How do students spend their spare time after finishing their homework? Watch TV, play computer games, or go outside to relax? Here's a good example.
Tim and Kerry Meek are both teachers. They live in the UK with their two daughters: eleven-year-old Amy and nine-year-old Ella. Recently, the Meek family has become the focus of the whole country after they completed 100 different outdoor activities in one year.
The Meek couple didn't want their children to spend all their free time in front of the TV and become "couch potatoes". So about one year ago, the Meeks decided that watching TV and playing computer games were not permitted. Instead, they set 100 tasks for the two girls to do outside. Although Mr. and Mrs. Meek are not outdoor activity fans, they took part in all the activities to encourage their daughters. It turns out that the two sisters really had a good time joining activities.
Every holiday and weekend, whether it's sunny, rainy or snowy, the Meeks' would set off to try the activities on their list, including hiking, sailing, climbing, skiing, and so on. The two little girls not only had a wonderful time, but also learned a lot of skills from the activities. They were even able to stand up in front of their school to give a talk for charity. "Our friends spend a lot of their free time doing things which are harmful to their health. Luckily, we've had the chance to experience something different." Amy and Ella also helped their parents to draw up a new list of challenges for the next 12 months.
1. Why did the Meeks become the focus of the UK? (no more than 10 words)2. What does the underlined phrase "couch potatoes" mean? (no more than 15 words)
3. When did the Meeks go out to do the activities? (no more than 5 words)
4. What did the two little girls learn from the activities?(no more than 5 words)
5. What have you learnt from the story? (no more than 25 words)
2 . How to Show Good Sportsmanship
Sportsmanship is behaviour and attitudes that show respect for the rules of a game and for the other players. But how to show good sportsmanship in detail?
Method 1: Interacting with Opponents
Don’t trash talk. When your competitive juices start flowing, it may be tempting to call members of the other team names or make fun of them. But you can’t win a game by running your mouth, and it only makes you look desperate.
Respect the other team’s effort.
Method 2:
Be a team player. Even if you’re the best athlete on the field, you can’t win a game without your teammates. Everyone should share in team responsibilities, and do their part to ensure that the team is successful.
Support your teammates. Being a good sport means that you’re just as happy with their success as your own.
Listen to your coach. He or she is looking out for the good of the team, and sometimes, that means your role may be changed. Showing good sportsmanship means placing the team’s needs above your own, so you should trust the coach’s judgement.
A.Respect the opponents |
B.Control your temper |
C.Relating to Teammates |
D.Showing good sportsmanship may seem difficult at times |
E.You shouldn’t care about your own performance more than the team |
F.Whether they’re outplaying you or unable to keep up with your team |
G.You may actually be able to learn something from your opponent |
3 . Running is a very popular sport. Millions of people run because they enjoy it or want to be in good physical shape. A runner does not need special skills or equipment.
Daily running improves a person's physical condition. It helps oxygen circulate (循环) through your body and makes your heart and leg muscles stronger.
Many runners like taking part in long distance races like marathons (马拉松).
There are no official world records in marathon races because courses are different all over the world.
A.He needs to be well-prepared and train a lot. |
B.Marathons are the most popular running events. |
C.During a marathon, you should keep a right pace. |
D.Sometimes the raceway is flat and runners run faster. |
E.The fastest marathon race took place in Berlin in 2018. |
F.He only needs a pair of trainers and comfortable clothes. |
G.It also helps you fight off stress after a tiring day in school or at work. |
4 . Are you trying to find the best time for exercise?
Dawn, dusk or dead of night — when’s the best time to work out? Well, that depends on when’s the best time for you, because the benefits of physical activity depend upon how consistent you are.
To stay motivated, choose activities you enjoy. If you’re a social person, do something that engages you socially. Take a group exercise class, join a recreational team or walk with a group of friends. If you prefer having time alone, walking, swimming or biking solo might be a better fit for you.
There are so many choices.
