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Sit Up Straight: Tips for Improving Your Terrible Posture
The more time we spend sitting in front of our computers, the worse our posture gets. Modern technology is turning us into literally twisted creatures.
In addition to being detrimental to how your body functions, bad posture isn’t cute. It causes you to jut(突出) your hips forward, slump your shoulders, and even breathe inefficiently, according to Pat Davidson, a trainer with a PhD in Exercise Physiology who is the Director of Training Methodology and Continuing Education Coordinator at Peak Performance in NYC.
Davidson explained that bad posture compromises your diaphragm(隔离), the big muscle right below the ribs that helps you take deep breaths. So instead, you start using other muscles, like your shoulders, to help you breathe. It turns out that people with lousy posture don’t walk correctly, and they count on their lower back muscles to help propel themselves forward.
Here are a few quick fixes recommended for correcting your slump:
• If you sit at a desk all day, don’t perch on the edge of your chair at work trying to sit up straight. The best thing you can do is keep your hips against the back of the chair and use it for support—that’s what it’s there for.
• Get up frequently and walk around.
• If you carry a heavy shoulder bag, make sure to carry it on both your right and left shoulder, switching off as each gets tired. Even better: wear a cross-body bag so that the weight’s more evenly distributed.
• Work out your core muscles. You can try backwards jump-roping. If the rope hits you, you have the wrong posture. Hula hooping is also a good choice.
• Focus on the upper back and shoulder muscles. One of her favorite exercises is having clients stand up against a wall, with your hips touching the wall. Put a tennis ball between your shoulder blades and try to squeeze the ball. Boating is also excellent for improving posture, since it causes you to pull your shoulders up and back.According to the passage, a bad posture can_____.
a. stop us from taking deep breathes
b. functionally change our body
c. hurt our diaphragm
d. make our walking posture incorrect
A.bcd | B.acd | C.abc | D.abcd |
What does the underlined word “detrimental” in the second paragraph probably mean?
A.harmful | B.helpful |
C.meaningless | D.vital |
Which of the following tips is true for a good sitting posture?
A.Sitting on the edge of the chair. |
B.Using the back of the chair to support your back. |
C.Sitting up straight at a desk all day. |
D.Keep your back against the chair. |
We may find the above introduction _____.
A.in a travel booklet | B.in a fiction story |
C.in a health magazine | D.in s science journal |
A qualified doctor who rarely practiced but instead devoted his life to writing. He once said: “Medicine is my lawful wife, and literature is my lover.” Russian writer Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, was a great playwright and one of the masters of the modern short story.
When Chekhov entered the Moscow University Medical School in 1879, he started to publish hundreds of comic short stories to support his family. After he graduated, he wrote regularly for a local daily newspaper.
As a writer he was extremely fast, often producing a short story in an hour or less. Chekhov’s medical and science experience can be seen through the indifference(冷漠) many of his characters show to tragic events. In 1892, he became a full time writer and published some of his most memorable stories.
Chekhov often wrote about the sufferings of life in small town Russia. Tragic events control his characters who are filled with feelings of hopelessness and despair.
It is often said that nothing happens in Chekhov’s stories and plays. He made up for this with his exciting technique for developing drama within his characters. Chekhov’s work combined the calm attitude of a scientist and doctor with the sensitivity(敏感) of an artist.
Some of Chekhov's works were translated into Chinese as early as the 1940s. One of his famous stories, The Man in a Shell, about a school teacher’s extraordinarily orderly life, was selected as a text for Chinese senior students.Anton Pavlovich Chekhov ________.
A.had a lawful lover | B.was an illegal writer |
C.used to be a lawyer | D.was a competent doctor |
In 1880, Chekhov ________.
A.became a full-time writer |
B.studied medicine in Moscow University |
C.practiced medicine in his hometown |
D.published his most memorable stories |
Which of the following adjectives can’t be used to describe Chekhov?
