Teachers and parents usually call attention to the pictures when they read storybooks to preschool children. But a new study tells that calling attention to the words and letters on the book may lead to better readers.

The two-year study compared (比较) children who were read to this way in class with children who were not. Those whose teachers most often discussed the words showed clearly higher skills in reading, spelling and understanding.

Shayne Piasta, a professor of teaching and learning at Ohio State University, says most preschool teachers would need only a small change in the way they teach. They already read storybooks in class. The only difference would be increased attention to the printed words.

Ms. Piasta says if you get children to pay attention to letters and words, it makes sense that they will do better at word spelling. But she says studies show that very few parents and teachers do this in a systematic (系统的) way.

They watched more than three hundred children aged four and five in classrooms in Ohio and Virginia. The children came from poor families and were poor in their language skills. They may become bad readers when they enter primary schools later.

Professor Justice says children’s language skills can be improved by discussing with him or her when you are reading a book to a child. There are different ways that adults can talk to children about the letters and words on the page. They can point to a word and discuss the shape of it with a finger. They can point out a word: “This is ‘dog’.” They can discuss the meaning of the word or how the words tell the story. And they can also show how words are written left to right in English.

49. What does the underlined phrase “it makes sense” in Paragraph 4 mean?

A. It can be understood and agreed.                     B. It is impossible to happen.       

C. It can be difficult to imagine and describe. D. It is surprising to see.

50. What can we infer from the passage?

A. Parents are more important than teachers for little children.

B. Teachers need to learn a lot to use the new teaching way.

C. It’s impossible for preschool children to understand words.

D. Skills are important to children’s reading development.

51. The writer wants to tell us that ____.

A. preschool children should have higher discussing skills

B. parents should make a plan to teach their children reading

C. teachers should help children pay attention to printed words

D. languages skills should be discussed with preschool children

 

From:Liu-mei@teen.net To:Sandy 16@hotmail.com Sent:10:45 pm May 12th ,2003 Subject :Green Angels Campaign(绿色天使行动)

Dear Sandy, How are you? I am sure you have heard of the exciting news! Yes．Beijng will be the host city of the 2008 Olympic Games! I was too excited to fall asleep that night．because I had also helped to make Beijing’s dream come true．Tens of thousands of school children took part in the “Green Angels Campaign” to help make the city cleaner．1 was one of the“Green Angels”．Every Sunday．my classmates and I spent 2 hours collecting litters in the park near our sch001．My parents and I also planted many trees by the lake near my house．We have planted 50 trees so far．but 1 want to plant more．because everybody thinks．“The more．the better．”I am very proud when I point to the trees and tell my friends“Look．I planted these trees!”Thanks tothe hard work of all Chinese people．our dreams have finally come true．1 will be 18 in 2008，and 1 will tell athletes(运动员)from all over the world that I helped to make the city cleaner and more beautiful． I am looking forward to seeing you again in Beijing． Best wishes． Liu Mei

1．In this passage．the word “host” means “             “

A．主人    B．女主人    C．主办城市    D．客人

2．What is Liu Mei?

A．A farmer    B．A cleaner    C．A worker    D．A student

3．Why did the school children join in the “Green Angels Compaign”?

A．Because they liked wearing green clothes

B．Because they liked collecting litters．

C．Because only“Green Angels”could plant trees．

D．Because they wanted to make the city cleaner．

4．Which of the following is NOT true?

A．Liu Mei could sleep well when she heard the exciting news．

B．Liu Mei wants to plant more than 50 trees．

C．Liu Mei couldn’t sleep well when she heard the exciting news．

D．Not only the old but also the young helped to make Beijing’ dream come true．

　　　 People believe that climbing can do good to health.Where can you learn the skill of climbing then? If you think that you have to go to the mountains to learn how to climb, you're wrong.Many Americans are learning to climb in city gyms.Here, people are learning on special climbing walls.The climbing wall goes straight up and has small holding places for hands and feet.

　　　 How do people climb the wall? To climb, you need special shoes and a harness (保护带) around your chest to hold you.There are ropes tied to your harness.The ropes hold you in place so that you don't fall.A beginner's wall is usually about 15 feet high, and you climb straight up.There are small pieces of metal that stick out for you to stand on and hold on to.Sometimes it's easy to see the next piece of metal.Sometimes, it's not.The most difficult point is to control your fear.It's normal for humans to be afraid of falling, so it's difficult not to feel fear.But when you move away from the wall, the harness and the ropes hold you, and you begin to feel safe.You move slowly until you reach the top.

