1 . It will come as no comfort to a child shivering (打哆嗦) on a playing field on a cold winter’s day. But regular organized school sport helps children in their academic studies in years to come. The researchers said other “structured” activities such as music or religious activities were not as beneficial for attention as taking part in a games lesson. The difference in academic ability was noticeable even at age ten, with those who had taken in sports since the start of junior school performing better than those who hadn’t.

The Canadian study looked at children aged six and then ten. Professor Linda Pagani said:“We worked with information provided by parents and teachers to compare kindergarteners’ activities with their classroom activities as they grew up. By the time they reached the fourth grade, kids who played structured sports were clearly better at following instructions and remaining focused in the classroom. There is something special to the sporting environment — perhaps the sense of belonging to a team to a special group with a common goal — that appears to help kids understand the importance of respecting the rules and honoring responsibilities.”

Researchers began studying 2,694 Canadian children around the age of six, with teachers filled in questionnaires about their behavior in school. Meanwhile, the children’s parents were interviewed by phone or in person about their home life. The exercise was the repeated four years later to test what effect the behavior had.

Professor Pagani said: “We found children who had better behavior in the kindergarten class were more likely to be involved in sport by age ten. Nevertheless, we found those children who were specifically involved in team sports at kindergarten scored higher by the time they reached the fourth grade.” The researchers believe sporting activities and attention skills go hand in hand. Professor Pagani added: “The results should be encouraging for schools looking to cut childhood obesity rates and low attainment in schools.”

4 . Losing weight is difficult. For most people, it requires a change in diet, a change in exercise habits, and a change in attitude.    1    

●Set healthy goals.

If you’re overweight and want to change that, the first step is deciding what your target weight is.    2    

●Start small.

Making big behavior changes isn’t something that happens overnight.    3     Keep eating 5 servings of vegetables a day, exercise 2 days a week for the first week, and then add a little more each week.

●    4    

The best way to stick to your diet and exercise rues is to track it. There are plenty of apps that allow you to do this. Or you can do it in an old way and keep a written food and exercise journal. Find what works for you and write down what you’ve achieved every day.

● Evaluate (评估) and adjust.

Every month you should take a look at your goal and see the progress you’ve made towards achieving it.    5     Try doing different exercises or cutting out some foods that you may be eating too much. Losing weight and keeping it off is a highly personal thing for you. Only you can find what just works for yourself and stick with it.

5 . Sports can help us a lot. Taking exercises can make us strong. In collective sports like basketball, volleyball or football, we will learn the importance of cooperation. And sports can also help us relax after work or study.

However, as the saying goes, “there are two sides of everything.” Sometimes we may hurt other players or ourselves if we are not careful enough when participating in sports activities. What’s more, too much or hard practice can be bad for our health.

Sports can make us healthy both physically and psychologically. It is also a good way for people to know each other and can improve friendship between people. So long as we are careful enough, sports can do us nothing but good.

7 . In 2007, Bianca Valenti had an experience which nearly killed her. When she surfed (冲浪) at Ocean Beach in San Francisco, she met a wave as tall as a two-story house.

The wind was strong enough to block my vision. The moment I went under water, I was just getting knocked and spun (旋转) every which way. And then my feet touched the sand bottom there. When I swam to the surface, my lungs were burning painfully. I just thought to myself, “If there’s one more wave after this, I’m going to die.” Luckily there wasn’t another wave. That was when Valenti knew she had the drive and skill to surf big waves.

By 2014, Valenti surfed and won her first big waves contest (比赛) at Nelscott Reef in Oregon. There, she met fellow professionals Alms, Moller, and Kennelly. “One thing got me fired up at that point,” she said. “I wanted to have the opportunity to win more events, but there weren’t more events for women. That’s really annoying.” Luckily, Valenti, Alms, Moller, and Kennelly decided to stick together, support each other, and then fight together.

The four surfers formed Committee for Equity in Women’s Surfing (CEWS) to fight for entrance at Mavericks—a contest set in the surfing location of the same name, north of Half Moon Bay. Mavericks was invitation-only and was open to only men when CEWS was formed. Now, through the organization’s hard work with the State of California, women are allowed to surf in the event.

When Valenti was young, there weren’t many women represented in surfing culture. “I think it’s important for young kids to have all kinds of role models. That way they know all the people who they see as superheroes are just normal people who have crazy dreams. And sometimes the dreams aren’t even that crazy. If you work hard and you stick together with your friends, you can do anything. You can move mountains.”

9 . According to a recent report, about 15% of the people in the UK are members of gyms. But are they more likely to be fit?

A study found that gym members were 14 times more active than people who didn’t belong to any health club. Gym members did six hours more exercise a week, and this activity did make them fitter than non-gym members. They also spent less time sitting down every day than non-gym members. The results were the same for men and women.

The study included 405 people between the ages of 30 and 64, and the main characteristics of those who were gym members were the same as those who were not. “But gym members did more training than non-gym members,” said the lead author, Elizabeth Schroeder of the University of Illinois.

While it might seem clear that gym members exercise more and are healthier than non-gym members, Schroeder says this has not been directly shown before. However, the study is only designed to show a tie between gym membership and more exercise. It may be that active people like to join gyms. In the study, people who exercised as much as gym members were also in good health.

You can get the same benefits wherever you exercise. This study shows a gym membership can make you do more exercise, but other research shows that exercising outside has other help. Outdoor activity can make you feel happy about life, especially if you run through a forest.

Outdoor exercise is also more interesting than going to the gym. The first five minutes of outdoor exercise is especially helpful in making people feel good. But Schroeder says that a gym may also encourage greater exercise because it can be social and fun.

Exercise has a range of health benefits. However, some people believe that     1     if some exercise is good, more is always better, so they tend to exercise for a long time without stopping. For example, some people go jogging for several hours at a time because of the step-counting smartphone apps.     2     还有些人周末连续锻炼数个小时 to make up for their lack of exercise during the weekdays. Habits like these put stress on the body, and if maintained over the long term,     3     they can be a serious health risk.

Generally speaking, aerobic routines that last over 100 minutes have a certain health risk. On the other hand,     4     they should not be shorter than 10 minutes. If you do exercise for only a few minutes, you may not be working out long enough to see any benefits from it. When you exercise, aim for the daily average of 30 to 60 minutes.     5     这将会防止你受伤. Moreover, it will ensure that the exercise you do has a positive effect on your physical health.