A.Sensitive. | B.Cool. |
C.Quick-minded. | D.Warm-hearted. |
Which of the following is the right order of the events?
A. became a doctor B. became a full time writer
C. started to publish comic short stories
D. wrote regularly for a local daily newspaper.
e. entered the Moscow University Medical School
A. e→c→a→d→b B. d→a→b→c→e
C. e→c→b→a→d D. a→e→c→b→d
About ten years ago, a young and very successful businessman named Josh was traveling down a Chicago neighborhood street. He was going a bit too fast in his shiny, black, 12 cylinder Jaguar XKE, which was only two months old.
He was watching for kids rushing out from between parked cars and slowed down when he thought he saw something. As his car passed, no child came out, but a brick sailed out and — WHUMP! — it hit the Jag’s shiny black side door! SCREECH...!!!! Immediately Josh stopped the car, jumped out, seized the kid and pushed him up against a parked car. He shouted at the kid, "What was that all about and who are you? Just what the heck are you doing?!" Building up a head of steam, he went on. " That’s my new Jag, that brick you threw is gonna cost you a lot of money. Why did you throw it?"
"Please, mister, please....I’m sorry! I didn’t know what else to do!" begged the youngster. "I threw the brick because no one else would stop!" tears were streaming down the boy’s face as he pointed around the parked car. "It’s my brother, mister," he said. "He rolled of the curb (路沿) and fell out of his wheelchair and I can’t lift him up. "Sobbing, the boy asked the businessman," Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He’s hurt and he’s too heavy for me.
Moved beyond words, the young businessman tried hard to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat. Straining, he lifted the young man back into the wheelchair and took out his handkerchief and wiped the scrapers and cuts, checking to see that everything was going to be OK. He then watched the younger brother push him down the sidewalk toward their home.
It was a long walk back to the black, shining 12 cylinder Jaguar XKE — a long and slow walk. Josh never did fix the side door of his Jaguar. He kept the dent (凹痕) to remind him not to go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at him to get his attention. Feel for the bricks of life coming at you.The boy threw a brick at the businessman’s car because ________.
A.the businessman drove at a high speed |
B.he envied the brand-new car very much |
C.he wanted to ask for some money |
D.he wanted to get help from the driver |
Which of the following is the right order of the story?
A. The younger brother threw a brick at Josh’s car.
B. The elder brother fell out of his wheelchair.
C. The younger brother begged Josh for help.
D. Josh lifted the elder brother back into his wheelchair.
e. Josh shouted at the younger brother.
A.b, a, e, c, d B. a, c, d, b, e C. b, a, c, e, d D. a, c, b, e, dWhat can we learn from the passage?
A.Josh would accept the money from the kids. |
B.The two kids were Josh’s neighbors. |
C.Josh was a kind-hearted man. |
D.Josh’s new car broke down easily. |
according to the passage, the last sentence means ________.
A.trying to get ready for the trouble in your future life |
B.driving fast in a neighborhood street is dangerous |
C.trying to be more understanding seeing others in trouble |
D.protecting oneself from being hurt |
After too long on the Net, even a phone call can be a shock. My boyfriend’s Liverpudlian accent suddenly becomes too difficult to understand after his clear words on screen; a secretary’s tone seems more rejecting than I’d imagined it would be. Time itself becomes fluid—hours becomes minutes, and alternately seconds stretch into days. Week ends, once a highlight of my week, are now just two ordinary days.
For the last three years, since I stopped working as a producer for Charlie Rose, I have done much of my work as a telecommuter. I submit(提交) articles and edit them by E-mail and communicate with colleagues on Internet mailing lists. My boyfriend lives in England, so much of our relationship is computer-mediated. If I desired, I could stay inside for weeks without wanting anything. I can order food, and manage my money, love and work. In fact, at times I have spent as long as three weeks alone at home, going out only to get mail and buy newspapers and groceries. I watched most of the blizzard of 96 on TV.
