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任务型阅读
Teenagers who spend quality time with their parents are more likely to want to further their studies， according to research from the University of Warwick． Researchers found that adolescents who take part in cultural activities with their mother and father were more likely to aspire（渴望） to continue their studies post-16than those who didn't． This is compared to even those who attended homework clubs or participated in extra-curricular activities．
Dr Hartas led the research． She said： "Filial（子女的） dynamics such as emotional closeness to parents and cultural capital were better predictors than more school-driven parent-child interactions．" Factors relating to family emotional closeness， bullying， friendships， homework， extra-curricular activities and perception of parental interest in the child's education were examined． The researchers measured responses to questions about a variety of topics such as visiting art galleries， discussing books at home， the number of evenings spent doing homework， relationship with siblings and quarrelling with parents．
Dr Hartas and her team found that the willingness to solve problems was a strong predictor of educational aspiration． Adolescents who indicated they were less confident at handling problems were 30% less likely to rate gaining GCSEs important． In addition those who expressed a lower level of general well-being were 18% more likely to choose not to go to university． Closeness to parents was an indicator of attitude towards GCSEs； those who did not feel emotionally close to their parents were two times higher to consider GCSEs unimportant． However， emotional closeness to parents was not found to be significant in predicting a desire to attend university．
What the researchers termed ‘cultural capital' or participating in cultural activities also appeared to affect the desire to study further． Those who weren't exposed to cultural activity were 14% and 20% respectively less likely to consider university or GCSEs as important． Those who did go to museums， galleries， concerts etc． were found to be 23% less likely to consider training or employment post-16．
Implications of the research
Dr Hartas said that these findings had significant implications for family and educational policy， especially with regard to "raising aspirations and reducing early school leaving．" They also raised the issue of reconsidering the role of the home environment as a web of emotionally and intellectually charged relationships between parents and children rather than an extension of the school day．
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Children who spend more time reading with their parents have a greater chance of becoming better readers than those who don’t. With the help from their parents, children can learn techniques to improve their reading skills.
“A lot of parents think after their child learns to read, they should stop reading to them,” Donna George said. “They are sadly mistaken.”
George offers her services to parents at the Title I Learning Centers. She said reading aloud to children may be the most valuable thing parents can do. “It is better for children to hear things at a higher level than where they are,” George said. “Parents are their child’s first teacher.” Parents help their children build listening, phonics, comprehension and vocabulary skills when they read aloud to them.
Before parents can identify reading problems, they should escape the enemy —television and limit the time their children spend watching television. George suggested not allowing kids to have a TV in their bedrooms, setting a schedule of when kids can watch or keeping a list of how many programs children watch. Louise Joines said while her 14-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son enjoy reading, the television sometimes becomes a distraction. So she tries to build the situation by suggesting books the entire family will enjoy reading together, like the Harry Potter series.
Parents who do not read themselves should not count on their children being interested in it. If parents would read to their children at least 15 minutes every day, children would not have so many problems in school. It is the parents’ job to help build that desire in their children, and of course to know what kind of books to read is also important.
1.According to George, reading aloud to children_______________.
A. helps them correct mistakes
B. is helpful to their reading
C. is parents’ first duty to their children
D. can get children out of television’s attraction
2.The underlined word “distraction”(in Paragraph 4) means something that_________
A. can improve children’s reading
B. can help children’s right way of reading
C. can make children interested in reading
D. stop children from concentrating on reading
3.Which of the following is important according to the fourth paragraph?
A. Reading skills.
B. Reading speed.
C. Reading materials.
D. Reading environment.
4.If the passage is not completed, which of the following can follow the fifth paragraph?
A. Parents choose reading materials for their children.
B. Advice is given to control their children.
C. What TV programs children can watch during reading.
D. How children improve their reading by themselves.
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Many parents who welcome the idea of turning off the TV and spending more time with the family are still worried that without TV they would constantly be on call as entertainers for their children. They remember thinking up all sorts of things to do when they were kids. But their own kids seem different, less resourceful, somehow. When there’s nothing to do, these parents observe regretfully, their kids seem unable to come up with anything to do besides turning on the TV.
One father, for example, says, “When I was a kid, we were always thinking up things to do, projects and games. We certainly never complained in an annoying way to our parents. ‘I have nothing to do’.” He compares this with his own children today: “They’re simply lazy. If someone doesn’t entertain them, they’ll happily sit there watching TV all day.”
There is one word for this father’s disappointment: unfair. It is as if he were disappointed in them for not reading Greek though they have never studied the language. He deplores (哀叹) his children’s lack of inventiveness, as if the ability to play were something born that his children are missing. In fact, while the tendency to play is built into the human species, the actual ability to play – to imagine, to invent, to elaborate on reality in a playful way –and the ability to gain fulfillment from it, these are skills that have to be learned and developed.
Such disappointment, however, is not only unjust, it is also destructive. Sensing their parents’ disappointment, children come to believe that they are, indeed, lacking something, and that this makes them less worthy of admiration and respect. Giving children the opportunity to develop new resources, to enlarge their horizons and discover the pleasure of doing things on their own is, on the other hand, a way to help children develop a confident feeling about themselves as capable and interesting people.
1. According to many parents, if there’s nothing to do, the children would ________.
A. turn on the TV B. complain to their parents
C. ask their parents to play with them D. do all of the above
2. Many parents think that, instead of watching a lot of TV their children should ________.
A. sit silently studying Greek B. think up things to entertain themselves
C. find chances to talk with parents D. enjoy themselves outdoors
3.The father often blames their children for not being able to entertain themselves. This is unfair because ________.
