1、The more I learn about how your oral health can affect your overall health, the more of a brushing fanatic(狂熱者) I am. But it wasn’t always that way. As a kid, I resisted tooth-brushing at bedtime—what a bore! I remember my mom asking if I’d brushed my teeth. I’d say yes and she’d say “Let me smell your breath,” so she could confirm it with a smell of Crest. But I’d learned just to take a bite of toothpaste right from the tube, without even making contact with a brush. What a stupid mistake! Soon my teeth were full of  holes—something I’ve regretted ever since.

       In those days we weren’t much into preventive care at either the dentist or doctor. That wasn’t part of the way of thinking of my parents’ generation, who grew up during the Great Depression. We didn’t know how important it could be, either. "So much of dental care is reactionary.”  says Mark Helpin, head of dentistry at Temple University. “Parents will bring their children in only if there’s a problem.”

Medical research has shown the dangers of tooth decay(蛀牙) and gum disease, including heart disease, low birth weight in babies, dangerous and even deadly infections and now maybe Alzheimer’s disease（老年癡呆）. There’s no longer any excuse to avoid regular dental checkups and careful oral maintenance—especially with young kids to get them started on the right path. It’s important to establish a relationship with a dentist the same way you would with a pediatrician.

       The Alzheimer’s news is especially alarming. We reported back in January on a study at the University of Kentucky that found a preliminary link between tooth loss and dementia. Now there’s further evidence, thanks to a study presented last week at the Alzheimer's Association 2008 International Conference in Chicago. While this study in no way proves that gum disease causes Alzheimer’s, it’s pretty clear that the inflammation and immune response to these harmful bacteria aren’t good!

       It takes less than a minute to brush your teeth. It takes two minutes to do a thorough job of brushing your teeth. If doing those two things twice a day may save me from mental disease later, I’m never going to miss these small tasks again—and neither should you.

1．When the author was a child,             .

       A．his mom liked to smell his breath

       B．he was unwilling to brush his teeth

       C．he hardly suffered from tooth decay

       D．he made mistakes while brushing his teeth

2．The underlined sentence “So much of dental care is  reactionary.”in Paragraph 2 means that

                  .

       A．parents often bring their children to the dentist

       B．people pay too much attention to their tooth care

       C．people are unaware of the importance of tooth care

       D．parents have no idea when children should see the dentist

3．Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

       A．The researchers conclude that gum disease causes Alzheimer’s.

       B．The possibility that gum disease might cause Alzheimer’s is worrying.

       C．Tooth decay and gum disease have little to do with birth weight in babies.

       D．The author’s parents used to bring him to the dentist for regular dental checkups.

4．The purpose of the passage is               .

       A．to encourage people to brush their teeth

       B．to tell people how to brush teeth correctly.

       C．to help people learn about some tooth diseases

       D．to give suggestions on how to protect our teeth