Q skills Reading Test Book 2

Q skills Reading Test Book 2

by kiki elt

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I. Reading Comprehension

 

A. Read the article about your health. Then read the questions. Choose A, B, or C.

 

1 Have you ever heard the saying “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”? It is one of the most famous proverbs in the English language. It promises that eating an apple every day will keep you from getting sick. It would be wonderful if that were true, but, of course, it is not. Apples are good for you, yes, but you can live a healthy life without apples in your diet. There is only one thing that is truly essential, only one thing we cannot live without eating or drinking, and that is water.

 

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We need water for many reasons, but basically, we have to keep up a healthy amount of H₂O in our bodies. Your adult body is about 60 percent water. When you were born, you were about 78 percent water. Water makes up about 73 percent of your heart and your brain, and even your bones are watery (but only 31 percent).

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​ The amount of water we need to drink varies. It is different for men and women, and it also depends on your age and where you live. On average, a man needs about 3.2 quarts (about 3 liters) of water a day, and a woman needs about 2.3 quarts (about 2.2 liters). Does that seem like a lot to you? You can get some of it from your food, so it does not all have to come from drinking water. But it is a good idea to get in the habit of drinking water, and you should not wait until you are thirsty. By the time you feel thirsty, you are already dehydrated¹, and it is best to avoid that.

 

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​4 What does all that water do for us? Here are just a few of its functions.

 

5 • Water helps your joints work smoothly. Joints let us bend and move at the 360 places in the body where bones come together. Your knees, for example, are the joints that let you bend your legs.  Each joint has cartilage² between the bones, protecting them from each other, and cartilage is 80 percent water.

6 • Water helps the oxygen from the air you breathe travel to all the parts of your body. It is your blood that carries the oxygen, and blood is more than 90 percent water. If you get dehydrated, then your blood becomes thicker, and that increases your blood pressure, which is not healthy.

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Water helps your body stay at the right temperature. When our bodies get hot, water stored in the skin comes out as sweat. As the sweat evaporates³ into the air, it cools us down.

8 • Remember that about 73 percent of your brain is water. From that, you can guess that water plays an important part in how the brain works. If someone is dehydrated for too long, that will lead to problems with thinking.

 

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9 The list does not end there! There are many more ways that our bodies depend on water, both so that they work well and so that we look our best. (Yes, water is a beauty treatment, too—it does good things for your skin.) For all these reasons, when you think about how to stay healthy, do not forget that water is your friend.

 

¹dehydrated: having lost too much water from your body

²cartilage: strong white tissue that can bend and is especially important in joints to prevent the bones rubbing against each other

³evaporate: if a liquid evaporates, it changes into a gas, especially steam

Multiple Choice

1. What does the author believe about eating an apple a day?

• A. It’s how the author stays healthy.

• B. It’s something we all should do.

• C. It’s a fine idea but unnecessary.

Multiple Choice

2. How much of your body is water?

• A. about 31%

• B. about 60%

• C. about 73%

Multiple Choice

3. What does the author recommend about how much water to drink in a day?

• A. You should have at least three quarts.

• B. You should consider several factors

• C. You should drink when you’re thirsty.

Multiple Choice

4. What is the author’s purpose?

• A. to make the reader laugh

• B. to inform the reader

• C. to express an opinion

Multiple Choice

5. Which of the following would be the best title for the reading passage?

• A. An Apple a Day

• B. Our Amazing Bodies

• C. A Key to Good Health

B. Match each sentence beginning with the correct ending.

• 6. ____ Water helps keep your body . . .

  7. ____ Water helps your blood carry oxygen . . .

  8. ____ You can bend your arms because of water . . .

  9. ____ You get dehydrated from a lack of water . . .

  10. ____ You look better with the right amount of water . . .

   

  a. in your body.

  b. in your blood.

  c. in your skin.

  d. in your joints.

  e. from your blood pressure.

  f. from getting too hot.

  g. to all the different areas of your body.

​Type your answers here

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