A new research study suggests that just thinking of exercising can have the same effects as actually hitting the gym. A recent study published in the Journal of Neurophysiology found that simply imagining exercise can tone muscle, delay atrophy, and even make your muscles stronger.

Researchers at Ohio University made an experiment using two sets of ‘healthy individuals.'The researchers wrapped the wrists of one of the sets and gave them instructions to sit still for 11 minutes, five days a week, for four weeks, and imagine exercising.The other set were not given any instruction.

The results showed that the body and mind are more intertwined than we thought.At the end of the four weeks, the participants in the ‘mental exercise' were twice as strong as those who didn't.

Exercising imagery techniques are even commonly used by professional athletes to improve performance.

What our study suggests is that imagery exercises could be a valuable tool to prevent or slow muscles from becoming weaker when a health problem limits or restricts a person’s movement,' Brian Clark, a professor in the college said in a statement.'This information may fundamentally change how we think about muscle weakness in the elderly,' Clark said. 

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1.“Thinking of exercising” is equal to__________in the passage.

A hitting the gym

B imagining exercise

C improve performance

D delay atrophy

解析：选B。B 语义推测题。thinking of exercising意为“想象锻炼”与imagining exercise同义，故选B。

2.Where does Brian Clark work?

A Harvard University.

B Yale University.

C University of Chicago.

D Ohio University.

解析：选D。D 语义推测题。根据第二段第一句Researchers at Ohio University made an experiment…以及最后一段Brian Clark, a professor in the college可知，故选D。

3.How many minutes did the people in the experiment sit still in all?

A 11

B 44

C 20

D 220

解析：选D。D 判断推理题。根据第二段内容，试验者每天静坐11分钟、每周5天、总共四周可知总共静坐了220分钟，故选D。

4.What kind of people has used 'mental exercise' before the study?

A Professional athletes.

B Teachers in Ohio University.

C Students in Ohio University.

D Soldiers in army.

解析：选A。A 细节理解题。根据倒数第二段Exercising imagery techniques are even commonly used by professional athletes to improve performance.可知，故选A。

5.“Imagining exercise” can help treat .

A muscles atrophy

B AIDS.

C heart disease.

D stroke(中风)

解析：选A。A 内容理解题。根据文章内容可知，想象锻炼对治疗肌肉萎缩有作用，文中并没有提到想象锻炼对治疗艾滋病、心脏病、中风有帮助，故选A。