexibility, and balance. Many people often only focus on one exercise type, but including all four in your workout will produce better results and reduce your risk of injury.
Endurance
Endurance exercises increase your breathing and heart rate. By doing endurance exercises, you are working to keep your heart, lungs, and blood-flow system healthy while improving your total fitness. Over time these activities will make everyday activities seem easier.
Strength
If you want to build up your muscles, then strength exercises, which are also known as “resistance training”, are right for you. Even the slightest increase in strength can make a huge difference in your ability to carry out daily tasks. Developing strong muscles also reduce your risk of weak bones.
Flexibility
Flexibility exercises help stretch your body’s muscles. This allows for more freedom of movement for other exercises and can also improve your range of motion, posture, ability to breathe deeply, and blood flow. Also, it reduces the muscle tension caused by stress.
Balance
Balance exercises help prevent falls and are especially important to older adults, helping them stay independent. Most good balance exercises are ones that keep you constantly moving with your feet on the ground. Heel-to-toe walking and standing on one foot are simple ways to improve balance.
1. How can a person benefit most from their exercise routine?| A．By combining different exercise types together. |
| B．By having enough rest between their workouts. |
| C．By concentrating on one training aspect at a time. |
| D．By increasing the frequency of their training gradually. |
| A．Strength and Balance. | B．Flexibility and Balance. |
| C．Endurance and Strength. | D．Endurance and Flexibility. |
| A．Arms. | B．Legs. | C．Waist. | D．Neck. |
4 . We’ve all heard the saying“Life slows down the older you get,” but that's certainly not true for Joan MacDonald.
The 75-year-old fitness influencer has accumulated an incredible following on social media, in part because she's chosen to actively reject the idea that aging robs you of your energy, focus and drive. In fact, MacDonald looks at movement as a “gift, ” and whether you're hitting the gym five days a week, or just beginning your fitness journey 一 it's never too late to take advantage of what your body was meant to do. Get moving.
“Just start with what you can, ” MacDonald tells Guideposts, org when asked what her best piece of advice would be for seniors looking to get active again.“If you can only walk three blocks, start there. Over time aim to add another block.”
And just because you' re starting small, it doesn’t' t mean that a short bike ride or quick stretch session isn't having an impact. The recommended amount of cardio （有氧运动）each day for most adults is 30 minutes, although even short bursts of movement can have a huge impact on decreasing the risk of being overweight, heart problems and other conditions.
The key is consistency. MacDonald knows that the road to healthy isn't easy and sometimes, the struggle can seem impossible to overcome. She had to battle against years of bad habits and recondition her body to push against her imagined limits. She tries to keep her social media channels focused on the positive aspects of working out and eating better, always encouraging and uplifting her followers, and never judging their difficulties 一 or her own. It's that attitude that she says is key to staying active.
“Focus on what is going right and well,” MacDonald says. “For me, I started my whole transformation because I wanted to feel better. I wanted energy to live my life! Now having my health, strength, and endurance is what keeps me committed.”
1. What may contribute to MacDonald , shaving numerous followers on social media?| A．Her attitude. | B．Her impact. | C．Her strength. | D．Her journey. |
| A．They take advantage of what they want. |
| B．They start working out with what they can. |
| C．They get moving by doing what they need. |
| D．They perform short movement as they like. |
| A．Inspiring the followers and evaluating their troubles. |
| B．Holding positive attitudes and keeping a balanced diet. |
| C．Managing the social media channels and gaining views. |
| D．Breaking bad habits and challenging herself to the limit. |
| A．Prevention is better than cure. |
| B．A light heart lives long. |
| C．The nature of life lies in sports. |
| D．Content is better than riches. |
5 . Rollerblading is an excellent sport that just about anyone can enjoy. After you have mastered the basics of rollerblading, you can begin to master the sport. There are a variety of different methods and styles that you can try.
Some types of rollerblading, including free skating and aggressive skating, have a heavy emphasis on tricks. Free skating is a type of rollerblading that is primarily about getting from start to finish as fast as possible.
Some inline skaters prefer to go the way of inline speed skating.
