1 . On Christmas Eve 2020, fire trucks rushed to Chittle’s home in the sleepy little town of Manton, Michigan. But it wasn’t because of a Christmas nightmare. Far from it.
Winters can be long and tough in this far north, Scott Chittle knew something had to be done to bring some cheer to the 1,555 people in Manton.
Chittle, 51, lives in a big yellow house with his mother and two children. When he was three, his father built an ice skating rink (溜冰场) in their backyard, where Chittle and his friends would spend endless hours over the coming years playing hockey. That, Chittle thought, is what the children in this community need.
One problem was that Chittle had no clue how to build an ice rink. Luckily, after watching a tutorial (教程) in YouTube, he smoothed out a 3,000-square-foot section of his yard and ordered a huge tarp (防水布) large enough to cover it. Now he needed the ice. That’s where those fire trucks came in. It took 12 of them to spray enough water to fill the plot. Then he waited for Mother Nature to do the rest.
It wasn’t long before Chittle’s backyard became a Manton hot spot. The smell of baked hot dogs and burning firewood filled the air. And the laughter and screams of children playing hockey made their parents smile.
But the kindness didn’t stop with Chittle. When word got out that he’d spent $1,400 out of his own pocket to build his rink of dreams, neighbors, strangers and businesses donated $3,000 to cover the costs and more.
For Chittle, the ice rink was always about more than kids blowing off some steam. It was about surviving even the darkest times. “I want to show the rest of the world,” says Chittle, “what a little effort one person and the community can do, not only for others but for the souls of all.”
1. Why did Chittle build the ice rink?| A．To develop a hot spot. | B．To play hockey himself. |
| C．To entertain local people. | D．To meet the businesses’ demands. |
| A．He was expert at building an ice rink. |
| B．He was injured in building the ice rink. |
| C．He built the rink completely by himself. |
| D．He enjoyed playing hockey in his childhood. |
| A．By supplying enough water. | B．By helping him cover a huge tarp. |
| C．By saving him from a terrible fire. | D．By rushing him to the nearest hospital. |
| A．Indifferent. | B．Doubtful. | C．Unwilling. | D．Supportive. |
1. What is snowboarding like according to the woman?
| A．Difficult. | B．Dangerous. | C．Annoying. |
| A．For improving the beginners' skills. |
| B．For the increased awareness about it. |
| C．For these new places for the Olympics. |
| A．The kids. | B．The young. | C．The old. |
| A．Buy snow pants. | B．Learn speed skating. | C．Try extreme sports. |
3 . Safe and Easy Workouts for Seniors
As you get older, it’s important to remain active and not to forget your health. There are plenty of all-time best exercises for weight loss, but not all are perfect for older individuals hoping to break a sweat.
You might believe that certain workouts, like pushups (俯卧撑), are only for the young. In fact, they can be changed to best suit someone’s desired difficulty level.
Overhead arm raises can benefit seniors with joint (关节) pain. Using a weighted object such as a bottle of water, position yourself shoulder-width apart. With your shoulders back and arms lifted to 90 degrees, breathe out as you lift the bottles over your head and breathe in as you lower your arms.
Endurance workouts increase your breathing and get your heart pumping. Dancing can improve the health of your heart and lungs and keep you healthy as you perform daily tasks.
| A．Taking a walk outside can change your life. |
| B．Drink enough water each time you work out. |
| C．Start close to the wall, hands touching the wall. |
| D．Put on your favorite song(s) and move to the beat. |
| E．If they seem too light, find a slightly heavier object. |
| F．Regular exercise is a must to everyone, seniors included. |
| G．So here are some perfect workouts for seniors aged 50 and up. |
| A. afford B. attention C. beneficial D. incredibly E. lowers F. memory G. opposite H. priority I. regularly J. schedule K. significant |
How Does Exercise Improve Academic Performance?
You already know that regular exercise is important for controlling weight and avoiding a variety of health conditions. But it can also improve your academic performance. As an expert said, “What we know is that students who exercise
It’s tempting to think you’re so busy that you can’t
Exercise
Exercise also improves academic performance in other ways. 1. Exercise requires time management. Arranging for exercise forces students to also
5 . All over the world people enjoy sports. Sports help to keep people healthy and happy, and to live longer.
Many people like to watch others play games. They buy tickets or turn on their TVs to watch the games. Often they get very excited when “their” player or team wins.
Some sports are so interesting that people everywhere go in for them. Football, for example, has spread around the world. Swimming is popular in all countries near the sea or in those with many rivers. What fun it is to jump into a pool or lake, whether in China, Egypt or Italy! And think of people in cold countries. Think how many people love to skate or ski in Norway or Canada.
Some sports or games go back thousands of years, like running or jumping. Chinese wushu, for example, has a very long history. But basketball and volleyball are rather new. Neither one is a hundred years old yet. People are inventing new sports or games all the time. Waterskiing is one of the newest in the family of sports.
