1 . With the cold weather drawing nearer, few people will choose swimming as a daily or usual activity.
Good for your brain.
Swimming is one of the best activities you can do all year round, which benefits your body and your mind. Swimming has been found to increase blood flow to the brain, which leads to more oxygen.
Work your muscles.
Every time you swim, it is like doing a mini-resistance workout. Each kicks and pull works your muscles more than you could imagine, especially your arms, shoulders and gluteus — the muscles that are inactive all day when you’re sitting at your desk.
Lift your spirits.
While swimming is an individual sport, it is also very social. You can meet people from all walks of life when swimming. Have a chat in the lap pool, join a swimming club or get involved in social water sports to get to know people in your community. Besides, the great thing about swimming is that you can do it — rain or shine. Although your backyard pool, the river or beach cools down over winter, most inside swimming pools run heated pools year round, so you’ve got no excuse to stop swimming.
| A．Benefit your body. |
| B．Meet new people. |
| C．These chemicals can control your thought and action. |
| D．Swimming also works your abs (腹肌) and will reduce your waist line. |
| E．Exercise gives off chemicals in your body called endorphins (内啡肽). |
| F．And that means you’re experiencing better memory and sharp mind. |
| G．However, swimming in winter is of great benefit in cold days. |
2 . 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. |
3 . If you've ever considered training for a marathon, but you are a bit scared by the idea of 26. 2 miles, here is some motivation.
A slow and steady six-month training program designed to gradually build up endurance, gave a group of novice ( 新手) runners , ages 21 to 69, an impressive boost to their heart health.
“As you get older, the normal aging process causes changes in your heart and your vessels," the study author Dr. Bhuva says.“And hardening of the arteries increases the risk of many diseases."
The training program was a slow build-up over six months. But it turned out that the older, slower runners saw the most benefits, in terms of reducing blood pressure and arterial stiffness. Even among people with existing heart disease, regular physical activity can help improve heart health.
Ready to go? 2 tips to get started with your running goals.
Tip 1: Commit to a specific race or event.
18 million people in the U. S. participated in road races last year. If a marathon sounds frightening, aim for a half or a 5K.
Tip 2:
“We normally tell our patients, look, you need to run or exercise, 150 minutes a week. But, of course, that's very boring for people to follow," Bhuva says. When you find a group or a partner to train with, it will be more likely that you'll stick with it.
| A．The value of the new marathon study is to show how people can make improvements. |
| B．Each of the 138 runners received a scan at the beginning and end of the training. |
| C．And research shows that exercise can help ease anxiety，depression, even sleep disorders. |
| D．Most people can find a way to be more physically active, whether it is cycling or rowing, |
| E．But your lifestyle and habits can modify the rate and extent of these changes |
| F．Find a group or a partner. |
| G．The simple act of registering may motivate you to start training. |
4 . Chinese kung fu is one of the earliest and longestlasting sports that use both muscle and brain. Over its long history it has developed as a unique combination of exercise, practical selfdefense, selfdiscipline and art.
It is estimated that Chinese kung fu can date back to primitive society. At that time, people used sticks to fight wild beasts. Gradually, they accumulated a great deal of selfdefense experience.When the Shang Dynasty began, hunting was considered an important part of kung fu training.
During the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, martial arts(武术) evolved to become a kind of dancing. Usually, the dancing of martial arts was used to train soldiers and inspire their morale(士气). At the same time, the skill and technology of sword making as well as sword ceremonies developed rapidly.
Starting from the Tang Dynasty, a kung fu examination was proposed and introduced. Excellent candidates would receive titles and awards through the examination, largely promoting the development of martial arts. By then, martial arts had evolved to become an art form and an independent genre. Kung fu was gradually introduced to many countries in Southeast Asia. Today, kung fu is honored as the ancestor of kickboxing(跆拳道)，karate(空手道) and judo.
The Song and Yuan Dynasties witnessed the climax of kung fu development. The practice of kung fu by civil organizations became more and more popular. People actually made a living as martial arts performers all over the country. Usually their performance was carried out by a single person or two people as a pair.
Chinese kung fu achieved greater development in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. In the Ming Dynasty, a lot of genres came into being and numerous books on martial arts were published. In the Qing Dynasty, the ruling emperor banned the practice of martial arts, and the people had to set up various clubs or societies to pass on the skills in secret.
Today, kung fu continues to be practiced by many people for the purpose of keeping fit or improving body image.
1. According to the text，________was an important part of the development of kung fu in ancient times.| A．hunting. | B．dancing. |
| C．singing. | D．fighting. |
| A．promote the national economy. |
| B．keep healthy and improve body image. |
| C．train soldiers and inspire their morale. |
| D．fight big wild animals. |
| A．The production of swords reached the highest point during the Tang Dynasty. |
| B．Kung fu was performed by many people during the Song and Yuan Dynasties. |
| C．Kung fu had a great impact on many activities in Southeast Asia. |
| D．The Tang Dynasty witnessed the climax of kung fu development. |
| A．The emperor set up many organizations to promote kung fu. |
| B．Various genres appeared and books were published about kung fu. |
| C．Kung fu became the only performance at court parties. |
| D．People made a living as kung fu performers all over the country. |
5 . More and more Chinese are jogging to stay healthy.Most joggers will run alone, but some will jog with friends or even coaches.The Beijing Olympic Forest Park is one of the most popular spots.
Jogging after a whole day’s work can be a way to relax people.It is true for He Wenjun, whose workplace is right near the Beijing Olympic Forest Park.She discovered her athletic talent at the age of seven, when she began playing tennis.Then she turned to jogging, and she has kept it for 10 years.