A. the children are not really lazy, but there’s nothing for them to do
B. they do not lack the ability to play
C. they have to learn and develop their playing ability gradually
D. the father have done nothing to help the children
4. When parents show constant disappointment in their children, the children will ________.
A. lose their confidence and respectability
B. be much more disappointed
C. refuse to learn new things
D. discover the pleasures of doing things on their own
5.What is the author’s main idea?
A. Today’s children are becoming less capable and independent than before.
B. Parents should give children more help on how to be creative.
C. Turning off the TV will help us solve a lot of family problems.
D. It’s not just for parents and children to complain each other.
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________ with teens who spend much of their free time in front of TV sets, those who are physically active often have better grades.
A. Compared B. To compare C. Comparing D. Having compared
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Teenagers who discover they were ________ often search for their biological parents when they are old enough.
A．adapted B．adopted
C．brought up D．looked after
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阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项A、B、C和D中，选出最佳选项。
Most teenagers in the United States spend their time trying to make time for school，family and friends.But some choose bigger goals.
At age 15，Winter Vinecki has already had more successes than most people have in their lifetime.“I recently completed a marathon on all seven continents and became the youngest person in the world to do so.And I was really doing this for my dad.”
Doctors discovered that Winter's father had a rare and deadly form of prostate(前列腺)cancer when she was nine years old.Then he died 10 months later.“When he was first diagnosed(诊断)with prostate cancer I immediately knew I had to do something to help him.That's when I formed Team Winter for prostate cancer research and awareness.”
Through Team Winter and social media，Winter Vinecki has raised almost 500，000 dollars.She has taken prostate cancer education worldwide through foot races called marathons，on seven continents.In the United States she travels continually to talk about prostate cancer and urge others to act.
Winter Vinecki attended a conference recently in Los Angeles，California and spoke at the conference as one of several teenagers who spoke about young people who were living extraordinary lives.
“So prostate cancer is much more common but men don't want to talk about it.So that is why a ten-year-old girl had to go out there and start talking about it for them.”
Another speaker was Jack Andraka who invented a sensor which is not as expensive as traditional equipment that can't be afforded by most common people.It can identify cancers of the pancreas(胰腺)and lungs.He was 15 at the time.
Jack is now 17 and seeking patents(专利)for his latest inventions.He has developed low-cost water quality equipment which can help identify and remove heavy metals and poisonous chemicals from water.
“I hope to see them used in the developing nations such as Bangladesh and parts of China and India，especially as well as in parts of Africa，where these heavy metal and pesticides(农药) and other kinds of waste are a major problem.”
1.We can learn that Winter Vinecki's father died ______．
A．about 5 years ago
B．not long ago this year
C．only 10 months ago
D．when she was about 15
2.Winter Vinecki took part in marathons mainly to ________．
A．try to realize her father's last wish
B．receive education about prostate cancer
C．spread knowledge of prostate cancer
D．raise money for patients with cancer
3.From what Winter Vinecki said at the conference，it can be inferred that ________．
A．it's more proper for children to talk about prostate cancer
B．she had to do what others didn't want to do after her father died
C．most people don't know prostate cancer because it is a rare disease
D．several teenagers there supported her by speaking about prostate cancer
4.What do you know about Jack Andraka's new invention?
A．It was invented when he was 15.
B．It is widely used in developing countries.
C．It is designed to make polluted water cleaner.
D．It is under improvement because it costs too much.
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Busy as they are, parents should ______ at least two hours to spend with their children。
| A．set out | B．set away | C．set aside | D．set off |
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A new research, presented on Monday, suggests that parents who go down slides with their kids are actually making slides even riskier for their little ones.
Led by Dr. Charles Jennissen, a professor at the University of Iowa, the research found that placing children (especially infants and toddlers蹒跚学步的小孩) on adult laps increases the risk of injury to their lower legs, including broken bones.
"I've seen a lot of these injuries all through my career, and I hadn't seen anybody talk about this problem," says Jennissen.
So Jennissen and his colleagues found that about 350,000 children under the age of six were injured on slides in the U.S. from 2002 to 2015. Injuries were most common among kids from 12-23 months of age, and the most common injury was lower leg fractures (骨折).
The researchers found that 94 percent of 600 cases include lower leg injuries. This is important, because that's not how a kid falling off a slide alone would usually get hurt. The fact that so many kids are getting lower leg injuries—and that those injuries seem to get less common as kids get older—suggests something else is at play.
Jennissen thinks that when children are sliding alone, they aren’t going fast enough or carrying enough body weight to hurt themselves. When they’re sitting on an adult’s lap and their foot gets caught, they have the added momentum of an adult body.
"We think a lot of these lower extremity injuries are because they're on the lap," says Jennissen. "We don't know that for sure, because no parents say that. But from my experience, and the data that suggests it, we think almost all of these are kids are on the lap."
Jennissen isn’t arguing that you should never go down the slide with your kid—he agrees that it’s fun and that he’s done it with his own kids—but he thinks adults should realize the risks.
1.What can we learn about the research from the passage?
A.Many parents are hurt when going down slides with their kids.
B.Dr. Charles Jennissen is the leader of the research team.
C.More and more adult laps are found hurt in the accidents.
D.Many people have discussed the possible reasons for the injuries.
2.The underlined phrase at play in Para.5 probably means _____.
A.taking effect B.paying attention C.making efforts D.solving problems
3.What is Jennissen’s attitude towards parents’ going down slides with kids?
A.He supports it. B.He is against it.
C.He is careful about it. D.He doesn’t care about it.
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Occasions are quite rare ____ I have the time to spend a day with my kids.
A. who B. which C. why D. when
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Occasions are quite rare ____ I have the time to spend a day with my kids.
A. who B. which C. why D. when