1 . People who get a good workout almost daily can add nearly four years to their life spans, according to the first study to quantify the effect of physical activity this way.
The researchers looked at records of more than 5,000 middle-aged and elderly Americans and found that those who had moderate to high levels of activity lived1.3 to 3.7 years longer than those who got little exercise, with men and women benefiting about equally.
“This shows that physical activity really does make a difference — not only for how long you live but for how long you live a healthy life.” said Oscar H. Franco of the Erasmus M.C. University Medical Center in Rotterdam. “Being more physically active can give you more time.”
Previous studies have found that being physically active has a host of health benefits. It reduces the risk of being overweight and of developing many illnesses, improves overall quality of life, and lowers the death rate. But the new study is the first to directly calculate the effect on how long people live.
People who engaged in moderate activity — the equivalent of walking for 30minutes a day for five days a week — lived about 1.3 to 1.5 years longer than those who were less active. Those who took on more intense exercise—the equivalent of running half an hour a day five days every week—extended their lives by about3.5 to 3.7 years, the researchers found.
The findings show that even for people who are already middle-aged, exercising more can add years to their lives, Franco said.
Other experts said the study was consistent with the growing evidence that exercising on a regular basis is one of the most important things people can do for their health.
“At the end of the day, this is more evidence that the sitting lifestyle is the most damaging to health, longevity and chronic disease development,” said James O. Hill of the University of Colorado at Denver.
Hill and others said exercising regularly also enables people to live healthier lives, free from a host of chronic illnesses that can make it hard for people to enjoy their later years.
In addition, recent studies have also found that exercise has payoffs for the mind, too. It has been shown to improve overall well-being and reduce stress and depression.
“The benefits of physical activity extend well beyond the effects on longevity,” said Joann E. Manson of Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
1. What would be the best title for this text?| A．A Daily Workout Add More Years to Life. | B．How A Daily Workout Is Good to Health. |
| C．Men Benefit More from A Daily Workout. | D．Middle-aged People Benefit from Workout. |
| A．It finds that men and women benefited about equally. |
| B．Being physically active has a host of health benefits. |
| C．It’s the first to calculate the effect on how long people live. |
| D．Being more physically active can give you more time to live. |
| A．describing successful cases. | B．presenting findings of research. |
| C．offering professional comments. | D．explaining a certain phenomenon (现象) . |
2 . A Good Night’s Sleep
Sleep plays a vital role in good health and well-being throughout your life. While you’re sleeping, your brain is forming new pathways to help you learn and remember information. Although we all know the importance of getting a good night’s sleep, not all of us know the best way of getting it. A sleep expert, Phil Atherton, gave some top tips for getting the most out of the night, which will leave you ready for action in the morning.
According to Phil Atherton, not eating a large meal before bedtime is important for getting a good night’s sleep. The time difference between eating and sleeping should be at least three hours. So you’d better avoid eating any food three hours before bed, as it will lower your blood sugar during sleep and help minimize damage from too much sugar floating around.
It’s also important to find ways to prepare your body for sleep. You can follow a routine like trying not to expose yourself to too much artificial light within 1 hour before bed, as your brain uses light to help set internal “body clock”. Although it might seem unnatural to schedule your sleep, the purpose is to send a signal to your body and mind that it’s time to sleep.
Another way to prepare your body for sleep is to get into a relaxed state by taking a bath or listening to soft music. Both of them will help to take the mind off the daytime pressures.
Having a suitable bed, especially a suitable mattress (床垫), is necessary for a good night’s sleep. Sleep is a personalized activity, and we all adopt different sleeping positions. Finding the mattress that suits you will reduce back pains that can result from a poor sleeping position. The bed should be four to six inches longer than its tallest user, allowing for space to move around.
The recent research is pretty clear that a good night’s sleep is a major component of good health. Since the start of the 21st century, studies have linked a lack of sleep to many diseases, such as diabetes and obesity. Taking action now will lead to long-term benefits for you and those around you.
1. What does the author intend to tell us in the passage?| A．When to start a sound sleep. | B．How to get a good night’s sleep. |
| C．What to do with sleep problems. | D．Why to form a good habit of sleeping. |
| A．Not eating food. | B．Taking a meal. |
| C．Not sleeping well. | D．Having a good sleep. |
| A．record your biological clock. | B．check your blood sugar. |
| C．relieve your pain in the back. | D．free yourself from stress. |
3 . More than a quarter have to enlarge the font size on their mobile phone so they can read it clearly.
