2 . Walking has been considered as one of the best possible exercises. For many people, daily walking offers massive and long-term physical and mental benefits.     1     A Stanford University study found that participants were more creative when walking as opposed to sitting.

    2     You’ve probably heard the phrase “exercise your creativity”. Our creative mindset is triggered by physical movement, which is exactly why walking with your dog, a friend, or alone feeds creative thinking.

But the scenery is almost as important as the sweat. Just by going outside, you are stepping out of your habitual surroundings and your comfort zone, which is necessary if you want to open your mind to new possibilities. You can walk through a tree-filled neighborhood.     3     Even when you walk down a busy street, you can’t help but get distracted by the sweet smells from a food cart or the child pointing to a building you haven’t even noticed before.

Walking outside cultivates our ability to collect new ideas and take in new sights, sounds, smells, and flavors. Shinrin-yoku, a common form of relaxation in Japan, suggests that being in the forest and walking among the trees there can lower your stress levels.     4     Research has shown that immersion in nature around your neighborhood or the disconnection from multimedia increased performance on a creative problem-solving task.

So instead of setting a fitness goal, why not set a creativity goal that starts with walking outdoors?     5     For example, you can turn off your phone and give yourself the chance to be present in the world, to hear conversations and natural sounds, and to notice the way people move and the way the sun reflects in a lake.

Walk not just for exercise. Walk for wonder.

A．Unfortunately, you often fail to do it.

B．Engage more closely with your surroundings.

C．The movement aspect of walking is obviously key.

D．Without enough energy, you cannot wonder or create.

E．But to receive the benefits, you do not have to live in a forest.

F．This habit, however, isn’t just a beneficial pursuit but an element of innovation.

G．Alternatively, you can wander around a park and observe people relaxing or birds singing.

3 . Running is often tiring and a lot of hard work, but nothing beats the feeling you get after finishing a long workout around the track.

But while it’s long been believed that endorphins (内啡肽) —chemicals in the body that cause happiness—are behind the so-called “runner’s high”, a study suggested that there may be more to this phenomenon than we previously knew.

According to a recent study published by a group of scientists from several German universities, a group of chemicals called endocannabinoids (内源性大麻素) may actually be responsible for this familiar great feeling.

To test this theory, the scientists turned to mice. Both mice and humans release high levels of endorphins and endocannabinoids after exercise. After exercising on running wheels, the mice seemed happy and relaxed and displayed no signs of anxiety. But after being given a drug to block their endorphins, the mice’s behavior didn’t seem to change. However, when their endocannabinoids were blocked with a different drug, their runners’ high symptoms seemed to fade.

“The long-held notion of endorphins being responsible for the runner’s high is false. Endorphins are effective pain relievers, but only when it comes to the pain in your body and muscles you feel after working out,” Patrick Lucas Austin wrote on science blog Lifchacker.

Similar studies are yet to be carried out on humans, but it’s already known that exercise is a highly effective way to get rid of stress or anxiety. The UK’s National Health Service even prescribes (开药 方) exercise to patients who are suffering from depression. “Being depressed can leave you feeling low in energy, which might put you off being more active. Regular exercise can improve your mood if you have depression, and its especially useful for people with mild to moderate (中等的) depression,” it wrote on its website.

It seems like nothing can beat that feeling we get after a good workout, even if we don’t fully understand where it comes from. At least if we’re feeling down, we know that all we have to do is to put on our running shoes.

1. What did scientists from German universities recently discover?

A．Working out is a highly effective way to treat depression.

B．The runner’s high could be caused by endocannabinoids.

C．Endorphins may contribute to one’s high spirits after running.

D．The level of endorphins and endocannabinoids could affect one’s mood.

2. Why did the scientists give mice drugs in their experiment?

A．To find what reduces the runner’s high symptoms.

B．To see the specific symptoms of the runner’s high.

C．To identify what is responsible for the runner’s high.

D．To test what influences the level of endocannabinoids released.

3. What does the underlined word “notion” mean?

A．Effect.

B．Goal.

C．Opinion.

D．Question

4. What can we know about regular workouts according to the UK’s National Health Service?

A．They can help ease depression symptoms.

B．They are the best way to treat depression.

C．They only work for those with serious depression.

D．They can help people completely recover from depression.

4 . Many hear endlessly how good exercise is for our health,but you might be surprised to know just how good.    1    

It helps you breathe better.

Frequent exercise improves the volume of oxygen you can use in your body.This is what makes you fit and the benefits aren’t limited to sport.    2     Attending some professional courses can build core strength and improve shape,and so strengthen breathing muscles. 

Physical activity enhances your mental health.

Doing something active releases “happy” brain chemicals that make you more positive.The more you do it,the better you’ll feel.But you do need to work up a sweat.If you’ve had a bad day,treat yourself to a little bit of exercise.    3    

    4    

The way your guts (内脏) feel often impacts on your mental and physical health.Walking,running and yoga strengthen abdominal (腹部的)muscles,increase the heart rate and encourage your muscles to move digestive waste through your body more efficiently and digest food more quickly.

Keeping active keeps you young.

There may not be an elixir (灵丹妙药) of youth just yet,but keeping fit comes close.Just 15 minutes of exercise a day for eight years can increase your lifespan by three years.The more you do,the longer you could live.    5     It can be low-intensity exercise—swimming,a long walk on a running machine at the gym,or a low-intensity workout via special APPs.

A．It aids your digestion.

B．It gives you a better appetite.

C．Increased muscle strength helps too.

D．Here are the benefits you can get from exercise.

E．This is because physical activity delays cell ageing.

F．People think this will catch our attention and inspire our action.

G．Power walking or rope skipping is a brilliant stress reliever.

