1 . “Being a sports fan is a very psychologically healthy activity,” says Daniel Warm, professor at Murray State University whose research program centers on the psychology of sport fandom(运动迷). Fandom connects us to other like-minded people, which satisfies our human need for belonging, he says.
These relationships are significant: People who identify as sports fans have higher levels of self-esteem, lower levels of loneliness and tend to be more satisfied with their lives compared to those who aren’t interested in sports, Wann says. Fans tend to have more access to social support, help and resources as well. Research suggests that when people have support from their communities, they have better health.
Beyond bonding, fans get to enjoy the psychological benefits of winning, even if they have nothing to do with the players or games.
Of course, teams sometimes lose. Prior to a sporting event, there’s at least a 50-50 chance that you’re going to be disappointed in your outcome.
So, why do people continue to put their faith behind teams that tend to lose? People who feel a strong psychological connection to a team are more likely to root for a team when they’re having a losing season.
“Sports random has nothing to do with the outcome of a game,” Warm says. For example, if a pizza restaurant continually got your order wrong, you’d likely switch to a more reliable parlor(店铺). But because being a fan is so central to people’s identities, people are willing to accept defeat and continue to be loyal to a team.
Being part of a fan community can also help people cope with losses. A 2019 study found that watching a football game with other fans helps to relieve the negative psychological effects of losing. For fans of the losing team, sharing the pain may have protected them from losing self-esteem.
“There are other things that random brings with it above and beyond the ability to enjoy the team’s successes,” Warm says. Watching sports can be a way to relieve stress, or spend time with family, he says.
To that end, some surveys suggest that activities like March Madness pools can reduce productivity. Any sort of fandom can be distracting, but Warm says that talking about sports at work and spending time with people who share a common interest can make people more excited to go to work.
However, if you find you’re consuming so much sports content that your work is suffering, or it’s impacting your interpersonal relationships, then it can be a sign you should tone it down, he adds.
1. What is the characteristic sports fans generally bear?| A．Higher sense of self-worth. | B．Worse health conditions. |
| C．Being ready to help others. | D．Various means of support. |
| A．Fans are forced to be loyal to teams. |
| B．Fans are good at sharing pains with teams. |
| C．Fans are brave enough to accept losses. |
| D．Fans own a great sense of identity and belonging. |
| A．Leading to distraction. |
| B．Making people too excited to go to work. |
| C．Increasing people’s productivity. |
| D．Impacting interpersonal relationships. |
| A．A poster. | B．A textbook. |
| C．A science fiction. | D．A magazine. |
2 . At 81 years old, Jeanne Daprano is still pushing her body to the limit. She’s still running competitive races, breaking world records and taking on new challenges.“The thing I’m learning about aging is that it’s inevitable,” Daprano said.“I’m not going to escape it. There are two ways to go:You can either press on or give up.”
Daprano grew up in Iowa. Then, she moved to California. As a primary school teacher, she began running in order to keep up with her student.“I was known as a running teacher,” she said.“I had my students do fitness before we studied in the morning and then throughout the day.”Then she began running competitively with 5K and 10K road races before moving to the track. She is now the world record holder in the women’s 75-year-old age group 400 meters and 800 meters. “When I get to the final fi nish line, I want this body to be worn out. I’m not doing this to live to be 100. I’m doing this to be the best I can be today.”
After moving to Atlanta about a decade ago, Daprano met fitness trainer David Buer. Ever since, she’s been coming to his gym, where he tailors workouts for Daprano’s specifc needs.“When she came to me, she was pushing 70 years old,”Buer said.“I’ve worked with other individuals of Jeanne’s age, but she came to me with different goals. She had a unique drive and passion—not just a passion for fitness or athletics but for life in general.”
Last February, Daprano took on a new challenge: her first indoor rowing competition. In classic fashion, she broke the world record in the 80-to-84 age group, rowing 2,000 meters in 9:23:7. For those hoping to either start getting in shape or stay in shape for a long time, she offers this advice: Listen to your body. What are you passionate about? How are you going to keep physically fit and mentally fit? Start where you are. Don’t look ahead or compare yourself to somebody else.
1. What does the underlined word“inevitable” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?| A．Invisible. | B．Abnormal. | C．Impossible. | D．Unavoidable. |
| A．working at a primary school | B．taking fitness training classes |
| C．volunteering in a 5K road race | D．moving to Atlanta |
| A．She was a qualified teacher. | B．She was an unusual woman. |
| C．She was too old to run a race. | D．She was hard to get along with. |
| A．Run right now. | B．Live and learn. |
| C．Follow your heart. | D．Be a good listener. |
3 . 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. |
| A．Challenge. | B．Advantage. | C．Reason. | D．Character. |
| A．Positive. | B．Critical. | C．Doubtful. | D．Uncaring. |
| A．a primary school textbook | B．a tourist guide |
| C．a sports magazine | D．a scientific report |
4 . Many of us feel anger throughout the course of our daily lives.
