D
As public playgrounds grow increasingly worn and shabby, the for-profit centers offer clean, safe, supervised activity as well as a variety of challenging exercises to develop youngsters’ physical fitness, usually for a fee of around $5 an hour. “Playgrounds are dirty, not supervised,” says Dick Guggenheimer, owner of the two-month-old Discovery Zone in Yonkers, N.Y., part of a Kansas City-based chain. “We’re indoors; we’re padded(铺上软垫); parents can feel their child is safe.”
Discovery Zone has sold 120 outlets in the past 14 months, boasting sandboxes full of brightly colored plastic balls, mazes(迷宫), obstacle courses, slides and mountains to climb. Now McDonalds is getting into the act. The burger giant is test-marketing a new playground, Leaps&Bounds, in Naperville, Ill. Phys Kids of Wichita has opened one center and has plans to expand.
American parents are rightly worried about their kids leisure life. There are 36 million children in the U.S. aged 2 to 11 who watch an average of 24 hours of TV a week and devote less and less energy to active recreation. Nationwide decrease in education budgets are making the problem worse, as gym classes and after-hours sports time get squeezed. Says Discovery Zone president Jack Gunion: “we have raised a couple of pure couch potatoes.”
In an attempt to attract more people , the new facilities cater to the concerns of two-earner families, staying open in the evenings, long after traditional public playground have grown dark and unusable. At Naperville’s Leaps&Bounds, families can play together for $4.95 per child, parents free. Fresh-faced assistants, dressed in colorful sport pants and shirts, guide youngsters to appropriate play areas for differing age group.
These new playground are not meant to be day-care facilities; parents are expected to stay and play with their kids rather than drop them off. But several also provide high-tech baby-sitting services. At some of the Discovery Zones, parents can register their children in special supervised programs, then leave them and slip away for a couple of hours to enjoy a movie or dinner.
The most fun of all, though, is getting to do what parents used to do in the days before two-career families and two-hour commutes: play with their kid. That, at least, is old-fashioned, even at per-hour rates.
68. What is this article mainly talking about?
A. Children can play in the public playground without parents’ care.
B. The fast development of Discovery Zone.
C. A new type of playground for kids.
D. The decay of outdoor playground.
69. According to the article, which of the following is true to the new playground?
A. The cost is high for a family.
B. It’s a place where kids can watch TV while eating potatoes.
C. It doesn’t allow parents to leave their kids.
D. It’s a place where parents can play together with their kids.
70. What does the writer mean by saying “old-fashioned”?
A. The so-called new playground is outdated.
B. the new playground offers a fashion which is popular in the past.
C. The new playground is also enjoyed by old people.
D. The new playground is actually enjoyed by parents
71. What is the writer’s attitude toward the new playground?
A. Agreeable.         B. Indifferent.        C. Objective.         D. Neutral.

D

As public playgrounds grow increasingly worn and shabby, the for-profit centers offer clean, safe, supervised activity as well as a variety of challenging exercises to develop youngsters’ physical fitness, usually for a fee of around $5 an hour. “Playgrounds are dirty, not supervised,” says Dick Guggenheimer, owner of the two-month-old Discovery Zone in Yonkers, N.Y., part of a Kansas City-based chain. “We’re indoors; we’re padded(铺上软垫); parents can feel their child is safe.”

Discovery Zone has sold 120 outlets in the past 14 months, boasting sandboxes full of brightly colored plastic balls, mazes(迷宫), obstacle courses, slides and mountains to climb. Now McDonalds is getting into the act. The burger giant is test-marketing a new playground, Leaps&Bounds, in Naperville, Ill. Phys Kids of Wichita has opened one center and has plans to expand.

American parents are rightly worried about their kids leisure life. There are 36 million children in the U.S. aged 2 to 11 who watch an average of 24 hours of TV a week and devote less and less energy to active recreation. Nationwide decrease in education budgets are making the problem worse, as gym classes and after-hours sports time get squeezed. Says Discovery Zone president Jack Gunion: “we have raised a couple of pure couch potatoes.”

