1 . If you’re a runner who secretly hates running, here’s some good news: settling into a leisurely jog rather than an all-out run may actually be better for your health in the long term.
A team from Denmark followed over 5, 000 people taking part in the Copenhagen City Heart Study, and tracked whether they were non-joggers, or joggers who kept a slow, moderate (中等的), or fast pace. The participants’ health was tracked over the next 12 years, and so was their mortality (死亡率): 28 of the joggers and 128 of the non-joggers died.
The connection was this: Joggers of mild and moderate intensity had a lower risk of death than the fast joggers. In fact, the lowest mortality risk was that of the mild intensity joggers. The fast-paced joggers had about the same mortality rate as sedentary (久坐的) people. This suggests that there may be an upper limit to hard exercise, after which the benefits fall off.
“The U-shaped association between jogging and mortality suggests there may be an upper limit for exercise amount that is best for health benefits,” said study author Peter Schnohr. “Anything more is not just unnecessary; it may be harmful.” From the current study, jogging just three times per week, for less than 2.5 hours per week was associated with the lowest overall mortality risk.
There have been a lot of mixed messages about the “right” amount of exercise and what intensity is best. The World Health Organization has suggested that the current 150 minutes per week recommendations are strenuous for most people to tackle, and that expectations should be lowered, since, after all, anything is better than nothing. Everyone probably has a level of activity that feels best to him or her. But at least the growing consensus seems to be that more — if you’re pushing yourself very hard— is not necessarily better. And it may even be worse.
1. What was the study designed to find out?| A．The relation between exercise amount and health. |
| B．The difference between non-joggers and joggers. |
| C．The advantages of jogging over running. |
| D．The common causes of death from exercise. |
| A．Those jogging just three times per week. | B．Those jogging 150 minutes per week. |
| C．Those fast-paced joggers. | D．Those slow-paced joggers. |
| A．The early bird catches the worm. | B．Wealth is nothing without health. |
| C．To go beyond is as wrong as to fall short. | D．Enough exercise brings about happiness. |
| A．Intense. | B．Wide-ranging. |
| C．Necessary. | D．Far-reaching. |
| A．Why Jogging May Be Better For Your Health Than Running? |
| B．Can Jogging Increase Your Weight? |
| C．How Does Jogging Affect Your Health? |
| D．How Often Should Beginners Run? |
2 . If a president, a legendary philosopher, and one of the best-selling authors of all time credited the same secret for their success, would you try to follow it too? What if the secret was something you already knew how to do? In fact, you probably do it every day. Here’s what Friedrich Nietzsche wrote: “It is only ideas gained from walking that have any worth.” Thomas Jefferson: “Walking is the best possible exercise. Habituate yourself to walk very far.” And Charles Dickens made his point: “If I could not walk far and fast, I think I should just explode and perish (死亡).”
Researchers have traced numerous connections between walking and generating ideas. A Stanford University study found that participants were 81 percent more creative when walking as opposed to sitting. According to the study, walking outside — versus on a treadmill (跑步机) — produces the most novel and highest-quality ideas in participants who walked and then sat down to do creative work.
The movement aspect of walking is obviously key. You’ve probably heard the phrase Exercise your creativity, which refers to the brain as muscle. Our creative mindset is triggered by physical movement, which is exactly why walking — with your dog, a friend, or alone — feeds creative thinking. 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.
Research has shown that immersion in nature, and the corresponding disconnection from multimedia and technology, increased performance on a creative problem-solving task by a full 50 percent in a group of hikers.
So why not set a creativity goal that starts with walking? Turn off your phone and give yourself the chance to be present in the world, to hear conversations and natural sounds, to notice the way people move, the way the sun reflects in a puddle. Walk not just for exercise. Walk for wonder.
1. What is the purpose of paragraph 1?| A．To inform us of the examples of these great minds. |
| B．To stress the importance of walking. |
| C．To explain why walking is popular with people. |
| D．To show the great influence of the great minds have on us. |
| A．By going outside, one can’t help but get distracted by the scenery. |
| B．Walking on a treadmill makes participants do the most creative work. |
| C．It is necessary to walk out of your habitual surroundings and comfort zone. |
| D．Absorbed in multimedia and technology, hikers can increase performance on creative problem-solving tasks. |
| A．Caused. | B．Changed. | C．Covered. | D．Cured. |
| A．Developing a good habit of walking. |
| B．Benefits of walking. |
| C．New possibilities of walking. |
| D．Walking for a more creative mind. |
3 . Ways to Develop Self-discipline
Five years ago, I was the heaviest I’ve weighed in my life. When I would run, I’d immediately get tired. The worst part is that I had no motivation to get healthier—until I threw my back out.
Set clear end goals.
Do the small things. We all want big change quickly. It doesn’t happen that way, though. Self-discipline starts by performing small activities consistently. The small things add up to big results.