Develop a regular practice. Practicing yoga regularly will go a long way toward helping you manage your anger. Try to go to class or practice a routine at least three times a week. Practice for an hour to an hour and a half when possible.
Join a class if you are a beginner. Sometimes it can be helpful for beginners to practice yoga with others to know the types of routines they can try.
Keep yoga journals. Keeping a yoga journal allows you to see over time how yoga is affecting your anger. It can also be a place to show the pleasure and frustrations (挫折) of yoga after your regular practice.
| A．Practice focusing on your breath. |
| B．You need to go to a class to practice basic yoga. |
| C．In the long term, it will be good for your heart. |
| D．In addition, writing can reduce the levels of your anger. |
| E．Exercise can be a great daily treatment for the bad feeling. |
| F．If you can’t, even 10 to 20 minutes of yoga at a time can bring down stress levels. |
| G．It is also helpful to reduce anger if you are feeling the support of the group when practicing. |
5 . Is “plogging” the most fitness trend yet? They brought us hygge, lagom and fika, but now a new Scandinavian trend is coming, and it couldn’t be more fitness.
Hailing from Sweden, “plogging” is a fitness craze that sees participants pick up plastic litter while jogging — adding a virtuous, environmentally driven element to the sport.
Plogging appears to have started around 2016, but is now going global, due to increasing awareness and fear over plastic levels in the ocean.
The appeal of plogging is its simplicity, and the feeling of getting fit while supporting a good cause. By adding regular squats and carrying weight to jogging, we can assume the health benefits are increased.
Running and good causes have always gone hand in hand — just think of all the fundraising marathon runners do. But there couldn’t be a more on-trend way of keeping fit than plogging.
“Anything that’s getting people out in nature and connecting positively with their environment is a good thing,” says Lizzie Carr, an environmentalist who helped set up Plastic Patrol, a nationwide campaign to rid our inland waterways of plastic pollution. “There’s been a real shift in the public mindset around plastics, helped by things like Blue Planet high lighting how catastrophic the crisis is,” she says. “We need to keep momentum high and the pressure up, and empower people through initiatives like plogging and Plastic Patrol.”
The Plastic Patrol app allows users to map plastic anywhere in the world by collecting discarded items, photographing them and uploading to the app, giving us a better knowledge of what sorts of plastic and which brands are being thrown out. “I’d urge all ploggers to get involved,” adds Carr. As we can see, plogging has become a new fashion in 2018. However, plogging isn’t the first fitness trend to combine running with a good cause.
1. What does the underlined word “discarded” mean?| A．Useless. | B．Abandoned. |
| C．Exposed. | D．Distinct. |
| A．raise public awareness of pollution |
| B．shift the public mindset around plastics |
| C．connect positively with their environment |
| D．make our inland waterways free of plastic pollution |
| A．Plogging is the best way to keep fit. |
| B．Plogging is an environmentally friendly way of fitness. |
| C．Running with good causes can make a great difference. |
| D．The Plastic Patrol app is an effective way to help you run. |
| A．Other new fashions in 2018. |
| B．The first healthy trends in sports. |
| C．Other fitness ways of running with a good cause. |
| D．The first healthy running trend with a good cause. |
6 . 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.
Children who participate in sports might also benefit from the social aspect, feeling part of a group, building up responsibility and leadership.
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.
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. |
7 . Physical education, or PE, isn’t required for all high school students. In some schools, it isn’t offered for some different reasons. But should high school students have physical education? The answer is certainly “yes”.
Today many people don’t do sports. But as is known to all, doing sports is very important for an adult. Teaching teens the importance of a healthy lifestyle and making fitness plans now can help teens put exercise in the first place as an adult.
High school isn’t that easy. Many students are under a lot of stress. Stress can be harmful to a student’s study and life. Doing sports can help them deal with stress better, helping them live a happier life at school.
The American Heart Association says that 10 million kids and teens suffer from obesity (肥胖症). Teens should get 60 minutes of physical activity per day to control their weight and to help their bones get stronger. The increase in activities that don’t get teens to move around, such as video games and computer activities, means many teens don’t get their required exercise. PE classes act as a public health measure to encourage physical activities and help teens have healthy weights.
Not doing sports increases teens’ risk of developing many diseases. An active lifestyle offers a good way of protection from these health problems. As much as 75 percent of health-care spending goes toward treating medical conditions that can be hindered by lifestyle changes,according to the American College of Sports Medicine.
According to the President’s Council on Fitness,Sports and Nutrition (PCFSN), students who performed five hours of physical activity each week improved their academic (学业的) performance. Students from programs with no physical activity, who used the extra time for classroom study, did not perform better on tests than those who gave up some study time in support of physical education.
1. According to paragraph 2, what does physical education in high school mean?| A．Making teens attach importance to exercise later. |
| B．Removing the stress faced by teens at school. |
| C．Getting teens to encourage adults to exercise. |
| D．Helping teens learn to make good plans. |
| A．Measured. | B．Prevented. |
| C．Shown. | D．Caused. |
| A．means making students choose between sports and studies |
| B．helps students make good use of all their time |
| C．means students adjust to their studies better |
| D．helps students do better in their studies |
| A．Why high school students should receive physical education. |
| B．Why some schools consider physical education important. |
| C．How schools can help students love doing sports. |
| D．How high school students can live a better life. |
8 . Years ago, I could not stick to exercising until I bought a CD called I Enjoy Exercise. I listened to it every day. I bought the CD because I wanted to run in a race and hopefully win!
