All over the world people enjoy sports. Sports help to keep people healthy and happy, and to live longer.

    Many people like to watch others play games. They buy tickets or turn on their TVs to watch the games. Often they get very excited when "their" player or team wins.

    Some sports are so interesting that people everywhere go in for(参加) them. Football, for example, has spread(展开)around the world. Swimming is popular in all countries near the sea or in those with many rivers. What fun it is to jump into a pool or lake, whether in China, Egypt or Italy! And think of people in cold countries. Think how many love to skate or ski (滑雪) in Japan, Norway or Canada.

    Some sports or games go back thousands of years, like running or jumping. Chinese wushu, for example, has a very long history. But basketball and volleyball are rather new. Neither one is a hundred years old yet. People are inventing new sports or games all the time. Water-skiing is one of the newest in the family of sports.

    People from different countries may not be able to understand each other, but after a game together they often become good friends. Sports help to train(培养,训练) a person's character(性格,品格). One learns to fight hard but fight fair, to win without pride and to lose with grace(胜不骄，败不馁).

    According to Gallup's annual Global Emotions report, people all over the world are more stressed than ever before. Nearly 40 percent of adults from 146 countries reported having experienced worry or stress. And it isn't just adults experiencing these high stress levels; experts have also observed a rise in the number of children and youth. According to another study published in EurekAlert, one in five students are so stressed that they've considered self-harm or suicide. The immense stress they face has been proven to be harmful to their health.

    It's no news that stress can trigger anxiety, depression and self-harming behaviors, and cause sleep problems, social withdrawal, angry outbursts and obsessive-compulsive behaviors. We are moving towards a society where an increasing number of us face mental health problems that stem from high stress levels. If stress increases rapidly, how can we fight it?

    It might sound easier said than done but studies have shown that the best way to deal with stress is to change your perception(认识) of it.

    The University of Wisconsin conducted a study of 30,000 Americans. Researchers asked them how much stress they'd experienced in the past year and whether they believed stress was harming their health. The researchers concluded that people in the study who were exposed to large amounts of stress and viewed stress as harmful had 43 percent higher risk of dying than people who viewed stress as a helpful response.

    More interestingly, those with more positive perceptions of stress had the lowest risk of death out of all involved in the study, even lower than those experiencing very little stress.

    A separate study conducted by researchers from King's College London and the University of Marburg showed students with more negative beliefs about stress experienced more physical symptoms, such as headaches, tension and tiredness during a stressful end-of-semester exam period, compared with students who had more positive beliefs about stress.

    These two studies have proven that stress itself is not actually bad. It is the belief that stress is bad that is bad.

    30 November 2017,Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic defeated Scottish Andy Murray 6-1,7-5,7-6 in the Australian Open 2017 final to win the Grand Slam event (大满贯)for the sixth time. Murray has lost five Australian Open finals, facing Djokovic in all but one of them.

    Djokovic dominated the first set, winning 6-1 in just half an hour. He served seven aces (得分的发球)in total in the match. Murray fought back in the second set, which went up to twelve games lasting for 80 minutes. It was the longest set and Murray had nine aces, twelve in total for the match. Djokovic had 41 unforced errors, compared to Murray's 65.

    The third set lasted for 63 minutes and at 6-6 it went to a tie breaker, which Djokovic won 7-3, to win the eleventh Grand Slam title of his career.

    Djokovic has now equalled the record of Roy Emerson winning six Australian Opens. Djokovic after the match said,“Andy, you are a great champion and friend. I'm sure you'll have more opportunities to fight for this trophy”.Murray congratulated Djokovic, saying “I feel like I've been here before. Congratulations, Novak. Six Australian Opens is an incredible feat (业绩).The last year has been incredible. Good job.” He also left a message for his wife Kim Sears,“I'll be on the next flight home.” The couple is expecting a baby.

    Yesterday, Jamie Murray, Andy Murray's elder brother, won the Australian Open Men's doubles with Bruno Soares. Andy Murray was there in the audience, recording his brother's speech, to which Jamie said,“Andy, you should be in bed!”

