PASSAGE1
A study reported that life expectancy has fallen or is no longer increasing in some parts of the United States. The situation is worst among poor people in the southern states, and especially women. Public health researchers say it is largely the result of increases in obesity, smoking and high blood pressure. They also blame differences in health services around the country.
In 2006, a study found that only 4% of elementary schools provided daily physical education all year for all grades.This was true of 8% of middle schools and 2% of high schools. The study also found that 22% of all schools did not require students to take any P.E.
Charlene Burgeson is the executive director of the National Association for Sport and Physical Education. She says one problem for P.E. teachers is that schools are under pressure to put more time into academic subjects.
Also, parents may agree that children need exercise in school. Yet many parents today still have bad memories of being chosen last for teams because teachers favored the good athletes in class.
But experts say P.E. classes have changed. They say the goal has moved away from competition and toward personal performance, as a way to build a lifetime of activity. These days, teachers often lead activities like weight training and yoga.
Some parents like the idea of avoiding competitive sports in P.E. class. Yet others surely dislike that idea. In the end, schools may find themselves in a no-win situation.
参考译文：
2006年,一项调查发现只有4%的小学全年给所有年级的学生安排了每日活动时间。8%的初中和2%的高中学校也存在这样的情况。调查还发现, 22%的学校根本就不要求学生参加体育课。
Charlene Burgeson是全美运动和体育教育协会的执行理事。她说,体育老师面对的一个问题是学校在重压之下不得不把更多的时间分配给文化科目。
另外,家长赞同孩子在学校进行锻炼。但因为老师通常青睐体育好的学生,很多家长至今保留着班级里分组时最后才被挑选上的不愉快的记忆。
然而,专家说体育课已经发生了改变。他们说体育课的目的从竞技转为个人表现，而把其当作一种建立终身运动的方法。现在, 体育老师经常带领学生进行如负重训练和瑜伽之类的锻炼。
一些家长支持不在体育课里教授竞技体育的想法。但另一些家长却完全不赞同。结果,学校可能会处于一种两头不讨好的尴尬处境。
Health and Fitness----To A Healthier and Stronger Life!
Health and Fitness' is dedicated to all those who wants to have a better health for a better life. A fit body leads to a healthy mind and a healthy mind would in turn have a wealthy soul! So, the aim is to provide with information and guidance to achieve a healthy and wealthy body and soul.
Martina: “It depends what I’m doing. I can listen to music of any kind when I’m doing a translation, I like it, it helps me even, but if I’m doing some complex maths then I have to have silence. It depends on the level of concentration that’s needed, I guess.”
Rachel: “No, it has to be complete silence for me. It’s a real problem actually because I live in a shared house with lots of other students in the middle of a noisy city. It’s very difficult to get real peace and quiet. When I can I go ba ck to my parents who live out in the country. It’s good when I have lots of exams to study for because it’s so peaceful out there – no disturbances at all!”
Romesh: “A bit of background buzz in the office is essential for me. I like working in a liv ely atmosphere, people around, chat, the radio on perhaps. It generates an energy which I find helps me concentrate. I once came in to work on a Sunday when I had a big project to finish off –the deadline was the next day –and I thought it would be quiet on a Sunday, no one else around. Well, it was quiet and there was no one here, and you know what? It drove me mad!
I couldn’t stand it!”
Mark: “I can’t stand noise or distractions of any kind when I’m trying to concentrate, though I realise i t’s essential in a busy working environment. However, I have my quiet hour – between 3 and 4 every afternoon. People know not to disturb me except in an emergency. No phone calls, mobile switched off, door shut. It’s a good strategy. I get most of my work done in that time. I’m not distracted by troubleshooting problems.
John: “We always have music on while we work. People are often surprised to hear it, but my job is actually quite routine and boring. Of course, it takes skill and knowledge but the experience I have means that most of the time there’s absolutely no problem. I think we put music on to combat the boredom rather than aid concentration. And we put on something very fast, like “the Ride of the Valkyries” when there’s a backlog o f work to do and we have to get through the patients very quickly.”
