1 . Move to the Music

Music helps us exercise, but why does it have this effect?     1     The first is simple: Music distracts us. When we listen to a song we like, our brain pays attention to the music. For example, after we exercise for 20 minutes, our body might be tired. But we may not feel this immediately while listening to music. So we exercise a little longer.

Music also motivates us. When we hear dance music, for example, we naturally start to move to the beat. An upbeat song also puts us in a good mood, so we feel happier. This gives us energy and helps us exercise longer.     2     Songs in the range of 120-140 beats per minute(BPM)are the best, says sports psychologist Dr. Costas Karageorghis.

    3    . Its leading researcher Fritz put 61 people in small groups. They all then exercised twice. One time, each group worked out while listening to music for six minutes. Another time, they exercised for six minutes on special Jymmin machines. The name Jymmin is a combination of “jamming" and “gym.” Using these machines, each group made music as they moved. The exercisers became the composers and the machines became their instruments. In the end, 53 of the 61 people said the same thing: They felt less tired when they exercised on the Jymmin machines.     4    

How does Fritz explain this? Maybe people did better on the Jymmin machines because they had more control, he says. People created the beat. They could make it go faster or slower. Also, the activity was social. Each group was making music together and having fun. Fritz believes that Jymmin exercise may have other advantages, too.     5     For example, it may be even a good way to treat depression.

A．Experts say there are two main reasons.

B．This also helps relax our body and brain.

C．Music with a quick and steady beat is good for exercising,

D．He wants to find out if it can help with more serious conditions.

E．He expects to take advantage of it to tap into people’s potential.

F．A new study suggests this is only part of the explanation, however.

G．When they exercise and make music, working out seems to be easier.

2 .

Paragliding is a kind of flying, but instead of the wing being made of metal, wood or plastic, it is made of nylon or polyester. The wing is attached to a harness by lines where a pilot sits, similar to a parachute.

Is it safe?

Paragliding, is as safe as sailing and deep-sea diving. The big advantage is that it’s probably the slowest form of aviation, so if you do crash, you'll hit the ground quite gently! It’s a very relaxing sport as you're mostly sitting down. Yet, you’ll probably experience pain in some muscles you didn’t know you had while learning, but many of those will be due to the walk up the training hill to launch.

Where do I learn?

There are lots of schools, mainly based inland by appropriate hills or mountains, and there are also schools on the coast near spectacular cliffs. These are very attractive, though the prospect of landing in the sea seems to discourage beginners! It takes seven days to get your basic license; then you’re free to fly independently at sites across the country.

What do I need?

Pilots normally wear warm clothes in case they get very high up, and a helmet in case they stumble on landing. In terms of gear, schools supply basic training, canopies, harnesses, etc. However, you'll probably want to buy your own more sophisticated equipment, which you’ll be able to choose much better once you’ve tried some out on your course.

Who can do it?

There’s no upper age limit provided your instructor judges you capable, but the youngest is 14. Anybody with good eyesight and good balance is a potential paraglider pilot.

Flying a paraglider is a great sport. We hope to see you in the air with us this season!

1. Which would be the best heading for Paragraph 1?

A．What is paragliding?	B．Who invented paragliding?
C．How is paragliding special?	D．Why is paragliding popular?

2. According to the passage, paragliding is____________ .

A．exciting but tiring	B．safe and relaxing
C．attractive but expensive	D．fast and challenging

3. What can we know from the passage?

A．Fit people of any age can take up paragliding.

B．Most paragliding schools are situated by the sea.

C．Pilots need to buy basic equipment on their training course.

D．Learners can fly on their own after at least a week’s training.

3 . You may have seen them coming quickly towards you or passing you swiftly. They’re moving steadily, swinging what looks like a ski pole in each hand.     1     These people aren’t skiing. They’re enjoying a type of exercise called Nordic (北欧的)walking. They use poles not for balance but to get their arms working. And their arms do work! In fact, in Nordic walking, the whole upper body gets plenty of exercise.