5 . The beach may seem like an inviting place to run on a cool summer morning, but is running on the sand good for your body? It can be, but it’s important to be aware of the challenges that some beach runners experience before you get ready.

Running on the beach can be a good thing. It’s certainly different from running on a track or a pavement. For starters, sand can be a challenge because it has an uneven(不平坦的) surface. As you push off, you’re going to lose some of your push as the sand moves. So, you’re not going to be able to push yourself forward as you would on a track or a pavement. But this unevenness has an upside: It gives your body an extra workout, forcing you to exercise muscles that don’t get as much use during runs on firm surfaces. For example, your feet, ankles and lower back might feel sorer and more tired than usual after a beach run just because the surface is constantly moving and changing step to step.

You also might feel sore afterward because beaches tend to slope (倾斜) down to the water. If you’re going for a long run on the beach, you might notice that one side of your body might feel sorer because you’re putting more pressure on it due to the slope.

Some beach runners prefer to run barefoot-- not wearing anything on feet. However, if you’re not used to barefoot running, start slowly and don’t run long distances at first. That’s because running barefoot uses more different muscles than running with shoes does, and it’s important to strengthen these muscles and adapt your feet. If you want to run barefoot and as long as you run carefully enough into it, go for it!

Running on the sand can be a smart choice for you, because running on softer ground surfaces can reduce muscle damage.

1. Why is it difficult to run on the beach for starters? ________

A．The soft surface makes people fall over easily.

B．It’s hard to keep one’s balance on its hard surface.

C．People need to run carefully on its smooth surface.

D．Running on its uneven surface takes much effort.

2. Which of the following best explains “upside” underlined in Paragraph 2? ________

A．Challenge.

B．Advantage.

C．Reason.

D．Character.

3. What’s the author’s attitude to barefoot running? ________

A．Positive.

B．Critical.

C．Doubtful.

D．Uncaring.

4. The passage can probably be found in ________.

A．a primary school textbook	B．a tourist guide
C．a sports magazine	D．a scientific report

7 . Benefits of Sports

Doing sports is a physical, mental and social adventure. It’s a great way for children to take a break from studies and release extra energy. It also helps them lead fuller and happier lives as regular sports have proven beneficial to overall well-being.

The physical benefits of doing sports are probably the most obvious. Regardless of your fitness level when you start playing sports, you’ll notice an increase in your overall fitness once you’re involved.     1     Basketball players focus on strength training; football players work on speed while track athletes train through longer runs. The training process helps promote physical fitness and performances in competitions.

    2     Playing sports also contributes to mental health, helping to increase confidence and self-worth. A pat on the back, a high five from a teammate, or a handshake after a match really boosts a child’s confidence. Words of praise and encouragement from the coach, parents and other players raise self-worth.     3     So after a game, it’s a better idea to ask “Did you enjoy the game?” rather than “Did you win?”

Children who participate in sports might also benefit from the social aspect, feeling part of a group, building up responsibility and leadership.     4     Teamwork involves both being dependable as a teammate and learning to rely on your teammates to achieve a positive outcome. Teamwork breeds responsibility and challenges you to be responsible for your actions. Being part of a team gives you an opportunity to be a leader.

Discipline is another social advantage. Most organized sports require a strict training and practice schedule. As a student-athlete, you need to balance studies and athletics.     5    

There is no shortage of reasons to find a sport to get involved in. Are you ready to go? Pick one and get moving!

A．It’s not just your body that benefits from sports.

B．Therefore, playing sports is going to make you more fit.

C．But remember, a child’s self-worth should not be distinguished by victory or loss.

D．If you play group sports, you’ll be part of a team that takes direction from a coach.

E．Nearly every sport requires physical activities and the competitive skills.

F．Among these, learning how to function as part of a team is the most important advantage.

G．Only with strict discipline can you be successful both in the classroom and in the sports field.

9 . There are many ways to travel within a city. We can walk, cycle, or take a bus. But no matter which way we travel, we have to follow the route (线路) the city planners laid down for us.

Parkour practitioners (跑酷爱好者), however, see the city in a completely different way. To them, there are no designed routes. There are no walls and no stairs — they jump, climb, roll and crawl to move across, through, over and under anything that they find in their path. The city is their playground.

The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) has noticed that this activity is drawing more and more people to it — there are 100, 000 people taking part in parkour today in the UK alone, according to The Guardian — and how it is helpful for people to be much stronger: It trains coordination and balance. So the FIG is thinking about recognizing parkour as a new sport and adding it to the Olympics by 2024.

But parkour practitioners themselves don’t seem to be happy with the idea. They see parkour as “a lifestyle”, wrote the website NextSportStar. “It’s a competition against the conditions rather than just a sport.”

Indeed, many do parkour just to “escape the daily routine and experience the city in different ways”, wrote reporter Oli Mould on The Conversation. They see parkour as a way to express themselves through relaxing moves and creative routes while freeing themselves from the pressure.

It’s great that the FIG wants to develop a new sport and stay close to a new cultural form. But it would be greater if they knew that not everything in life is a competition.

1. How do the parkour practitioners do parkour?

A．They plan the way themselves.

B．They move on as they wish.

C．They run faster than others.

D．They follow certain routes.

2. Why does the FIG want to add parkour to the Olympics?

A．It’s a special way of life.

B．It draws their attention.

C．It helps balance people’s life.

D．It’s good for people to keep healthy.

3. What is the author’s idea on parkour?

A．It is more exciting than other sports.

B．It is worth adding to the sporting event.

C．It is more a lifestyle than a competition.

D．It encourages people to challenge themselves.

4. What is the best title for the passage?

A．Parkour practitioners

B．Making the city their own

C．Training in a different way

D．A new sports competition