1 . 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. |
2 . Group exercise is one of the most effective ways to improve physical fitness and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Group exercise is challenging, yet fun and empowering! Of course everyone knows that exercise is good for the body. However, studies have shown that when exercise is performed in groups, it’s not only great for improving physical health but for psychological health. It’s an opportunity to be social, release endorphins(内啡肽), and improve your strength. Additionally, group exercise creates a community feel and the shared common goal motivates participants to work hard. The instrumental support of taking on a fitness journey with others proves more effective than going to the gym alone.
Another beneficial aspect of group exercise is the informational support participants receive from the instructor. Many people fear the gym because they feel lost and don’t want to embarrass themselves. If you feel you can relate, then group training is an even better option for you. It’s a great opportunity to learn more about fitness through the clear instruction and supervision of a fitness instructor. If you’re tired of wandering around the gym wasting time and becoming bored, you can attend a cheerful group fitness class that’ll keep your workout on track. Don’t let fitness frighten you!
If you’re serious about wanting to live a healthy lifestyle, it’s extremely important to surround yourself with people who’ll provide you with the proper emotional support. I wouldn’t scold anyone for deciding to party on weekends and in turn I wouldn’t expect anyone to give offence to me for focusing on my health. Surround yourself with people who uplift, encourage and understand you! Make fitness even more fun by trying something new or any group fitness class, with a friend. Plan to go for a jog together. Then try a fun healthy restaurant or fresh juice bar! Fitness can be both fun and social!
Surrounding yourself with people who’ll provide you with respect and support can be very beneficial while working towards reaching health and fitness goals. First, decide to do it for yourself and work towards staying positive. Then make sure the people you surround yourself with are supportive. Don’t let negativity ruin your motivation.
1. What does the author want to emphasize in the first paragraph| A．An effective way to maintain a healthy lifestyle. |
| B．A community feel created by exercising in groups. |
| C．The importance of improving one’s physical fitness. |
| D．The contribution of group exercise to physiological health. |
| A．Guidance. | B．Fright. | C．Tiredness. | D．Negativity. |
| A．Having a colorful lifestyle. | B．Trying a fun healthy restaurant regularly. |
| C．Partying on weekends with positive friends. | D．Surrounding yourself with supportive people. |
| A．Improving Your Fitness | B．Supporting Health | C．Building Up Strength | D．Seeking Support |
3 . 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 |
4 . I come from a family that loves sports. My father coaches Little League baseball. My mother swims nearly every weekend. My brother is on his high-school basketball team, and I am the best hitter on my middle-school volleyball team. All of us have benefited(受益）from sports. One of the most common ways for kids to take part in sports is to join a team. Joining a sports team should be a school requirement.
Playing sports is good for both the body and mind. Everyone knows that exercise helps people stay fit. For example, swimming helps your heart work better and it also helps build muscle strength(肌肉力量）. In addition, school athletes(运动员） often have a healthy diet. I eat a lot of fruit and vegetables and avoid fatty foods because I must stay in great condition.
Being on a team allows students to enjoy a healthier social life. They often make more friends and can be some of the most popular kids in school. Since joining the basketball team, my brother has made friends with a lot of his tea mates and has showed more interest in spending time with them.
Kids who take part in school teams sometimes earn college scholarships(奖学金）. My brother's friend, Justin, played football in high school. His family did not have money to send him to college. However, a college invited him to play on its team. The college is paying for him to go to school. Joining a team turned out to be one of the best decisions he had ever made. Now he studies at a great college and plays on its football team Not every school athlete gets a college scholarship, but joining a school team-makes it possible.
Although some people may not like the idea of forcing students to join a school team, its many benefits such as keeping kids heal thy, new friendships, and possible scholarships cannot be denied(否认）.
1. What does the author mainly tell us in Paragraph 2?| A．Joining a school team has health benefits. |
| B．Students should spend more time exercising. |
| C．Swimming is an excellent sport for students. |
| D．School athletes must try to eat a healthy diet. |
| A．He had a busier life. | B．He got more chances. |
| C．He worked much harder. | D．He became more sociable. |
| A．He is a good football player. | B．He will be given a scholarship. |
| C．He is managing a school team. | D．He comes from a wealthy family. |
| A．He doubts it. | B．He is in support of it. |
| C．He is worried about it. | D．He pays little attention to it. |
5 . 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. |
6 . There's more evidence that what's good for your heart is good for your head. A new study shows that people who run, swim or do other moderate intensity （中等强度）exercise have brains that look, on average, 10 years younger than the brains of couch potatoes.