    2     Some of the time, they have to go up hills! They use their poles to help push themselves along. Nordic skiers were the first to use poles while walking. It was a way to train for their sport when there was no snow. Then other people, learning of the health benefits of the exercise, began to do it, too.

In the early days of Nordic walking, all walkers -- skiers and non-skiers alike- used ski poles. In 1988, an American company began making and selling poles especially for walking.     3     That’s because they usually aren’t used in snow. And they don’t stick very deeply into the ground. Some of them come with various tips, or ends, for use on different surfaces.

Although regular walking is healthy, studies have shown that Nordic walking is even healthier.    4     This produces strength in the muscles (肌肉) of the arms and chest. It makes the heart and lungs work harder. For young and old, Nordic walking is a great way to exercise the whole body outdoors.     5    

A．Nordic walking poles are shorter than ski poles.

B．And there’s none of the danger of falling on skis.

C．But you aren’t on a ski hill, and there’s no snow in sight.

D．Nordic walking can be performed by anyone at any time.

E．Nordic skiers don’t just slide down hills.

F．Nordic walking is a form of popular sport.

G．With each step, Nordic walkers push themselves forward with one of their poles.

4 . Whether you prefer solo dancing or being involved in a more formalized program, dancing offers the obvious plus to your physical health. You're not only moving your body in a rhythmic way and expressing feelings but also burning calories in your body and getting a workout for sure.

In a recent study, researchers compared the effects of walking, stretching and dancing on the wiring and gray matter of the aging brain. The result showed dancing had the significantly positive effect.

In the experiment, after volunteers in their 60s and 70s with healthy brains didn't show signs of cognitive (认知的) disorder, researchers placed them in three groups at will. One group walked, another group stretched and did balance training and the last group learned country dancing. The arrangements of the dancing became progressively more challenging over time. They all did the assigned activity for one hour a day, three times a week. After a period of six months, the volunteers' brains were re-scanned and compared to their brains when they had begun their voluntary work.

Agnieszka Burzynska, the study's lead author who is currently a neuroscientist and director of the BRAiN Lab at Colorado State University, found only one group showed a memory improvement — the country dancers. The participants who learned country dancing now had richer white matter in the part of the brain that processed memory. White matter usually breaks down as a person ages, which may lead to cognitive decline. Dancing, therefore, protected the brain from aging-caused neurodegeneration. So, dancing is not just an aerobic activity good for your physical health. It helps your brain, too!

Country dancing, ballroom dancing, tango and waltz are all done with others. When you take part in these dances, you're involved in a beneficial social activity as well. You are also cognitively motivating your brain as you learn the steps of the dances. Dancing therefore might be one of the best physical activities you can choose for brain health.

1. What's the purpose of paragraph 1?

A．To add background material.	B．To introduce the topic of the text.
C．To raise questions about exercise.	D．To present experimental conditions.

2. What can we learn about the volunteers in the experiment?

A．They were grouped at random.	B．They were under cognitive decline.
C．They were all asked to learn dancing.	D．They were all born in the 1960s and 1970s.

3. What did the researchers mainly intend to prove through the experiment?

A．The brain function of volunteers.	B．The cognitive disorder of volunteers.
C．The relationship between age and dancing.	D．The effect of dancing on the volunteers' brains.

4. Which of the following is the best title for the text?

A．How Dancing Affects People's Lifestyle

B．Why Dancing Is the Best Social Activity

C．How Dancing Helps People's Brain Health

D．Why Country Dancing Is Beneficial to People's Health

5 . Swimming is an excellent form of exercise for beginners because it is gentle on the body. It does not shake your bones or damage your joints, but swimming is still effective for weight loss. Swimming improves your cardiovascular (心血管的) fitness and flexibility.     1    .

If you do not know how to swim, adult lessons are often available at gyms.     2    . You can learn how to more effectively work out in the pool with just a few lessons. Swimming styles include freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly.

    3    . It is important that you stick to the posted guidelines, which are meant to keep the swimming pools running properly. There are different rules for different pools. But the majority request that you shower before you enter the pool.     4    .

