Lower Body Fat Means Better Performance

    These days，fashion models and pop stars are not the only people who have to watch their waistline. Football players who miss a few kicks and let their belly hanging out a little too much are likely to be attacked by rabid fans or even the president of a country ¹.
    The latest football star to draw the attention of the "fat police" is Barcelona"s Ronaldinho, 26. Last Friday，a Spanish sports daily published two photos of the Brazilian star without his shirt. One was taken in November 2003 ； the other was taken this month. In the most recent one, the star"s waistline seems to have a little extra padding ².
    Another Spanish sports daily published similar before-and-after photos and argued that the star has “lost his explosiveness and velocity" and is “worn out". The cause, according to the news paper, is his poor physical fitness.
    However, the player"s coach, Frank Rijkaard, insists that he"s satisfied with Ronaldinho"s form and fitness. And after Barcelona"s victory over Athletic Bibao on Sunday, Ronaldinho challenged photographers to take pictures of him when he took off his shirt.
    "I don"t have anything to hide, "he said.
    Fellow Brazilian Ronaldo, 30, of Real Madrid，faced similar criticism before the 2006 World Cup. But the criticism didn"t come from a bunch of sports reporters ： It came from the president of Brazil.
“So, what is it?” Brazil"s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva asked the national soccer team"s coach in his office last June, according to the Associated Press. "Is he (Ronaldo) fat or not?"
    "He is very strong, president” ,Carlos Alberto Parreira reportedly said at the time. "He is not that boy anymore. His body type has changed. ”
The game of footfall demands that players put as much emphasis on fitness as they can do on dribbling，passing or shooting.
    During a proper training regimen, football players normally follow a load -fatigue -recovery pattern ³. They push their body toward a higher mark of fitness and experience a slight and brief drop in performance. 

    Then they begin the recovery process, which will ideally carry their performance to an even higher plane.
    However, sometimes non-physical factors can influence a player"s poor fitness. In Ronaldinho，s case, for instance, people — often unnamed — have blamed everything from the pressure of contract negotiations to personal problems and too many advertising commitments.

 

词汇：

rabid / "ræbɪd; "reɪ-/ adj.偏激的

padding / "pædɪŋ / n. 填料  

velocity/ vəˈlɒsəti /n.度

dribble / "drɪb(ə)l / v.运球 

regimen / "redʒɪmən / n.常规训练

 

注释：
1.Football players who miss a few kicks and let their belly hanging out a little too much are likely to be attacked by rabid fans or even the president of a country.：足球运动员没有踢中几个球或 是他们的肚子耷拉得稍多了些，都会受到疯狂的球迷甚至是国家总统的谴责。
2.In the most recent one, the star"s waistline seems to have a little extra padding.：在最近的一张 照片里，这个球星的腰上似乎多了一小块赘肉。
3.During a proper training regimen, football players normally follow a load - fatigue - recovery pattern.：在正式的常规训练期间，足球运动员在一般情况下需要按照大运动量一疲劳一恢复 这一方式训练。

The football game demands a lot from players.

A:Right B:Wrong C:Not mentioned

Taiwan police cannot decide whether to treat it as an extremely clever act of stealing or an even cleverer cheat. Either way, it could be the perfect crime, because the criminals are birds homing pigeons!
The crime begins with a telephone message to the owner of a stolen car: if you want the car back, pay up. Then, the ear owner is directed to a park, told where to find a bird cage and how to attach money to the neck of the pigeon inside. Carrying the money in a tiny bag, the pigeon flies off.
There have been at least four such pigeon pick ups in Changwa. What at first seemed like the work of a clever stay at home car thief, however, may in fact be the work of an even lazier and more inventive criminal mind—one that avoids not only collecting money but going out to steal the car in the first place. Police officer Chen says that the criminal probably has pulled a double trick: he gets money for things he cannot possibly return. Instead of stealing cars, he lets someone else do it and then waits for the car owner to place an ad in the newspaper asking for help.
The theory is supported by the fact that, so far, none of the stolen cars have been returned. Also, the amount of money demanded—under 3,000 Taiwanese dollars—seems too little for a car worth many times more.
Demands for pigeon delivered money stopped as soon as the press reported the story. And even if they start again, Chen holds little hope of catching the criminal. "We have more important things to do", he said.

The underlined word "they" in the last paragraph refers to （　）.