Each of these sports requires different skills and is comprised of a different group of people.
| A．Inline speed skating is all about racing |
| B．Many people enjoy rollerblading just for the simple pleasure of exercise |
| C．In addition to emphasizing speed, free skating often includes different tricks |
| D．Free skating is set in an urban setting and participants must travel through streets |
| E．Roller hockey is of course another, yet completely different form of rollerblading |
| F．Those inline skaters can also try sports like inline figure skating and speed skating |
| G．Each sport requires skill, and experience, as well as having different equipment requirements |
6 . Although a gym membership can be nice, you don't have to have one to get into great shape! All you need is a little bit of time and space at home for yourself.
Spend 5 to 10 minutes warming up before every workout.
Set achievable goals that you can break into smaller tasks. It's one thing to say you want to get fit, but that means something different for everyone.
| A．Not sure what to do? |
| B．Want to build muscle without buying equipment? |
| C．Do strength training twice a week to build muscle. |
| D．If you're struggling to fit in workout time, don't worry. |
| E．Spend five to ten minutes cooling down after each workout. |
| F．Figure out what you plan to achieve and make that your goal. |
| G．But before everything, you need to create an at-home fitness routine. |
7 . Physical education, or PE, isn’t required for all high school students. In some schools, it isn’t offered for some different reasons. But should high school students have physical education? The answer is certainly “yes”.
Today many people don’t do sports. But as is known to all. doing sports is very important for an adult. Teaching teens the importance of a healthy lifestyle and making fitness plans now can help teens put exercise in the first place as an adult.
High school isn’t that easy. Many students are under a lot of stress. Stress can be harmful to a student’s studies and life. Doing sports can help them deal with stress better, helping them live a happier life at school.
The American Heart Association says that 10 million kids and teens suffer from obesity (肥胖). Teens should get 60 minutes of physical activity per day to control their weight and to help their bones get stronger. The increase in activities that don’t get teens to move around, such as computer games, means many teens don’t get their required exercise. PE classes act as a public health measure (措施) to encourage physical activities and help teens have healthy weights.
Not doing sports increases teens’ hazard of developing many diseases. An active lifestyle offers a good way of protection from these health problems. As much as 75 percent of health-care spending goes toward treating medical conditions that can be prevented by lifestyle changes, according to the American College of Sports Medicine.
According to the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition (PCFSN), students who performed five hours of physical activities each week improved their academic (学业的) performance. Students from programs with no physical activity, who used the extra time for classroom study, did not perform better on tests than those who gave up some study time in support of physical education.
1. According to Paragraph 2, what does physical education in high school mean?| A．Making teens attach importance to ęxercise later. |
| B．Removing the stress faced by teens at school. |
| C．Getting teens to encourage adults to exercise. |
| D．Helping teens learn to make good plans |
| A．Happiness. | B．Risk. | C．Safety. | D．Sadness. |
| A．means making students choose between sports and studies |
| B．helps students make good use of all their time |
| C．means students adjust to their studies better |
| D．helps students do better in their studies |
| A．Why high school students should receive physical education. |
| B．Why some schools consider physical education important. |
| C．How schools can help students love doing sports. |
| D．How high school students can live a better life. |
8 . We hear endlessly how good exercise is for our health, but you might be surprised to know just how good.
It lowers the risk of dementia.
The World Health Organization estimates that the number of people with dementia will double in the next 30 years.
It aids digestion.
Just 15 minutes of exercise a day for eight years can increase your lifespan by three years. It can be low-intensity exercise, swimming or a long slow walk. The more you do, the longer you could live. Physical activities delay cell ageing，which increases longevity in humans.
It enhances your mental health.
Doing something active releases “happy” brain chemicals, such as endorphins and serotonin, which make you more positive. The more you do it, the better you’ll feel. But you do need to work up a bit of a sweat. If you’ve had a bad day, a quick power walk is a brilliant stress reliever.
| A．It keeps you young. |
| B．It helps you be energetic. |
| C．Here are some benefits of exercise. |
| D．You can surely brighten your day after it. |
| E．Your stomach feels more comfortable after exercise. |
| F．However, regular exercise could save you from dementia. |
| G．Therefore, the benefits of exercise outweigh its shortcomings. |
9 . The benefits of regular exercise are well documented but there’s a new bonus to add to the ever-growing list. New researchers found that middle-aged women who were physically fit could be nearly 90 percent less likely to develop dementia in later life, and as they did, it came on a decade later than less sporty women.
