Often speakers at a meeting experience dry mouths and ask for a glass of water. You can solve the problem by activating the saliva in your mouth. First gently bite the edges of your tongue with your teeth. Or press your entire tongue to the bottom of your mouth and hold it there until the saliva flows. Or you can imagine that you are slicing a big juicy lemon and sucking the juice.
Before you begin your talk, be kind to your voice. Avoid milk or creamy drinks which coat your throat. Keep your throat wet by drinking a little sweetened warm tea or diluted fruit juice.
If you sense that you are losing your voice, stop talking completely. Save your voice for your speech. You may feel foolish using paper to write notes, but the best thing you can do is to rest your voice. If you need to see a doctor, perhaps you can get some advice from a professional singer. In the meantime, do not even talk in a low voice.
What about drinking alcohol to wet your throat? I advise you not to touch alcohol before speaking. The problem with alcohol is that one drink gives you a little confidence. The second drink gives you even more confidence. Finally you will feel all-powerful and you will feel you can do everything, but in fact your brain and your mouth do not work together properly. Save the alcohol until after you finish speaking.
Perhaps you want to accept the advice, but you may wonder if you can ever change the habits of a lifetime. Of course you can. Goethe, who lived before indoor skating rinks or swimming pools, said," We learn to skate in the summer and swim in the winter. " Take this message to heart and give yourself time to develop your new habits. If you are willing to change, you will soon be able to say that you will never forget these techniques because they became a part of your body.
单选题
All of the following are mentioned in the passage about how to solve the problem of dry mouths EXCEPT ______.
单选题
What does the writer suggest when you feel you are losing your voice?
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解析] 由第三段第一句“If you sense that you are losing your voice, stop talking completely.”及第三句“...the best thing you can do is to rest your voice.”可知，A项符合题意，故选A。
单选题
What is the writer"s advice about alcohol before you give a speech?
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】[解析] 由第四段第二句“I advise you not to touch alcohol before speaking.”及最后一句“Save the alcohol until after you finish speaking.”可知，作者认为在演讲之前不应喝酒，故选B。
单选题
What did Goethe say about skating and swimming?
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】[解析] 由最后一段Goethe的话“We learn to skate in the summer and swim in the winter.”可知，此题应选A。