　　　 Climbing attracts people because it's good exercise for almost everyone.You use your whole body, especially your arms and legs.This sport gives your body a complete workout.When you climb, both your mind and your body can become stronger.

(　　)6.According to the passage, if you want to do some climbing, you can ________.

A.go to the mountains　　　 B.stay in city gyms

C.stay at home　　　　　　 D.both A and B

(　　)7.The most difficult thing to do in wall climbing is ________.

A.to tie ropes to your harness　　　　　 B.to control your fear

C.to move away from the wall D.to climb straight up

(　　)8.If you are a beginner, you'd better ________.

A.climb high walls　　　　　　　　　 B.climb low walls first

C.not use a harness D.climb with friends

(　　)9.The underlined word “workout” in the last paragraph most probably means ________.

A.settlement B.exercise　　

C.excitement　 D.tiredness

(　　)10.What can we infer from the passage?

A.People are fairly interested in climbing nowadays.

B.It is impossible to build up one's body by climbing.

C.People can only learn the skill of climbing outdoors.

D.It is always easy to see holding places in climbing.

Molly Daniels opened the door so hard that the door nearly broke it. Then she looked through the window at her neighbor across the yard. “ She is in my garden again. Those are my strawberries, not hers. Maybe I should call the police.”
Her friend, Doris, was sitting at the table with a cup of coffee in her hands. “You want to call the police because she picks your strawberries?” she asked.
“Of course,” Molly answered angrily. “What would you do if your neighbor walked into your yard without your permission and picked your strawberries?”
“I would say, better here the bees.”
“The bees don’t take my strawberries.”
“But the birds do,” Doris continued. “That old lady only picks a few strawberries every year, and the only ones she picks are those you leave to the birds. Why don’t you pick some of your good strawberries and give them to her?”
“Are you crazy? What are you thinking?’
“Don’t you remember what happened when you were in hospital last year? She went to see you and gave you a pot full of chicken soup. When you give her the strawberries you can tell her that you still remember that.”
Molly was shocked. She had almost forgotten that little kindness because she was too angry. Then she picked a basket of good strawberries and went out. Through the window, Doris could see that the anger on Molly’s face changed into a bright smile.
【小题1】Molly opened the door very hard because _____

A．she was very angry

B．she was very happy

C．she didn’t like eating strawberries

D．Doris wasn’t friendly

【小题2】The underline word “permission” in the passage means “_____” in Chinese.

A．感谢

B．许可

C．命令

D．警告

【小题3】Which sentence is similar to the sentence “I would say, better here than the bees.”?

A．It’s better to let the neighbor pick the strawberries than to give them to the bees.

B．The bees are better than the neighbor.

C．The bees like strawberries more than the neighbor does.

D．The neighbor is good at picking strawberries.

【小题4】From the last paragraph, we can infer(推断)what Molly did at last with a basket of good strawberries.

A．She called the police to drive the neighbor away.

B．She happily gave a basket of good strawberries to the neighbor.

C．She ate up the strawberries herself.

D．She let the birds take her strawberries.

 

One day, many years ago, when I was working as a psychologist(心理学家)in England, I brought David into my office. His face was pale and he looked at his own feet.

David lost his father when he was two years old and lived with his mother and grandfather ever since. But when he was 13 ,his grandfather died and his mother was killed in a car accident. His teacher told me that he refused to talk to others form then on.

David didn’t say a word. As he was leaving, I put my hand on his shoulder.“Come back next week if you like.” I said.

He came and I suggested(建议)we play a game of chess. He agreed. After that we played chess every Wednesday afternoon—in complete silence. Usually, he arrived earlier than we agreed. It seemed that he liked to be with me.

Months later, when I was looking at his head, he suddenly looked up at me. “It’s your turn.” He said. After that day, David started started talking. He finally got friends in school and he even joined a bicycle club. Now he started his new life.

Maybe I gave David something. But I learned more from him. I learned that time makes it possible to get over what seems to be painful. David showed me how to help people like him.

1. When David came into the writer’s office,      .

A. he said hello to the writer      B. he seemed happy

C. he looked at his own feet        D. he smiled at the writer

2. David’s father died when he was    year old.

A.13        B.2         C.5         D.6

3. To help David, the writer    every Wednesday afternoon.

A. played chess with him        B. told stories to him

C. wrote letters to him         D. played soccer with him

4. What club did David join?

A. chess club.    B. An art club.   C. An English club.   D. A bicycle club.

5. Which of the following statements is NOT true?

A. After his father died, David refused to talk to others.

B. David didn’t say anything to the writer at first.

C. At last the writer learned a lot from David.

D. David finally got friends in school.