“I come to jog almost every day after work, whenever I have time.
She says she prefers jogging alone, so she can focus better. She loves jogging, even during Beijing’s smoggy days.“If the smog is severe, I’ll hold off for a while.But if I really want to get away from work, I’ll wear a mask and go on jogging,” she said.
Jogging does not require speed.If you want to stick to the game, you need to take it as a habit, and then eventually a hobby.
Jogging is beneficial for heartlung function, but improper technique damages your knees and ankles. And, jogging in a bad environment can cause some serious problems.So you should first consider your physical condition.
| A．Jogging is good for my health. |
| B．But keeping jogging is not always easy. |
| C．Jogging helps people be liked by their friends. |
| D．And then decide the amount and type of exercise. |
| E．Nothing can stop me jogging even in the terrible weather. |
| F．For those who are not so athletic, jogging also has its attractions. |
| G．It is filled with runners in the afternoon, usually after work and at weekends. |
6 . I have been playing basketball since I've been in the 6th grade. I first started out in the summer before 6th grade when I played for the Park District Traveling Basketball Team. This is where I first learned how to play basketball and found out I wasn't very good at it. This is the main reason why I liked football more than basketball, because I was naturally good at football and didn't have to work as hard. But I was always encouraged to never give up, I kept at it and kept working on my basketball skill so I could be good enough to play for my high school basketball team. I played for my high school basketball team during high school.
During those years in high school, I really began to practice hard on improving my basketball skills. My main goal was to get an athletics scholarship to college and get a free education. I indeed achieved this goal and was awarded a two year basketball scholarship at Parkland Junior College. There in my two years I was truly better than I was when I first started out playing basketball, which I know was because of the hard work I put into improving my skills all throughout my life.
After having two good seasons at Parkland on and off the playground I graduated. The final step I had in mind was to come to Northern Illinois University and make the basketball team. Many doubted me and said I wasn't good enough to make the team, but instead of listening to them, giving up or stopping working hard like I've been doing all my life, I worked the hardest. I've worked over the summer. And all the hard work paid off and I am now a member of the Northern Illinois University Basketball Team.
1. Why did the author prefer football to basketball?| A．His physical condition decided it. | B．He was more skilled at football. |
| C．He was encouraged to like football. | D．He has been playing football for a long time. |
| A．To be the team leader. | B．To go to a good college. |
| C．To pay no school fees in college. | D．To prove he was good at basketball. |
| A．Be ignored. | B．Be employed. | C．Be useless. | D．Be rewarded. |
| A．Practice makes perfect. | B．Time is money. |
| C．It's never too old to learn. | D．Failure is the mother of success. |
7 . Before there was the written word, there was the language of dance. Dance expresses love and hate, joy and sorrow, life and death, and everything else in between.
“I adore dancing,” says Lester Bridges, the owner of a dance studio in Iowa. “I can’t imagine doing anything else with my life.” Bridges runs dance classes for all ages. “Teaching dance is wonderful.
So, do we dance in order to make ourselves feel better, calmer, healthier? Andrea Hillier says, “Dance, like the pattern of a beating heart, is life. Even after all these years, I want to get better and better.
| A．So why do we dance? |
| B．Dance in the U.S. is everywhere. |
| C．If you like dancing outdoors, come to America. |
| D．My older students say it makes them feel young. |
| E．I keep practicing even when I’m extremely tired. |
| F．Dancing seems to change their feeling completely. |
| G．They stayed up all night long singing and dancing. |
8 . Roller coasters are fast and exciting. But passing a painful kidney (肾) stones is not. The process is painful and can take a long time. But American researchers have found that a roller coaster ride just might help those suffering from a kidney stone. They say such rides help patients pass the stones with a 70 percent success rate.
David Wartinger led the study. He found that where the person sits on the roller coaster can make a big difference. He said, “In the pilot study, sitting in the last car of the roller coaster showed about a 64 percent passage rate. Sitting in the first few cars only had a 16 percent success rate.”
It also mattered where the stones were located in the kidney. The researchers found that stones located in the upper part of the kidney model were passed 100 percent.
When it comes to passing kidney stones, not all roller coasters are equal. The researchers used 174 kidney stones of differing shapes, sizes and weights to see if each model worked on the same ride and on two other roller coasters. They found that Big Thunder Mountain was the only one that worked. The other two roller coasters both failed the test. Wartinger said the other rides were too fast and too violent. The movement forced the stones against the side of the kidney. He said that the ideal roller coaster is rough and quick with some twists and turns.
Wartinger thinks roller coaster rides could also be used as a preventative measure. He said that a yearly ride on a roller coaster could even prevent stones from developing. “You need to heed the warnings before going on a roller coaster,” he said. “If you have a kidney stone, but are otherwise healthy and meet the requirements of the ride, patients should try it.”
He adds that it’s definitely a lower cost alternative to other treatments. And riding a roller coaster is definitely more fun!
1. According to the text, passing kidney stone is ______.| A．fast | B．exciting |
| C．interesting | D．painful |
| A．Sitting in the first car of a roller coaster. |
| B．Sitting in the middle car of a roller coaster. |
| C．Sitting in big roller coasters with doctors’ care. |
| D．Sitting in rough and fast roller coasters with twists and turns. |
| A．Worried. | B．Negative. |
| C．Supportive. | D．Skeptical. |
| A．Some treatments of kidney stones |
| B．Advantages of riding roller coasters |
| C．Roller coasters can help pass kidney stones |
| D．Kidney stones can be cured by riding roller coasters |