Keep record of your progress. It’s pointless to have goals if you aren’t measuring whether or not you are moving toward them. When I don’t track my progress, I stop doing things I need to do and become lazy. It’s easy to lack discipline when you lose focus on where you’re going.
| A．It did take a lot of work. |
| B．I decided to take regular exercise. |
| C．Keeping track helps you stay on point. |
| D．We have to keep in mind where we want to go. |
| E．Occasionally, you may get results without effort. |
| F．I had shooting pains down my legs whenever I got up. |
| G．It may take time to see those returns, but stick with it. |
4 . We’re all told time and again how important it is to exercise for good health. But with our busy schedules, finding the time to work out is often easier said than done.
UK exercise guidelines suggest that adults should do at least 150 minutes of exercise a week for good health.
A recent study found that weekend exercisers had a 30% lower risk of premature death from all causes compared to inactive people. Risk of death from heart disease was also around 40% lower, while risk of death from all types of cancer was around 18% lower compared to those who were inactive. But they also found that spreading your workouts throughout the week was associated with the greatest benefits for your health.
It’s well-known that exercise improves our heart fitness. This allows us to exercise longer and more intensely.
But research shows that how often you exercise is also important for improving and maintaining fitness. Regular exercise will lead to adaptations that are good for health.
| A．But debate is growing around the issue. |
| B．This finding is consistent with previous research. |
| C．Regularly active people had the best health overall. |
| D．Most people find it hard to do exercise at the weekend. |
| E．For many of us, the weekend is the only time to exercise. |
| F．However, it may cause serious diseases, such as heart attacks. |
| G．Also, it improves other aspects of our health like lowering blood pressure. |
5 . Teenagers around the world are familiar with the great pain of boredom. And every parent is familiar with the sounds of groaning (咕哝的) kids, sulking (生闷气) in their room or pacing aimlessly around the house. But sometimes, it’s this very sense of boredom that can inspire creativity and create fast-growing trends.
This is true for pickleball (匹克球), now a popular sport in the West. According to the Mental Floss website, the sport was invented in the summer of 1965. At that time, Frank Pritchard, 13, had nothing to do in his family’s summer home in Washington, US. After complaining loudly, his father, Joel, suggested he make up a game. When Frank replied “Why don’t you?” his father gladly took up the challenge. Thus, pickleball was born.
Certain parts of tennis, badminton and ping-pong can be seen from pickleball. It’s a bat game played on a badminton-sized court with what looks like a wiffle ball (威浮球) over a low net. Only the serving team can score points, and all serves must be made with an underhand stroke (击球).
The popularity of pickleball has grown steadily over the last decade. According to Mental Floss, the number of pickleball courts has grown by an estimated 385 percent worldwide since 2010. One reason for its popularity is that it’s “a sport for everyone”. Anyone can play pickleball because it’s relatively easy to pick up. There are simple rules, and all people need is a couple of bats and a ball, which is affordable and accessible to all. Plus, pickleball is a sport centered around fun and friendship. The game lasts as short as 15 minutes, which means less running and stress for players.
Pritchard said that the game’s rapid rise in popularity was amazing, especially considering that a bad-tempered kid “inspired a sports craze by making a stink (吵闹) about being bored one afternoon 56 years ago”.
1. What do we know about pickleball, according to the passage?| A．It was invented accidentally by a young boy. |
| B．It is a game suitable for family gatherings. |
| C．It combines elements from several ball games. |
| D．The game’s judges come from a serving team. |
| A．Why pickleball has become so well received. |
| B．What equipment pickleball players need. |
| C．How significant pickleball is to the world. |
| D．What rules must be obeyed in pickleball. |
| A．Unexpected. | B．Reasonable. | C．Natural. | D．Awkward. |
| A．To advise us to join in sports games. |
| B．To teach us how to play pickleball. |
| C．To tell us the birth of a sports game. |
| D．To motivate us to follow new trends. |
A Teen Case Study
Mrs Zhang, our school counsellor who is also a medical doctor, is passionate about the advantages of playing sport. She believes that it is vital for teenagers to have a positive attitude, and sports help them do this. She gave us the following example as inspiration.
I had a teenage patient, who was depressed and moody. Let’s call her Shan. Conventional wisdom said that I should prescribe medication of some sort. I decided rather to ask about her lifestyle. From her responses it was clear she was getting no exercise. So l encouraged her to choose a school sporting activity and take part in it. I suggested that she keep a journal of all her new activities, and how she felt about them and about herself.
Shan took my recommendation and joined the school volleyball team. Six months later she was hardly recognisable: she had lost weight and was looking fit and healthy; she had more friends; her schoolwork had improved, and best of all, she was no longer depressed or moody. Her mum told me she was a changed person. Shan told me later that I had changed her life. I hadn’t really. It was Shan herself who did it. She took the idea I gave her and embraced it with enjoyment and determination.
Read the report. Answer the questions.