People from different countries may not be able to understand each other. But after a game together they may become good friends. Sports help to train a person’s character. One learns to fight fair, to win without pride and to lose with grace.
1. Why do people all over the world enjoy sports?| A．Because they keep people healthy. | B．Because they keep people happy. |
| C．Because sports help to keep them to live longer. | D．All of the above. |
| A．Because their favourite team wins. | B．Because they win the game. |
| C．Because they get the good news. | D．Because they can’t help themselves. |
| A．Waterskiing. | B．Basketball. | C．Sailing. | D．Jumping. |
| A．气馁 | B．失望 | C．开心 | D．风度 |
6 . 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 |
7 . Physical education(体育), 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 receive 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.
The American Heart Association says that 10 million kids and teens suffer from obesity(肥胖症). The increase in activities that don’t get teens to move around, such as computer games, 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’ hazard 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 prevented 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．happiness | B．risks |
| C．safety | D．sadness |
| 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 . The Biggest Stadiums in the World
People have been pouring into stadiums since the days of ancient Greece. In around 80 A.D., the Romans built the Colosseum, which remains the world’s best known stadium and continues to inform contemporary design. Rome’s Colosseum was 157 feet tall and had 80 entrances, seating 50,000 people. However, that was small fry compared with the city’s Circus Maximus, which accommodated around 250,000 people.
These days, safety regulations-not to mention the modern sports fan’s desire for a good view and comfortable seat — tend to keep stadium capacities (容量) slightly lower. Even soccer fans tend to have a seat each; gone are the days of thousands standing to watch the match.
For the biggest stadiums in the world, we have used data supplied by the World Atlas list so far, which ranks them by their stated permanent capacity, as well as updated information from official stadium websites.
All these stadiums are still functional, still open and still hosting the biggest events in world sport.
·Rungrado 1st of May Stadium, Pyongyang D.P.R. Korea. Capacity: 150,000. Opened: May 1,1989.
·Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, Michigan, U. S. Capacity: 107,601. Opened: October 1, 1927.
·Beaver Stadium, State College, Pennsylvania, U. S. Capacity: 106,572. Opened: September 17, 1960.
·Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio, U. S. Capacity: 104,944. Opened: October 7,1922.
·Kyle Field, College Station, Texas, U. S. Capacity: 102,512. Opened: September 24, 1927.
1. How many people could the Circus Maximus hold?| A．104,944. | B．107,601. | C．About 150,000. | D．About 250,000. |
| A．Michigan Stadium. | B．Beaver Stadium. | C．Ohio Stadium. | D．Kyle Field. |
| A．They host big games. | B．They have become tourist attractions. |
| C．They were built by Americans. | D．They are favored by architects. |
9 . Older women who walk a little over three kilometers each day might live longer than less active women of the same age, a new study suggests.
Many Americans hoping to stay healthy set a daily goal of 10, 000 steps, or about eight kilometers. They often have this goal because they are wearing electronic devices which set that target, note researchers in the United States. Their findings appeared recently in the publication JAMA Internal Medicine.
But it is not clear how much intensity(强度)or speed matter when counting the health benefits of every step, the researchers write. They add that 10,000 steps per day might not be the right goal for everyone.
For the study, researchers observed 17,000 women, all in their early 70s. They asked the women to wear accelerometers for at least four days. Accelerometers are small devices that measure the number of steps and the intensity of movement. The researchers followed up with the women much later, around 4. 3 years later, on average. Since the beginning of the study, 504 women had died. Compared to women who took no more than 2, 718 steps daily, the women who took at least 4,363 steps per day were 41 percent less likely to die.
“Even a modest amount of steps is associated with lower death rates, "said I-Min Lee, the lead writer of a report on the study. "The rate of stepping did not matter in these older women: it was the number of steps that mattered.
The study had a few limitations. For example, the researchers only measured women’s movements once, at the start of the study period. It is possible that the women’s behaviors changed over time. Still, the results are "good news for older adults who may have difficulty walking at faster paces, "said Keith Diaz, a researcher at Columbia University. He was not involved in the study.
“Any walking is better than nothing, " Diaz said by email. "With even small amounts of walking, your risk of death will be sharply reduced "For those who have difficulty walking, other research shows that any form of aerobic activity provides health benefits," he added. "Swimming, bicycling or any form of activity that is continuous in nature will provide health benefits.
1. What conclusion can we come to from the text?| A．People who walk about 10,000 steps can live longer. |
| B．10,000 steps per day might be the right goal for people. |
| C．The more steps one walks per day, the longer life he may live. |
| D．The number of steps is important for a long life among older women. |
| A．By giving examples. | B．By comparison. |
| C．By listing statistics. | D．By explaining reasons. |
| A．People who walk fast will get more health benefits. |
| B．If people have a habit of walking, the risk of death will be reduced. |
| C．People with walking difficulty can not benefit from activities |
| D．Activities such as swimming and bicycling are not as beneficial as walking. |
| A．A medical journal. | B．A news report. |
| C．A magazine about fashion. | D．A traveler brochure. |
