Speed Reading — Cold Water - Level 6 — 500 wpm

Now do this put-the-text-back-together activity.


This is the text (if you need help).

Recent research suggests taking a dip in very cold water for several hours a week is good for our health. Researchers from the University of Central Lancashire in the U.K. looked into the benefits of cold-water immersion therapy. They found it could have positive effects on our cognition, sleep quality, and overall well-being. The researchers studied the effects on the health of 13 people. The participants were dunked in 10ºC water for 10 minutes, three times a week, for four weeks. Study author Dr Robert Allan said the cold-water therapy could "help with a number of positive physiological and psychological changes linked to improvements in overall general health and well-being".

Cold-water immersion has been used in various fields for its curative and healing benefits. For many decades, ice baths have helped to speed the recovery of athletes following intense, energy-sapping performances. Dr Allan said his findings also showed a positive impact on sleep. He said: "Two weeks of regular therapeutic cold-water immersion improved subjective sleep, with fewer sleep disturbances." Subjecting the body to cold water for health purposes is already a common practice. At the New Year, people take a plunge in icy seas and lakes. In Japan, bathers refresh their bodies by alternating dips in hot and cold baths in a tradition known as toto-no-u.

Comprehension questions
  1. How often do researchers suggest we take a dip in a cold bath?
  2. What might cold-water therapy help besides our sleep and well-being?
  3. How many people took part in the tests for this research?
  4. How cold was the water the test participants were immersed in?
  5. What changes might cold water bring about besides psychological ones?
  6. Who uses cold water to speed their recovery?
  7. What was reduced during sleep after cold-water therapy?
  8. What does the article say is a common practice?
  9. When do people brave going into icy seas and lakes?
  10. Where do people dip in and out or hot and cold baths?

Back to the cold-water immersion therapy lesson.

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