Question

Teaching a child to read at a young age gives him a valuable start in life. Reading is the basic part of education and a child’s reading ability will influence his school success greatly. Learning difficulties, many of which begin from poor reading skills, can damage a school child’s confidence and affect his future achievement. Young children are programmed to learn and they can learn better with encouragement. Ten to twenty minutes of reading a day still leaves plenty of time for play.

Many parents are concerned that learning to read is too challenging a task for a pre-school child, but they should also remember that most children learn to speak by the time they are 3. Learning a language is probably the single most challenging task any individual can undertake, yet children do it without formal instruction, achieving the fluency much better than adult language students.

There is a window of opportunity in terms of IQ development, which is most open during a child’s early years. A scientific study, carried out by Dr. Peter Huttenlocher at the University of Chicago, showed that the number of connectors, called synapses（神經(jīng)元突觸）, between the nerve endings in a newborn baby’s brain is similar to the number in the average adult brain. These synapses increase rapidly during early childhood. By 12-24 months a child’s brain has about 50% more synapses than the average adult brain. After that the synapses which are not in use begin to atrophy（衰退）. For most people, from age 16, the number remains steady. It begins to drop again as we move into our golden years. Doing intellectual activities at a young age, such as learning to read, can stimulate（刺激）and preserve these connectors in the brain resulting in a long-term beneficial（有益的）effect on IQ development.

Another notable study is probably the Milwaukee project. This study took a group of babies, all of whose mothers had low IQs, and gave them special training for seven hours a day, five days a week, until they started first grade. By the age of 6 these children had an average IQ 30 points higher than their contemporaries. The overwhelming conclusion is that the early intellectual stimulation can have a positive, long-term effect on a child’s brain development.

From birth you should talk to and explain things to your baby. Reading to him can be a wonderful way of spending quality time with your child. The enjoyment of books and being familiar with the idea of print will pave the way for（為……鋪平道路）learning to read later.

If your child is a fast learner you can help him realize his potential by introducing him to the joy of the printed word at an early age. This will lay the foundations（基礎(chǔ)）for both a high achieving school career and a lifelong love of reading. If your child shows early signs of reading difficulties, your efforts may help him get rid of such problems before he goes to school.

It can be difficult to teach your own child because emotional（引起情緒激動(dòng)的）issues arise easily. Online programs for learning to read English are excellent options. They allow children to repeat new materials as many times as they need to, without wearing out the parents’ patience.

1.What does the passage mainly discuss?

A. Children should be taught to read at an early age.

B. Children can read better than most adult students.

C. Children have more synapses than most adults.

D. Children are supposed to learn to read on the Internet.

2.Why does the author mention the study by Dr. Peter Hutten locher?

A. To remove parents’ worry.

B. To explain IQ development.

C. To explain how a baby’s brain works.

D. To show the parents’ wrong ideas.

3.How can children benefit from learning to read at a young age?

A. It can build up great confidence in their mind.

B. It can help preserve the connectors in their brains.

C. It can help produce more connectors in their brains.   

D. It can help them find both their weaknesses and strengths.

4.At the end of this passage the author advises _______.

A. parents not to get angry too often

B. children to enjoy reading as early as possible

C. children not to wear out their parents’ patience

D. parents to get their children to take an online program

 

Answer 1

【答案】

 

1.A

2.A

3.B

4.D

【解析】

試題分析：本文敘述了孩子要從小就學(xué)會(huì)閱讀的好處。很多家長擔(dān)心,學(xué)習(xí)閱讀對學(xué)齡前兒童來說是一個(gè)太具有挑戰(zhàn)性的任務(wù)。根據(jù)Dr. Peter Hutten locher的研究表明，孩子很早就開始閱讀對孩子的智商發(fā)展是有益的。孩子從小學(xué)會(huì)了閱讀對孩子終生受益。

1.主旨大意題。根據(jù)第一段的Teaching a child to read at a young age gives him a valuable start in life. 教孩子在很小的時(shí)候閱讀給他一個(gè)有價(jià)值的人生開始。從中可知，全文主要圍繞著教孩子從小就開始閱讀。

故選A。

2.推理判斷題。根據(jù)第二段的Many parents are concerned that learning to read is too challenging a task for a pre-school child, 許多家長擔(dān)心,學(xué)習(xí)閱讀對學(xué)齡前兒童來說是一個(gè)太具有挑戰(zhàn)性的任務(wù)。但是第三段的根據(jù)Dr. Peter Hutten locher的研究表明Doing intellectual activities at a young age, such as learning to read, can stimulate（刺激）and preserve these connectors in the brain resulting in a long-term beneficial（有益的）effect on IQ development.孩子很早就開始閱讀對孩子的智商發(fā)展是有益的。這樣是為了消除家長認(rèn)為太早閱讀對孩子不利的擔(dān)憂。故選A。

3.細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第三段的Doing intellectual activities at a young age, such as learning to read, can stimulate（刺激）and preserve these connectors in the brain resulting in a long-term beneficial（有益的）effect on IQ development.可知孩子很小就開始閱讀可以刺激和保存這些大腦中的連接器，這樣對孩子智商的發(fā)展有長期有益的影響。故選B。

4.推理判斷題。根據(jù)最后一段的Online programs for learning to read English are excellent options. 網(wǎng)上在線學(xué)習(xí)讀英語是不錯(cuò)的選擇。從中可知作者建議家長讓孩子網(wǎng)上在線學(xué)習(xí)英語。故選D。

考點(diǎn)：教育類短文閱讀。