"Mummy, I don't know what to play with." Steve stops his mother, who is talking to a friend, for the fourth time. “You've got a room full of toys!" his mother says, impatiently. In fact it is the jumble of toys which is to blame for four-year-old Steve's having no interest in his dolls, cars and animals. Each morning he pours three washing baskets of toys all over his floor, pulls out something and shortly after that, he is standing at his mother's desk or following her into the kitchen saying, "Mummy, I am bored."

A family therapist(心理医生) explains why children lose interest when they have a whole “toy shop” at home. “According to their brain development, little children are not in a position to judge the quality of different kinds of things at once. There is always just one favorite toy for the moment. All the rest are left lying about." What can parents do to stop their children from being oversupplied with toys? Simply make something disappear without the child's knowledge. If he/she takes no more notice of a toy, a parent can ask if it can be stored or given away. Of course the child will always say he/she wants it then!

Lyn is the mother of four-year-old Jessie, and we like her way. A small set of shelves in her child's room holds the toys and books that are the new favourites. When it seems to her that her daughter is tired of these toys, they put them away in a box together and select some other toys from a cupboard in another room. The box of “old” toys goes into the cupboard. When her child says she is "bored", they also get something from her cupboard -- it may be something she has had for some time but because she hasn’t seen it for a while it is almost like a new toy.

Some favourite toys stay out all the time, and there is a collection of dolls which sits in the comer, but in this way Lyn has found that she has fewer toys to put away at the end of the day and her daughter always has something “fresh” to play with.

57. Steve stops his mother several times because______.

　 A. he felt uninterested in his toys　　　　　 B. he disliked his mother's friend

　 C. he didn't have enough toys to play with D. he hoped his mother would play with him

58. According to the therapist, children often say they have nothing to play with because______.

　 A. they can't play alone for a long time

　 B. they are too young to play with so many toys

　 C. they are too lazy to pick out their favourites

　 D. they don't have the ability to value too many things at a time

59. What does the underlined word "jumble" mean in Chinese?

　 A. 单一的选择　 B．杂乱的一堆　 C．普通的外观　 D．相同的形状

60. Which is the advice given to parents in the text?

　 A. Buy fewer toys for their children.

　 B. Form good habits for their children.

　 C. Put some toys away without telling their children.

　 D. Spare some time to play with their children.

As prices and building costs keep rising, “the do-it-yourself”（DIY）trend（趋势） in the US continues to grow.
“We needed furniture for our living room,” says John Kose, “and we didn’t have enough money to buy it.” So we decided to try making a few tables and chairs. John got married six months ago, and like many young people these days, they are struggling （努力）to make a home when the cost of living is very high. The Koses took a 2-week course for $ 280 at a night school. Now they build all their furniture and make repairs around the house.
Jim Hatfield has three boys and his wife died. He has a full-time job at home as well as in a shoe-making factory. Last month, he received a car repair bill for $420. “I was very upset about it. Now I’ve finished a car repair course. I should be able to fix the car myself. ”
John and Jim are not unusual people. Most families in the country are doing everything they can save money so they can fight the high cost of living. If you want to become a “do-it-yourself”, you can go to DIY classes. And for those who don’t have time to take a course, there are books that tell you how to do things yourself.
【小题1】We know from the passage that many people ________ .

As prices and building costs keep rising, “the do-it-yourself”（DIY）trend（趋势） in the US continues to grow.

“We needed furniture for our living room,” says John Kose, “and we didn’t have enough money to buy it.” So we decided to try making a few tables and chairs. John got married six months ago, and like many young people these days, they are struggling （努力）to make a home when the cost of living is very high. The Koses took a 2-week course for $ 280 at a night school. Now they build all their furniture and make repairs around the house.

Jim Hatfield has three boys and his wife died. He has a full-time job at home as well as in a shoe-making factory. Last month, he received a car repair bill for $420. “I was very upset about it. Now I’ve finished a car repair course. I should be able to fix the car myself. ”

John and Jim are not unusual people. Most families in the country are doing everything they can save money so they can fight the high cost of living. If you want to become a “do-it-yourself”, you can go to DIY classes. And for those who don’t have time to take a course, there are books that tell you how to do things yourself.

1.We know from the passage that many people ________ .

A. seldom go to a department store to buy things

B. take DIY courses run by the government

C. like to learn to make their own furniture

D. find it hard to pay for what they need

2. John and his wife went to evening classes to learn how to _______ .

A. improve the quality of life

B. save time and money

C. make or repair things

D. run a DIY shop

3.When the writer says that Jim has a full-time job at home, he means Jim ______.

A. keeps house and looks after his children

B. does his own car and home repairs

C. does extra work at night

D. make shoes in his home

4.Jim Hatfield decided to become a do-it-yourself when ______ .

A. he had to raise the children all by himself

B. he could not possibly do two jobs

C. the car repair class was not helpful

D. his car repairs cost too much

5.How can people learn DIY? 

A. Go to classes.

B. Read books.

C. Go to classes and read books.

D. The passage doesn't tell us.