You will find that there are also posted rules about using the lanes (泳道) of the pool. This simply means that the pool is divided up so multiple people can use it at the same time. At times, you may share a lane with one or more other swimmers.     5    . You need to stay in the appropriate lane. Find a lane in the pool where the other swimmers are similar to you. When several swimmers are using the same lane, all swimmers swim in a counterclockwise (逆时针方向的) direction.

A．It can help recover soon

B．Stay in the slow lane if you're new

C．Besides, the water helps strengthen your muscles

D．When this happens, think of it as driving on the highway

E．If using a pool at a gym, you need follow certain pool rules

F．This rule helps keep the pool water clean by removing body oils and sweat

G．Even if you learned to swim as a child, you may want to consider signing up for a class

6 . Why You Shouldn’t Exercise to Lose Weight

Many of us are starting (or restarting) exercise in hopes of losing unwanted pounds. Aiming to be more active is good. But if the main reason is to lose weight, your New Year’s resolution could be very well backfire.

    1    , we often sour on it and stop working out. In a study of 30 overweight people who participated in a 12-week exercise program and were interviewed afterward, this response was typical: “It was quite disappointing that I didn’t lose a single pound.    2    .”

Perhaps the biggest problem with exercising to drop pounds is that it turns physical activity into punishment—a price we have to pay for a slimmer body. How many times have you heard someone say (or said yourself) “I’ll do extra exercise” after eating too much during the holidays or at a celebratory dinner?    3    . As a consequence, we’re unlikely to enjoy it or to keep doing it.

The takeaway is that we see exercise positively and actually do it when we focus on our well-being rather than our weight. For some, the motivation may be an improved mood or less stress. Others may find exercise makes them feel physically and mentally stronger.    4    . It can help reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer, colds, etc. It can also improve sleep, make you energetic, and prevent aging. What’s more, exercise can prevent weight gain and improve your appearance.

    5    . It’s perhaps the most important thing you can do for your health. But to improve the chances of success, focus on how movement helps you feel better physically and emotionally—and forget about how it moves the needle on the scale.

A．It kind of made me give up

B．So by all means, try to exercise regularly in 2022

C．While it’s not very helpful for melting away pounds

D．When exercise fails to meet our weight-loss expectations

E．The benefits of physical activity are well beyond these aspects

F．We treat exercise as a form of self-punishment for being “bad” in the past

G．For starters, exercise, at least the kind most of us do, is typically ineffective for weight loss

10 . If you have watched the amazing Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, chances are that you have fallen in love with some winter sports and you’re already making sure your equipment is ready for them.     1     However, there’s another element to get ready for the slopes (坡)—your body. Even if you exercise regularly, skiing, snowshoeing or skating challenges your muscles in ways other activities don’t.

    2     Your metabolism (新陈代谢) increases to warm you up. Your heart and lungs also need to work harder to warm air before it enters your body. Depending on the sport, certain muscles may also be used more frequently compared to activities in other seasons. The good news is that most winter sports involve heart endurance (耐力), muscle strength and muscle endurance.     3    

But there are still some other things to think about. Skiing and snowboarding are great winter sports that provide a total body workout.     4     As anyone who has spent time skiing or snowboarding can prove, after a long day on the slopes, the body becomes extremely tired.     5     To avoid this, you need to take some time to strengthen your body and improve endurance. Before the winter season, a regular exercise program should include exercises that get the blood running while challenging the entire body, such as stair climbing or running. The intensity should vary from 20—45 minutes at least 3 to 5 days a week. As winter nears, adding a cardio (有氧的) workout longer in duration but lower in intensity can help increase endurance.

A．Maybe you haven’t bought all the equipment.

B．And that is when injuries are more likely to occur.

C．Exercising in the cold decreases your body temperature.

D．You should take advantage of this opportunity to have a rest.

E．Probably, you have got your skis tuned and skates sharpened.

F．All of them are areas that can be trained before the winter season.

G．However, it can be hard on the body the first time you hit the slopes.