A．hasn't long been a taboo B．will remain a taboo C．can't be a taboo
D．is not considered a taboo by most people
解析：选B 细节理解题。根据第二段第二、三句可知，肥胖和其他的社会禁忌话题不同，肥胖是美国人一直谈论的话题。谈论肥胖不是禁忌，但是，肥胖却是禁忌。故选B项。
3．In the U. S．， that thin is “in” but fat is “out” most probably means ________. A．thin is “lazy” but fat is “kind” B．thin is “old” but fat is “youthful”
C．thin is “unsuccessful” but fat is “successful” D．thin is “popular” but fat is “unpopular”
解析：选D 推理判断题。根据第二段中的“The ‘in’ look is thin ...”可知，瘦是一种时尚，而肥胖是过时的。故选D项。
4．Why are so many Americans exercising more? A．To keep strong and free from disease. B．To find good jobs in the companies. C．To encourage their children. D．To avoid becoming old.
解析：选A 细节理解题。根据最后一段中的“Recent research has shown the importance of diet and exercise for personal health.”可知，美国人热衷于锻炼的主要原因是他们想保持健康。故选A项。
B
(2018·山东烟台模拟)Grandparents who help out occasionally with childcare in their community tend to live longer than seniors who do not care for other people, according to a study from Berlin, Germany.
“Having no contact with grandchildren at all can negatively impact grandparents' health. This link could be deeply rooted in our evolutionary past when help with childcare was important for the survival of the human species，” said Sonja Hilbrand, one of the researchers.
The findings are drawn from data on more than 500 people over age 70. Overall, after accounting for grandparents' age and general state of health, the risk of dying over a 20-year period was one-third lower for grandparents who cared for their grandchildren, compared with grandparents who provided no childcare.
Caregiving was associated with a longer life even when the care receiver wasn't a relative.
Half of all childless seniors who provided support to friends or neighbors lived for seven years after the study began, while non-helpers lived for four years on average.
“Caregiving may give caregivers a purpose of life because they may feel useful for others and society. Caregiving may be thought also as an activity that keeps caregivers physically and mentally active，” said Professor Bruno Arpino.
Arpino noted, however, that caregiving is not the only activity that can improve health and that too many caring responsibilities can take away from other beneficial activities like working, being in social clubs, or volunteering. “Children should take_into_account their parents' needs, willingness, and desires and agree with them on the timing and amount of childcare，” he suggested.
“It is very important that every individual decides for himself/herself, what ‘proper amounts of help’ means，” Hilbrand said, adding, “As long as you do not feel stressed about the intensity (强度) of help you provide you may be doing something good for others as well as for yourself.”
语篇解读：德国柏林一项研究发现，祖父母适当地帮忙照顾孙辈比不照顾孙辈的老年人寿命长。
5．What is the caregiving study based on? A．Human evolutionary history. B．Demand of modern society. C．Social contact between relatives. D．Data on many elderly people.
解析：选D 推理判断题。根据第三段第一句可知，这一发现是从对500多个70岁以上的老人的数据分析得来的。故选D项。
6．In Arpino's opinion, childcare ________. A．is sure to keep old people away from illnesses B．allows old people to live a more meaningful life C．creates more job opportunities for old people D．makes social activities inaccessible to old people
解析：选B 推理判断题。根据题干中的Arpino's opinion定位至第五段第一句可知，看护小孩让看护人觉得生活有了目的，因为他们觉得自己对他人和社会是有用的，也就是说，看护小孩可以使他们感觉生活得有意义。故选B项。
7．What does the underlined part “take into account” in Paragraph 6 probably mean? A．Limit. C．Favor.
B．Ignore. D．Consider.
解析：选D 词义猜测题。根据上文中的“too many caring responsibilities can take away
from other beneficial activities”及画线部分后的“... their parents' needs, willingness, and desires and agree with them on the timing and amount of childcare，”可知，过多的照看责任会使老人无法从事其他有意义的活动，所以孩子应考虑老人的需求、意愿和渴求，同意他们照顾孩子的时间长度和强度的选择。由此可猜测，take into account意为“考虑”，与consider意义相近。故选D项。
8．What does the last paragraph tell us?
A．Grandparents can do anything in their own interests. B．Grandparents should share more social responsibilities. C．Proper amounts of childcare do good to grandparents. D．Caregiving guarantees every grandparent a longer life.
解析：选C 细节理解题。根据最后一段中的“As long as you do not feel stressed ... good for others as well as for yourself”可知，只要你帮忙的强度不会让你感到有压力，这对他人、对你自己都是有好处的。由此可知，适当地照顾小孩对祖父母有好处。故选C项。
单元检测B——阅读理解提速练
Ⅰ.阅读理解
A
(2018·宁夏银川一中月考)An epidemic (流行病) of the use of street-culture language broke out in some English exams, according to examiners.
