为什么建议每天最少走7000步？

虽然我们经常听说“每天走一万步”有益健康，但最新研究发现，其实只要每天走7000步，就能大幅降低患心脏病、老年痴呆或抑郁症的风险。

今天你练听力了吗？

🤔️小作业：

1. Which of the following can be reasonably inferred from the article?

A. People who walk 4000 steps a day live significantly longer than those who walk 7000

B. The official UK guidelines for physical activity may not be easily interpreted by the general public

C. Smartphone pedometers are more accurate than wrist-worn trackers

D. The 10,000-step goal was established through medical research

无注释原文：

Walking 7000 steps a day seems to be enough to keep us healthy

From: New Scientist

We are often told to aim for 10,000 steps a day to maintain good health, but it turns out that taking just 7000 steps every 24 hours can significantly reduce the risk of conditions such as heart disease, dementia and depression.

The 10,000 steps target is thought to have originated from a marketing campaign promoting pedometers in Japan. However, research suggests that it does have some merit.

Official advice around exercise doesn't typically include step counts. In the UK, for instance, at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity a week, or 75 minutes of vigorous activity, is recommended for most adults.

“When you ask regular people on the street, they won't be able to answer [whether they achieve] that, because how are you supposed to read 'moderate to vigorous'?” says Melody Ding at the University of Sydney in Australia.

Step counts, which can be measured by wrist-worn pedometers or smartphones, can be a useful way to track activity, so Ding and her colleagues wanted to better understand what number is needed to maintain good health.

The team reviewed 57 studies, published between 2014 and 2025. These covered hundreds of thousands of adults, most of whom hadn't been diagnosed with a serious health condition at the start of those studies.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the more active people were, the better their health outcomes, with 10,000 steps being superior to 7000. But the latter still had serious benefits. The researchers found that the people who walked around 7000 steps a day had a 47 per cent lower risk of dying from any cause over the studies' follow-up periods, on average, compared with taking just 2000 steps a day. They also had a 25 per cent lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease and a 47 per cent lower risk of dying from it.

That step count also seems to reduce the risk of death from cancer by 37 per cent, the risk of developing dementia by 38 per cent and the risk of getting depressive symptoms by 22 per cent.

“It's really important to not discourage people from taking 10,000 steps, because it's not that after 7000 steps it becomes harmful,” says Ding. But 7000 steps is “a lot more accessible and approachable” for a lot of people, she says.

“A wider number of people might see 7000 steps as far more achievable than 10,000, which is the typical threshold on fitness trackers,” says Laura Fleming at Teesside University in the UK.

But Ding also says that if the 7000 target is still too challenging, people should try to move as much as they can. For instance, the team found that taking 4000 steps a day reduced the risk of dying during a study's follow-up period by 36 per cent, compared with just 2000 steps.

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注：完整题目见本文开头；中文文本为机器翻译并非一一对应，仅供参考

含注释全文：

Walking 7000 steps a day seems to be enough to keep us healthy

From: New Scientist

We are often told to aim for 10,000 steps a day to maintain good health, but it turns out that taking just 7000 steps every 24 hours can significantly reduce the risk of conditions such as heart disease, dementia and depression.

虽然我们经常听说“每天走一万步”有益健康，但研究发现，其实只要每天走7000步，就能大幅降低患心脏病、老年痴呆或抑郁症的风险。

替dementia /dɪˈmenʃə/ 表示“（尤指老年性）痴呆”，英文解释为“a medical condition that affects especially old people, causing the memory and other mental abilities to gradually become worse, and leading to confused behaviour”

The 10,000 steps target is thought to have originated from a marketing campaign promoting pedometers in Japan. However, research suggests that it does have some merit.

“每天走一万步”这一说法最初可能只是日本推广计步器时的营销噱头，然而，研究表明这一目标确实具有一定价值。

originate /əˈrɪdʒ.ən.eɪt/ 表示“起源，发源，发端；产生”，英文解释为“to come from a particular place, time, situation, etc.”举个🌰：Although the technology originated in the UK, it has been developed in the US 尽管这项技术起源于英国，但它在美国得到了发展。

pedometer /peˈdɒm.ɪ.tər/ 表示“计步器，步程计”，英文解释为“a device that measures how far someone has walked by counting the number of times the feet are raised and put down again”

Official advice around exercise doesn't typically include step counts. In the UK, for instance, at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity a week, or 75 minutes of vigorous activity, is recommended for most adults.

官方健康指南通常并未强调步数，比如在英国，大多数成年人每周应进行至少150分钟中等强度锻炼，或75分钟高强度锻炼。

moderate /ˈmɒd.ər.ət/ 1）表示“中等的；不过分的，适度的”，英文解释为“neither small nor large in size, amount, degree, or strength”举个🌰：The cabin is of moderate size - just right for a small family. 这间小屋中等大小——正适合一个小家庭。

2）表示“（尤指政见）温和的，不激烈的，不偏激的”，英文解释为“Moderate opinions, especially political ones, are not extreme and are therefore acceptable to a large number of people.”

intensity /ɪnˈten.sə.ti/ 1）表示“强烈；剧烈”，英文解释为“the quality of being felt strongly or having a very strong effect”举个🌰：The explosion was of such intensity that it was heard five miles away. 爆炸的巨响5英里以外都能听见。

