If you look for a book as a present for a child. You
will be spoiled for choice even in a year when there is no new Harry Potter.
J.K Rowling’s wizard is not alone: the past decade has been a harvest for good
children’s books, which has set off a large quantity of films and in turn led
to increased sales of classics such as The Lord of the Rings.
Yet despite that, reading is increasingly unpopular
among children. According to statistics, in 1997 23% said they didn’t like
reading at all. In 2003, 35% did. And around 6% of children leave primary
school each year unable to read properly.
Maybe the decline is caused by the increasing
availability of computes games. Maybe the books boom has affected only the top
of the educational pile. Either way, Chancellor Gordon Brown plans to change
things for the bottom of the class .In his pre-budget report, he announced the
national project of Reading Recovery to help the children struggling most.
Reading Recovery is aimed at six-year-olds, who receive
four months of individual daily half-hour classes with a specially trained
teacher. An evaluation earlier this year reported that children on the scheme
made 20 months’ progress in just one year, whereas similarly weak readers
without special help made just five months’ progress, and so ended the year
even further below the level expected for their age.
International research tends to find that when British
children leave primary school they read well, but read less often for fun than
those elsewhere. Reading for fun matters because children who are keen on
reading can expect lifelong pleasure and loving books is an excellent indicator
of future educational success. According to the OECD, being a regular and
enthusiastic reader is of great advantage.
1.Which of the following is true of Paragraph 1?
A.Many children’s books
have been adapted from films.
B.Many high-quality
children’s books have been published.
C.The sales of classics
have led to the popularity of films.
D.The sales of presents for
children have increased.
2.Statistics suggested that
.
A.the number of top
students increased with the use of computers
B.a decreasing number of
children showed interest in reading
C.a minority of primary
school children read properly
D.a large percentage of
children read regularly
3.What do we know about Reading Recovery?
A.An evaluation of it will
be made sometime this year.
B.Weak readers on the
project were the most hardworking.
C.It aims to train special
teachers to help children with reading.
D.Children on the project
showed noticeable progress in reading.
4.Reading for fun is important because book-loving
children _________.
A. take greater
advantage of the project
B.show the potential to
enjoy a long life
C.are likely to succeed in
their education
D.would make excellent
future researchers
5.The aim of this text would probably be _________.
A.to overcome primary
school pupils’ reading difficulty
B.to encourage the
publication of more children’s books
C.to remind children of the
importance of reading for fun
D.to introduce a way to
improve early children reading