1. What was Shan’s problem?
2. Why didn’t Mrs Zhang prescribe medication for Shan? What did she decide rather to do?
3. What were the benefits to Shan of taking up volleyball?
7 . The most popular martial arts1 today originated in Asia, especially in China. Some Chinese fighting styles were invented more than 3,000 years ago. Many martial arts were invented because people needed to defend themselves or protect others. Nowadays, people learn martial arts as a way of keeping fit or as a competitive sport, but they are still very useful for self-defence.
Martial arts are often referred to as either soft or hard. These terms imply a way of dealing with your opponent’s force. Soft martial arts, such as tai chi, teach you to use your opponent’s own force to defend yourself. Soft styles use fluid movements and timing to avoid, deflect and redirect their opponent’s attacks. These martial arts are soft for the defender but not for the attacker! On the other hand, hard styles, such as kung fu, teach you to defend yourself using force. Techniques involve blocking, posturing and powerful punching2 and kicking. Hard martial arts techniques are more effective if you are more skilful, more powerful and faster than your opponent.
Perhaps one of the best known Japanese martial arts today is karate. But did you know that its roots are derived from Fujian Province? In the 14th century, a community of Chinese migrants from Fujian settled in what was then the kingdom of Okinawa. The Chinese migrants used to gather in a park to enjoy cultural activities—one of which was kung fu. This soon caught the attention of local youths, who started leaning kung fu from their Chinese neighbours.
In fact, Chinese influence in martial arts was not limited to kung fu. The very first Korean military training manual3 was based on a Chinese version, During the Japanese invasion of Korea in the 16th century, the Korean army needed an effective way to train a large number of troops4. They adopted a training methodology5 from a Chinese military manual called Ji Xiao Xin Shu6, written by the famed Chinese general, Qi Jiguang, who had himself defeated Japanese pirates7.
NOTES
1. martial arts 武术 2. punch v. 用拳猛打 3. manual n. 使用手册
4. troop n. 军队 5. methodology n. 方法 6. Ji Xiao Xin Shu 《纪效新书》
7. pirate n. 海盗
GENERAL UNDERSTANDING
Read the text. Answer the questions.
1. What are the two main reasons why people learn martial arts?
2. What are soft martial arts? What are hard martial arts?
Hi Jeremy,
Thanks for your question. As people often say, any exercise is better than none, but long-distance running in particular has a lot of benefits.
It is a great sport for beginners — you do not need a gym membership or any special equipment. Just a pair of good running shoes will do. Then, keep it up. There is also no better way to know yourself and to see what you are capable of.
You are also somebody who worries about getting sick. Running will help you get fit and prevent diseases. It will give you good upper and lower body strength. Like any exercise, running increases the flow of blood and oxygen to your brain. It makes your heart stronger and allows more blood to flow around your body. It also strengthens your immune system and reduces the risk of serious health problems, as well as more common illnesses like colds. Besides, anybody who is feeling down can go for a run to cheer themselves up. Even a thirty-minute run will provide relief from aches or tension that you may be suffering due to stress.
If you are new to running, here is some advice for you — it is important to warm up and cool down properly before and after running, so you do not hurt yourself. A warm-up gets your blood flowing and prepares your body before you exercise. After a long run, you should jog slowly for ten minutes, then walk for five minutes. Such kind of warm-down relaxes your body after exercise.
For more guidelines on running, click here. I hope this will help!
Best Regards,
Dr. Martin
Group Work Discuss the questions below.
1. Do you think long-distance running will help Jeremy? Why?
2. How will running help us get fit and prevent diseases?
3. What advice would you give to someone who is new to running?
9 . How to learn Wing Chun(咏春)
Wing Chun is a style of kung fu that emphasizes close fighting, quick punches(击拳)and tight defense to overcome opponents. This traditional Chinese martial art is a complex kung fu method that requires years of practice to master.
Learn the center line theory
A foundation of Wing Chun is the protection of your body’s center line. Imagine a line that starts at the middle top of your head and travels along the middle of your chest to the lower body.
Find a Wing Chun Academy
Martial arts schools often focus on one style of martial arts, especially for serious students. Wing Chun academies or clubs may be attached to a martial arts association. Search online or in a phone book for local Wing Chun schools. And then meet with the instructors and ask about their background.
Find an area in your house where you can practice Wing Chun. Make sure there is enough room for you to move your body around in all directions. Check by swinging your arms and legs around. You do not want your moves to be disturbed by furniture in the room.
Find a partner to practice with
Learning the movements on your own will only take you so far. Eventually, you’ll need to start learning how your movements connect with an opponent.
| A．Make a special space for practicing. |
| B．Find a room equipped with furniture. |
| C．Having a partner will give you good practice. |
| D．So you have to find a good instructor to master it. |
| E．But you can easily start learning it by the following tips. |
| F．For example, how many years of experience do they have? |
| G．This is the center line of your body that is vulnerable(易受伤的). |
10 . 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. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| A．Parkour practitioners |
| B．Making the city their own |
| C．Training in a different way |
| D．A new sports competition |