2）表示“（感情或看法的）强烈；认真；全情投入”，英文解释为“the quality of being very serious and having strong emotions or opinions”举个🌰：The intensity of their relationship was causing problems. 他们关系中所牵涉的感情强烈得引发了问题。

3）表示“（光、声等的）强度”，英文解释为“the strength of something that can be measured such as light, sound, etc.”如：measures of light intensity 光强度的测量。

vigorous /ˈvɪɡ.ər.əs/ 1）表示“充满活力的；有力量的；精力旺盛的”，英文解释为“very forceful or energetic”如：a vigorous debate 激烈的辩论。

2）表示“健壮的；强壮的”，英文解释为“healthy and strong”举个🌰：Cutting the bush back in the autumn will help promote vigorous growth in the spring. 秋天将灌木丛剪短有利于它在春天茁壮生长。

recommend /ˌrek.əˈmend/ 表示“推荐，介绍；建议”，英文解释为“to suggest that someone or something would be good or suitable for a particular job or purpose, or to suggest that a particular action should be done”举个🌰：I can recommend the chicken in mushroom sauce - it's delicious. 我可以向您推荐蘑菇汁鸡肉——这道菜非常可口。

📍单词“recommend”由词根“-mend”（来自拉丁语“mendare”，表示“赞扬”）和前缀“reco-”（表示强调）组成。

“When you ask regular people on the street, they won't be able to answer [whether they achieve] that, because how are you supposed to read 'moderate to vigorous'?” says Melody Ding at the University of Sydney in Australia.

“如果你去问街上的路人，他们很可能回答不上来是否达到了这些标准，因为‘中等到高强度’这种说法实在难以理解，”澳大利亚悉尼大学的丁梅洛迪（Melody Ding）说。

Step counts, which can be measured by wrist-worn pedometers or smartphones, can be a useful way to track activity, so Ding and her colleagues wanted to better understand what number is needed to maintain good health.

步数可以通过手腕佩戴的计步器或智能手机测量，记录步数便成为跟踪运动量的有效方式。为此，丁梅洛迪及其同事想弄清楚每天究竟要走多少步才足以保持健康。

wrist /rɪst/ 表示“手腕；腕关节”，英文解释为“the part of the body between the hand and the arm”举个🌰：I sprained my wrist playing tennis. 我打网球时扭伤了手腕。

The team reviewed 57 studies, published between 2014 and 2025. These covered hundreds of thousands of adults, most of whom hadn't been diagnosed with a serious health condition at the start of those studies.

研究团队分析了2014年至2025年间发表的57项研究，这些研究涵盖了数十万名成年人，其中大多数人在研究开始时未被诊断出重大健康问题。

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the more active people were, the better their health outcomes, with 10,000 steps being superior to 7000. But the latter still had serious benefits. The researchers found that the people who walked around 7000 steps a day had a 47 per cent lower risk of dying from any cause over the studies' follow-up periods, on average, compared with taking just 2000 steps a day. They also had a 25 per cent lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease and a 47 per cent lower risk of dying from it.

正如人们所料，活动量越大，健康收益越显著。虽然每天一万步的效果优于七千步，但每天七千步同样带来不容忽视的益处。研究发现，每天走约七千步的人在随访期间的总体死亡风险较每天走两千步者降低了47%；其罹患心血管疾病的可能性减少了25%，死于心血管疾病的风险也下降了47%。

cardiovascular /ˌkɑːdɪəʊˈvæskjʊlə/ 表示“心血管的”，英文解释为“Cardiovascular means relating to the heart and blood vessels.”举个🌰：Smoking places you at serious risk of cardiovascular and respiratory disease. 吸烟会严重增加罹患心血管和呼吸道疾病的风险。

That step count also seems to reduce the risk of death from cancer by 37 per cent, the risk of developing dementia by 38 per cent and the risk of getting depressive symptoms by 22 per cent.

此外，每天走七千步还能显著降低多种疾病的风险：癌症致死率减少37%，患上痴呆症的概率下降38%，而出现抑郁症状的可能性也降低了22%。

“It's really important to not discourage people from taking 10,000 steps, because it's not that after 7000 steps it becomes harmful,” says Ding. But 7000 steps is “a lot more accessible and approachable” for a lot of people, she says.

丁梅洛迪指出：“我们绝不能误导公众，认为每天走一万步就没意义了。每天走超过七千步并不会对健康有害。”但她也认为，每天走七千步“对大多数人来说更可实现、更容易坚持”。

“A wider number of people might see 7000 steps as far more achievable than 10,000, which is the typical threshold on fitness trackers,” says Laura Fleming at Teesside University in the UK.

英国蒂赛德大学的劳拉·弗莱明表示：“很多人会觉得每天走七千步比健身手环上默认的一万步目标更容易完成。”

threshold /ˈθreʃ.həʊld/ 表示“界限；临界点；门槛；下限”，英文解释为“A threshold is an amount, level, or limit on a scale. When the threshold is reached, something else happens or changes.”举个🌰 He has a high threshold for pain and a history of fast healing. 他的忍痛力很强，而且有迅速愈合的经历。

But Ding also says that if the 7000 target is still too challenging, people should try to move as much as they can. For instance, the team found that taking 4000 steps a day reduced the risk of dying during a study's follow-up period by 36 per cent, compared with just 2000 steps.

不过丁梅洛迪也指出，如果每天走七千步对某些人来说仍难以坚持，那就尽力多走一些。她举例称，研究发现，每天走四千步的人死亡风险也比走两千步者低了36%。

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