“Our study showed that for older people, getting moderate intensity exercise may be protective, helping them keep their brains work better," said Dr. Clinton Wright of the University of Miami, who led the study. But it's not necessarily easy. Walking, golf, bowling and yoga don't count, and people need to start before they begin showing memory loss, Wright' s team reported in the journal Neurology.
The study of nearly 900 people who exercise regularly showed that 90 percent fell into the low-intensity group. These people are part of a larger group taking part in a bigger study called Northern Manhattan Study. They were asked how long and how often they exercised during the past two weeks. Five years later, they were tested for memory and thinking skills and got a brain MRI. Seven years after that, they took the memory and thinking tests again. The 10 percent who said they took part in moderate intensity exercise scored better on the tests. These included running, climbing, swimming, riding bicycles and so on.
“We found that those with moderate intensity activity had higher scores and slower decline than inactive people when comparing the results," the study team wrote.
Many studies have shown that exercise may not prevent Alzheimer's disease but may delay it. The findings fit in with a study that found two years of exercising, eating healthier food and brain training can promote people's memory function.
1. What's true about the study?| A．Most people surveyed took low-intensity exercise. |
| B．Only 900 people took part in the bigger study. |
| C．High-intensity exercise is better. |
| D．Ten people scored best on the tests. |
| A．By observing people exercise. | B．By using examples. |
| C．By making a comparison. | D．By doing a brain MRI. |
| A．Exercise will definitely strengthen people's memory. |
| B．Alzheimer's disease may be held back by moderate intensity exercise. |
| C．Exercise can put off the beginning of memory decline. |
| D．The findings fit in with the study of healthy food. |
| A．How to keep health. |
| B．Ways to make your brain work better. |
| C．To exercise or not. |
| D．Moderate intensity exercises keeps your brain younger. |
7 . A new study has found that braving the cold maybe a good way to help burn off some fat.
The research was carried out by scientists at Canada’s Laurentian University and focused on high-intensity interval training(HIIT). This format has grown in popularity of late due to the fat-burning benefits it brings, and the team set out to explore how temperature might influence its effects.
The study involved 11 overweight adults who took part in two HIIT sessions a week apart. One of these was carried out in a “thermoneutral” environment with temperatures of around 70 °F(21℃),and the other at a cold 32 °F(0℃). The sessions consisted of 10 separate cycling race at 90 percent effort lasting one minute, followed by 90-second “recovery” periods of cycling at30 percent intensity.
After each session, the participants cooled down by gently cycling or walking, ate a nutrition bar before going to sleep and enjoyed a high-fat breakfast the morning after. During these sessions, the scientists monitored skin temperature, core body temperature, heart rate and the amount of oxygen. Blood samples were also drawn to help calculate fat burning rates following the breakfast the next day.
“The present study found that high-intensity exercise in the cold increased lipid oxidation (脂质氧化) by 358 percent in comparison to high-intensity exercise in a thermoneutral environment,”the team writes.
The authors also note that the idea that cold temperatures help us burn more fat during exercise will need further investigation (调查), though the first-of-a-kind study does indicate it’s a possibility worth pursuing.
1. What is good for burning off fat according to the study?| A．Cold food. | B．Low temperature. |
| C．Hard workout. | D．Cycling race. |
| A．Introduction to the study. |
| B．Some data in the study. |
| C．The participants in the study. |
| D．The process of the study. |
| A．Further study needs to be done. |
| B．Doing exercise burns more fat. |
| C．The efforts of scientists are in vain. |
| D．The study result is unreasonable. |
| A．High-intensity Workouts Help Burn off Extra Calories |
| B．Cycling in the Cold Is a Great Way to Build upYour Body |
| C．Study Shows Fat-burning Potential of Exercising in the Cold |
| D．Researchers Have Found More Fat-burning Workouts |
8 . A lot of teenagers in middle school want to do more sports.
Watching TV and playing video games are becoming more and more popular among teenagers.
One of the biggest problems in our society today is obesity，and it's not just a problem with adults. More and more kids are becoming overweight.
Encouraging teenagers to do more sports also benefits parents. It is a great way for parents to show they love their kids.
Doing sports is a great way for teenagers to get out of the house，get moving，make friends and keep healthy. So why not join in and get into sports today？
| A．They may find new friends in this way |
| B．Doing sports helps teenagers grow faster |
| C．They prefer to stay at home rather than go out |
| D．Joining in a team sport will help teenagers get some exercise without feeling pressured to lose weight |
| E．Teenagers want to be stronger through doing sports |
| F．Parents can play with them and help them practice sports |
| G．Many do it because they think it will make them become more popular |
9 . The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) included on December 17, 2020 China's Tai Chi on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The decision was announced during the online meeting of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage held from December 14 to 19 in Kingston, capital of Jamaica.