A.The truth is, it’s personal! |
B.Don’t limit yourself to just one. |
C.There are other important considerations. |
D.Use your body clock as a guide to when to go for a walk. |
E.You might have heard that the best time to exercise is early in the morning. |
F.If you’d like to spend more time with your family, find an activity you can all do together. |
G.If your schedule isn’t predictable (可预测的), you may need to be flexible and have a plan for various times of day. |
5 . Tired of your quiet day-to-day life? How about leaving your computer games behind and taking up an extreme sport?
You can ride a bicycle, right? In that case you’re halfway to becoming a mountain biker. All you have to do is take your bike off the road and try some hilly areas. Mountain biking was developed in California in the 1970s and became an Olympic sport in 1996.
Not challenging enough? Skydivers jump from planes at a height of 1,000 to 4,000 meters. You have to be fit but there’s no age limit with this sport. For example, Dilys Price from Cardiff went on her first jump aged 54. The minute she came down, she wanted to go up again. She said: “It was so attractive”.
Some adventures have invented base jumping, in which people jump from tall structures, such as buildings or bridges, with a parachute. Many of their jumps aren’t legal, especially in the cities.Dan Witchalls has jumped off The Shard —London’s 310 meter-high building four times.He says, “Base jumping is scarier than jumping out of a plane. In a plane there is no sense of height, but when you are standing on the edge of the building you can see people and cars, the experience makes it very real.”
It seems there’s no shortage of imagination when it comes to risking life to look cool and get the heart beating wildly. Surfing, diving, rock climbing ...And how about extreme ironing? That is, pressing your clothes on top of a mountain! Extreme ironing is said to have been created in the 1990s in England by a man who saw a large amount of wrinkled clothes and felt bored when doing the cloth ironing. That man was Phil Shaw. For him, the excitement of this sport comes from looking at the viewers’ faces. Shaw says, “Sometimes they look confused; sometimes they laugh. It’s fun to see how people react to it.”
1. What does the author think about mountain biking?A.A bit boring. | B.Challenging indeed. |
C.Great fun. | D.Not very hard. |
A.Skydivers have to be very healthy. | B.Skydiving is not challenging enough. |
C.Elderly people can also take up skydiving. | D.People can easily become crazy about skydiving. |
A.The sense of height. | B.Base jumping experience. |
C.The edge of the building. | D.Jumping out of a plane. |
A.He liked ironing clothes. | B.He wanted to make clothes ironing more fun. |
C.He enjoyed different looks on people's faces. | D.He had a good view standing on top of a mountain. |
6 . What makes sports fun?
What makes organized sports fun for kids? A group at George Washington University (GW), led by Professor Amanda J. Visek, has been studying this question. The research is important because lots of kids give up playing sports around age 13 or 14.
The reason kids quit?
First, the group brainstormed 81 things called "fun determinants" that can make sports fun. Then they asked the players aged 8 to 18 to assess how important each thing was to their enjoyment of playing organized sports.
A.The result was surprising |
B.They say sports aren't fun anymore. |
C.Boys and girls react differently toward sports. |
D.Different groups have different opinions on fun determinants. |
E.The group compared males' and females' attitudes on what makes sports fun. |
F.The study, however, showed girls' and boys’ attitudes were more alike than different. |
G.The same was true for younger and older players as well as recreational and travel athletes. |
7 . 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. |
8 . How often do you exercise? A new study finds that most kids aged 12 to 15 aren't getting enough physical activity. The results are based on about 800 kids. As part of the study, the young teens tracked and reported on their own activity levels, and took physical exams.
The US fitness guidelines recommend an hour or more of physical activity every day. According to the study, only 1in 4 kids in the US get enough physical activity.
“It's certainly very worrying to see that our kids are engaging in 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 survey met the guidelines for physical activity that raises the heart rate and makes them breathe harder. Overall, about 25% said they got an hour of that kind of violent exercise every day. Kids also reported on which activities they did most often outside of the school gym class--basketball for boys and running for girls.
The study found that obese(肥胖的) teens were less active than normal-weight girls and boys. Overweight 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 overall obesity rate for children aged 2 to 19 is 17%, or about 12.5 million kids.
