廣泛的托福閱讀背景知識積累，有助于托福閱讀速度和準確率的提升。托福閱讀文章分為自然科學、人文科學、互聯網等幾大類，如果同學們平時能對這些種類的文章都有所涉獵，托福閱讀考試中遇到相關的話題就會有非常熟悉的感覺。下面天道教育給大家提供一篇關于奧運運動員年齡調查的背景材料，希望能拓寬同學們的閱讀面。
　　In the past 3 summer Olympic Games, only 64 of the 1,707 athletes of team USA have been over the age of 40. The Washington Post created a data visualization of average age ranges for Olympic sports, including an interactive tool to see if you'd be too old to compete.過去三屆的夏季奧運會的1707名美國運動員中，僅有64名超過了40歲。《華盛頓郵報》對奧運運動員們的年齡進行了一項數據調查，使用了一個交互工具來統計年齡過大是否不適合競技比賽。
　　As presented, athlete ages range from 15 for female gymnasts to nearly 60 for male sailors.根據調查結果，奧運最年輕的運動員是年僅15歲的體操女孩，而年齡最大的是年近60歲的劃艇男運動員。
　　In a recent Washington Post profile on 45-year-old female swimmer Dana Torres, she discusses the effects of age on the body, and how she works to overcome these obstacles. Although muscles deteriorate and recovery becomes slower, Torres believes that age is on her side. Since age comes with experience, the twelve-time Olympic medalist is more mentally prepared for the Games than any other female swimmer.在《華盛頓郵報》最近對于45歲的女游泳運動員Dana Torres的介紹中，文章探討了年齡對身體的影響以及她如何克服這些障礙的。盡管肌體素質降低，肌肉復原率減慢，年齡對于她而言仍是很大的助力。因為流逝的歲月化為了經歷，從而幫助這位12度奧運摘牌的選手比其他女性運動員具有更多的大賽經驗。
　　However, with sports such as gymnastics that require more flexibility than sheer force and power, younger bodies have a far greater advantage. Youth is so beneficial in gymnastics that a minimum age requirement of 16 was implemented to protect athletes with developing bodies from serious injuries.然而，像體操一樣的運動，比起直接的沖勁和力量，更需要好的靈活性。年輕的軀體在這方面具有更好的優勢，而且16歲的年齡更適合體操這樣的運動，因為它能保護身體免受嚴重的傷害。
　　A recent Wired article provides an explanation for these aberrations: people age at different rates and, although younger athletes are generally stronger and more flexible, people age at different rates, allowing some athletes to remain competitive-despite the ticking clock.最近Wired 雜志的一篇文章為這些差異性做出了解釋。人們老化的頻率是不同的。盡管年輕的運動員更強壯靈活，但正是因為人們的老化頻率不同，因此某些運動員盡管上了年紀仍具有很強的競爭力。