【挑战TIME】08期：VideoGamesThatKeepKidsFit

【 Introduction 】 
Fat, one of the biggest headache of Americans, have a new way to deal with. Researchers have found that Video Games may help you loss weight, which make Video Games find their way to U.S. high school. Believe it or not – just enjoy this article from Journal of Time. 
  
【 Fast Reading 】 
　　　　　　Video Games That Keep Kids Fit 

That would be more surprising if students in Rogers were the only ones plugging into interactive workouts, but they're not. Some 2,000 schools in at least 35 states have begun to set up exergaming fitness centers with motion sensors and touch-sensitive floor mats to allow kids to control the action onscreen not just with their thumbs but also with their bodies. Do enough dancing or kung-fu kicks, and you just might get the same level of exercise as from chasing a soccer ball. What's more, this is a workout kids don't try to duck. "Physical education used to be a joke," says Dr. John Ratey, an associate professor of psychiatry at HarvardMedicalSchool and author of Spark, an upcoming book about exercise. "That has changed simply because we are catching up with the gamer generation."

Finding a way to help this most sedentary age group is more important than ever. Nearly 17% of U.S. kids are considered overweight or obese, and many more are struggling. Meanwhile, as scale numbers are climbing, school budgets for P.E. are falling. As a result, fewer than 10% of elementary schools meet the National Association for Sport and Physical Education's standard of students spending 150 minutes a week in gym class.

The high-tech answer to the problem came two years ago when West VirginiaUniversity studied the health effects of an exergaming system called Dance Dance Revolution (DDR)--interactive games that instruct kids to use their feet to tap buttons on a sensor mat. After a pilot program found the games were beneficial, the state vowed to install consoles in all its public schools by next year. (It didn't hurt the study's credibility that it was funded in part by an insurance company, not by the gamemaker.) Since then, other districts have climbed aboard, helped by video-game makers like Nintendo and Sony, which are designing systems to meet the demand; small companies like Expresso Fitness that donate equipment; and federal grants and private donations that bankroll the purchase of equipment. "The old system is failing kids," says Phil Lawler, director of training and outreach at PE4life, a noNPRofit based in Kansas City, Mo., that helps modernize P.E. "We are tricking them into exercising."

A gaming system, which can cost up to $4,000 a pop, is more expensive than, say, a kickball, but the fact is, it may work just as well. In January the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., found that obese kids burned six times as many calories playing DDR as they did with a traditional video game. And in July the wonderfully named Alasdair Thin, a researcher of human physiology at Heroit-WattUniversity in Edinburgh, Scotland, found that college students burned twice as many calories playing an active video game in which they dodged and kicked for 30 minutes as they did walking on a treadmill. Studies have not yet shown how the new games measure up against a real session of, say, soccer or wind sprints.

Of course, since a child told to hustle around a track pretty much has to do it, critics argue that there's no need for video games in gym classes even if they do have some health benefits. But there's a physical difference between an hour of exercise enthusiastically pursued and one that's merely plodded through. And, Lawler says, "most kids aren't volunteering to do pull-ups after school." Develop a taste for aerobic video games, however, and you just might carry the habit home.

But can anything hold the fruit-fly attention span of kids? "Video games are not the answer," says Warren Gendel, founder of Fitwize 4 Kids, a chain of traditional children's gyms. "Kids will get bored and be back on the couch." Maybe, but that won't stop the games from coming. Fisher-Price just began selling a video-game bike for toddlers. No word yet on a version for the prewalking crowd--but don't bet against it.

【 Analysis 】

Marked with green color ----- New Words(analysis in section 2)

Underlined with green line ----- Good Sentences(analysis in section 3)

Marked with red color ----- Good usage of words or phrases (analysis in section 2 or 3)

That would be more surprising if students in Rogers were the only ones plugging into interactive workouts , but they're not . Some 2,000 schools in at least 35 states have begun to set up exergaming fitness centers with motion sensors and touch-sensitive floor mats to allow kids to control the action onscreen not just with their thumbs but also with their bodies. Do enough dancing or kung-fu kicks, and you just might get the same level of exercise as from chasing a soccer ball. What's more, this is a workout kids don't try to duck. "Physical education used to be a joke," says Dr. John Ratey, an associate professor of psychiatry at HarvardMedicalSchool and author of Spark, an upcoming book about exercise. "That has changed simply because we are catching up with the gamer generation."

Finding a way to help this most sedentary age group is more important than ever. Nearly 17% of U.S. kids are considered overweight or obese, and many more are struggling. Meanwhile, as scale numbers are climbing, school budgets for P.E. are falling. As a result, fewer than 10% of elementary schools meet the National Association for Sport and Physical Education's standard of students spending 150 minutes a week in gym class.

The high-tech answer to the problem came two years ago when West VirginiaUniversity studied the health effects of an exergaming system called Dance Dance Revolution (DDR)--interactive games that instruct kids to use their feet to tap buttons on a sensor mat. After a pilot program found the games were beneficial , the state vowed to install consoles in all its public schools by next year. (It didn't hurt the study's credibility that it was funded in part by an insurance company , not by the gamemaker.) Since then, other districts have climbed aboard, helped by video-game makers like Nintendo and Sony, which are designing systems to meet the demand; small companies like Expresso Fitness that donate equipment; and federal grants and private donations that bankroll the purchase of equipment. "The old system is failing kids ," says Phil Lawler, director of training and outreach at PE4life, a noNPRofit based in Kansas City, Mo., that helps modernize P.E. "We are tricking them into exercising."

