题文
“Old wives’ tales” are beliefs passed from one generation to another. 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(蒜) 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 and no. 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(积累) 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:The author develops the third paragraph mainly .A．by cause and effectB．by order in spaceC．by examplesD．by order in time小题2:Which of the following is TRUE according to the text?A．Eating garlic is good for our eyes.B．Carrots prevent people from catching colds.C．Swimming after a meal is dangerous. D．Sticky sweets are damaging to our teeth.小题3:What is the author’s attitude toward “old wives’ tales” in the text?A．Objective.B．Subjective.C．Dissatisfied.D．Curious.小题4:The phrase “hold water” in the last paragraph most probably means “ .”A．to be valuableB．to be believableC．to be admirableD．to be suitable 题型：未知难度：其他题型
答案
小题1:C
小题2:D
小题3:A
小题4:B
解析
我们大多数人都记得父母告诉我们要吃某些食物或者不要去做某些事情。这些告诫是对的吗？实际上，其中一些是与现在的医学思想相符合的，而另外一些却经不起考验。文章举了例子，并指出即便当我们寻找明确的科学证据来证明它的对错时，我们也应该尊重这类知识
小题1:推理判断题。第三段第一句是主题句。随后，举了饭后一小时内游泳和吃糖这两个例子来证明主题句。因此，这一段是通过举例来构成段落的。答案C
小题2:事实细节题。从第三段最后一句 Sticky sweels made with grains tend tocause more problems than sweets made with simple sugars.可以看出，sticky sweets的确可以对牙齿造成危害。答案D
小题3:推理判断题。纵观全文，作者既指出了一些传统说法的正确性，又说明了一些传统观念没有科学依据。尤其是文中最后一段作者表明了对这些观念的尊重，因此可以看出作者的态度是客观的。答案A
小题4:猜测词义题。从最后一段第一句可知，虽然科学告诉我们有一些传统观念不可信，但是这些老妈妈们的说法还是有一些正确的地方。hold water 指“可信的”。答案B
点评：本文篇幅较短，通过提问，举例，解决问题，主要是细节题为主，较为简单。考生要注意迅速抓住关键句子，从中找出正确答案。猜词词义题要结合上下文判断。
考点
据考高分专家说，试题““Old wives’ tales” a.....”主要考查你对 [日常生活类阅读 ]考点的理解。日常生活类阅读
日常生活类阅读的概念：
日常生活这一话题主要涉及人们衣食住行等方面的活动。这一话题的选材主要针对人们日常的工作，生活以及学习情况。做这一类题时，最主要的是要把握好人物的活动内容，时间和地点。
日常生活类阅读题答题技巧：
【题型说明】
该类文章内容涉及到人们的言谈举止、生活习惯、饮食起居、服饰仪表、恋爱婚姻、消遣娱乐、节日起源、家庭生活等。文章篇幅短小，追根溯源，探索各项风俗的历史渊源，内容有趣。命题也以送分题为主，如事实细节题、语义转换题、词义猜测题和简单推理判断题等。虽然这类文章读起来感觉轻松，试题做起来比较顺手，但绝不能掉以轻心。因为稍不留神，就会丢分。
【备考提醒】
为了保证较高准确率，建议同学们做好以下几点：
1、保持正常的考试心态。笔者在教学中发现，越是容易的试题，同学们越是容易失分。为什么呢？因为在这种情况下，同学们极易产生麻痹思想，认为题目好做，就不引起高度重视，于是思维不发散、不周密。而命题人就是利用同学们的这一弱点，设计陷阱题。所以，无论试题难易与否，我们都要保持正常的考试心态。试题容易，不欣喜；试题难，不悲观。
2、根据前面讲到的方法，认认真真、细细心心做好事实细节题。
3、做好语义转换题。这类题是根据英语中一词多义和某些词语在文中能表达一定的修辞意义的原则而设计的。要求同学们解释某生词的含义，确定多义词或短语在文中的意思，确认文中的某个代词所指代的对象，或者对英语中特有的表达、格言、谚语进行解释。这种题要求同学们一定要根据上下文猜测词义或理解句子，切不可望文生义。
4、做好简单推理判断题。简单推理判断题要以表面文字为前提，以具体事实为依据进行推理，做出判断。这种推理方式比较直接，只要弄清事实，即可结合常识推断出合理的结论。
