初中英语【时文阅读训练】Standing on one leg can tell us about our age

Standing on one leg can tell us about our age Everyone knows how to find the age of a fallen tree. We count the number of rings on the tree's stump. A scientist has found a new way to measure the age of people … get them to stand on one leg. Dr Kenton Kaufman from the Mayo Clinic in the USA said standing on one leg shows how well a person can balance. He said balance becomes more difficult as we age. Dr Kaufman added: "Balance is an important measure because, in addition to muscle strength, it requires input from vision, the [hearing] system, and the [senses]." He added: "Good balance provides the ability to carry out activities of daily living without the fear of falling, and this leads to improved quality of life and healthy ageing." Forty people over the age of 50 took part in the research. They did tests for walking, balance, grip, and knee strength. Each participant had to balance on their dominant and non-dominant leg for 30 seconds. They did this with their eyes closed, and again with their eyes open. Kaufman found that standing on the non-dominant leg showed the highest rate of decline with age. There was a 2.2-second-per-decade decline when participants stood on their non-dominant leg. This compared to 1.7 seconds for the dominant leg. Kaufman concluded: "Standing on one leg is a good measure of your overall health because balance reflects how the body's systems are working together." 1. Vocabulary Matching Paragraph 1 1. fallen a. Made better than before. 2. rings b. The short part left after cutting a tree or another object. 3. stump c. Stay steady without falling over. 4. measure d. Dropped down or went to a lower place. 5. balance e. The part of your body that helps you move and lift things. 6. muscle f. Round shapes, like circles. 7. improved g. Find out how big, long, or heavy something is. Paragraph 2 1. grip h. How fast or how often something happens. 2. participant i. A person who takes part in something. 3. dominant j. Shows or gives back an image, idea, or result. 4. rate k. Hold something tightly with your hand. 5. decline l. Become less or go down. 6. decade m. The strongest or most powerful. 7. reflects n. A time of ten years. 【答案】 2. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if “a-h” below are true (T) or false (F). 1. Very few people know how to find out how old a tree is. T / F 2. Your age is the number of seconds you can balance on one leg. T / F 3. We need balance, muscle, vision and hearing to stand on one leg. T / F 4. Good balance means we do not need to be afraid of falling. T / F 5. Participants in the research were all over 60 years old. T / F 6. People tried to stand on one leg for 30 minutes. T / F 7. People stood on one leg with their eyes opened and closed. T / F 8. Standing on one leg shows how parts of the body work together. T / F 【答案】 3. SYNONYM MATCH: (The words in bold are from the news article.) 1. rings 2. measure 3. requires 4. provides 5. improved 6. took part 7. decline 8. overall 9. reflects 10. together a. better b. gives c. general d. calculate e. deterioration f. with each other g. circles h. shows i. needs j. participated 【答案】 4. READING COMPREHENSION: MULTIPLE CHOICE 1) Everyone knows how to find the age of _ a. a fall on tree b. a falling tree c. a fallen tree d. a fall entry 2) We count the number of rings on _ a. the tree's stamp b. the trees stump c. the trees stamp d. the tree's stump 3) A scientist has found a new way to _ a. measure the rage b. measure the cage c. measure the gauge d. measure the age 4) Balance is an important measure because, in addition _ a. to muscle strengthen b. to muscle strong c. to muscle strength d. to muscle length 5) Good balance provides the ability to carry out activities of daily living _ a. without the fur b. without the fear c. without the afeared d. without the far 6) They did tests for walking, balance, grip, _ a. and kneel strength b. and kneed strength c. and new strength d. and knee strength 7) They did this with their eyes closed, and again with _ a. them eyes open b. there eyes open c. their rays open d. their eyes open 8) standing on the non-dominant leg showed the highest rate of _ a. decline with age b. recline with age c. incline with age d. cline with age 9) Standing on one leg is a good measure of _ a. your over all health b. your overall health c. your over rail health d. your overall wealth 10) balance reflects how the body's systems _ a. are work in together b. are work king together c. are working together d. are were king together keys: 学科网(北京)股份有限公司 $$