ACTIVITIES FOR THE FITNESS OF
CHILDREN
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A
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Twenty-five
years ago, children in London walked to school and played in parks and
playing fields after school and at the weekend. Today they are usually
driven to school by parents anxious about safety and spend hours glued to
television screens or computer games. Meanwhile, community playing fields
are being sold off to property developers at an alarming rate. ‘This change
in lifestyle has, sadly, meant greater restrictions on children,’ says Neil
Armstrong, Professor of Health and Exercise Sciences at the University of
Exeter. ‘If children continue to be this inactive, they’ll be storing up
big problems for the future.’
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B
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In 1985,
Professor Armstrong headed a five-year research project into children’s
fitness. The results, published in 1990, were alarming. The survey, which
monitored 700 11-16-year-olds, found that 48 per cent of girls and 41 per
cent of boys already exceeded safe cholesterol levels set for children by
the American Heart Foundation. Armstrong adds, “heart is a muscle and need
exercise, or it loses its strength.” It also found that 13 per cent of
boys and 10 per cent of girls were overweight. More disturbingly, the
survey found that over a four-day period, half the girls and one-third of
the boys did less exercise than the equivalent of a brisk 10-minute walk.
High levels of cholesterol, excess body fat and inactivity are believed to
increase the risk of coronary heart disease.
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C
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Physical
education is under pressure in the UK – most schools devote little more
than 100 minutes a week to it in curriculum time, which is less than many
other European countries. Three European countries are giving children a
head start in PE, France, Austria and Switzerland – offer at least two
hours in primary and secondary schools. These findings, from the European
Union of Physical Education Associations, prompted specialists in
children’s physiology to call on European governments to give youngsters a
daily PE programme. The survey shows that the UK ranks 13th out of the 25
countries, with Ireland bottom, averaging under an hour a week for PE. From
age six to 18,British children
received, on average, 106 minutes of PE a week. Professor Armstrong, who
presented the findings at the meeting, noted that since the introduction of
the national curriculum there had been a marked fall in the time devoted to
PE in UK schools, with only a minority of pupils getting two hours a week.
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D
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As a former
junior football international, Professor Armstrong is a passionate advocate
for sport. Although the Government has poured millions into beefing up
sport in the community, there is less commitment to it as part of the
crammed school curriculum. This means that many children never acquire the
necessary skills to thrive in team games. If they are no good at them, they
lose interest and establish an inactive pattern of behaviour. When this is
coupled with a poor diet, it will lead inevitably to weight gain. Seventy
per cent of British children give up all sport when they leave school,
compared with only 20 per cent of French teenagers. Professor Armstrong
believes that there is far too great an emphasis on team games at school.
“We need to look at the time devoted to PE and balance it between
individual and pair activities, such as aerobics and badminton, as well as
team sports. “He added that children need to have the opportunity to take
part in a wide variety of individual, partner and team sports.
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E
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The good
news, however, is that a few small companies and children’s activity groups
have reacted positively and creatively to the problem. Take That, shouts
Gloria Thomas, striking a disco pose astride her mini-spacehopper. Take
That, echo a flock of toddlers, adopting outrageous postures astride their
space hoppers. ‘Michael Jackson, she shouts, and they all do a spoof
fan-crazed shriek. During the wild and chaotic hopper race across the
studio floor, commands like this are issued and responded to with
untrammelled glee. The sight of 15 bouncing seven-year-olds who seem about
to launch into orbit at every bounce brings tears to the eyes.
Uncoordinated, loud, excited and emotional, children provide raw comedy.
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F
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Any
cardiovascular exercise is a good option, and it doesn’t necessarily have
to be high intensity. It can be anything that gets your heart rate up: such
as walking the dog, swimming, miming, skipping, hiking. “Even walking
through the grocery store can be exercise,” Samis-Smith said. What they
don’t know is that they’re at a Fit Kids class, and that the fun is a
disguise for the serious exercise plan they’re covertly being taken
through. Fit Kids trains parents to run fitness classes for children. ‘Ninety
per cent of children don’t like team sports,’ says company director,
Gillian Gale.
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G
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A Prevention
survey found that children whose parents keep in shape are much more likely
to have healthy body weights themselves. “There’s nothing worse than
telling a child what he needs to do and not doing it yourself,” says
Elizabeth Ward, R.D., a Boston nutritional consultant and author of Healthy
Foods, Healthy Kids . “Set a good example and get your nutritional house in
order first.” In the 1930s and ’40s, kids expended 800 calories a day just
walking, carrying water, and doing other chores, notes Fima Lifshitz, M.D.,
a pediatric endocrinologist in Santa Barbara. “Now, kids in obese families
are expending only 200 calories a day in physical activity,” says Lifshitz,
“incorporate more movement in your family’s lifepark farther away from the
stores at the mall, take stairs instead of the elevator, and walk to nearby
friends’ houses instead of driving.”
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Questions 15-18
The reading Passage has seven
paragraphs A-G.
Which paragraph contains the
following information?
Write the correct letter A-G,
in boxes 15-18 on your answer sheet.
15
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Health and living condition of children
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16
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Health organization monitored physical activity
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17
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Comparison
of exercise time between UK and other countries
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18
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Wrong approach for school activity
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Questions 19-22
Do the following statements agree with
the information given in Reading Passage 2?
In boxes 19-22 on your answer sheet,
write
TRUE
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f the statement agrees with the information
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FALSE
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if the
statement contradicts the information
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NOT GIVEN
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if there is no information on
this
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19
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According to American Heart Foundation, cholesterol levels of boys
are higher than girls’.
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20
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British children generally do less exercise than some other European
countries.
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21
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Skipping
becomes more and more popular in schools of UK.
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22
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According to Healthy Kids, the first task is for parents to
encourage their children to keep the same healthy body weight.
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Questions 23-27
Choose the correct letter, A,
B, C or D.
Write your answers in boxes 23-27 on
your answer sheet.
23
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According to paragraph A, what does Professor
Neil Armstrong concern about?
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A
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Spending more
time on TV affect academic level
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B
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Parents have less time stay
with their children
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C
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Future health
of British children
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D
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Increasing speed of property’s
development
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24
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What does
Armstrong indicate in Paragraph B?
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A
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We need to take a 10 minute
walk everyday
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B
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We should do more
activity to exercise heart
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C
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Girls’ situation is better
than boys
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D
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Exercise can
cure many disease
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25
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What is aim of Fit Kids’
trainning?
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A
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Make profit
by running several sessions
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B
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Only concentrate on one
activity for each child
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C
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To guide
parents how to organize activities for children
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D
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Spread the idea that team
sport is better
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26
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What did
Lifshitz suggest in the end of this passage?
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A
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Create opportunities to
exercise your body
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B
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Taking
elevator saves your time
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C
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Kids should spend more than
200 calories each day
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D
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We should
never drive but walk
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27
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What is main idea of this
passage?
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A
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health of the
children who are overweight is at risk in the future
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B
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Children in UK need proper
exercises
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C
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Government
mistaken approach for children
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D
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Parents play the most
important role in children’s activity
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