Lead researcher Dr. Helena Horder, of the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, said : "These findings are exciting because it’s possible that improving people's cardiovascular （心血管的）fitness in middle age could delay or even prevent them from developing dementia. "
For the study, 191 women with an average age of 50 took a bicycle exercise test until they were exhausted to measure their peak （最大值的） cardiovascular capacity. The average peak workload was measured at 103 watts.
A total of 40 women met the criteria for a high fitness level, or 120 watts or higher. A total of 92 women were in the medium fitness category; and 59 women were in the low fitness category, defined as a peak workload of 80 watts or less, or having their exercise tests stopped because of high blood pressure, chest pain or other cardiovascular problems.
These women were then tested for dementia six times over the following four decades. During that time, 44 of the women developed dementia. Five percent of the highly fit women developed dementia, compared to 25 percent of the women with medium fitness and 32 percent of the women with low fitness.
"However, this study does not show cause and effect between cardiovascular fitness and dementia, it only shows an association. More research is needed to see if improved fitness could have a positive effect on the risk of dementia and also to look at when during a lifetime a high fitness level is most important. " She also admitted that a relatively small number of women were studied, all of whom were form Sweden, so the results might not be applicable to other groups.
1. What is on the ever-growing list mentioned in the first paragraph?| A．Positive effects of doing exercises. |
| B．Exercises suitable for the middle-aged. |
| C．Experimental studies on diseases. |
| D．Advantages of sporty woman over man |
| A．To predict their maximum heart rate. |
| B．To assess their cardiovascular capacity |
| C．To change their habits of working out |
| D．To detect their potential health problems |
| A．It aimed to find a cure for dementia. |
| B．Data collection was a lengthy process. |
| C．Some participants withdrew from it. |
| D．The results were far from satisfactory. |
| A．More Women Are Exercising to Prevent Dementia |
| B．Middle-Aged Women Need to Do More Exercise |
| C．Fit Women Are Less Likely to Develop Dementia |
| D．Biking Improves Women's Cardiovascular Fitness |
10 . Once Popular Sports in Ancient Capital Xi'an
The ancient capital Xi'an in Northwest China's Shaanxi province is holding the National Games. As the capital of 13 dynasties throughout Chinese history, the ancient city has never been far from sports. Starting from the Western Zhou Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, the city has held many sports events.
Cuju: Origin of modern soccer
Cuju was an ancient Chinese competitive game involving kicking a ball through an opening into a net. As the ancestor of soccer, it first appeared in the renowned ancient Chinese historical work Zhan Guo Ce（“Strategies of the Warring States”）, which describedCuju as a form of entertainment among the general public. Later, cuju was commonly played in the army for military training purposes, during the Han Dynasty.
Jiaodi: Chinese-style wrestling
Sumo, known as Japan's “national sport”, actually started in ancient China. Sumo was called jiaodi or jiaoli in ancient times. Ancient jiaodi,a Chinese-style wrestling, was performed by athletes wearing ox horns and wrestling with each other imitating wild oxen. During the Sui and Tang dynasties, jiaodi was highly favored by emperors. In the Tang Dynasty, jiaodi was part of military training and a kind of entrainment and athletic sports.
Jiju: Ancient polo
Jiju is a sport which uses a stick to hit balls while riding on a horse, pretty similar to modern polo. It was popular in the royal court and among common people in the Tang Dynasty. There were many fields for playing polo in the court and it was also a major military training program in the army. In the Tang Dynasty capital, there were formal polo courts, such as the stadium pavilion in Chang' an palace.
Archery
During ancient times, the origin of archery was closely related with hunting and defense. Ancient archery was not only an athletic event,a military training program, and an entertainment activity, but also part of education. As early as in Zhou Dynasty, the archery was listed as one of the six practical disciplines, also called the Six Arts, becoming an important and competitive form.
1. Which was popular in the army during the Han Dynasty?| A．Cuju. | B．Jiaodi. |
| C．Jiju. | D．Archery. |
| A．Only by riding a horse. |
| B．By hitting balls wearing ox horns. |
| C．By kicking a ball through an opening into a net. |
| D．By hitting balls while riding on a horse with a stick. |
| A．They were only for entertainment. |
| B．They all disappeared late gradually. |
| C．They were military training programs. |
| D．They all originated from Han Dynasty. |
