Reading for pleasure is declining among primary-age pupils, and increasing numbers of "time poor" parents are dropping the practice of sharing bedtime stories with their children once they start school.

Research presented to a conference last week found that, while parents read to preschoolers , this later tails off, and by the final year of primary school only around 2% read to their children every day. Once children can read skillfully, parents tend to step back, and this usually happens at the age of seven or eight. The report also found that 820-/o of teachers blame the government's " target-. driven" education policies for the fact that fewer children are reading for pleasure.

They believe that a straitjacket (束缚) of strictly organized schooling is containing young people's ability to read more widely. Two-thirds of teachers surveyed said they lacked time in the school day to introduce a variety of books and that this was a " major obstacle to being able to develop a level of reading". Teachers also cited as main factors the reduction in the number of school librarians, who could put interesting books before children, and the rise in "screen time", switching children from reading to playing games.

The majority of teachers said the curriculum's (课程) " emphasis on reading as a skill to be mastered" was increasing the pressure. This was compounded by parents who saw reading just as a focus of learning, a skill critical to career advancement in a competitive world.

Reading habits and the digital revolution in publishing were key topics of debate at the conference. The theme of the lack of British culture was supported by children's writer Frank Cottrell Boyce, who wrote the scripts(手稿 ) for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2012 Olympics.

“We discovered the whole nation had forgotten that they did the industrial revolution," he said.

"Books are so central to it; books can be written by anyone. A lot of the pleasure of a book is listening to somebody read it to you. "

"We found a real love of reading al110ng teachers, and a strong desire ,to encourage more children to read for pleasure ,”said Rob Cheney," However ,the teachers also had an overpowering sense of frustration with their situation." "Touch-screen phone and tablets are naturally attractive to children," the survey said, and predicted a period of awkwardness as everyone else adapts. By 2018, children's television will have adopted the presence of this second screen ,and it "will be strange not to have children ,at home drawing along on tablets and then having these appearing live in the show ".

The hope is “that user-friendly screens could, if material is adapted and downloaded easily, present an opportunity for more ambitious publishing - for example, books children can either read or choose to have read to them; or digital books with moving pictures instead of photos to clarify factual and scientific points. Parental controls that are easy to use would be key, the conference was told, such as "a warning for when devices use the Wi-Fi, especially after bedtimes", to allow parents to shut off access to children in the home.

1.What leads to parents' dropping the practice of sharing bedtime stories with their children?

A. Children have less time to spend with their parents after they start school.

B. Parents chink it unnecessary to do so when children can read themselves.

C. The government’s education policies have placed much burden on children.

D. Children don't like parents reading stories to them when they are seven or eight.

2.Which of the following is not teachers' point of view?

A. Children are prevented from reading widely enough in school.

B. Schools pay attention to reading skills instead of reading for fun.

C. Playing video games reduces children's time spent on reading.

D. School libraries can't provide good books for lack of money.

3.The word "compounded" (Paragraph 4) most probably means ______.

A. worsened B. preserved C. reduced D. improved

4.It can be inferred from the article that _____

A. children don't like reading because books are not attractive

B. British people enjoyed reading books very much in the past

C. teachers forbid their students co read more books for fun

D. children should enjoy more freedom to use the Wi-Fi at home

5.What is the passage mainly about?

A. Parents should set a limit to their children's using electric devices at hoI11e.

B. Children are encouraged to read as l11any interesting books as they can.

C. Children miss out on pleasures of reading a good book in modern life.

D. Experts appeals to the government to reduce the heavy burden on children.

完形填空

阅读下面两篇短文,从短文后各题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中,选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

This morning, as I was getting close to the supermarket, I saw a small ______ gathering around an elderly woman with blood under her face. I stopped and asked if I could______. I told her I was certified(授予证书的)in first aid. Then I ______ someone for a first aid kit(工具箱). But she didn’t want help, saying she was fine. But she wasn’t fine. I asked her to ______ with me and we ______ about her routine of getting groceries. People brought out ice packs, water and paper towels from the ______ nearby. I put on the gloves from the first aid kit, and cleaned her up a bit, but ______ I just talked to her and held her hand.

Two ______ happened to be passing by and ______ to help check her out a bit. Finally, after ten minutes the ______ arrived and I talked to the emergency medical team and they _______ .

I was certified in first aid years back, and I got re-certified a month ago, but I never ______ it once. However, I realized being certified isn’t ______ about providing the aid. I didn’t stop the bleeding. I didn’t______ to examine her. Mostly it was about providing comfort for people in a difficult ______ . The certification gave me the ______ to do that: to kneel on the sidewalk, holding an old woman’s hand, and to help make those ______ few minutes just a little bit better.

If you’re not certified in first aid, I can’t ______ it strongly enough. It takes four hours of your time at your ______ Red Cross. With what you’ll ______ , maybe you’ll be able to help someone like the old lady one day.

1.A. people B. crowd C. traffic D. public

2.A. help out B. look out C. watch out D. make out

3.A. paid B. scolded C. applied D. sent

4.A. accompany B. walk C. stay D. shop

5.A. talked B. cared C. looked D. quarreled

6.A. hotel B. office C. station D. supermarket

7.A. simply B. maybe C. mostly D. extremely

8.A. policemen B. doctors C. clerks D. volunteers

9.A. refused B. woke C. lay D. stopped

10.A. driver B. family C. ambulance D. officer

11.A. operated on B. took over C. ran away D. turned up

12.A. used B. noticed C. liked D. met

13.A. hopefully B. possibly C. necessarily D. commonly

14.A. want B. try C. permit D. teach

15.A. place B. position C. life D. situation

16.A. harm B. wish C. lesson D. confidence

17.A. scary B. moving C. confusing D. friendly

18.A. support B. demand C. recommend D. explain

19.A. local B. national C. formal D. private

20.A. recognize B. learn C. allow D. offer

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