Contents:
Từ vựng: apps and electronic devices, improve, fitness, agriculture, conference, publish, articles, climate change, antibiotic, Sports psychologists, calories, consume, fitness tracker, body metabolises calories, motivation, Technology
Writing: MONITORING FITNESS
1. VOCABULARY
/æps ənd ɪˌlɛkˈtrɑnɪk dɪˈvaɪsəz/
Apps and electronic devices : a computer program an object or machine that is designed for a particular purpose
/ɪmˈpruːv/
To get better, or to make something better
/ˈfɪt.nəs/
Activities relating to keeping healthy and strong, especially through exercise
/ˈæɡ.rə.kʌl.tʃɚ/
The practice or work of farming
/ˈkɑːn.fɚ.əns/
An event, sometimes lasting a few days, at which there are a lot of talks and meetings about a particular subject
/ˈpʌb.lɪʃ/
To make available to the public, usually by printing, a book, magazine, newspaper, or other document
/ˈɑːr.t̬ɪ.kəl/
A piece of writing on a particular subject in a newspaper or magazine
/ˈklaɪ.mət ˌtʃeɪndʒ/
Changes in the world’s weather, particularly an increase in temperature, thought to be caused by things such as carbon dioxide in the atmosphere
/ˌæn.t̬i.baɪˈɑː.t̬ɪk/
A medicine or chemical that can destroy harmful bacteria in the body or limit their growth
/ˈspɔːrts saɪˌkɑː.lə.dʒɪst/
Someone who studies how psychology influences sport and exercise, especially someone who works with athletes to improve their performance
/ˈkæl.ɚ.i/
A unit used in measuring the amount of energy food provides when eaten and digested
/kənˈsuːm/
To use fuel, energy, or time, esp. in large amounts
/ˈfɪt.nəs ˌtræk.ɚ/
An electronic device, usually worn on the wrist, that is designed to record information about your physical fitness and activity, for example your heart rate and how many steps you have walked
/ˈbɑdi metabolises ˈkæləriz/
Change food in the body into energy and new cells
/ˌmoʊ.t̬əˈveɪ.ʃən/
Enthusiasm for doing something
/tekˈnɑː.lə.dʒi/
The methods for using scientific discoveries for practical purposes, esp. in industry
2. READING
MONITORING FITNESS
Technology has become an important aspect of life for people who want to get and stay fit. They use apps on their smartphones or other devices, for example, to count the number of steps they take every day, to measure their heart rate, to record their sleep patterns and to work out how many calories they consume.
Sports scientists recognise that deciding to use a fitness tracker or app is good because it means a person is curious about health and keen to improve their habits. If the attractive design of a device or apps encourages an interest in keeping fit, its impact is clearly positive. After all, many people have reported that fitness devices have motivated them to get off the sofa and go for a walk after dinner.
Unfortunately, however, many of those after-dinner walkers have added that when their devices broke and they no longer knew how many steps they had taken, there seemed little point in heading out for that walk. Consequently, sports scientists agree that people need to be aware of the fact that apps alone are not
enough.
One of the problems with fitness trackers is that usually measure very limited pieces of information – steps taken, movements when asleep or heart rate, for example – and this does not give a clear overall picture of a person’s health. They may record that someone worked out for two hours on a rowing machine, but not that they then spent the rest of the day eating pizza and watching DVDs. In other words, fitness apps can help people to deceive themselves about how healthy their lifestyle is.
What sports psychologists recommend users of electronic fitness devices to do is raise their awareness of how their body looks. No one actually needs an app to tell them that they have had a bad night’s sleep, the bags under their eyes can do that just as well. And if people want to lose weight, they might it more effective to take a regular look at themselves in the mirror rather than try to motivate themselves to diet by checking everything they eat against a calorie counting app.
Unfortunately, tracking the calories is also ineffective because the body metabolises calories from sugar differently than those from fat.
Keeping a fitness diary is also useful. In it, people should record what they ate and what their mood was two or three hours later. Tracking calories in a food app after eating a large tub of ice scream is not going to solve anyone’s problems. Keeping a fitness diary helps people to eat well and exercise not for the sake of meeting the app’s artificial targets, but because exercise makes anyone feel, look and be better.
3. TEST STRATEGY
Listening: Underline the key words in the sentences. Then listen out for these key words or their synonyms/paraphrases. This will help you understand which part of the recording the answer is in. Remember to check your spelling.
Speaking: In part 1 of the speaking test, you often have to talk about your education and studies. Learning a range of words related to education and studying can help improve your performance.
Speaking & Writing: Try to use both V + adverb structures and adj + N structures in Writing and Speaking.