Science Daily—Kids may roll their eyes when their mothers asks them about their school day, but answering her may actually help them learn. New research from Vanderbilt University reveals that children learn the solution to a problem best when they explain it to their mom.

“We knew that children learn well with their moms or with a peer, but we did not know if that was because they were getting feedback and help,” Bethany Rittle-Johnson, the study’s lead author and assistant professor of psychology at Vanderbilt’s Peabody College of education and human development, said. “In this study, we just had the children’s mothers listen, without providing any assistance. We’ve found that by simply listening, a mother helps her child learn.”

Rittle-Johnson believes the new finding can help parents better assist their children with their schoolwork, even when they are not sure of the answer themselves. Although the researchers used children and their mothers in the study, they believe the same results will hold true whether the person is the child’s father, grandparent, or other familiar persons.

“The basic idea is that it is really effective to try to get kids to explain things themselves instead of just telling them the answer,” she said. “Explaining their reasoning, to a parent or perhaps to other people they know, will help them understand the problem and apply what they have learned to other situations. We saw that this simple act of listening by mom made a difference in the quality of the child’s explanations and how well they could solve more difficult problems later on.

1.According to the passage, a mom had better ________.

A. give a kid some help when he is explaining his problem

B. just listen while a kid is explaining his problem

C. work together with a kid toward the solution to a problem

D. leave a kid alone when he meets a problem at school

2. If she wants to help a child with his schoolwork, a mom ________.

A. should know the answer to a problem first

B. should pay attention to the child’s feedback.

C. may not know the answer herself

D. should not interrupt the child

3.Who will be the least help to a kid when he is explaining, according to Rittle-Johnson?

A. The kid’s mom.                                                  

B. The kid’s grandmother.

C. A peer.

D. A relative the kid doesn’t know.

4.Which of the following best gives the main idea of the passage?

A. Children learn better when their mom is hearing their explaining.

B. Children learn better if they find the solution to a problem themselves.

C. Parents should not provide any assistance to their children’s schoolwork.

D. A mom should listen more to their children when they have problems at school.

On the whole, it’s not something we parents shout about, but one in four of us does it. Hiring private tutors for our children is now widespread.

       “It’s expensive, but worth it,” says Ashan Sabri, whose daughter Zarreen, is having tuition in biology and chemistry in preparation for A-levels this summer. “My husband and I tried to tutor her at home, but we found all our knowledge was out of date and we were only confusing Zarreen. We also tried a group revision course but all the children were sitting in a room for different kinds of exams. On the whole, we think one-to-one tuition works best.”

       The real reason is: does tutoring do any good?

“It’s not the magic bullet,” says Professor Judith Ireson, author of a 2005 Institute of Education report on the subject. “It’s still up to the child to do the learning. If he or she isn’t interested, sending them to a private tutor won’t do any good. However, we did find that students who had private tuition in mathematics during the two years before GCSE achieved on average just under half a grade higher than students who did not have a tutor.”

In which case, surely it’s time to break open the champagne? Not necessarily, says Elaine Tyrrell, head of The Rowans School, Wimbledon, a preparation school which regularly gets children into the best private schools.

“While we recommend private tutoring for a few children whose first language isn’t English, we don’t encourage it for the others. With the level of education they get here, children really ought to be able to pass the entrance exams without any extra teaching. And our worry is that they might just get used to getting help from last-minute tutoring, but, once they actually get to that school, they won’t be able to cope.”

But Mylene Curtis, owner of Fleet Tutors, one of the biggest tutoring agencies in the country, holds a different view.

“In some respects, the hurdles children have to leap in order to get into these schools are set at a higher level than the reality,” says Curtis. “We often find that, once a child has got into a school, the standard of work isn’t as high as was feared. The trick is to do well enough in the exam to win a place.”

What does Ashan Sabri think of the group revision course?

A. It’s expensive but worthwhile because it works the best.

B. It confuses students because the knowledge taught in it is out of date.

C. It isn’t effective because it doesn’t focus on specific exams.

D. It is effective because it doesn’t focus on specific exams.

What do the underlined words “magic bullet” in Paragraph 4 mean?

A. Something that cannot help to solve problems at all.

B. Something that solves a difficult problem in an easy way.

C. Something that seems useful but has no use at all.

D. Something that encourages interest in study.

According to Elaine Tyrrell, private tutoring is _______.

A. effective in language learning but not for exams

B. effective for foreign students but not for local students

C. unnecessary in most cases and may harm the further study of students

D. unnecessary in secondary school but helpful to further study

What can be inferred from the last two paragraphs?

A. Fleet Tutors and the Rowans School are competitors.

B. Entrance exams to schools are too difficult for most students.

C. Further study isn’t as difficult as was first thought.

D. Private tuition is worth the financial investment.

What attitude does the author hold towards home tutoring?

