It is bad
to have food stuck between your teeth for long periods of time. This is because
food attracts germs, germs produce acid, and acid hurts your teeth and gums.
Flossing helps to remove the food that gets stuck between your teeth. This
explains why flossing helps to keep your mouth healthy, but some doctors say
that flossing can be also good for your heart.
It may seem
strange that something you do for your teeth can have any effect on your heart.
Doctors have come up with a few ideas about how flossing works to keep your
heart healthy. One idea is that the germs that hurt your teeth can leave the
mouth and travel into your blood. Germs that get into the blood can then attack
your heart. Another idea is based on the fact that when there are too many
germs in your mouth, the body tries to fight against these germs. For some
reason, the way the body fights these mouth germs may end up weakening the
heart over time.
Not every
doctor agrees about these ideas. Some doctors think that the link between good
flossing habits and good heart health is only a coincidence. A coincidence is
the occurrence of two or more events at one time apparently by mere chance. The
incidence of these events is completely random, as they do not admit of any
reliable cause and effect relationship between them. For example, every time I
wash my car, it rains. This does not mean that when I wash my car, I somehow
change the weather. This is only a coincidence. Likewise, some doctors think
that people who have bad flossing habits just happen to also have heart
problems, and people who have good flossing habits just happen to have healthy
hearts.
The theory
that flossing your teeth helps to keep your heart healthy might not be true.
But every doctor agrees that flossing is a great way to keep your teeth
healthy. So even if flossing does not help your heart, it is sure to help your
teeth. This is enough of a reason for everyone to floss their teeth every day.
Questions
1) Which of
the following would be the best title for this passage?
A. Why
Doctors Disagree about Flossing
B. How to
Keep Your Teeth Healthy
C. Flossing
Your Way to a Healthy Heart
D. Flossing
by Coincidence
2) Flossing
effectively helps to keep your mouth healthy by preventing
A. germs
from producing acid
B. food
from entering your body
C. germs
from entering into your blood
D. acid
from contacting your teeth and gums
3) In
paragraph 2, the author introduces ideas about how flossing works to keep your
heart healthy. Exactly how many of these ideas does the author put forth in
this paragraph?
A. 1
B. 2
C. 3
D. 4
4) Based on
information in paragraph 2, it can be understood that germs in the mouth may
harm your heart by
I. getting
into the blood that flows to the heart
II. forcing
the body to fight against too many of them
III.
causing food to get stuck in the arteries
A. l only
B. I and II
only
C. II and
III only
D. I, II,
and III
5) In
paragraph 2, the author explains how having too many germs in your mouth can
"end up weakening the heart." Using the passage as a guide, it can be
understood that with respect to the actual way in which this occurs, doctors
are
A.
reluctant to hypothesize
B.
confident in their estimations
C.
extremely knowledgeable
D.
uncertain but speculative
6) In
paragraph 3 the author writes, "Not every doctor agrees about these
ideas." The author's purpose in writing this sentence is to
A. provide
an example
B.
introduce a new topic
C. change a
previous statement
D. clarify
an earlier assertion
7) Using
information in paragraph 3 as a guide, which of the following is the best
example of a coincidence?
A. Jim
wakes up with a sore throat. He eats a piece of bacon for breakfast. By noon,
he feels much better. Jim decides that the bacon has cured his sore throat.
B. Laura
remembers to brush her teeth every day, but she only remembers to floss once a
week. She writes a note to herself, reminding herself to floss and sticks it to
her bathroom mirror.
C. Mario is
not very good at baseball. He practices playing every day. After a several
months of practice, he is a much better baseball player.
D. Jai has
a bad heart. Her doctor tells her to eat more vegetables and less junk food.
After nearly a year of doing this, the doctor tells Jai that her heart is doing
much better.
8) Based on
its use in the final paragraph, it can be inferred that theory belongs to which
of the following word groups?
A. query,
question, interrogation
B.
assertion, declaration, affirmation
C.
hypothesis, supposition, belief
D. idea,
thought, notion
9) Which of
the following best states the main idea of the final paragraph?
A. Because
doctors do not agree that flossing will help your heart, it is useless to
floss.
B. It is a
fact that flossing can help your heart as well as your teeth.
C. Even if
flossing is only good for your teeth, you should still do it every day.
D. There is
no good reason to believe that flossing will help your heart, but it is still a
good idea to do it every day.
ACTIVITY
Select the
best option
1. Paul
lives ... in Canada.
Somewhere anywhere nowhere
2. I didn't
feel good at the concert, because there was ... I knew.
Anybody no one someone
3. ...
wanted to talk to you when you were in the supermarkt. He left his number.
Nobody Anybody
Somebody
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holidays were great. We could do ... we wanted.
Something nothing anything
5. It's up
to her so ... should tell her what to do.
somebody nobody anybody
6. There is
... to go in winter in this city.
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worry, ... will be ok.
Anything something everything
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surprised when he confessed his love. We didn't expect it.
Someone Nobody Everyone
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a liar. I'm sure ... he said was true.
Something everything anything
10. Is ...
going to the theatre with me?
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11. I can't
see Kate ... Do you know where she is?
Anywhere nowhere somewhere
12. We had
known all the facts ha said. We found out ... new.
Anything something nothing
13. Before
you marry her, I must tell you ... about her parents.
Anything nothing something
14. Don't
trust ...
no one anyone someone
15. Would
you like me to do ... for you?
Something anything nothing