In an attempt to attract more people , the new facilities cater to the concerns of two-earner families, staying open in the evenings, long after traditional public playground have grown dark and unusable. At Naperville’s Leaps&Bounds, families can play together for $4.95 per child, parents free. Fresh-faced assistants, dressed in colorful sport pants and shirts, guide youngsters to appropriate play areas for differing age group.

These new playground are not meant to be day-care facilities; parents are expected to stay and play with their kids rather than drop them off. But several also provide high-tech baby-sitting services. At some of the Discovery Zones, parents can register their children in special supervised programs, then leave them and slip away for a couple of hours to enjoy a movie or dinner.

The most fun of all, though, is getting to do what parents used to do in the days before two-career families and two-hour commutes: play with their kid. That, at least, is old-fashioned, even at per-hour rates.

68. What is this article mainly talking about?

A. Children can play in the public playground without parents’ care.

B. The fast development of Discovery Zone.

C. A new type of playground for kids.

D. The decay of outdoor playground.

69. According to the article, which of the following is true to the new playground?

A. The cost is high for a family.

B. It’s a place where kids can watch TV while eating potatoes.

C. It doesn’t allow parents to leave their kids.

D. It’s a place where parents can play together with their kids.

70. What does the writer mean by saying “old-fashioned”?

A. The so-called new playground is outdated.

B. the new playground offers a fashion which is popular in the past.

C. The new playground is also enjoyed by old people.

D. The new playground is actually enjoyed by parents

71. What is the writer’s attitude toward the new playground?

A. Agreeable.         B. Indifferent.        C. Objective.         D. Neutral.

Old-Fashioned Play―For Pay

       Kids !Come have a ball! Or 60,000 of them! There’s a new type of business franchise that is appearing in shopping malls and neighborhoods across America offering pay-per-use indoor playgrounds ,which feature toys ,games ,supervised fun and a workout that doesn’t break the family bank.

       As public playgrounds grow increasingly worn and dirty, the for-profit centers offer clean, safe supervised activity as well as a variety of challenging exercises to develop youngsters’ physical fitness, usually for a fee of around 5$ an hour. “Playgrounds are dirty ,not supervised,” says Dick Guggenheimer ,owner of the two-month-old Discovery Zone in Yonkers, N.Y., part of Kansas City-based chain, “We are indoors; we are padded（铺上软垫）;parents can feel their child is safe”.

       In order to satisfy the need of two-earner families ,the new franchise stayed open in the evenings ,long after traditional public playgrounds have grown dark and unusable .However these new playgrounds are not meant to be day-care centers .Parents are expected go stay and play with their kids rather than drop them off. But several also provide high-tech baby-sitting services. At some of the Discovery Zones, parents can register their children in special supervised programs, then leave them and slip away for a couple of hours to enjoy a movie or dinner. If there is a problem ,Mom and Dad are called.

       The most fun of all, though, is getting to do what parents used to do in the days before two-earner families and two-hour commutes; play with their kids. That ,at least ,is old-fashioned, even at per-hour rates.

60．What is this article mainly talking about?

       A．The fast development of Discovery Zone.

       B．The disadvantages of outdoor playgrounds.

       C．A new type of business franchise for kids.

       D．Children can play in the public playgrounds without parents’ care.

61．According to the article, which of the following is true to the new playground?

       A．The cost is high for a family.

       B．It stayed open in the evening just as traditional playgrounds.

       C．It doesn’t allow parents to leave their kids.

       D．It’s a place where parents can play together with their kids.

62．What does the writer mean by saying “old-fashioned”?

       A．The so-called new playground is outdated.

       B．The new playground is also enjoyed by old people.

       C．The new playground is actually enjoyed by parents.

       D．The new playground offers a fashion which is poplar in the past.

63．What is the writer’s attitude toward the new playground?

       A．Agreeable            B．Indifferent           C．Objective             D．Doubtful