Teachers and parents usually call attention to the pictures when they read storybooks to pre-school children. But a new study suggests that calling attention to the words and letters on the page may lead to better readers.

The two-year study compared children who were read in this way in class with children who were not. Those whose teachers most often discussed the print showed clearly higher skills in reading, spelling and understanding. These results were found one year and even two years later.

Shayne Piasta, an assistant professor of teaching and learning at Ohio State University, was an author of the study. She says most pre-school teachers would find this method manageable and would need only a small change in the way they teach. They already read story-books in class. The only difference would be increased attention to the printed text. “If you get children to pay attention to letters and words, it makes sense that they will do better at word recognition and spelling.” But she says research suggests that very few parents and teachers do this in a systematic way.

More than 300 children aged four and five were observed in classrooms. They came from poor families and were below average in their language skills. For thirty weeks, the children took part in a program called Project STAR--- Sit Together and Read. The project is based at Ohio State. It tests the short-term and long-term results of reading regularly to pre-school children in their classrooms.

There are different ways that adults can talk to children about print. They can point to a letter and discuss it, and even trace the shape with a finger. They can point out a word and discuss the meaning of the print or how the words tell the story. And they can talk about the organization of the print--- for instance, showing how words are written left to right in English.

1. What do we know about the ways pre-school children are usually taught?

A. More attention is paid to the pictures ,with words and letters being ignored.

B. Preference is given to the shape of letters and the organization of the print.

C. The focus of the teaching is on bringing them up to be good readers.

D. Equal attention is paid to the texts and the pictures.

2.What does Shayne Piasta suggest pre-school teachers should do in class?

A. Teach children how to draw pictures to get an idea of what they mean.

B. Change the way they teach and pay more attention to words and letters.

C. Adopt different methods according to the students’ difference in reading skills.

D. Read storybooks to children rather than explain the meaning of the pictures.

3. Which of the following is TRUE about the study on language skills of pre-school children?

A. Many teachers want to change their way of teaching pre-school children.

B. Attention on the pictures has made the children uninterested in reading.

C. Project STAR aims to research into the results of reading books to pre-school children in the classroom.

D. Teachers are often prevented from taking different approaches to language teaching.

4.Which section of a magazine does the passage probably come from?

A. Fashion.     B. Economy .    C. Entertainment.     D. Education.

A year ago, at the annual pre-Grammy party, Whitney Houston, the great star, walked on stage and closed the evening with a brilliant performance．
Last Saturday, Houston was once again the focus before the Grammy, but her presence was a regrettable one．Earlier that day, the pop music's former queen was found dead in her hotel room．She was 48．This, no doubt, is sad news to the whole music industry and her fans all over the world．
At her peak(巅峰), Houston was the golden girl of the music world．From the mid-1980s to the late 1990s, she was one of the world's best-selling artists．She impressed audiences with her effortless, powerful and peerless performance．
Besides multi-million record sales, Houston made countless hits such as The Greatest Love of All, I Have Nothing, and the mostly famous I Will Always Love You．She also influenced a generation of younger singers, from Christina Aguilera to Mariah Carey．
But by the end of her career, there was a shocking fall for this superstar．Houston had been addicted to(上瘾) drugs．Her album sales declined (下降) and the hits stopped coming and her once beautiful voice became hoarse （嘶哑的）, unable to hit the high notes as she used to．
In 2009, Houston staged a successful comeback with the album I Look To You, which fell on top of the charts．But hoarse voice, canceled concerts, and continuous illness-Houston's comeback trail wasn't smooth at all．In an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2009, Houston admitted: "It (show business) is too much for me and I wanted out．"
Now that Houston has finally taken a break from all the chaos(混乱), may she rest in peace．
【小题1】Whitney Houston died ______．

Teachers and parents usually call attention to the pictures when they read storybooks to pre-school children. But a new study suggests that calling attention to the words and letters on the page may lead to better readers.