“There's always room for improvement,” said health expert Tala Fakhouri, who was the lead author of the study. She also said the results provide useful information to help with fitness campaigns such as Lets Move, which was launched by Michelle Obama in 2010. To inspire kids to eat right and get in shape, Michelle visited schools and held exercise events. She also called on schools to offer regular gym classes.
The study also suggests kids who get physical education at school may get better grades.
1. What is the result of the new study?A.It is important to take physical exams |
B.Most US kids don’t get enough exercise |
C.Kids should get physical activity every day |
D.800 kids don’t get enough physical activity. |
A.To help kids to keep fit. |
B.To hold exercise events. |
C.To offer regular gym classes. |
D.To provide useful information. |
A.do better in their studies |
B.try their best to get in shape |
C.be more willing to help others |
D.be less active than fat children |
A.visited | B.stopped |
C.started | D.improved |
9 . Every person has time for exercise. The way is to take steps to include exercise convenient for your lifestyle. After I started getting into a habit of exercising, I was surprised by how much I could get done in a day, both physically and mentally. You can make exercise a part of your daily lifestyle.
Start small
One of the reasons exercise programs fail is that we bite off more than we can chew. Instead of telling yourself you’re going to exercise today for an hour, tell yourself you’re going to exercise for five minutes.
Break your exercise into parts.
No time for 30 minutes of exercise? No problem. Do three bouts (一回) of 10 minutes, or six bouts of five minutes each.
Devices such as Fitbit activity trackers (跟踪系统) turn exercise into a game of sorts. Each day, you can measure how many steps you’ve taken. Many people find this attractive to their competitive spirits, and they and they take great pains to meet their goals. The technology is there, and it’s very affordable.
Exercise with someone else.
A.Use technology to help. |
B.Always stay active with exercise. |
C.Yes, just five minutes and get up to walk around. |
D.Here are four steps to help you do it effectively. |
E.You’ll still get the same time, no matter how you break it down. |
F.High-tech products are becoming popular with many young people. |
G.It’s much more difficult to say “no” to exercise when you have an exercise partner. |
10 . If you're out for a run, what difference does it make if you're able to tough it out for another 50 seconds? If you're less than a minute from the top of the hill, that extra time can make the difference between having reached your goal and snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
How do you get those extra seconds of energy? A research team at the Texes Tech University developed a study to measure what effect listening to music would have on exercise tolerance. The researchers based the study on a stress testing. As part of the testing, they noted any changes in heart rate and blood pressure as participants underwent physically stressful exercise.
The tests were done on treadmills (跑步机), which increased in both speed and incline (坡度) through three stages. In the final stage, the treadmills moved at 10 miles per hour at a 14-percent grade. Most of these tests were designed to last up to 40 minutes. The average gym-goers lasted 30 minutes. For this study, they divided 127 participants into two groups. One listened to upbeat(快节奏) music, while the other group had earbuds in but did not listen to music.
The group that listened to music was able to outlast the non-music group by an average of 50.6 seconds. Again, being able to go an extra minute may seem like a no-brainer ,but “after 30 minutes, you feel like you are running up a mountain, so even being able to go 50 seconds longer means a lot," said the study's lead author, Waseem Shami, MD.
The study has confirmed something runners and gym-goers have suspected for years: Listening to music during workout can be beneficial to your endurance. "Our findings reinforce the idea that upbeat music can help you exercise longer and stick with a daily exercise routine," said Shami. When doctors are recommending exercise, they might suggest listening to music, too."
1. Why did Shami’s team conduct the research?A.To test the effect of music on health. | B.To know the cause of failure in sports. |
C.To improve runners' exercise tolerance. | D.To record the body change of participants |
A.They ran much faster than average runners. | B.They created a new record of indoor sports. |
C.They could run a little longer with music on. | D.They all enjoyed extreme physical challenge |
A.A dull activity. | B.A foolish action. |
C.A demanding task. | D.An easy practice |
A.Developing a daily exercise routine. | B.Listening to music while working out |
C.Participating in physical stress testing. | D.Taking exercise as doctors recommend. |