But after a while, life itself begins to feel unreal. I start to feel as though I’ve merged(融合) with my machines, taking data in, spitting them back out, just another node(波节) on the Net. Others on line report the same symptoms(症状). We start to strongly dislike the outside forms of socializing. It’s like attending an A. A. meeting in a bar with everyone holding a half-sipped drink. We have become the Net opponents’ worst nightmare.
What first seemed like a luxury, crawling from bed to computer, not worrying about hair, and clothes and face, has becomes avoidance(逃避), a lack of discipline. And once you start replacing real human contact with cyber interaction, coming back out of the cave can be quite difficult.
At times, I turn on the television and just leave it to chatter in the background, something that I’d never done previously. The voices of the programs relax me, but then I’m jarred by the commercials. I find myself sucked in by soap operas, or needing to keep up with the latest news and the weather. “Dateline”, “Frontline”, “Nightline”, CNN, New York 1, every possible angle of every story over and over, and over, even when they are of no possible use to me. Work moves from foreground to background. Compared to the clear words of her boyfriend on screen, his accent becomes _______.
A.unreal | B.unbearable |
C.misleading | D.not understandable |
What does the last paragraph mean?
A.Having worked on the computer for too long, she became a bit strange. |
B.She is so interested in TV programs that she often forgets her work. |
C.She watches TV a lot in order to keep up with the latest news and the weather. |
D.She turns on TV now and then in order to get some comfort from TV program. |
What is the author’s attitude to the computer?
A.At first she likes it but later becomes tired of it. |
B.She likes it because it is very convenient. |
C.She dislikes it because TV is more attractive. |
D.She dislikes it because it cuts off her relation with the outside world. |
The underlined phrase “coming back out of cave” probably means _______.
A.going back to the dreaming world |
B.coming back home from the outside world |
C.bringing back direct human |
D.getting away from living a strange life |
Like most big projects, learning to manage your mother well is what you should do. Here are what I believe the best steps towards a better relationship with her. They are not necessarily surprising or revolutionary, but they have worked for many people. Try them.
Remember your mother’s age. As children, we often do not think of our mother as having an age. Even when we become conscious of her as an individual, age does not change our view; she is still our mother. Knowing our mother’s age, not just in numbers of years but in terms of her psychological and physical state, often helps us to understand her better.
Listen to your mother. I have found that sometimes the things my mother told me long ago are remarkably useful. If your mother knows that you respect her point of view, even if you do not share it, it will help her feel close to you.
Remember that your mother has a past. A key step in managing our relationship with our mother is to find out about her early life. Niclle’s mother suffered much during the Second War World War. “My parents are both Jewish-Turkish. They met in France and married young for love. They were in their twenties when war broke out and because they were Jews, they had to go into hiding. She does speak to me about the war, and I think it is important to know what she went through. It is a part of her life that must have affected her deeply. ” Sometimes, in learning about our mother’s past, we know that it can encourage us to think about her whole life.
Ask your mother about your childhood history. My grandparents died when I was young. If you are fortunate enough to have living family, think of your life as a jigsaw puzzle and ask as many questions as you can to put the picture together. Understanding your roots and your childhood can help you now more clearly who you are, as part of a family which you share with your mother.
Keep a sense of humor about your mother. When we hear about someone else’s misfortunes with their mothers and are amused by them, our laughter is one of recognition. I have often listened to stories of difficult mothers and I have also listened to the following piece of advice they have found most helpful is: “Don’t have a sense of humor failure about your mother. ”
Remember that managing your mother is really about managing yourself. Taking any measure to managing our mother is the issue of how we manage ourselves. No matter how difficult we find her, it is important to remember that is not her behavior it self that is causing us discomfort, but the way we feel about her behavior. We should follow the way of her life. At the heart of managing your mother is being able to accept your flawed self. Only then are you able to accept your mother—-with all her failings. The followings are the steps you can take to get on with your mother EXCEPT________.