A:criminals B:pigeons C:the stolen cars D:demands for money

It is easy to see why forgiveness is typically regarded as a virtue. Forgiveness is not always a virtue, however. Indeed, if I am correct in linking resentment to self-respect, a too ready tendency to forgive may properly be regarded as a vice because it may be a sign that one lacks respect for oneself. Forgiveness may indeed restore relationships, but to seek restoration at all cost--even at the cost of one’s very human dignity--can hardly be a virtue. And, in intimate relationships, it can hardly be true love or friendship either the kind of love and friendship that Aristotle claimed is an essential art of the human life. If I count morality as much as anyone else (as surely I do), a failure to resent moral injuries done to me is a failure to care about the moral value in my own person (that I am, in Kantian language, an end in myself) and thus a failure to care about the very rules of morality. To put the point in yet another way: If it is proper to feel indignation when I see third parties morally wronged, must it not be equally proper to feel resentment when I experience the wrong done to myself Morality is not simply something to be believed: it is something to be cared about. This caring includes concern about those persons (including oneself) who are the proper objects of moral attention.
Interestingly enough, a readiness to forgive--or even a refusal to display resentment initially--may reveal a lack of respect not just for oneself by for others as well. The Nietzschean view, for example, is sometimes portrayed like this: There is no need for forgiveness because a strong person will never feel resentment in the first place. Why Because he is not so weak as to think that other people--even those who harm him--matter enough to have any impact on his self-respect. We do not resent the insect that stings us (we simply deal with it), and neither should we resent the human who wrongs us.
Although there is something attractive and worth discussing about this view, most of us would probably want to reject it as too demeaning of other human beings and our moral relations with them. I shall thus for the present assume the following: that forgiveness is acceptable only in cases where it is consistent with self-respect, respect for others as responsible moral agents, and allegiance to the rules of morality, that is, forgiveness must not involve complicity or acquiescence (默认) in wrongdoings.
Which of the following best states the main idea of the text

A:Too ready to forgive is no more a real virtue than an evil. B:The consistency between self-respect and forgiveness is important. C:Rules of morality may guide the correct use of forgiveness. D:Caring about others and oneself demands generous forgiveness.

Passage 3
Taiwan police cannot decide whether to treat it as an extremely clever act of stealing or an even cleverer cheat.Either way,it could be the perfect crime,because the criminals are birds-homing pigeons! The crime begins with a telephone message to the owner of a stolen car:if you want the car back,pay up.Then,the car owner is directed to a park,told where to find a bird cage and how to attach money to the neck of the pigeon inside.Carrying the money in a tiny bag,the pigeon flies off. There have been at least four such pigeon pickups in Changwa.What at first seemed like the work of a clever stayathome car thief,however,may in fact be the work of an even lazier and more inventive criminal mind-one that avoids not only collecting money but going out to steal the car in the first place.Police officer Chen says that the criminal probably has pulled a double trick:he gets money for things he cannot possibly return.Instead of stealing cars,he lets someone else do it and then waits for the car owner to place an ad in the newspaper asking for help. The theory is supported by the fact that,so far,none of the stolen cars have been returned.Also,the amount of money demanded-under 3,000 Taiwanese dollars-seems too little for a car worth many times more. Demands for pigeon-delivered money stopped as soon as the press reported the story.And even if they start again,Chen holds little hope of catching the criminal.“We have more important things to do,”he said.

The underlined word “they” in the last paragraph refers to （）.

A:criminals B:pigeons C:the stolen cars D:demands for money

Passage 3
Taiwan police cannot decide whether to treat it as an extremely clever act of stealing or an even cleverer cheat.Either way,it could be the perfect crime,because the criminals are birds-homing pigeons! The crime begins with a telephone message to the owner of a stolen car:if you want the car back,pay up.Then,the car owner is directed to a park,told where to find a bird cage and how to attach money to the neck of the pigeon inside.Carrying the money in a tiny bag,the pigeon flies off. There have been at least four such pigeon pickups in Changwa.What at first seemed like the work of a clever stayathome car thief,however,may in fact be the work of an even lazier and more inventive criminal mind-one that avoids not only collecting money but going out to steal the car in the first place.Police officer Chen says that the criminal probably has pulled a double trick:he gets money for things he cannot possibly return.Instead of stealing cars,he lets someone else do it and then waits for the car owner to place an ad in the newspaper asking for help. The theory is supported by the fact that,so far,none of the stolen cars have been returned.Also,the amount of money demanded-under 3,000 Taiwanese dollars-seems too little for a car worth many times more. Demands for pigeon-delivered money stopped as soon as the press reported the story.And even if they start again,Chen holds little hope of catching the criminal.“We have more important things to do,”he said.

The underlined word “they” in the last paragraph refers to （）.

A:criminals B:pigeons C:the stolen cars D:demands for money

Passage 3
Taiwan police cannot decide whether to treat it as an extremely clever act of stealing or an even cleverer cheat.Either way,it could be the perfect crime,because the criminals are birds-homing pigeons! The crime begins with a telephone message to the owner of a stolen car:if you want the car back,pay up.Then,the car owner is directed to a park,told where to find a bird cage and how to attach money to the neck of the pigeon inside.Carrying the money in a tiny bag,the pigeon flies off. There have been at least four such pigeon pickups in Changwa.What at first seemed like the work of a clever stayathome car thief,however,may in fact be the work of an even lazier and more inventive criminal mind-one that avoids not only collecting money but going out to steal the car in the first place.Police officer Chen says that the criminal probably has pulled a double trick:he gets money for things he cannot possibly return.Instead of stealing cars,he lets someone else do it and then waits for the car owner to place an ad in the newspaper asking for help. The theory is supported by the fact that,so far,none of the stolen cars have been returned.Also,the amount of money demanded-under 3,000 Taiwanese dollars-seems too little for a car worth many times more. Demands for pigeon-delivered money stopped as soon as the press reported the story.And even if they start again,Chen holds little hope of catching the criminal.“We have more important things to do,”he said.

The underlined word “they” in the last paragraph refers to （）.

A:criminals B:pigeons C:the stolen cars D:demands for money