A gaming system, which can cost up to $4,000 a pop, is more expensive than, say, a kickball, but the fact is, it may work just as well. In January the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., found that obese kids burned six times as many calories playing DDR as they did with a traditional video game. And in July the wonderfully named Alasdair Thin, a researcher of human physiology at Heroit-WattUniversity in Edinburgh, Scotland, found that college students burned twice as many calories playing an active video game in which they dodged and kicked for 30 minutes as they did walking on a treadmill . Studies have not yet shown how the new games measure up against a real session of, say, soccer or wind sprints .

Of course, since a child told to hustle around a track pretty much has to do it, critics argue that there's no need for video games in gym classes even if they do have some health benefits. But there's a physical difference between an hour of exercise enthusiastically pursued and one that's merely plodded through. And, Lawler says, "most kids aren't volunteering to do pull-ups after school." Develop a taste for aerobic video games, however, and you just might carry the habit home.

But can anything hold the fruit-fly attention span of kids? "Video games are not the answer," says Warren Gendel, founder of Fitwize 4 Kids, a chain of traditional children's gyms. "Kids will get bored and be back on the couch." Maybe, but that won't stop the games from coming. Fisher-Price just began selling a video-game bike for toddlers . No word yet on a version for the prewalking crowd--but don't bet against it.

【 Section one 】 Vocabulary

warrior (formal) (especially in the past) a person who fights in a battle or war: a warrior nation (= whose people are skilled in fighting)

mat a small piece of thick carpet or strong material that is used to cover part of a floor

duck to move somewhere quickly, especially in order to avoid being seen

sedentary    (of people) spending a lot of time sitting down and not moving

sedentary age group

a pilot program

pilot done on a small scale in order to see if sth is successful enough to do on a large scale

beneficial ~ (to sth/sb) (written) improving a situation; having a helpful or useful effect
Synonym: FAVOURABLE, ADVANTAGEOUS
a good diet is beneficial to health ◆ They finally came to a mutually beneficial agreement.

vow  to make a formal and serious promise to do sth or a formal statement that is true:

[V to inf] She vowed never to speak to him again. ◆ [V (that)] He vowed (that) he had not hurt her. ◆ [VN] They vowed eternal friendship. [also V speech]

console a flat surface which contains all the controls and switches for a machine, a piece of electronic equipment, etc. 控制台，操纵台

bankroll informal, especially AmE) to support sb/sth financially

dodge   to move quickly and suddenly to one side in order to avoid sb/sth

treadmill    especially in the past) a large wheel turned by the weight of people or animals walking on steps around its inside edge, and used to operate machinery n. 踏车，单调乏味的工作

hustle to make sb move quickly by pushing them in a rough aggressive way

track a rough path or road, usually one that has not been built but that has been made by people walking there

plod to walk slowly with heavy steps, especially because you are tired

pull-up 引体向上

toddler   a child who has only recently learnt to walk

【 Section two 】 Good phrases and sentences

That would be more surprising if students in Rogers were the only ones plugging into interactive workouts , but they're not .

That would be more…. if… , but they're not .

workout a period of physical exercise that you do to keep fit: She does a 20-minute workout every morning.

not just with their thumbs but also with their bodies

associate professor

the gamer generation

kung-fu kicks

you just might get the same level of exercise as from chasing a soccer ball

it was funded in part by an insurance company

obese kids burned six times as many calories playing DDR as they did with a traditional video game.

Studies have not yet shown how the new games measure up against a real session of, say, soccer or wind sprints .

Studies have not yet shown…..

measure up against Phrasal Verbs: measure sb/sth against sb/sth :to compare sb/sth with sb/sth: The figures are not very good when measured against those of our competitors. ◆ a series of tasks that measure candidates against each other
measure sth<->out to take the amount of sth that you need from a larger amount: He measured out a cup of milk and added it to the mixture.
measure up
measure sb/sth<->up to measure sb/sth: We spent the morning measuring up and deciding where the furniture would go.
measure up (to sth/sb) (usually used in negative sentences and questions) to be as good, successful, etc. as expected or needed
Synonym: MATCH UP
Last year's intake just didn't measure up. ◆ The job failed to measure up to her expectations.

attention span

Your concentration span or your attention span is the length of time you are able to concentrate on something or be interested in it.
His ability to absorb information was astonishing, but his concentration span was short.
Young children have a limited attention span and can't concentrate on one activity for very long.

【 Homework 】

1. Please translate sentences into Chinese.
1) Of course, since a child told to hustle around a track pretty much has to do it, critics argue that there's no need for video games in gym classes even if they do have some health benefits. 

2) No word yet on a version for the prewalking crowd--but don't bet against it.

2. Make a sentence using the one of the good phrases mentioned in Analysis section?

3. Do the Video Games should be introduced into school? What do you think of that? Why? 

参考答案及解析：

1)Of course, since a child told to hustle around a track pretty much has to do it, critics argue that there's no need for video games in gym classes even if they do have some health benefits.

当然，反对者指出既然要求孩子跑圈孩子就会去跑，那么尽管电子游戏对健康有点好处，也没必要让它进入体育课。

2)No word yet on a version for the prewalking crowd--but don't bet against it.

至今没有消息称会专为学走路孩子们设计一款，但也别断定以后就一定没有

(no word 没说
a version是说前面提到的产品的一种款式
bet against 这个不是常用的组合，against是反过来的意思，这里指说这个产品不会出现，bet是have faith or confidence in的意思，所以整体我翻译成断定)