How much should you exercise? Many of us have certain ideas in our heads about what works best to keep us "in shape" and what does not. Five days a week, four days a week? Is two enough?

Luckily, science has come to the rescue with a surprising conclusion- and a somewhat tough one to swallow if you have trouble motivating yourself to work out.

We spoke recently to Shawn Arent, an exercise scientist at Rutgers University, and asked him about this. He said there was a huge difference between working out two and three days a week. While any amount of exercise is an improvement over none at all, if you're already in decent shape, exercising for just two days a week will not get you much additional benefit.

Here's what he told us when we asked him how often you should exercise:

"A minimum of three days per week, for a structured exercise program. Technically, you should do something every day, and by something I mean physical activity-just move. Because we're finding more and more that the act of sitting counteracts any of the activity you do.

"But there's an interesting split between exercising two days per week and three days per week, and it has to do with the frequency you stimulate the system. So with three days per week-you get significant gains early on, and you're going to want to progress beyond that three, ideally. Two days per week, you don't get much change-you just don't do it frequently enough to have some of the other positive health outcomes that come along with it.

本时文内容由奇速英语国际教育研究院原创编写，禁止复制和任何商业用途，版权所有，侵权必究！

1.What’s the best title of the passage?

A How to do exercise

B What’s the best time to exercise

C Where to exercise

D How much should you exercise

解析：选D。D 主旨大意题。根据文章第1段第1句How much should you exercise?可知。

2.What does Shawn Arent do?

A A scientist

B A teacher

C A doctor

D A manager

解析：选A。A 细节理解题。根据文章第2段第1句We spoke recently to Shawn Arent, an exercise scientist at Rutgers University…可知。

3.There is difference between ________.

A 1 day a week and 2 days a week.

B 2 days a week and 3 days a week.

C 3 days a week and 4 days a week.

D 4 days a week and 5 days a week.

解析：选B。B 细节理解题。根据文章第2段第2句He said there was a huge difference between working out two and three days a week.可知。

4.What does the underlined word “stimulate” mean in Chinese?

A 鼓励

B 刺激

C 冒犯

D 强迫

解析：选B。B 词义猜测题。根据后文So with three days per week-you get significant gains early on, and you're going to want to progress beyond that three, ideally.可知。

5.Where may you see the passage?

A In a sports magazine

B In a story book

C In a poster

D In a fashion website

解析：选A。A 推理判断题。根据文章第1段Five days a week, four days a week? Is two enough? Luckily, science has come to the rescue with a surprising conclusion可知，文章在讲锻炼，故选A。