阅读理解
As
summer comes near, many children are really happy to forget about school for a
few months. The summer vacation is the best time for students. They can go outdoors
and have fun. They can go to big cities to go sightseeing, or go to the
countryside to enjoy the beauty of nature. However, studies have found that children
forget between one and three months' worth of school learning during the summer
months. Spelling and math abilities are seriously influenced because of the
long vacation, while reading is not really influenced by the time off. The most
probable reason for this is that most children usually read at least outside of
the classroom, whether newspapers, magazines, books, or video game guides. However,
their math and spelling skills only get exercised in the school setting.
The first summer vacation appeared because the
farm children have time off to help work in the fields in the high growing
season, but this reason is no longer valid since fewer kids actually
work on farms today. Some cities in the United States, such as Los Angeles,
have moved to a year-round school calendar, which will bring less influence in
their studies. Most cities still use the normal nine and a half-month
calendars. To improve skills and to have a good level of preparation, experts
suggested trips to museums, summer camps, and visits to libraries to keep kids
active and interested the whole summer.
There are other educational systems that
provide vacations while still keeping students' skills in a high level. For
example, in Japan students attend classes for seven weeks continuously,
followed by two weeks of vacation. This continues to go through all the year.
In Italy, students attend classes six days per week, but finish at 1:30 p. m.
each day, so that school does not manage their life the way that it does in America.
Educational experts fear that the three-month
summer vacation stops the continuity of learning. Just as students get used to
new ways in reading, writing, or critical thinking skills, then the summer
vacation comes, they shut down for a long period. When they go back to school
after the vacation, they take up to two months to return to their previous
level of understanding. And so the debate continues: whether to continue the
present vacations or to seek changes.
(1)
The students' abilities of the spelling and math are influenced in the summer vacation because they _______________.
A . take the summer vacation too seriously
B . do little work of math or spelling
C . don't like spelling and math
D . have to help work in the fields
(2)
What can we learn from the passage?
A . Students may keep reading in summer vacations.
B . The United States has stopped summer vacations.
C . The summer vacations have no influence on students' skills.
D . Now most children still work on farms in summer vacations.
(3)
What does the underlined word "valid" in the second paragraph probably mean?
A . Acceptable.
B . Aimless.
C . Imaginable.
D . Valueless.
(4)
What is the best title for the passage?
A . Do We Need New Educational Systems?
B . Do Summer Vacations Confuse Students?
C . Should Summer Vacations Be Changed or Not?
D . Should Students Improve the Ability in Vacations?
答案: B
A
A
C