I had assured my 10-year-old son Todd that I would run in a race with him. Unfortunately, however, when that race came, his left leg was hurt in a car accident. Without him running with me, although I took part in that race, I didn’t do quite well in it.
While Todd couldn’t run together with me because of his injury (受伤), he never forgot the promise I made for him. He was always asking me whether I would keep my promise when he recovered in the future. So I decided I was going to train and go all out to win the next race. What I needed was motivation (动力). It happened that one of my friends mentioned the CD which he liked very much, saying that he got a lot from the music in it when feeling down. So I bought it and listened to it while exercising every day.
What happened to my thinking was amazing as I listened to it daily. I started to think about the repeated words on the CD — “I enjoy exercise”. Instead of dreading exercise, I was thinking, “I enjoy exercise.”
I found out how important words are that we play in our minds every day. I went from a person who seldom exercised to someone who started to exercise daily. Just think how our lives will improve if we reflect on the uplifting words of the famous works. I have found the positive messages have greatly inspired me and then changed my life.
How did I do in that race, you might be thinking? I actually became the champion in my age group.
1. Why did the author take part in the race by herself?| A．She would like to win the race. |
| B．She had a good talent for running. |
| C．Her son got injured in a car accident. |
| D．Her son was unwilling to run with her. |
| A．By recalling some inspiring stories. |
| B．By listening to the CD while running. |
| C．By getting timely help from her friend. |
| D．By forcing herself into keeping running. |
| A．Fearing. | B．Improving. |
| C．Preferring. | D．Taking. |
| A．It’s important to avoid injury while running. |
| B．The uplifting words make a difference to us. |
| C．Parents should get along well with children. |
| D．We can build up our bodies by regular exercise. |
9 . Running can be a polarizing (两极分化的) subject. Most people fall into one of two camps: those who love running every morning, and those who would sooner do anything to avoid it. For most of my life, I was planted in the second camp.
I always hated running. I remembered entering a neighborhood 5K race with my dad at age 12; I also remembered that I came in last in the race, followed by only the police car driving patiently behind me. Three years later, I didn’t make the junior volleyball team because I couldn’t run a mile in under 10 minutes. Every time I ran, I felt as though failure — in some form or other — was the only possible result.
The summer after my freshman year, though, I took a job at a summer camp in Connecticut, where I got paid to be a kid again. I spent my days keeping an eye on different camp activities. When it came to exercise, running was my only choice. So, I made a promise myself: Every day, I would run for a while. By most runners’ standards, it wasn’t far; I guessed it was only about a mile. But I decided to do it every day, no matter how long it took. The exercise lasted for 61 days — the entire time I spent at camp that summer.
I started to feel better about myself. But to my great surprise, I learned to love running, too. I went from fearing the sport to loving it. I’ve finished seven marathons (马拉松赛跑) and more shorter races than I can remember, and now I am a running coach. These were the secrets I discovered to changing my way of looking at life.
1. What was the author’s attitude to running at first?| A．He deeply loved it. |
| B．He refused to do it. |
| C．He thought it tiring. |
| D．He thought it a waste of time. |
| A．He didn’t like to do any sport. |
| B．He didn’t believe he could do sports. |
| C．He didn’t do well in running-related sports. |
| D．He didn’t join the volleyball team on purpose. |
| A．To run every day. |
| B．To do a part-time job. |
| C．To fully relax himself at the camp. |
| D．To take part in different activities. |
| A．It is a difficult thing to do. |
| B．It has become a boring sport. |
| C．It makes no difference to him. |
| D．It has changed his life in a good way. |
10 . You probably know that exercise is the key to treating depression (沮丧), but a bigger fact remains: You don’t feel like exercising. Here are some tips to help you start exercising.
Change your view of “exercise”.
Forget “exercise”. Instead think: “being active” or “having fun”.
Taking part in physical activities with others supports you in doing those activities. Ask friends what activities they’re doing or they would like to do, and join them. You can also find a personal trainer, join an exercise group or go to a class.
Keep moving throughout the day.
Sitting is the new smoking.
Take exercise outside.
Nature has a great effect on your mood and it can relax you. Even just looking at images of lakes and trees helps.
Set a goal.
When you connect your exercise to a longterm goal, it helps your brain forget the discomfort and makes your exercise more satisfying.Find out what’s truly important to you.
| A．Do exercise with others. |
| B．In other words, it’s bad for you. |
| C．Sign up and go to exercise classes. |
| D．It’s a lot easier to do something simple. |
| E．Remind yourself of your goal regularly. |
| F．Take a walk around your neighborhood or a local park. |
| G．This increases your chance of actually moving your body. |