“The research has shown our eyes are not designed to be fixed on a single object for a long time, especially smaller laptops or smart devices.
Dry eye syndrome is a condition where the eyes do not make enough tears, or the tears evaporate too quickly. Here are some simple solutions to prevent eye strain and irritation, and preserve your eye health overall.
Rest your eyes.
Follow the 20:20:20 rule, looking up from your screen every 20 minutes and look at something 20 feet away for at least 20 seconds.
Adjust your workstation.
Change your screen settings to ensure that the brightness and contrast are balanced correctly, as well as making fonts larger. Also, be mindful of how your workstation is positioned. Adjust your screen ensuring it is 15 — 20 degrees below eye level and around 50 — 70 cm away from the eyes.
Reduce glare (眩光).
| A．People should try to reduce the time spent on the screen. |
| B．One can read his favorite paper books instead of e-books. |
| C．Half confess they’re forced to enlarge images to see them clearly. |
| D．Another thing to focus on is to make sure your room is properly lit. |
| E．Looking into the distance helps relax the focusing muscles of your eyes. |
| F．Reflections on your computer screen can cause glare and lead to eye fatigue. |
| G．They may feel uncomfortable, painful, tired and even start to itch (发痒) or burn. |
4 . You may not get enough physical activity throughout the day, especially since sitting still is required or encouraged in many jobs, at school, and in social situations. But there’s something you should know. Being physically inactive or sedentary (久坐不动的) can increase health risks.
While there is no strict definition of what can be considered a sedentary lifestyle, researchers have a few different measures to assess what a sedentary lifestyle is. One measure is the time an individual spends seated or reclining (向后倚靠) during waking hours.
In the short term, being inactive can increase depression or anxiety. It can also affect the way the body processes fats and sugars in the diet and lead to some weight gain if you aren’t burning enough calories. Over the long term, sedentary lifestyles increase the risk of death from cardiovascular (心血管的) disease, diabetes, and cancer.
How can you prevent being inactive?Health authorities recommend exercise at a medium level for either 30 minutes a day for five days a week or a total of 2 hours and 30 minutes per week. Walking is an easy activity to add to your day.
| A．How harmful is it? |
| B．What’s the drawback of sedentary lifestyle? |
| C．Fixing a sedentary lifestyle takes some conscious effort at first, |
| D．Now let’s learn about whether you might be classified as inactive or sedentary. |
| E．Simply walking more or doing household chores positively impacts health, |
| F．It can work to break up sitting time and add steps hourly throughout the day. |
| G．Spending four to six waking hours sitting or lying down is considered sedentary. |
5 . Over the past century, the average lifespan (平均寿命) in developed countries has increased by 30 years, from roughly age 50 to 80.
While lifespan is certainly an important measure of health and well-being, it is not the only one.
By a study based on the World Health Organization, an American who expects to live to 79 might first face serious disease at 63.
Lengthening healthspan starts with thinking about aging well overall, meaning putting physical health, mental health, and daily lifestyle all in one.
For now, there are some familiar steps to extend healthspan: common-sense nutrition, sleep, exercise and social connection are the four main factors.
| A．Some disease is less linked with lifestyle habits. |
| B．It also means taking ways to feel joy and connection. |
| C．It is important to remember that aging is a natural process. |
| D．Longer lifespans overall have been a public health success. |
| E．That could mean he will live in sickness for at least 15 years. |
| F．Healthspan is increasingly being known as an important idea. |
| G．The reason those things work is that they improve the biology of aging. |
6 . We often take sleep for granted, but not getting enough shut-eye can increase our risk for many serious health issues such as poor mental health, heart problems or even early death.
The ideal bedroom temperature for people to fall asleep is relatively cold — between 17 to 20℃. A drop in our core body temperature is essential for us falling and staying asleep because it stimulates sleepiness.
Obradovich and his colleagues found unusually warm temperatures had the largest effect on people’s bedtime duration by delaying falling asleep. Short sleep durations were the worst during the summertime and among the elderly, probably because they have more difficulty regulating their body temperature. The team also found warmer locations experienced the most sleep loss, suggesting people’s bodies haven’t adapted to their geographic location. Lower income countries are also heavily affected, which Obradovich supposes could be because of a lack of air-conditioning. But he plans to investigate further. Data show global warming also will have the biggest sleep loss in the Middle East, southeast Asia and Australia. By the end of the 21st century, people in the warmest regions are expected to lose another three nights of sleep per year due to higher nighttime temperatures.
