Yoga is an age-old practice that stretches (伸展) the body and calms the mind. By performing a series of poses(体式), called asanas, you will feel more relaxed. This results in lower blood pressure, a decrease in stress and healthy muscles. 1. With poses ranging from simple to challenging, yoga gives your mind something to think about. So get started by trying simple poses.
Mountain Pose
Stand barefoot on a no-slip mat and put your feet side-by-side, 2. Stretch your leg muscles and feel your knee caps lift. Practice holding your head and neck in a straight line. Relax your shoulders. Breathe in and out, and focus on your breathing.
Triangle Pose
Begin in Mountain Pose. As you breathe out, move your left foot about three or four feet to the left side. Lift your arms until they’re parallel with the floor. Stretch your fingertips outward. Then turn your left foot 90 degrees to the left, and turn your right foot about 45 degrees toward your left. 3.
Cat to Cow Pose
This is a great way to loosen a tight back, neck or shoulders. Begin with your palms(手掌) under your shoulders and your knees under your hips(臀部). 4. Then drop the head and neck toward your mat, pull your stomach muscles tight, and round your back up toward the ceiling. Hold that pose and breathe in and out.
5. Gradually add more asanas to your practice. Before long, you’ll notice a positive change in your body and your mind.
A. Continue moving back and forth.
B. It can be hard to balance in this way.
C. Perform these poses every day, if you can.
D. Hold your back and neck in a straight line.
E. Adjust your feet till they feel good against the mat.
F. But beyond its health benefit yoga brings a lot of fun!
G. The heels of both feet should be in line underneath your arms.
About 4 million children worldwide develop asthma(哮喘) each year because of nitrogen dioxide(NO2 , 二氧化氮) air pollution, according to a study published by researchers at the George Washington University. The study estimates(估算) that 64 percent of these new cases of asthma occur in urban areas.
“The study is the first to quantify the worldwide burden of new pediatric(儿科的) asthma cases linked to traffic-related nitrogen dioxide by using a method that takes into account high exposure to this pollutant that occurs near busy roads, ” said Susan C. Anenberg, PhD, the senior author of the study.
“Our findings suggest that millions of new cases of pediatric asthma could be prevented in cities around the world by reducing air pollution,” said Anenberg. “Improving access to cleaner forms of transportation, like electrified public transport, cycling and walking, would not only bring down NO2 levels, but would also improve physical fitness, and cut greenhouse gas emissions(排放). ”
Asthma is a disease that makes it hard to breathe when the lung’s airways are swollen. An estimated 235 million people worldwide at present have asthma, which can cause life-threatening attacks.
The World Health Organization calls air pollution “a major environmental risk to health” and has offered Air Quality Guidelines for NO2 and other air pollutants. The researchers estimate that most children lived in areas below the NO2, guideline. They also found that about 92 percent of the new pediatric asthma cases that were caused by NO2 occurred in areas that already meet the WHO guideline.
“That finding suggests that the WHO guideline for NO2 may need to be re-evaluated to make sure it is conducive to the protection of children’s health,” said Pattanun Achakulwisut, PhD, lead author of the paper.
Additional research must be done to more persuasively identify what is leading to asthma within complex traffic emissions. This effort will help to improve the estimates of new asthma cases tied to traffic emissions.
1.What can we learn from Susan C. Anenberg?
A.Old forms of getting around need to be replaced.
B.Few cases of pediatric asthma occur in urban areas.
C.Pediatric asthma increases because of unclean energy.
D.Greener transportation helps to reduce asthma cases.
2.What can we infer about the Air Quality Guidelines for NO2?
A.It proved persuasive. B.It seemed unreasonable.
C.It would be abandoned. D.It turned out instructive.
3.What does the underlined word “conducive” in paragraph 6 probably mean?
A.Beneficial. B.Open.
C.Equal. D.Familiar.
4.What is the main idea of the text?
A.Asthma has put children’s life in unavoidable danger.
B.WHO should improve Air Quality Guidelines for NO2.
C.NO2 air pollution causes children to suffer from asthma.
D.Air pollution is a serious worldwide problem nowadays.
The crocodile(鳄鱼) is an amazing animal. Why are they amazing? Crocodiles are experts at survival. Scientists say they first appeared 200 million years ago and have lived longer than the dinosaurs by some 65 million years. One reason why they are such good survivors is that they can go for a very long time without eating. And they are expert hunters! They use their strong jaws to bite their prey(猎物) and then they swallow their food whole. Another amazing fact about crocodiles is: When they lose a tooth, they grow one right back. A crocodile can go through 8, 000 teeth in one lifetime!
While these facts arc interesting, they really do not help to explain today’s expression: crocodile tears. Simply put, crocodile tears are fake sadness. You pretend to cry and feel bad for something when in fact you could not care less. A great word to describe crocodile tears is insincere.
The expression “crocodile tears” comes from an old story that crocodiles would cry tears as a fake show of guilt or sorrow to trick their prey. The prey would come closer and then become dinner. We know now that the story is not true. Scientists explain that crocodiles do produce tears. That is because while eating, they swallow too much air, which gets in touch with lachrymal glands (glands that produce tears) and forces tears to flow. But they’re not actually crying. Crying is purely emotional(情绪的) and is reserved for us humans.
When you use it, take some advice. You do not have to have actual tears flowing down your face to have “crocodile tears”. Sometimes, crocodile tears are worse than insincere. Those are the times when you are showing sadness but actually in your heart« you are quite happy about the situation.