The two-year study compared children who were read in this way in class with children who were not. Those whose teachers most often discussed the print showed clearly higher skills in reading, spelling and understanding. These results were found one year and even two years later.

Shayne Piasta, an assistant professor of teaching and learning at Ohio State University, was an author of the study. She says most pre-school teachers would find this method manageable and would need only a small change in the way they teach. They already read story-books in class. The only difference would be increased attention to the printed text. “If you get children to pay attention to letters and words, it makes sense that they will do better at word recognition and spelling.” But she says research suggests that very few parents and teachers do this in a systematic way.

More than 300 children aged four and five were observed in classrooms. They came from poor families and were below average in their language skills. For thirty weeks, the children took part in a program called Project STAR--- Sit Together and Read. The project is based at Ohio State. It tests the short-term and long-term results of reading regularly to pre-school children in their classrooms.

There are different ways that adults can talk to children about print. They can point to a letter and discuss it, and even trace the shape with a finger. They can point out a word and discuss the meaning of the print or how the words tell the story. And they can talk about the organization of the print--- for instance, showing how words are written left to right in English.

1.What do we know about the ways pre-school children are usually taught?

A．More attention is paid to the pictures ,with words and letters being ignored.

B．Preference is given to the shape of letters and the organization of the print.

C．The focus of the teaching is on bringing them up to be good readers.

D．Equal attention is paid to the texts and the pictures.

2.What does Shayne Piasta suggest pre-school teachers should do in class?

A．Teach children how to draw pictures to get an idea of what they mean.

B．Change the way they teach and pay more attention to words and letters.

C．Adopt different methods according to the students’ difference in reading skills.

D．Read storybooks to children rather than explain the meaning of the pictures.

3.Which of the following is TRUE about the study on language skills of pre-school children?

A．Many teachers want to change their way of teaching pre-school children.

B．Attention on the pictures has made the children uninterested in reading.

C．Project STAR aims to research into the results of reading books to pre-school children in the classroom.

D．Teachers are often prevented from taking different approaches to language teaching.

4.Which section of a magazine does the passage probably come from?

A．Fashion.          B．Economy .         C．Entertainment.     D．Education.

 Complete the following passage by using the words in the box． Each word can only be used once． Note that there is one word more than you need．

A year ago, at the annual pre-Grammy party, Whitney Houston, the great diva（女歌手）, walked on stage and closed the evening with a brilliant performance．

Last Saturday, Houston was once again the  1  of the showcase before the Grammys, but her presence was a posthumous（死后的）one．

Earlier that day, pop music’s former queen was found dead in her hotel room． She was 48．

This, no doubt, is sad news to the whole music industry and her fans all over the world,   __2__ what a legendary life and remarkable career that she once had．

At her peak, Houston was the golden girl of the music world． From the mid-1980s to the late 1990s, she was one of the world’s  3  artists． She strongly impressed the audiences with effortless, powerful and peerless vocals．

Besides multi-million record sales, Houston made countless hits such as The Greatest Love of All, I Have Nothing, and the mostly famous I Will Always Love You．

She also  4  a generation of younger singers, from Christina Aguilera to Mariah Carey．

But by the end of her career, it was a  5  fall for this superstar． Houston has been addicted to drugs． Her album sales plummeted and the hits stopped coming． Her once calm and peaceful image was shattered by a wild manner and unusual public appearances, and her once natural voice became rough and hoarse, unable to hit the high notes as she  6  ．

“The biggest devil is me． I’m either my best friend or my worst enemy,” Houston told the ABC in an interview in 2002．

In 2009, Houston staged what seemed to be a successful  7  with the album I Look To You, which debuted on top of the charts．

But hoarse voice,   8  concerts, and continuous illness–Houston’s comeback trail wasn’t smooth at all． In an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2009, Houston confessed: “It （show business） is too much． So much to try to live up to, to try to be, and I wanted out．”

Now that Houston has finally taken a break from all the chaos, may she rest  9  ．