Obradovich said his team’s findings could help communities or policymakers better improve the sleep environment for people, such as helping to cool bedrooms more effectively. On an individual level, Robbins, a physician at Harvard Medical School, said people also need to practice generally good sleep behavior. For instance, reducing screen time 15 to 20 minutes before falling asleep as the blue lights from cellphones or computers can work like the sun and throw off our body clock. She suggested meditation (冥想) before bed can significantly help people relax, making it easier for people to fall asleep.
“There’s still belief that ‘I’ll sleep when I’m dead’ kind of attitude towards sleep,” Robbins said. “There’s so much work to be done to improve our collective view of sleep.”
1. What is the main idea of the passage?| A．Temperature affects sleep duration. |
| B．Global warming improves sleep quality. |
| C．Sleep loss leads to serious health problems. |
| D．Sleep quality influences attitude towards life. |
| A．those in the warmer regions can well adapt to the temperature |
| B．the elderly suffer from sleep loss due to their sickness |
| C．it is harder to fall asleep in warmer temperature |
| D．unusual warmth contributes to earlier wake-up |
| A．People should pay more attention to sleep. |
| B．People have different attitudes towards sleep. |
| C．Scientists will solve the problem of sleep loss. |
| D．Scientists should help to improve humans’ sleep quality. |
7 . As seasons change, you can do the same with your wellness routine. When winter comes, you can adapt your seasonal healthy habits to suit your surroundings. Whether you live in a cold climate or closer to the warm place, you can use the change in seasons as an opportunity to stay healthy.
Fuel your body with winter vegetables. If you live in a climate with four seasons, only the strong survive when it comes to vegetables. Why not take advantage of the season by eating what grows at this time of year? Vegetables and leafy greens come packed with nutrients.
Focus on mental health. Often, well-being focuses more on the physical side of staying healthy.
Try something new to stay active. Wintertime can mean shorter days and colder temperatures. This can often put staying active on the back burner, especially with unpleasant temperatures outside. Why not take the change in seasons as an opportunity to try something new?
| A．Commit to an act of kindness. |
| B．But mental health is just as important. |
| C．Why don’t you eat enough vegetables? |
| D．Here are some winter wellness routines. |
| E．This can help you keep your wellness in winter. |
| F．Maybe you can enjoy cold outdoor activities, like skiing. |
| G．Look for local winter vegetables native to your area at a local famer’s market. |
8 . In the dead of winter, we don’t typically think about spending time outdoors, but according to many physicians we should. The sun is our greatest source of a vitamin that is essential for good health — vitamin D.
This important nutrient (营养素) strengthens bones and teeth and is linked to the prevention of heart disease, cancer and many other life-threatening diseases.
The recommended daily requirement is 400-600 IU. In summer, people with dark brown eyes and darker skin convert sunlight from just 15 minutes outside without sunscreen into adequate amounts of vitamin D.
Even during winter, just a 10-minute walk midday can keep the body’s vitamin D at healthy levels. During brief winter walks, we receive the greatest benefits when we wear no sunscreen and expose as much skin to the sun as
possible.
Vitamin D can also be obtained from foods. Salmon is one of the best sources of the vitamin. Egg yolks, cheese, mushrooms and beef liver contain smaller quantities of it.
To attract consumers, food companies add vitamin D to some of their milk products. The practice of putting the vitamin into milk began in the 1930s. At that time, many children were suffering from rickets, an illness that is caused by a vitamin D deficiency (不足). It made the children’s bones soft and weak. Adding Vitamin D to milk helped to solve the problem, and it has been available ever since.
For people who still need more vitamin D, there is another option: take vitamin D supplements. These products are widely sold in stores. However, anyone considering taking supplements should consult a physician first.
