Helping your children to read and write at home will improve their skills and confidence—it will also make them get ready for learning in the classroom environment.
　    　 are needed by every child in every subject in every year of their life in or outside school. Students who improve their reading and writing skills will increase their vocabulary and their ability（能力）to use the English language correctly. As parents, you can play an important role in improving your children’s literacy（读写能力）. You can make a difference by listening, asking questions, giving information, and reading with your children outside school hours.
Here are 8 tips on how to help your children to read and write:
having everyday conversations with your children
trying to ask more “wh-” questions instead of easy “yes” or “no” questions
encouraging your children to talk about events you don’t know
reading to your children each night
listening to your children read
teaching your children how to use dictionaries
talking about your children’s writings
practicing filling in forms, writing letters, sending cards or emails
You can also encourage your children to join the Reading Challenge Club and discuss the books they are reading together. In the club, children must read 15 books from the Challenge book list and 5 more books chosen by themselves. There are over 1,000 books on the list. The reading must be done in one year. What’s more, it is a wonderful way to help your children to write. For example, you can encourage them to write diaries or book reviews. Remember to make positive comments as much as possible.
【小题1】 This passage is mainly written for __________.

We’ve talked about snails (蜗牛) and their slow move. But much of the time snails don’t move at all. They are in their shells (壳) —sleeping.

Hot sun will dry out a snail’s body. So at the least sign of hot sun, a snail draws its body into his shell. A snail will die in a heavy rain. So when it rains, a snail does the same thing, too. A snail can sleep for as long as it needs to. It spends all the winter months in its shell, asleep.

In the spring the snail wakes up. Its body, about three inches long, comes out from the shell. When hungry, the snail looks for food. Its eyes, at the end of the top feelers (触角), are very weak. But its sense (感觉) of smell is very strong. It helps the snail to find food and the new greens.

A snail’s mouth is no bigger than the point of a pin (大头针). Yet it has 256,000 teeth! The teeth are very small, and you can’t see them. If you put a snail in a hard paper box, it will eat its way out! And if a snail wears out its teeth, it will grow new ones.

1. A snail _________.

　 A. moves more slowly at night　　B. has thousands of feet

C. doesn’t move at all   　　      D. sleeps much of the time

2. In the sentence “A snail draws its body into its shell”, the word “draw” means _____.

　 A. to make with a pencil     B. to push　　C. to pull      D. to move away

3. From the story, we know _________.

　 A. a snail’s shell is very thin     B. a snail can’t see well

　 C. a snail’s nose is quite short    D. a snail’s body changes in different seasons

4. A snail goes to sleep when _____.

　 A. it feels hungry   B. it is put into a paper box  C. spring is coming   D. it rains heavily

5.Which of the following is wrong?

A. In winter the snail doesn’t eat or move.　　B. A snail doesn’t like living under the sun

C. The snail’s teeth can’t be worn out.       D. The snail’s nose helps to find food.

Helping your children to read and write at home will improve their skills and confidence—it will also make them get ready for learning in the classroom environment.

　     　 are needed by every child in every subject in every year of their life in or outside school. Students who improve their reading and writing skills will increase their vocabulary and their ability（能力）to use the English language correctly. As parents, you can play an important role in improving your children’s literacy（读写能力）. You can make a difference by listening, asking questions, giving information, and reading with your children outside school hours.

Here are 8 tips on how to help your children to read and write:

²   having everyday conversations with your children

²   trying to ask more “wh-” questions instead of easy “yes” or “no” questions

²   encouraging your children to talk about events you don’t know

²   reading to your children each night

²   listening to your children read

²   teaching your children how to use dictionaries

²   talking about your children’s writings

²   practicing filling in forms, writing letters, sending cards or emails

You can also encourage your children to join the Reading Challenge Club and discuss the books they are reading together. In the club, children must read 15 books from the Challenge book list and 5 more books chosen by themselves. There are over 1,000 books on the list. The reading must be done in one year. What’s more, it is a wonderful way to help your children to write. For example, you can encourage them to write diaries or book reviews. Remember to make positive comments as much as possible.

1.This passage is mainly written for __________.

A. children      B. teachers     C. parents      D. doctors

2.__________ is the best for the missing part in Paragraph 2.

A. “Listening and speaking skills”         B. “Reading and writing skills”

C. “Listening and writing skills”      D. “Reading and listening skills”

3.__________ is NOT mentioned in the 8 tips above.

   A. “Listening to the radio every day    ” 

B. “Listening to your children read”

   C. “Reading to your children each night”          

D. “Talking about your children’s writings”

4.In the Reading Challenge Club, children have to read __________ in one year.

A. 5 books          B. 10 books  C. 15 books            D. 20 books

5.Parents can help children to write by encouraging them to__________.

A. draw pictures or take photos         B. listen to pop music 

C. write diaries or book reviews            D. play computer games

Put 2 February in your diary! It is World Wetlands Day! It marks the date that the

Convention(公约) on Wetlands was signed(签署)in1971.This special day was first celebrated in 1997 and it is celebrated every year.

　 The celebration is a call for action. It is a way to show people how important and

useful the wetlands are for people. On World Wetlands Day, people around the world take

part in many wetlands activities. People take trips to the local wetlands. There are talks

about how important the wetlands are. People get together to clean up their local wetlands

Children draw pictures to advertise the day. People also compete(比赛)in boat races.

　 The World Wetlands Day is important! If there are no wetlands, there will be no water for anyone in the future. Wetlands help protect nature and resources(资源)like fresh water. Already, more than 10000 million people in the world do not have fresh water.

　 Many people do not know how important the wetlands are. They can understand why an

elephant or a tiger is important because they are big, beautiful animals. It is much harder for

them to understand how important the animals in the wetlands are. These small animals,

such as frogs and snails, play a very important part in keeping the balance of nature.

　 All plants and animals are part of the food chain(链).If the small wetlands animals

die, some animals in the food chain will have nothing to eat. They will also die. People

need the wetlands to keep the balance of nature in the world. If we do not protect nature

today，it will be gone tomorrow.

46. What should you put in your diary?

　 A. Some frogs.

　 B. The date of World Wetlands Day.

　 C. 1971

　 D. Any special day.

47. Where do people celebrate World Wetlands Day?

　 A. All over the world.　　　　　　　　　　　 B. In ships

　 C. At home.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. In their own way.

48. Which of the following sentences is NOT true?

　 A. People celebrate World Wetlands Day by taking part in competitions.

　 B. People celebrate World Wetlands Day by taking hips to local wetlands.

　 C. People celebrate World Wetlands Day by listening to talks about the wetlands.

　 D. People celebrate World Wetlands Day by talking about the weather.

49. Why are small animals important?

　 A. They are part of the balance of nature and the food chain.

　 B. They are beautiful.

　 C. Bigger animals are eaten by them

　 D. Without them, there may be no water.

50. Which of the following might be the best title of the article?

　 A. Wetlands Are Important

　 B. Small Animals Are Also Important

　 C. World Wetlands Day

　 D. Food Chain