“Old wives tales” are beliefs lasting for many generations. For example, most of us rememb

“Old wives tales” are beliefs lasting for many generations. For example, most of us remember our parents’ telling us to eat more of certain foods or not to do certain things. Is there any truth in these teachings? Some of them agree with present medical thinking, but others have not passed the test of time.
Did your mother ever tell you to eat your carrots because they are good for your eyes? Scientists now report that eating carrots can help prevent a serious eye disease called macular degeneration. Eating just one carrot a day can reduce the possibility of getting this disease by 40%. Garlic is good for you, too. It can kill the type of virus that causes colds.
Unfortunately, not all of Mom’ s advice passed the test of medical studies. For example, generations of children have been told not to go swimming within an hour after eating. But research suggests that there is no danger in doing so. Do sweets cause tooth problems? Well, yes. However, sticky sweets made with grains tend to cause more problems than sweets made with simple sugars.
Even though science can tell us that some of our traditional beliefs don’t hold water, there is still a lot of truth in the old wives’ tales. After all, much of this knowledge has been accumulated from thousands of years of experience in family health care. We should respect this body of knowledge even as we search for clear scientific support to prove it true or false.
【小题1】Which of the following is TRUE according to the test?A．Eating garlic is good for our eyes.B．Sticky sweets are damaging our teeth.C．Swimming after a meal is dangerous.D．Carrots prevent people from catching colds.【小题2】 The phrase “hold water” in the last paragraph most probably means” ”.A．to be believableB．to be valuableC．to be admirable D．to be suitable【小题3】What is the author’s attitude toward “old wives tales” in the text?A．Subjective B．Objective C．Dissatisfied D．CuriousB

(答案→)B 解析：中国有句俗话：不听老人言，吃亏在眼前。本文大意是客观地评价了保持身体健康的“老人言”的正确性。【小题1】推理判断题。由第三自然段的最后一句可知本题选B。【小题2】词义猜测题。文章中本句意思是：即使科学能告诉我们那些“老人言”是（能容水的）值得相信的，但“老人言”中还有很多正确的东西，hold water在此处意思是：能装水的；值得相信的，选A。【小题3】推理判断题。根据文章第三，四自然段可知作者对于“老人言”持客观态度，故本题选B。

收益了