Question

A lot of people say math is not their strong suit. One New Jersey parent wants to help change that. Laura Overdeck grew up with numbers. She always helped measure ingredients when her mother baked, and she learned about angles from her father. She went on to major in astrophysics in college. Overdeck knew she wanted her own children to be good at math, too.

“And when our first child was about two, we just started giving her a math problem every night,” Overdeck said. The problem was usually a story, involving animals, cars or candies that let the kid count. “Our third child started, at age two, yelling that he wanted his own math problem because he saw his brother and sister doing it. And we thought, ‘Wow, we have a household where math is the popular thing at bedtime,’” Overdeck said.

In February, Overdeck launched Bedtime Math, an Internet website where she posts daily puzzles for children. Overdeck is particularly keen to hook children on numbers before they go to school. So why introduce little ones to math so early?

Sain Beilock, an expert on performance anxiety, says the more fun and familiar math is early on, the less likely children will feel nervous when they start to learn math in school. “My lab has shown recently that kids as early as first grade report feeling anxious about doing math,” Beilock said.

“You can hear totally educated adults say, ‘You know I’m just not that good at math.’ or ‘I’m kind of afraid of math.’ And that’s a totally acceptable thing for a well-educated person to say, but you never hear them say, ‘Well, you know, I’m just not that good at reading,’” Overdeck said. She wants children and their parents to become as fluent in numbers as they are in Harry Potter.

1.Overdeck majored in astrophysics because she _______.

A. was really fond of mathematics

B. hoped to change math education in the US

C. had an interest in physics

D. would like her children to be good at math

2.What can be inferred from Paragraph 2?

A. Toys can be used to encourage kids in solving math problems.

B. Math will become more popular in every household.

C. Math is enjoyable in Overdeck’s family.

D. The third child is cleverer than his brother and sister.

3.Beilock’s attitude towards Overdeck’s idea is _______.

A. agreeable B. puzzled

C. anxious D. critical

4.The unfavorable situation of the US in math ability is shown by _______.

A. the popularity of Bedtime Math

B. children’s performance anxiety in school

C. people’s response to math

D. adults’ great fondness for Harry Potter

Answer 1