All over the world, and for many different reasons, there are millions of people who rarely or never eat meat. These people are called vegetarians. To people who eat meat, being a vegetarian may seem like a very strange thing, diets for several different reasons.
First, vegetarians have an enormous health advantage. One of the major health problems in modern societies is not too much protein but too much fat, especially in the form of animal fats. Medical evidence suggests that animal fats, including butter, contribute to the development of cholesterol in the human body. High amount of cholesterol seem to be part of the cause of heart disease. Most vegetarians have low level of cholesterol. High amounts of animal fats also seem to lead to certain kinds of cancer, and vegetarians are typically less vulnerable to these cancers than people who eat a lot of meat. Overall, studies comparing the health of vegetarians and meat-eaters show that the meat-eaters are twice as likely to die of heart disease as vegetarians are.
Better health is one reason that people choose to become vegetarians. Another reason is religion. Some religions forbid the eating of meat. The largest of these is the Hindu religion, which has about 600 million believers in the world. Although not all Hindus are vegetarian, many are, and there are many believers of other religions such Buddhism and even some Christian religions that also do not eat meat.
Many vegetarians do not eat meat simply because they do not like the taste of it. They have no religious or philosophical reasons; they just do not like meat. Another important reason that vegetarians give for not eating meat is the health advantages that were given above. Lastly, there are many people who do not eat meat because they just do not like the idea of killing animals for food. They believe that life, all life, is valuable , and that we do not have to destroy life to feed ourselves when there are other good sources of food.
小题1:According to the passage, people choose to be vegetarians for the following reasons EXCEPT________.
A．they want to stay healthy
B．they are too kind to put the idea of killing animals
C．they live in areas where meat supply is not adequate
D．they should not eat meat due to their religious belief小题2:Which of the following is true according to Paragraph 2 ?
A．Vegetarians enjoy a more healthy life than the meat eaters.
B．Heart disease and cancer are caused by large amounts of protein.
C．There are twice as many meat-eaters as vegetarians who die of cancer.
D．There are less health problems in modern society due to advanced medical care.小题3:What does “vulnerable” mean in Paragraph 2?
A．Having low level of cholesterol.
B．Having high level of cholesterol.
C．Having weak ability to resist diseases and harms.
D．Having strong ability to resist disease and harms.小题4:It can be inferred from the passage that __________.
A．being a vegetarian may be a very strange thing
B．vegetarians eat meat on some special occasions
C．all vegetarians have reasons for their not eating meat
D．most vegetarians believe that life without meat is happy.
小题1:C
小题2:A
小题3:C
小题4:D
题目分析：这篇文章主要讲了素食者不吃肉的原因以及大多数素食者都认为生活中没有肉是快乐的。
小题1:根据全文内容,文中并没有提到素食者不吃肉是因为他们居住的环境没有足够的肉供食用，故选C。
小题2:根据First, vegetarians have an enormous health advantage.故答案应为A。
小题3:根据to these cancers than people who eat a lot of meat. Overall, studies comparing the health of vegetarians and meat-eaters show that the meat-eaters are twice as likely to die of heart disease as vegetarians are.可猜出“vulnerable”意思是易受攻击的，故选C。
小题4:通过全文内容可知，大多数素食者都认为生活中没有肉是快乐的，故选D。
点评：本题型考查了对文章段落或某一板块的理解概括能力。先阅读问题，然后带着问题，再读全文，找出答题所需要的依据，完成阅读。在词义与句义理解的基础上，结合上下文总结归纳某一段或几段的大意，对于把握文章主旨，分析全文结构都是至关重要的。纵观历年高考试题，阅读理解试题一般有以下几种题型：一是直接回答who, whom, which, what, where, when, why, how等疑问词引起的细节问题；二是猜测词义题；三是推理判断题；四是综合概括题。在做阅读理解题时，一定要仔细看完，看清楚试题要求再作答，特别要注意NOT，TRUE，EXCEPT等词。有时，要先看题，后阅读文章，带着问题去读短文，可缩短阅读时间，效果也许会更好。