A.Remember your mother’s age and past |
B.Share your roots and your childhood with your mother |
C.Have a sense of humor failure about your mother |
D.Managing your shortcoming while managing your mother |
What does the underlined phrase “a jigsaw puzzle” mean?
A.拼图玩具 | B.浏览迷宫 | C.填充字谜 | D.游戏人生 |
Which of the following is implied but not stated in the passage?
A.It will help you have a better relationship with your mother if you respect her opinion. |
B.You should follow a most useful piece of advice——a sense of humor. |
C.The key measure of managing our mother is how we manage ourselves. |
D.It is unreasonable to expect our mother to change totally from the way she was brought up. |
The main purpose of writing the text is ________.
A.to give information about how we think of your mother. |
B.to improve the relationship with your mother. |
C.to keep a sense of humor about your mother all day long. |
D.to accept your mother—-with all her failings. |
TLike most big projects, learning to manage your mother well is what you should do. Here are what I believe the best steps towards a better relationship with her. They are not necessarily surprising or revolutionary, but they have worked for many people. Try them.
Remember your mother’s age. As children, we often do not think of our mother as having an age. Even when we become conscious of her as an individual, age does not change our view; she is still our mother. Knowing our mother’s age, not just in numbers of years but in terms of her psychological and physical state, often helps us to understand her better.
Listen to your mother. I have found that sometimes the things my mother told me long ago are remarkably useful. If your mother knows that you respect her point of view, even if you do not share it, it will help her feel close to you.
Remember that your mother has a past. A key step in managing our relationship with our mother is to find out about her early life. Niclle’s mother suffered much during the Second War World War. “My parents are both Jewish-Turkish. They met in France and married young for love. They were in their twenties when war broke out and because they were Jews, they had to go into hiding. She does speak to me about the war, and I think it is important to know what she went through. It is a part of her life that must have affected her deeply. ” Sometimes, in learning about our mother’s past, we know that it can encourage us to think about her whole life.
Ask your mother about your childhood history. My grandparents died when I was young. If you are fortunate enough to have living family, think of your life as a jigsaw puzzle and ask as many questions as you can to put the picture together. Understanding your roots and your childhood can help you now more clearly who you are, as part of a family which you share with your mother.
Keep a sense of humor about your mother. When we hear about someone else’s misfortunes with their mothers and are amused by them, our laughter is one of recognition. I have often listened to stories of difficult mothers and I have also listened to the following piece of advice they have found most helpful is: “Don’t have a sense of humor failure about your mother. ”
Remember that managing your mother is really about managing yourself. Taking any measure to managing our mother is the issue of how we manage ourselves. No matter how difficult we find her, it is important to remember that is not her behavior it self that is causing us discomfort, but the way we feel about her behavior. We should follow the way of her life. At the heart of managing your mother is being able to accept your flawed self. Only then are you able to accept your mother—-with all her failings. The followings are the steps you can take to get on with your mother EXCEPT________.
A.Remember your mother’s age and past |
B.Share your roots and your childhood with your mother |
C.Have a sense of humor failure about your mother |
D.Managing your shortcoming while managing your mother |
What does the underlined phrase “a jigsaw puzzle” mean?
A.拼图玩具 | B.浏览迷宫 | C.填充字谜 | D.游戏人生 |
Which of the following is implied but not stated in the passage?
A.It will help you have a better relationship with your mother if you respect her opinion. |
B.You should follow a most useful piece of advice——a sense of humor. |
C.The key measure of managing our mother is how we manage ourselves. |
D.It is unreasonable to expect our mother to change totally from the way she was brought up. |
The main purpose of writing the text is ________.
A.to give information about how we think of your mother. |
B.to improve the relationship with your mother. |
C.to keep a sense of humor about your mother all day long. |
D.to accept your mother—-with all her failings. |