17．If your preschoolers turn up their noses at carrots or celery （芹菜），a small reward like a sticker for taking even a taste may help get them to eat previously disliked foods，a UK study said．
Though it might seem obvious that a reward could encourage young children to eat their vegetables，the idea is actually controversial，researchers wrote in the American，Journal of Clinical Nutrition．That's because some studies have shown that rewards can backfire and cause children to lose interest in foods they already liked，said Jane Wardle，a researcher at University College London who worked on the study．Verbal praise，such as"Brilliant!You're a great vegetable taster"，did not work as well．
"We would recommend that parents consider using small non-food rewards，given daily for tasting tiny pieces of the food 一 smaller than half a little finger nail，"Wardle said in an email．
The study found that when parents gave their small children a sticker each time they took a"tiny taste"of a disliked vegetable，it gradually changed their attitudes．The children were also willing to eat more of the vegetables一 either carrots，celery，cucumber，red pepper，cabbage or sugar snap peas 一 in laboratory taste tests，the study said．
Researchers randomly assigned 173 families to one of these groups．In one，parents used stickers to reward their children each time they took a tiny sample of a disliked vegetable．A second group of parents used verbal praise．The third group，where parents used no special vegetable-promoting methods，served as a"control"（控制组；对照组）．
Parents in the reward groups offered their children a taste of the"target"vegetable every day for 12 days．Soon after，children in the sticker group were giving higher ratings to the vegetables 一 and were willing to eat more in the research lab，going from an average of 5 grams at the start to about 10 grams after the 12-day experience．The turnaround also seemed to last，with preschoolers in the sticker group still willing to eat more of the once-disliked vegetable three months later．
Why didn't the verbal praise work？Wardle said-the parents'words may have seemed"insincere"to their children．
46．The purpose of writing the passage isB．
A．to show what healthy diets for children consist of
B．to introduce a way of making children eat disliked vegetables
C．to explain Why children don't like to eat some vegetables
D．to present a proper way of verbal praise to parents
47．The underlined word"backfire"in Paragraph 2 probably meansC．
A．shoot from behind the back
B．make a fire in the backyard
C．produce an unexpected result
D．achieve what was planned
48．Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage？B
A．Most children are born to hate vegetables like carrots or celery．
B．Rewarding isn't always a good way to get children to eat vegetables．
C．Oral praise works quite well in encouraging children to eat vegetables．
D．Children in the sticker group won't lose interest in eating vegetables．
49．How did the researchers get their conclusion from the experiment？A
A．By comparison．
B．By asking questions．
G．By giving examples．
D．By discussion．
50．What can we learn from the last paragraph？B
A．Children like rewards，not verbal praise．
B．Parents should give up verbal praise．
C．Children are very difficult to inspire．
D．Parents'tone is important to their kids．
分析 本文是一篇科教类阅读，属于说明文，本文围绕英国的一项研究，如果您的学龄前儿对胡萝卜和芹菜童嗤之以鼻，一个小奖励，如贴纸（贴画）以甚至味道可以让他们吃以前不喜欢的食物展开谈论．
解答 46．B．主旨大意题．阅读全文，根据文章内容可知，本文主要围绕一项研究展开，主要讲述了一种让孩子吃不喜欢的蔬菜的方法．故选B．
47．C．词义猜测题．根据上下文可知，．That's because some studies have shown that rewards can backfire and cause children to lose interest in foods they already liked句意为奖励会适得其反，导致孩子失去他们已经喜欢食物的兴趣．故backfire意为适得其反．故选C．
48．B．细节理解题．根据That's because some studies have shown that rewards can backfire and cause children to lose interest in foods they already liked可知，奖励会适得其反，导致孩子失去他们已经喜欢食物的兴趣．故奖励并不是一个好的方法．故选B．
49．A．细节理解题．根据Researchers randomly assigned 173families to one of these groups．In one，parents used stickers to reward their children each time they took a tiny sample of a disliked vegetable．A second group of parents used verbal praise．The third group，where parents used no special vegetable-promoting methods，served as a"control"（控制组；对照组）．可知，研究者利用对比的方法来开展实验．故选A．
50．B．推理判断题．根据Why didn't the verbal praise work？Wardle said-the parents'words may have seemed"insincere"to their children．可知，父母不应该采用口头表扬的方式来让孩子吃不喜欢的蔬菜，因为这似乎对孩子不真诚．故选B．
点评 本文是一篇科教类阅读，题目涉及多道细节理解题，推理判断题，词义猜测题，主旨大意题．做题时学生应仔细阅读原文，把握文章主要内容，联系文章上下文内容并结合所给选项含义，从中选出正确答案，一定要做到有理有据，切忌胡乱猜测．
