Question

【题目】 It is a question that has confused parents for many years: why do children refuse to eat greens?

Now, two American experts believe they have the answer.

After studying dozens of babies as they played with various objects, the researchers noted that they were far more unwilling to touch plants than other things. They believe this is because evolution (生物进化) has biologically made children be wary of plants.

Due to susceptibility (敏感性) to illness or injury in the early years of life, the body has designed an inner defence mechanism (内部保护机制) that limits a child’ s contact with plants, they think. The researchers believe this is why children turn their noses up when faced with a plate of broad beans.

The findings are published in a paper by Dr. Annie E Wertz and Dr. Karen Wynn, both psychologists at Yale University.

They wrote, “Throughout human evolution... plants have been important in human’s life. Yet, for all of these benefits, plants have always caused very real dangers.”

“Plants produce toxins (毒素) as defences that can be harmful, or even deadly. Some plants also produce physical defences, such as thorns (荆棘) can damage tissues (组织) and cause effects over the whole body.”

They added, “We predicted that babies may have behavioural strategies that reduce dangers caused by plants.”

To test their theory, the researchers studied how children aged eight to 18 months old reacted when presented with a variety of objects. It took much longer for children to grab plants; objects that were pretended to look like plants also caused a slow response time.

For parents attempting to spoon some peas into the mouth of their child, this finding should come as welcome relief.

【1】The underlined word “they” in Paragraph 3 refers to_____?

A.the parentsB.the researchersC.the babiesD.the plants

【2】What does the underlined word “wary” in the third paragraph mean?

A.CuriousB.AfraidC.TiredD.Certain

【3】What did early humans probably do in order to keep away from illness or injury?

A.They choose to make more man-made things.B.They didn’t allowed their children to touch plants.

C.They chose to have little contact with plants.D.They tried very hard to escape from the past.

【4】What was plants’ role in early human’s life?

A.They were important, in spite of danger.

B.They reacted badly to human evolution.

C.They contributed to the most deaths and illness.

D.They developed human physical defenses against dangers.

【5】What’s the passage mainly about?

A.Why some plants are harmful.B.How humans react to plants.

C.Why children don’t like to eat greens.D.When children from behavioural strategies.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】C

【2】B

【3】C

【4】A

【5】C

【解析】

对孩子为什么拒绝吃蔬菜的这一现象，美国的专家通过研究给出了科学的解释。

【1】细节理解题。根据上文After studying dozens of babies as they played with various objects可知此处they指代的是用于研究的babies，故选C。

【2】词义猜测题。根据上文they were far more unwilling to touch plants than other things 他们不愿意接触植物，对比选项A好奇的；B.害怕的；C.累的；D.肯定的，可以推断婴儿害怕植物，故选B。

【3】细节理解题。根据Due to susceptibility (敏感性) to illness or injury in the early years of life, the body has designed an inner defence mechanism (内部保护机制) that limits a child’ s contact with plants可知早起人们为了防止生病受伤害会避免接触植物，故选C。

【4】细节理解题。根据第五段Throughout human evolution... plants have been important in human’s life. Yet, for all of these benefits, plants have always caused very real dangers.可知早期人们认为植物在人们的生活中是重要的，但是也很危险，故选A。

【5】主旨大意题。根据短文主要解释了为什么孩子不喜欢吃蔬菜的原因，故选C。

细节理解题是阅读中最常见的题型。细节题要注意从文中寻找答案，例如小题4，根据原文plants have been important in human’s life. Yet, for all of these benefits, plants have always caused very real dangers.可知植物在人们的生活中很重要但是也很危险，故选A。