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If you spend most of your days sitting at school, work, at a computer or stretched out on a couch at
home, you may be taking up to two years off your life. It is common knowledge that a sedentary
lifestyle increases the risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer and obesity, and can result in
premature death. Many people think they can compensate for sitting around by walking, playing
sports or going to the gym. Unfortunately, this might not be so. A new study just published in the
journal 'Annals of Internal Medicine' suggests the effect on our longevity from sitting for long
periods of time cannot be reversed through exercise. Even 60 minutes of daily exercise may not be
enough.
The study is from Dr David Alter and his colleagues at Toronto University. Dr Alter and his team
analysed 47 studies that tracked different groups of people, who kept notes on how long they sat
down each day and how much they exercised. They found that the most sedentary groups had a 24%
increased chance of dying during the course of the study than the least sedentary ones. This
remained the case even though those who sat a lot also did 60 minutes of daily exercise. Dr Alter
writes: "Reducing your sit-down time by 2-3 hours each day by standing up at your desk, taking
frequent breaks to stretch and walk, or watching TVon your feet may be better than an expensive,
crowded,
smelly
gym
and
be
just
what
the
doctor
ordered."
SYNONYM MATCH:Match the following synonyms from the article.
1.
2
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
couch
sedentary
increases
compensate for
periods
colleagues
analysed
chance
frequent
crowded
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
h.
i.
j.
inactive
packed
co-workers
examined
cancel out
sofa
regular
heightens
possibility
spells
Read the text and make necessary changes to the verbs. The tenses that are used in the text: Present
Simple, Present Continuous, Present Perfect Simple, Past Simple.
We _______________(be) at a party today. Today Nick _______________ (have) a birthday. Many
guests _______________ (already/come) to his party. Everybody_______________ (be) happy.
Lisa _______________ (dance) with Mark. Tina _______________ (hold) some drinks and ice-cream.
Barbara and Tina _______________ (talk) about the party. They _______________ (like) the party.
They _______________ (buy) beautiful dresses for the party yesterday and now they _______________
(discuss) the prices for the clothes. Michael_______________ (stand) at the table. He _______________
(not/eat) anything yet and he _______________ (be) hungry. He _______________ (get) up three hours ago
and he _______________ (not/have) time for lunch yet. He _______________ (go) to bed very late
yesterday. So it _______________ (be) difficult for him to get up in the morning. Nicks
parents _______________ (go) to visit their friends. They _______________ (not come) back yet.
Yesterday all the family _______________ (be) very busy. They _______________ (do) many things for
Nicks party. Nicks mother _______________ (cook) many tasty things. Nick also _______________
(help) her. Nicks father _______________ (not cook) anything because he _______________ (be) very
busy at work. Nicks sister Patricia _______________ (bake) a nice cake and Nicks
brother _______________ (clean) the house.
So today Nick and his friends _______________ (celebrate) his birthday. Many happy returns of the day,
Nick!