    In earliest times, men considered lightning to be one of the great mysteries (神秘的事物)of nature. Some ancient peoples believed that lightning and thunder were the weapons (武器) of the gods.

    In reality, lightning is a flow of electricity formed high above the earth. A single flash of lightning 1.6 kilometres long has enough electricity to light one million light bulbs (灯泡).

    The American scientist and statesman, Benjamin Franklin, was the first to show the connection between electricity and lightning in 1752. In the same year he also built the first lightning rod (避雷针). This device (装置物) protects buildings from being damaged by lightning.

    Modern science has discovered that one stroke (闪击) of lightning has a voltage (电压) of more than 15 million volts (伏特). A flash of lightning between a cloud and the earth may be as long as 13 kilometers, and travel at a speed of 30 million meters per second.

    Scientists judge that there are about 2,000 million flashes of lightning per year. Lightning hits the Empire State Building in New York City 30 to 48 times a year. In the United States alone it kills an average (平均数) of one person every day.

    The safest place to be in case of an electrical storm is in a closed car. Outside, one should go to low ground and not get under tress. Also, one should stay out of water and away from metal fences. Inside a house, people should avoid open doorways and windows and not touch wires or metal things.

    With lightning, it is better to be safe than sorry?

    The spine (脊柱) stands at the center of your health, providing your body with structure and support. It also contains a major collection of nerves that deliver electric signals from the rest of the body to your brain. So it's important to take care of it.

    Staying in a good position is one of the most important things to keep your spine healthy. A proper position means standing or sitting while keeping your spins straight, except for its natural bending. Positions play a vital part even when you're asleep. Stomach sleeping is far from a good idea. Many people prefer sleeping on their side, which is in the interests of their spine. Sleeping on your back has lots of benefits yet can cause lower back pain and put some pressure on your spine.

    Staying still for too long — even if your position is good — can be hard on your back. Especially if you work at a task most of the day, it's important to get up and stretch (伸展) periodically. Strength exercises with light weights like push-ups can also help by strengthening the muscles. However, don't overdo the exercise, as repeated movements can hurt the muscles around the spine, as trying to lift heavy weights with poor technique.

    Vitamins also affect the health of your spine. In particular, vitamin B and omega-3 fatty acids help keep nerves healthy. Another important part is vitamin D, which is required for strong bones. Vitamin D can come from some foods, but it's also absorbed from sunlight, so it may help to do some exercises outside. At last, many of the actions necessary to keep a spine healthy are similar to those used to protect your health in other ways. So protect your back, and the rest of the body will benefit.

The Tokyo Olympics have been postponed until 2021. That delay offers a chance for reflection. The International Olympic Committee wants to make the games more popular with young people. To that end, it is introducing new events, such as skateboarding, surfing and climbing. Why not go further and let national teams compete at video games? Electronic sports such as "Fortnite", are vastly more popular than strange Olympic sports like curling (冰壶). In fact, they are more appealing than most mainstream sports. Only 28% of British boys aged 16-19 watch any traditional live sports; 57% play video games.

Some may complain that e-sports are not proper sports. Many parents, observing their teenagers sitting on the sofa all day shouting "Quick, pass me the shotgun!" at a screen, would agree. Yet video games are highly competitive, with professional teams that play to packed stadiums. There are perhaps only 200 tennis stars in the world who can make a living from playing in major competitions. By contrast, "League of Legends", a fantasy game played by teams of five, supports over 1,000 on good wages. Its World Championship final last year was watched by 44 million people.

Those against e-sports offer moral objections, too. They are addictive. Prince Harry has called for "Fortnite" to be banned for this reason. They are violent. At a time of global disharmony, it is bad idea to make virtual (虚拟的) killing an Olympic sport. The Olympics aim to promote peace.

Neither of these arguments is convincing. The idea that an activity, rather than material, can be addictive is controversial among doctors, as is the existence of a causal (因果的) link between gaming and violence. And the belief that warlike sports have no place in the Olympics is hard to agree with history. Wrestling was introduced in 708 BC. It is still there.