1.How does the author mainly show that crocodiles are amazing?
A.By telling stories. B.By giving examples.
C.By conducting experiments. D.By making comparisons.
2.“Crocodile tears” is often said to a person who .
A.has some insincere friends B.faces sorrowful situations
C.shows unreal sadness D.cares little about others
3.Why does a crocodile produce tears according to scientists?
A.The flow of its tears makes it appealing.
B.It pretends to be guilty to trick its prey.
C.It wants to show its emotional feelings.
D.The way it eats forces its tears to flow.
4.What is the best title for the text?
A.An Expression—“Crocodile Tears” B.What Crocodiles Actually Cry for
C.Unknown Facts About Crocodiles D.How “Crocodile Tears” Came Out
Artist Zsudayka Nzinga Terrell clearly remembers the day in high school when the teacher asked her to write about her family history. She saw that it was impossible to answer the questions “Who am I?” and “Where did I come from?”.
Nzinga Terrell told her memories. “The white kids were able to get up and talk about hundreds of years of their background. And there was me and one other black kid in the class who could go back to a plantation(种植园) in Virginia and that’s it.” She talked about her family history. “My people were brought here on the bottom of a ship. And they were sold and they were renamed.”
Today, she and her husband, artist James Terrell explore their family history in their work. Their new exhibit of paintings is called Born at the Bottom of the Ship. The show recently opened at the Center for the Arts in Manassas, Virginia.
Over the generations, Africans have become African Americans with a new culture, and Nzinga Terrell includes different parts of that story in her art. There are things that look like African cloth and design and things that make you think of American culture and clothing.
James Terrell’s style is more abstract. His painting Mami Wata shows a woman rising from the ocean. Terrell explains the painting, “ Mami Wata is a goddess of the sea. There’s no light going through; there’s not a lot of color being seen, as opposed to the other ones. So, it’s just showing the time of the slaves being brought to America. ”
But the artist says he also likes to play with color. Growing up, James Terrell attended a church with colored glass in many windows. Because of that experience, he learned how light goes through the windows. He makes lines in his painting that look like the lines between pieces of colored glass in the church windows.
Visitors seeing the Terrells’ works say they see themselves and their family members in the works.
1.How did high school Nzinga Terrell find talking about her origin and identify?
A.Possible. B.Exciting.
C.Annoying. D.Difficult.
2.What can we know about Nzinga Terrell’s people?
A.They had to use the same names forever.
B.They led a life with no freedom at all.
C.They took up their jobs mostly aboard.
D.They were eager to get rid of poverty.
3.What’s the painting Mami Wata like?
A.It’s typical of native American style.
B.It’s abstract with rich and bright colors.
C.It reflects a dark time of the black slaves.
D.It describes a church James once attended.
4.What is paragraph 6 mainly about?
A.The story about James Terrells unique painting style.
B.The way James Terrell makes use of different kinds of colors.
C.The reason why James Terrell prefers to go to church to paint.
D.The influence of James Terrell’s church experience on his painting.
US News & World Report recently ranked the best countries for adventure, based on each country’s scores across four aspefcts: fun, friendliness, climate and scenery. Here are four of them.
Spain
With its sky-high scores in friendliness and fun, adventure in Spain is always as close as the nearest street. The most important thing for you is to identify what kind of adventure suits you best: if you love winter, head for Madrid, while warm-weather lovers are better off in beachfront Barcelona.
Thailand
Combining high scores in both scenery and fun, Thailand attracts a mix of people that make for an adventurous atmosphere. This can best be experienced on the island of Koh Phangan. Visitors looking for more traditional exciting adventure should head to Chiang Mai to try whitewater rafting(漂流), or attempt waterfall abseiling(沿绳索滑下) at Doi Inthanon National Park.
Greece
High scores in scenery and climate make Greece a perfect destination for adventurers. The water for swimming here is the best of the best. Sailing and kayaking around the Cyclades are popular water sports while land-living visitors to the islands have abundant hiking options. Host to the first Olympics, Athens has long held sporting events at the Panathenaic Stadium. Visitors are welcome to join the morning jog in the stadium from 7: 30 am to 9: 00 am as a warm-up for the day’s adventures.
Italy
While Italy might be best known for its food, art and architecture, the country has a more actively adventurous side, too. In Sicily, you can swim in the deepest blue sea and after a few hours lie on the top of the highest active volcano in Europe The ever-changing landscape(风景) also provides a chance for different types of adventures.
1.Where are visitors advised to go if they love worm weather and beaches?
A.Madrid. B.Barcelona.
C.Sicily. D.Chiang Mai.
2.What can visitors do in Thailand?
A.Meet with the friendliest locals. B.Jog freely under huge waterfalls,
C.Enjoy adventurous water sports. D.Appreciate its world-famous art.
3.What do the last two countries have in common?
A.They are attractive for swimming lovers.
B.They allow visitors to sail around islands.
C.They arc best known for their unique food.
D.They have Europe’s highest active volcanoes.
假定你是李华，你校学生会将举办70周年国庆英文演讲比赛，将邀请英文外教Peter担任评委，请你写封 邀请函，内容包括：
1. 活动主题“我爱中国”
2. 活动时间和地点
3. 比赛议程
注意：1.词数100左右；
2.可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3.邮件开头和结尾已写好，不包含在字数内。
Dear Peter,
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
