Teachers and parents usually call attention to the pictures when they read storybooks to preschool children. But a new study tells that calling attention to the words and letters on the book may lead to better readers.

The two-year study compared (比较) children who were read to this way in class with children who were not. Those whose teachers most often discussed the words showed clearly higher skills in reading, spelling and understanding.

Shayne Piasta, a professor of teaching and learning at Ohio State University, says most preschool teachers would need only a small change in the way they teach. They already read storybooks in class. The only difference would be increased attention to the printed words.

Ms. Piasta says if you get children to pay attention to letters and words, it makes sense that they will do better at word spelling. But she says studies show that very few parents and teachers do this in a systematic (系统的) way.

They watched more than three hundred children aged four and five in classrooms in Ohio and Virginia. The children came from poor families and were poor in their language skills. They may become bad readers when they enter primary schools later.

Professor Justice says children’s language skills can be improved by discussing with him or her when you are reading a book to a child. There are different ways that adults can talk to children about the letters and words on the page. They can point to a word and discuss the shape of it with a finger. They can point out a word: “This is ‘dog’.” They can discuss the meaning of the word or how the words tell the story. And they can also show how words are written left to right in English.

49. What does the underlined phrase “it makes sense” in Paragraph 4 mean?

A. It can be understood and agreed.                     B. It is impossible to happen.       

C. It can be difficult to imagine and describe. D. It is surprising to see.

50. What can we infer from the passage?

A. Parents are more important than teachers for little children.

B. Teachers need to learn a lot to use the new teaching way.

C. It’s impossible for preschool children to understand words.

D. Skills are important to children’s reading development.

51. The writer wants to tell us that ____.

A. preschool children should have higher discussing skills

B. parents should make a plan to teach their children reading

C. teachers should help children pay attention to printed words

D. languages skills should be discussed with preschool children

Reading is the key to school success and, like any skill, it takes practice. A child learns to walk by practicing until he no longer has to think about how to put one foot in front of the other. An excellent sportsman practices until he can play quickly, correctly and without thinking. Educators call it “automaticity (自动性)”.
A child learns to read by sounding out the letters and finding the meaning of the words. With practice, he stumbles less and less, reading by the phrase (短语). With automaticity, he doesn't have to think about the meaning of words, so he can give all his attention to the meaning of the text.
It can begin as early as first grade. In a recent study of children in Illinois schools, Alan Rossman of Northwestern University found that automatic readers in the first grade not only read almost three times as fast as the others, but also got better results in exams.
According to Rossman, the key to automaticity is the amount (数量) of time a child spends reading, not his IQ. Any child who spends at least 3.5 to 4 hours a week reading books, magazines or newspapers will probably reach automaticity. It can happen if a child turns off TV just one night for reading at home.
You can test yourself by reading something new which is suitable (适合) for your level. If you read aloud with expression, with a sense of the meaning of the sentences, you probably are an automatic reader. If you read brokenly, one word at a time, without expression or meaning, you need more practice.
【小题1】Children with “automaticity” can read faster because they don’t have to think about ________.

Reading is the key to school success and, like any skill, it takes practice. A child learns to walk by practicing until he no longer has to think about how to put one foot in front of the other. An excellent sportsman practices until he can play quickly, correctly and without thinking. Educators call it “automaticity (自动性)”.
A child learns to read by sounding out the letters and finding the meaning of the words. With practice, he stumbles less and less, reading by the phrase (短语). With automaticity, he doesn’t have to think about the meaning of words, so he can give all his attention to the meaning of the text.
It can begin as early as first grade. In a recent study of children in Illinois schools, Alan Rossman of Northwestern University found that automatic readers in the first grade not only read almost three times as fast as the others, but also got better results in exams.
According to Rossman, the key to automaticity is the amount (数量) of time a child spends reading, not his IQ. Any child who spends at least 3.5 to 4 hours a week reading books, magazines or newspapers will probably reach automaticity. It can happen if a child turns off TV just one night for reading at home.
You can test yourself by reading something new which is suitable (适合) for your level. If you read aloud with expression, with a sense of the meaning of the sentences, you probably are an automatic reader. If you read brokenly, one word at a time, without expression or meaning, you need more practice.
【小题1】“Reading is the key to school success” means that reading            .

短文填空（ 从方框中选择适当的单词，并用其适当的形式完成短文，每词只能用一次，每空一词。10分）

Many teenagers have problems that worry them. Some do not learn their school subjects well. Some are good at learning and 1._____ well in exams, but they are doing so poorly in sports that their classmates call them ‘bookworms’. So many teenagers suffer from stress. The good news is that there are some simple ways to 2._____ with stress.

Firstly, eating a 3._____ diet, getting enough sleep and doing exercise are very important. How can we be happy if we are not fit?

For school work, planning ahead can help. Making a 4.______ of the things they need to do and 5._____ when to do them can help students organize their time. If you are weak in a subject, studying hard and asking a teacher for 6.______ can help.

Students should pay no attention to people who laugh at them.  7.______ , they should think about the things they are good.

Then students should also make 8._____ time for their hobbies. Playing sport, reading and watching films help them 9._____.

10.______, it is suitable for teenagers to share their problems with their friends and parents.