Section A: Banked Cloze

Directions: In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read the passage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.

Exercising for just 10 minutes a week is linked to a longer life, according to a new study published in The British Journal of Sports Medicine.

Several recent studies have found that even low-intensity exercise, done for a short amount of time, can have a meaningful (26) ______ on health. Still, the idea that exercising for just 10 minutes a week may be enough to increase your lifespan is novel. It’s also somewhat (27) ______, since the federal physical activity guidelines recommend getting at least 75 minutes of vigorous exercise or 150 minutes of (28) ______ exercise each week.

The study was based on data from more than 88,000 U.S. adults who (29) ______ in the National Health Interview Survey between 1997 and 2008.

Contrary to some research that has found an (30) ______ limit to the amount of exercise that is healthy, the researchers found that there was (31) ______ no limit to the longevity benefits of exercise. Even the small group of people who got 10 times the amount of exercise recommended by the federal government had a 46% lower (32) ______ of death than the least active group.

Still, observational studies like this one cannot prove cause and effect; they can only find (33) ______. The researchers also were not able to (34) ______ for certain lifestyle factors that could affect lifespan, including dietary habits and changes in physical activity over time. Despite these (35) ______, the study’s results are yet another indication of the power of physical activity, even in small amounts.

Word Bank

A) adjust

B) alter

C) approximately

D) controversial

E) coordinates

F) impact

G) limitations

H) moderate

I) participated

J) patterns

K) populated

L) risk

M) seemingly

N) type

O) upper

Answers & Explanations

26. F (impact)。解析：位于形容词 meaningful 之后，介词 on 之前，需要填入名词。固定搭配 `have an impact on` 意为“对...产生影响 (impact)”。

27. D (controversial)。解析：位于系动词 It's (It is) 和副词 somewhat 之后，且由 since（因为）引导的原因状语从句解释了原因（官方建议150分钟，而研究说10分钟就够），说明这个观点是“有争议的 (controversial)”。

28. H (moderate)。解析：位于介词 of 和名词 exercise 之间，与前面的 vigorous（剧烈的）形成对比，需要填入形容词。意为 150 分钟的“适度的/中等强度的 (moderate)”运动。

29. I (participated)。解析：位于 who 引导的定语从句中，作谓语动词，且搭配介词 in，描述过去发生的事件。`participate in` 意为“参与/参加 (participated)”调查。

30. O (upper)。解析：位于不定冠词 an 和名词 limit 之间，需要填入以元音音素开头的形容词。`upper limit` 是固定搭配，意为“上限 (upper)”。

31. M (seemingly)。解析：位于 there was 和 no limit 之间，修饰整个句子或 no limit，需要填入副词。研究人员发现运动对长寿的益处“似乎/表面上 (seemingly)”没有上限。

32. L (risk)。解析：位于形容词比较级 lower 之后，介词 of 之前，需要填入名词。`risk of death` 意为“死亡风险 (risk)”。

33. J (patterns)。解析：位于动词 find 之后，需要填入名词作宾语。观察性研究不能证明因果关系，只能发现数据中的“模式/规律 (patterns)”。

34. A (adjust)。解析：位于 be able to 之后，搭配介词 for，需要填入动词原形。`adjust for` 意为在研究或统计中对某因素进行“调整/校正 (adjust)”。

35. G (limitations)。解析：位于介词 Despite 和指示代词 these 之后，需要填入复数名词。上文提到了该研究不能证明因果、不能控制变量等缺点，这些都是该研究的“局限性 (limitations)”。

核心搭配与高分句型

【核心搭配与高频短语】

• be linked to：与...有关联（is linked to a longer life）
• have an impact on：对...产生影响（have a meaningful impact on health）
• participate in：参与，参加（participated in the National Health Interview Survey）
• contrary to：与...相反（Contrary to some research）
• upper limit：上限（an upper limit to the amount of exercise）
• cause and effect：因果关系（cannot prove cause and effect）
• adjust for：对...进行调整/校正（统计学术语）（adjust for certain lifestyle factors）
• an indication of：...的迹象/表明（another indication of the power of physical activity）

【亮点句型解析】

• The idea that 引导同位语从句：
  "Still, the idea that exercising for just 10 minutes a week may be enough to increase your lifespan is novel."
  （尽管如此，每周仅锻炼10分钟就足以延长寿命的想法是新颖的。）`that` 引导的从句对抽象名词 `idea` 的内容进行了具体解释。这是一个非常标准的高级长难句结构，主语极长，谓语动词 `is` 放在最后。
• Even + 比较成分 (强调句型)：
  "Even the small group of people who got 10 times the amount of exercise... had a 46% lower risk of death than the least active group."
  （即使是那些运动量达到推荐量10倍的一小群人，其死亡风险也比最不活跃的群体低46%。）使用 `Even` 引导极端情况的例子，搭配定语从句修饰主语，再结合比较级，极具说服力地证明了运动益处“没有上限”。