Playing is serious business for children. In fact, it’s what they do best! Ask them why they do it, and kids will probably say, “Because it’s fun!” But it’s much more than that. It’s also good for them.
Studies show that from birth babies begin learning through playing. They use their five senses to get to know their new world. Touching allows them to discover how different things feel. Brightly colored toys and clothing help develop a baby’s sense of sight.
When small children choose which toy to play with, they begin developing their abilities in making decisions. Children love toys that allow them to use their imagination. Sometimes an empty box is more fun than a high-tech toy. That’s because a box can become anything a child imagines it to be.
Crayons, paints and Ply-Doh(彩色塑泥)are also good because they allow children to create. Traditional building blocks teach important pre-math skills like problem-solving.
Playing doesn’t become any less important once children start school. __＊___. Kids learn how to share, take turns and play by the rules.
【小题1】Why is playing a serious business for children?

Playing sports is a good way to have fun.Kangkang often _____1.____(go) to the school gym to do sports.Last Saturday,Kangkang _______2.____ (go) to the gym with some of his classmates. They ____3.___ (have) great fun swimming and playing basketball.

It is Friday today. Look！Kangkang and Michael ______4.____ (play) table tennis while Lily is learning to skate.What will they do tomorrow? They ____5.______ (go) to the zoo. They will be very happy！

Play is the basic business of childhood, and in recent years research has shown the great importance of play in the development of a human being. From earliest infancy（婴儿）, every child needs opportunity and right materials for play, and the main tools of play are toys. The main function of toys is to suggest, encourage and play. To succeed in this, they must be good toys, which children will play with often, and will come back again and again. Therefore, it is important to choose suitable toys for different stages of a child’s development.

In recent years, research on baby development has shown that the standard a child is likely to reach, within the range of his inherited（遗传的）abilities, is largely determined in the first three years of his life. So a baby’s ability to benefit from the right play materials should not be underestimated. A baby who is encouraged, talked to and shown things and played with, has the best chance of growing up successfully.

In the next stage, from three to five years old, curiosity knows no bounds. Every type of suitable toys should be made available to the child, for trying out, experimenting and learning, for discovering his own particular ability: Bricks and jigsaws（七巧板）and construction toys; painting, scribbling（涂鸦）and making things; sand and water play; toys for imaginative and pretending play—the first social games for learning to play and get on with others.

But at the third stage of play development—from five to seven or eight years old— the child is at school. But for a few more years play is still the best way of learning, at home or at school．It is easier to see which type of toys the child most enjoys.

Until the age of seven or eight, play and work mean much the same to a child．But once reading has been mastered, then books become the main source of learning. Toys are still interesting and valuable, which lead up to new hobbies, but their significance has changed to a child of nine or ten years old, toys and games mean, as to adults, relaxation and fun.

1. What does the writer want to tell us in the first paragraph?

A.    Children should choose toys by themselves.

B.    Children like playing, but they don’t need any toys.

C.    Children should be given different toys as they grow up.

D.    Children should be given the same toys as they grow up.

E.     58．According to the passage, we can give the child every kind of toys ________．

A．when he is two             B．when he is around four

C．when he is six              D．when he is eight

2.When a child is seven years old, what is the main source of learning?

A. Toys.      B. Books.    C. Jigsaws.   D. Paintings.

3. What is the article mainly about?

A．The importance of schooling.

B．The choice of toys for children.

   C．The importance of pre-school education.

D．The role of play in a child’s development.

Playing ping-pong sounds_______but I can’t play it ________.

A. good; goodB. well; goodC. well; wellD. good; well