| A. The reasons for getting hiccups B. An invention C. Three awards D. Making hiccups go away E. The hiccup is a common problem |
Have you ever hiccupped(打嗝)in a quiet room full of people? Have you ever hiccupped so hard that you had to stop what you were doing? The hiccup is a problem that almost everyone has experienced.
People get hiccups for some reasons. Hiccups might result from eating or drinking too much or too quickly. A sudden change in the stomach's temperature, such as drinking hot water immediately after drinking cold water, may also cause hiccups. They may even happen because of being excited or being under a lot of stress.
Ideas on how to stop hiccups have been created, shared, and tried for years. However, what works for one person may not work for everyone. Perhaps the most common method people use is to hold their breath for a few seconds. If this doesn't work, you can try swallowing(吞下)hard while holding your breath. There are also some strange-sounding ways, like drinking a lot of water.
A young girl named Mallory Kievman couldn't make her hiccups go away. She knew that sweet and sour things were commonly used to cure hiccups, and she knew that swallowing hard could also help. She decided to use the two ideas to make a special lollipop(棒棒糖). After she failed many times, Mallory invented a lollipop that worked by putting water, sugar and vinegar (醋)together.
Mallory wanted to find out whether her lollipops would help others. She gave her lollipops to friends. Most of them were cured of their hiccups after eating the lollipops. Mallory entered a competition with her lollipop and won three awards for her creative idea. She was successful.
