阅读理解。
For a while, my neighborhood was taken ever by an army of joggers (慢跑的人). They were there all
the time: early morning, noon, and evening. There were little old ladies in gray sweats, young couples in
Adidas shoes, middle-aged men with red faces. "Come on!" My friend Alex encouraged me to join him as
he jogged by my house every evening. "You'll feel great."
Well, I had nothing against feeling great and if Alex could jog every day, anyone could. So I took up
jogging seriously and gave it a good two months of my life, and not a day more. Based on my experience,
jogging is the most overvalued form of exercise around, and judging from the number of the people who
left our neighborhood jogging army. I'm not alone in my opinion.
First of all, jogging is very hard on the body. Your legs and feet a real pounding (沉重的脚步) ruining
down a road for two or three miles. I developed foot, leg, and back problems. Then I read about a nationally
famous jogger who died of a heart attack while jogging, and I had something else to worry about. Jogging
doesn't kill hundreds of people, but if you have any physical weaknesses, jogging will surely bring them out,
as they did with me.
Secondly, I got no enjoyment out of jogging. Putting one foot in front of the other for forty-five minutes
isn't my idea of fun. Jogging is also a lonely pastime. Some joggers say, "I love being out there with just my
thoughts" Well, my thoughts began to bore me, and most of them were on how much my legs hurt.
And how could I enjoy something that brought me pain? And that wasn't just the first week-it was
practically every day for two months. I never got past the pain level, and pain isn't fun. What a cruel way to
do it! So many other exercises, including walking, lead to almost the same results painlessly, so why jog?
I don't jog any more, and I don't think I ever will. I'm walking two miles three times a week at a fast
pace, and that feels good. I bicycle to work when the weather is good. I'm getting exercise, and I'm enjoying
it at the same time. I could never say the same for jogging, and I've found a lot of better ways to stay in shape.
1. From the first paragraph, we learn that in the writer's neighborhood ______.
A. jogging became very popular
B. people jogged only during the daytime
C. Alex organized an army of joggers
D. jogging provided a chance to get together
2. The underlined word "them" (Paragraph 3) most probably refers to _____.
A. heart attacks
B. back problems
C. hundreds of people
D. physical weaknesses
3. From the writer's experience, we can conclude that______.
A. jogging can help people keep fit
B. many physical problems result from jogging
C. not everyone enjoys jogging
D. jogging makes people feel greater
