The longer kids are out of school, the more they forget. The only thing they might gain is weight. Recent studies show that children gain weight more quickly in the summer than when they are in school

      Most American schools follow a traditional nine-month calendar. Students get winter and spring breaks and about ten weeks of summer vacation.

      Some schools follow a year-round calendar. They hold classes for about eight weeks at a time, with a few weeks off in between. The National Association for Year-Round Education says there were fewer than 3,000 such schools at last count. They were spread among forty-six of the fifty states. But many experts point out that the number of class days in a year-round school is generally the same as in a traditional school.

      Last year, a study at Ohio State University reported that year-round students did not learn any more than other students. Lead researcher Paul von Hippel said, " Year-round schools don't really solve the problem of the summer learning setback (后退). They simply spread it out across the year."

      Across the country, research shows that students from poor families fall farther behind over the summer than other students. Experts say this can be prevented. They note that many schools and local governments offer programs that can help.

      But calling them "summer school" could be a problem. The director of the summer learning center at Johns Hopkins, Ron Fairchild, recently wrote about this issue on his blog. He said that in American culture, the idea of summer vacation is connected to beliefs about freedom and the joys of childhood.. He said research with groups of different parents in Chicago and Baltimore found that almost all strongly disliked the term "summer school". They said it created an image of children being forced to do work they missed during the school year. The parents welcomed other terms like "summer camp", "enrichment", "extra time" and "hands-on learning".

67. What are the two school calendars in America?

    A. The winter and spring calendar and the summer calendar.

    B. The eight-week calendar and the nine-month calendar.

    C. The traditional nine-month calendar and the year-round calendar.

    D. The "summer school" calendar and the "extra time" calendar.

68. According to the study at Ohio State University, ______________.

    A. there are fewer than 3,000 year-round schools in America

    B. the longer kids are out of school, the more they forget

    C. class days in a year-round school are as many as those in a traditional school

    D. year-round schools don't really make up the children's summer learning gap

69. Why do most people hate the term "summer school"?

    A. Because the term tends to remind people of children making up for the lessons they

       didn't learn well in the class days.

    B. Because children in the summer school have too much freedom and a lot of fun.

    C. Because the term creates an image of children staying away from school during the

       school term.

    D. Because the term doesn't sound as interesting as "summer camp", "enrichment", "extra 

       time" and "hands-on learning".

70. What's the main idea of the passage?

    A. School calendar in America needs to be rearranged.

    B. How Americans solve the problem of the summer learning setback.

    C. Children tend to get fatter in the summer than when they are in school.

    D. Schools and governments offer programs that help children learn in the summer.