1. What is the main purpose of this article?| A．To note risks associated with a nutrient. |
| B．To analyze a nutrient’s composition. |
| C．To introduce a valuable nutrient. |
| D．To explain how a nutrient was discovered |
| A．They aren’t able to meet their deadlines. |
| B．They often don’t dress warmly enough. |
| C．They generally tend to remain indoors. |
| D．They leave lots of work for others to do. |
| A．Washing it with harsh cleaners. |
| B．Scratching it to relieve an itch. |
| C．Allowing it to become extremely dry. |
| D．Covering it with protective lotion. |
| A．As a revolutionary drug. | B．As a health problem. |
| C．As an economical treatment. | D．As a mental disorder. |
We often hear about the negative aspects of anxiety, but could there be any advantages or benefits that come from living with anxiety? Anxiety is a feeling that is often characterized by intense fear and worry.
Many individuals with anxiety describe it as a feeling of nervousness and fear that can be distracting and all-consuming. It is typically experienced on many levels, affecting one’s emotions and leading to uncomfortable physical sensations, and negative thoughts. However, have you ever considered some of the possible positive effects that may come with having anxiety? Scientists have learned that some degree of stress or anxiety isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Good stress, something now referred to as eustress, keeps us motivated and excited about life. It appears that some degree of anxiety may have similar “silver linings”.
Anxiety may be just the warning sign you need to bring awareness to your current situation and make some necessary changes in your life. For example, you may find that you have a friendship that is no longer working, or perhaps your job is causing a great deal of stress. Your anxiety can be difficult to manage, but exploring and coping with your anxiety can be a real opportunity for self-growth.
Anxiety may help you feel more motivated and prepared when faced with challenges. Research has shown that students and athletes who experienced some anxiety actually performed better on tests or in competitive sports. For instance, perhaps your anxiety assists you in putting extra effort into work or personal tasks, making a good impression, or moving towards your goals.
People who have dealt with anxiety may be more sympathetic and understanding to the problems that others face. Having gone through personal struggles yourself, you may be more sensitive, loving, and accepting when friends and family members are dealing with personal challenges.
Even though there can be some potential benefits to experiencing anxiety, it is worthwhile to point that it can also become a real challenge to many aspects of your life. If anxiety is preventing you from living the life you desire, then it may be time to get professional help.
1. What is anxiety according to the passage?2. Why can students with some anxiety perform better on tests?
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
Since there can be some potential benefits to experiencing anxiety, people should work hard to beat it, whatever anxiety they meet.4. How will you deal with anxiety in your life? (In about 40 words)
10 . As we age, even if we’re healthy, the heart just isn’t as efficient in processing oxygen as it used to be. In most people the first signs show up in their 50s or early 60s. And among people who don’t exercise, the changes can start even sooner.
“Think of a rubber band. In the beginning, it is flexible, but put it in a drawer for 20 years and it will become dry and easily broken,” says Dr. Ben Levine, a heart specialist at the University of Texas. That’s what happens to the heart. Fortunately for those in midlife, Levine is finding that even if you haven’t been an enthusiastic exerciser, getting in shape now may help improve your aging heart.
Levine and his research team selected volunteers aged between 45 and 64 who did not exercise much but were otherwise healthy. Participants were randomly divided into two groups. The first group participated in a program of non-aerobic exercise-balance training and weight training-three times a week. The second group did high-intensity aerobic (有氧的) exercise under the guidance of a trainer for four or more days a week. After two years, the second group saw remarkable improvements in heart health.
“We took these 50-year-old hearts and turned the clock back to 30-or 35-year-old hearts,” says Levine. “And the reason they got so much stronger and fitter was that their hearts could now fill a lot better and pump a lot more blood during exercise.” But the hearts of those who participated in less intense exercise didn’t change, he says.
“The sweet spot in life to start exercising, if you haven’t already, is in late middle age when the heart still has flexibility,” Levine says. “We put healthy 70-year-olds through a yearlong exercise training program, and nothing happened to them at all.”
Dr. Nieca Goldberg, a spokeswoman for the American Heart Association, says Levine’s findings are a great start. But the study was small and needs to be repeated with far larger groups of people to determine exactly which aspects of an exercise routine make the biggest difference.
1. What does Levine want to explain by mentioning the rubber band?| A．The right way of exercising. | B．The aging process of the heart. |
| C．The difficulty of keeping fit. | D．The causes of a heart attack. |
| A．Middle-aged hearts get younger with aerobic exercise. |
| B．High-intensity exercise is more suitable for the young. |
| C．It is never too late for people to start taking exercise. |
| D．The more exercise we do, the stronger our hearts get. |
| A．Making use of the findings. | B．Interviewing the study participants. |
| C．Conducting further research. | D．Clarifying the purpose of the study. |