A report said there were “a surprising number of small mistakes” in standard English. It asked teachers that they should prevent pupils from using “street language and text style”， adding, “Most answers require formal expression of language.”
“Many concerns were expressed by examiners about basic errors, often appearing in the work of clearly able students，”the report continued.
It added that the use of street and text language “appeared with surprisingly regularity in the work of students who clearly desired a higher grade”．
“Most answers require formal expression but even when an informal style is appropriate — students should know the examination context and, in particular, should not use street language and text style，” it said.
There is rising concern about pupils' writing skills, especially among boys. National test results for 11-year-old boys' writing standards had fallen this year. Only 55 percent reached the level expected of an 11-year-old by the time they left primary school, the results showed.
Many educationalists are now arguing that teachers should also think of ways of improving writing standards.
The report said spelling was “in general inconsistent (不一致)” and “variety of vocabulary and of sentence structure is often limited”. It went on，“Punctuation (标点符号) errors continue
to be widespread.”
However, it added，“Some examiners felt that this year they had met an improvement in the whole structure of students' writing.”
语篇解读：本文是一篇新闻报道。文章主要报道了街头语言出现在英语考试中这一现象。 1．What does the passage mainly talk about?
A．The street-culture language is being examined in English exams. B．Street language is appearing in the standard English exams. C．The English say no to the street-culture language in daily life. D．What the street-culture language is in England.
解析：选B 主旨大意题。通读全文，尤其是文章第一段可知，本文主要介绍了街头语言出现在英语考试中这一现象，故答案选B。
2．The underlined word “appropriate” in Paragraph 5 means “________”． A．comfortable C．acceptable
B．possible D．valuable
解析：选C 词义猜测题。画线词前半句意为“大多数答案需要用规范的表达”，根据but可知此处表示转折，本句应理解为“非正式的形式也是可以接受的”，故appropriate在此处与acceptable意义相近，故选C。
3．What problems concerned examiners? A．Small mistakes in spelling and punctuation. B．Limited vocabulary of boy pupils. C．Teachers teaching writing skills.
D．Poor sentence structure and errors in spelling and standard English.
解析：选D 细节理解题。根据第二段第一句可知，mistakes in standard English是考试专家所担心的；根据倒数第二段内容可知，poor sentence structure和errors in spelling也是专家所担心的，故答案选D。
B
(2018·江西名校联考)Why do some people live to be older than others? You know the standard explanations: keeping a moderate diet, engaging in regular exercise, etc. But what effect does your personality have on your longevity? Do some kinds of personalities lead to longer lives? A new study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society looked at this question by examining the personality characteristics of 246 children of people who had lived to be at least 100.
The study shows that those living the longest are more outgoing, more active and less neurotic (神经质的) than other people. Long-living women are also more likely to be sympathetic
and cooperative than women with a normal life span. These findings are in agreement with what you would expect from the evolutionary theory: those who like to make friends and help others can gather enough resources to make it through tough time.
Interestingly, however, other characteristics that you might consider advantageous have no impact on whether study participants are likely to live longer. Those who are more self-disciplined, for instance, are no more likely to live to be very old. Also, being open to new ideas have no relationship with long life, which might explain all those bad-tempered old people who are fixed in their ways.
Whether you can successfully change your personality as an adult is the subject of a longstanding psychological debate. But the new paper suggests that if you want long life, you should strive to be as outgoing as possible.
Unfortunately, another recent study shows that your mother's personality may also help determine your longevity. That study looked at nearly 28,000 Norwegian mothers and found that those moms who were more anxious, depressed and angry were more likely to feed their kids unhealthy diets. Patterns of childhood eating can be hard to break when we're adults, which may mean that kids of depressed moms end up dying younger.
Personality isn't destiny, and everyone knows that individuals can learn to change. But both studies show that long life isn't just a matter of your physical health but of your mental health.
语篇解读：文章介绍与长寿相关的研究，探究影响长寿的因素。 4．According to the author, outgoing and sympathetic people ________. A．have a good understanding of evolution B．are probably more active and neurotic C．are more likely to recover from hardship D．generally appear more resourceful
解析：选C 细节理解题。根据第二段最后一句“These findings ... those who like to make friends and help others can gather enough resources to make it through tough time.”可知，爱交友(外向)及乐于助人(有同情心)的人在困难时会有足够的资源助其渡过难关。故选C项。
5．What finding of the study might be out of our expectation? A．Helpful people can live a relatively long life.
B．Being self-disciplined makes no difference to longevity.
C．Readiness to accept new ideas offers more possibility to enjoy longevity. D．Personality characteristics that prove advantageous actually vary with times.
解析：选B 细节理解题。根据第三段第一、二句可知，我们认为某些性格特征可能有益于长寿，然而事实并非如此，比如自律和长寿无关，这点出乎我们的意料。故选B项。
6．What does the recent study of Norwegian mothers show?