       A. Critical           B. Objective         C. Supportive          D. Uninterested

On the whole, it’s not something we parents shout about, but one in four of us does it. Hiring private tutors for our children is now widespread.
“It’s expensive, but worth it,” says Ashan Sabri, whose daughter Zarreen, is having tuition in biology and chemistry in preparation for A-levels this summer. “My husband and I tried to tutor her at home, but we found all our knowledge was out of date and we were only confusing Zarreen. We also tried a group revision course but all the children were sitting in a room for different kinds of exams. On the whole, we think one-to-one tuition works best.”
The real reason is: does tutoring do any good?
“It’s not the magic bullet,” says Professor Judith Ireson, author of a 2005 Institute of Education report on the subject. “It’s still up to the child to do the learning. If he or she isn’t interested, sending them to a private tutor won’t do any good. However, we did find that students who had private tuition in mathematics during the two years before GCSE achieved on average just under half a grade higher than students who did not have a tutor.”
In which case, surely it’s time to break open the champagne? Not necessarily, says Elaine Tyrrell, head of The Rowans School, Wimbledon, a preparation school which regularly gets children into the best private schools.
“While we recommend private tutoring for a few children whose first language isn’t English, we don’t encourage it for the others. With the level of education they get here, children really ought to be able to pass the entrance exams without any extra teaching. And our worry is that they might just get used to getting help from last-minute tutoring, but, once they actually get to that school, they won’t be able to cope.”
But Mylene Curtis, owner of Fleet Tutors, one of the biggest tutoring agencies in the country, holds a different view.
“In some respects, the hurdles children have to leap in order to get into these schools are set at a higher level than the reality,” says Curtis. “We often find that, once a child has got into a school, the standard of work isn’t as high as was feared. The trick is to do well enough in the exam to win a place.”
【小题1】What does Ashan Sabri think of the group revision course?

On the whole, it’s not something we parents shout about, but one in four of us does it. Hiring private tutors for our children is now widespread.

“It’s expensive, but worth it,” says Ashan Sabri, whose daughter Zarreen, is having tuition in biology and chemistry in preparation for A-levels this summer. “My husband and I tried to tutor her at home, but we found all our knowledge was out of date and we were only confusing Zarreen. We also tried a group revision course but all the children were sitting in a room for different kinds of exams. On the whole, we think one-to-one tuition works best.”

The real reason is: does tutoring do any good?

“It’s not the magic bullet,” says Professor Judith Ireson, author of a 2005 Institute of Education report on the subject. “It’s still up to the child to do the learning. If he or she isn’t interested, sending them to a private tutor won’t do any good. However, we did find that students who had private tuition in mathematics during the two years before GCSE achieved on average just under half a grade higher than students who did not have a tutor.”

In which case, surely it’s time to break open the champagne? Not necessarily, says Elaine Tyrrell, head of The Rowans School, Wimbledon, a preparation school which regularly gets children into the best private schools.

“While we recommend private tutoring for a few children whose first language isn’t English, we don’t encourage it for the others. With the level of education they get here, children really ought to be able to pass the entrance exams without any extra teaching. And our worry is that they might just get used to getting help from last-minute tutoring, but, once they actually get to that school, they won’t be able to cope.”

But Mylene Curtis, owner of Fleet Tutors, one of the biggest tutoring agencies in the country, holds a different view.

“In some respects, the hurdles children have to leap in order to get into these schools are set at a higher level than the reality,” says Curtis. “We often find that, once a child has got into a school, the standard of work isn’t as high as was feared. The trick is to do well enough in the exam to win a place.”

1.What does Ashan Sabri think of the group revision course?

2. What do the underlined words “magic bullet” in Paragraph 4 mean?

3.According to Elaine Tyrrell, private tutoring is _______.

4. What can be inferred from the last two paragraphs?

5.What attitude does the author hold towards home tutoring?

On the whole, it’s not something we parents shout about, but one in four of us does it. Hiring private tutors for our children is now widespread.

       “It’s expensive, but worth it,” says Ashan Sabri, whose daughter Zarreen, is having tuition in biology and chemistry in preparation for A-levels this summer. “My husband and I tried to tutor her at home, but we found all our knowledge was out of date and we were only confusing Zarreen. We also tried a group revision course but all the children were sitting in a room for different kinds of exams. On the whole, we think one-to-one tuition works best.”

       The real reason is: does tutoring do any good?

“It’s not the magic bullet,” says Professor Judith Ireson, author of a 2005 Institute of Education report on the subject. “It’s still up to the child to do the learning. If he or she isn’t interested, sending them to a private tutor won’t do any good. However, we did find that students who had private tuition in mathematics during the two years before GCSE achieved on average just under half a grade higher than students who did not have a tutor.”

In which case, surely it’s time to break open the champagne? Not necessarily, says Elaine Tyrrell, head of The Rowans School, Wimbledon, a preparation school which regularly gets children into the best private schools.

“While we recommend private tutoring for a few children whose first language isn’t English, we don’t encourage it for the others. With the level of education they get here, children really ought to be able to pass the entrance exams without any extra teaching. And our worry is that they might just get used to getting help from last-minute tutoring, but, once they actually get to that school, they won’t be able to cope.”

But Mylene Curtis, owner of Fleet Tutors, one of the biggest tutoring agencies in the country, holds a different view.

“In some respects, the hurdles children have to leap in order to get into these schools are set at a higher level than the reality,” says Curtis. “We often find that, once a child has got into a school, the standard of work isn’t as high as was feared. The trick is to do well enough in the exam to win a place.”

1.What does Ashan Sabri think of the group revision course?

       A. It’s expensive but worthwhile because it works the best.

B. It confuses students because the knowledge taught in it is out of date.

C. It isn’t effective because it doesn’t focus on specific exams.

D. It is effective because it doesn’t focus on specific exams.

2.What do the underlined words “magic bullet” in Paragraph 4 mean?

       A. Something that cannot help to solve problems at all.

B. Something that solves a difficult problem in an easy way.

C. Something that seems useful but has no use at all.

D. Something that encourages interest in study.

3.According to Elaine Tyrrell, private tutoring is _______.

       A. effective in language learning but not for exams

B. effective for foreign students but not for local students

C. unnecessary in most cases and may harm the further study of students

D. unnecessary in secondary school but helpful to further study

4.What can be inferred from the last two paragraphs?

       A. Fleet Tutors and the Rowans School are competitors.

B. Entrance exams to schools are too difficult for most students.

C. Further study isn’t as difficult as was first thought.

D. Private tuition is worth the financial investment.

5.What attitude does the author hold towards home tutoring?

       A. Critical            B. Objective         C. Supportive          D. Uninterested