“Born in the mid-17th century in a small village named Chenjiagou located in Central China's Henan province, Tai Chi is not only a kind of traditional Wushu integrated with slow movements and deep breathing, but is also deeply rooted in many areas of Chinese culture, such as medicine and philosophy,” Zhu Xianghua says, who is the son of the famous Tai Chi master Zhu Tiancai.
Although it has spread to more than 150 countries and regions, attracting more than 100 million people to practice, the idea that Tai Chi is for the elderly has stopped many young people practicing the ancient Wushu. They think of it as a slow exercise, which is specially made and better suited for their grandparents. Instead, many young people are turning to the Indian practice of yoga to relieve stress, which was placed on the UNESCO's List in 2019.
In order to promote Tai Chi, joint efforts have been made from individuals and the Chinese government in the last decades. Xi'an Jiaotong University requires students to learn Tai Chi. Wang Yunbing, a professor in the university's sports center, stressed that Tai Chi is not only good physical exercise-researchers from the American College of Rheumatology find that it can help manage several diseases but is also conned ted to ancient Chinese civilization. Since 2014, the World Tai Chi Championships have been held every two years by the International Wushu Federation. It provides a platform for communication and learning between the Tai Chi masters and Tai Chi lovers around the globe. In January 2020, Tai Chi became an official event in the 2026 Dakar Youth Olympic Games.
1. What does Zhu Xianghua say about Tai Chi in paragraph 2?| A．It originated from fast Kung Fu action. |
| B．It was born around the 1750s in a village. |
| C．It is related to other cultural fields of China. |
| D．It integrates Chinese medicine and western philosophy. |
| A．They think it easier to practice yoga to keep fit. |
| B．The elderly stop young people practicing Tai Chi. |
| C．They consider Tai Chi is custom-built for old people. |
| D．Yoga was included in the world culture earlier than Tai Chi. |
| A．To promote contemporary Chinese civilization. |
| B．To show many efforts made to popularize Tai Chi. |
| C．To stress the importance of Chinese Tai Chi masters. |
| D．To advise people to practice Tai Chi to cure diseases. |
| A．Tai Chi Steps on the UNESCO's List. |
| B．Tai Chi is Competing against Yoga. |
| C．Tai Chi Has Regained populate Globally. |
| D．Opinions Greatly Differ on Tai Chi and Yoga. |
10 . Adolescents who routinely engaged in moderate and energetic exercise showed long-term improvements in their academic performance, the British Journal of Sports Medicine study reported.
“Our study suggests that the effect of physical activity may be quite large,” John Reilly, a professor at the University of Strathclyde said. The researchers looked at a sample of about 5000 children who were involved in a long-term study that tracks children born in the UK between 1991 and 1992. When children reached 11 years old, their daily physical activity levels were measured using an accelerometer for three to seven days. The device, similar to a pedometer tracking the number of steps taken, recorded the average time children exercised, which was 29 minutes a day for boys and 18 minutes for girls.
“The actual levels of daily physical activity at age 11 were quite low,” Mr. Reilly noted. The children had their academic performance tested at ages 11 and 13 with compulsory national tests for students, and also at 15 or 16 with the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) exam. The tests assessed the children’s abilities in English, math and science subjects.
When factors that could affect academic performance including birth weight, mother’s age at delivery and other socioeconomic factors were adjusted for, the results showed that the more children participated in moderate and energetic physical activity, the higher their test scores were at age 11 in all three subjects. For girls, science scores were most strongly linked to exercise. When they followed up with the kids at age 13, their academic scores were still linked to how much they had exercised when they were 11 years old.
By the time the youngsters took the GCSE exam, each 17-minute-per-day increase in physical activity for the boys was linked to an improvement in their scores. Every additional 12-minute increase a day in exercise for the girls was also linked to an increased score as well, especially in the science category.
The researchers have called for more studies to look at the possible academic benefits that could be gained if students exercise the recommended 60 minutes or more a day.
1. How did the researchers carry out the study?| A．By asking different questions. | B．By using tracking equipment. |
| C．By asking teens to take some tests. | D．By asking teens to report the exercise time. |
| A．His age. | B．His mother’s weight. |
| C．His mother’s age at delivery. | D．His birth date. |
| A．When the children were tested again at age 13 |
| B．When the kids continued physical exercise at 13 |
| C．When they moved along with the 13-year-old kids |
| D．When they took an interest in the 13-year-old kids |
| A．12 minutes | B．18 minutes | C．30 minutes | D．60 minutes |
