Teaching a child to read at a young age gives him a valuable start in life. Reading is the basic part of education and a child’s reading ability will influence his school success greatly. Learning difficulties, many of which begin from poor reading skills, can damage a school child’s confidence and affect his future achievement. Young children are programmed to learn and they can learn better with encouragement. Ten to twenty minutes of reading a day still leaves plenty of time for play.

Many parents are concerned that learning to read is too challenging a task for a pre-school child, but they should also remember that most children learn to speak by the time they are 3. Learning a language is probably the single most challenging task any individual can undertake, yet children do it without formal instruction, achieving the fluency much better than adult language students.

There is a window of opportunity in terms of IQ development, which is most open during a child’s early years. A scientific study, carried out by Dr. Peter Huttenlocher at the University of Chicago, showed that the number of connectors, called synapses（神经元突触）, between the nerve endings in a newborn baby’s brain is similar to the number in the average adult brain. These synapses increase rapidly during early childhood. By 12-24 months a child’s brain has about 50% more synapses than the average adult brain. After that the synapses which are not in use begin to atrophy（衰退）. For most people, from age 16, the number remains steady. It begins to drop again as we move into our golden years. Doing intellectual activities at a young age, such as learning to read, can stimulate（刺激）and preserve these connectors in the brain resulting in a long-term beneficial（有益的）effect on IQ development.

Another notable study is probably the Milwaukee project. This study took a group of babies, all of whose mothers had low IQs, and gave them special training for seven hours a day, five days a week, until they started first grade. By the age of 6 these children had an average IQ 30 points higher than their contemporaries. The overwhelming conclusion is that the early intellectual stimulation can have a positive, long-term effect on a child’s brain development.

From birth you should talk to and explain things to your baby. Reading to him can be a wonderful way of spending quality time with your child. The enjoyment of books and being familiar with the idea of print will pave the way for（为……铺平道路）learning to read later.

If your child is a fast learner you can help him realize his potential by introducing him to the joy of the printed word at an early age. This will lay the foundations（基础）for both a high achieving school career and a lifelong love of reading. If your child shows early signs of reading difficulties, your efforts may help him get rid of such problems before he goes to school.

It can be difficult to teach your own child because emotional（引起情绪激动的）issues arise easily. Online programs for learning to read English are excellent options. They allow children to repeat new materials as many times as they need to, without wearing out the parents’ patience.

1.What does the passage mainly discuss?

A. Children should be taught to read at an early age.

B. Children can read better than most adult students.

C. Children have more synapses than most adults.

D. Children are supposed to learn to read on the Internet.

2.Why does the author mention the study by Dr. Peter Hutten locher?

A. To remove parents’ worry.

B. To explain IQ development.

C. To explain how a baby’s brain works.

D. To show the parents’ wrong ideas.

3.How can children benefit from learning to read at a young age?

A. It can build up great confidence in their mind.

B. It can help preserve the connectors in their brains.

C. It can help produce more connectors in their brains.   

D. It can help them find both their weaknesses and strengths.

4.At the end of this passage the author advises _______.

A. parents not to get angry too often

B. children to enjoy reading as early as possible

C. children not to wear out their parents’ patience

D. parents to get their children to take an online program

 

Researchers at Sweden’s KTH Royal Institute of Technology say they have found further proof that the wolf ancestors of today’s dogs can be from southern East Asia -- findings that are contrary to theories placing the birth place in the Middle East. Dr Peter Savolainen, KTH researcher in evolutionary genetics, says a new study released Nov. 23 confirms that an Asian region south of the Yangtze River was the principal and probably the only region where wolves were domesticated（驯化）by humans.

Research data show clearly that dogs are descended from wolves, but there’s never been scientific agreement on where in the world the domestication process began. “Our analysis of Y-chromosomal（染色体）DNA now confirms that wolves were first domesticated in Asia south of Yangtze River -- we call it the ASY region -- in southern China or Southeast Asia,” Savolainen says.

The Y data supports previous evidence from mitochondrial（线粒体）DNA. “Taken together, the two studies provide very strong evidence that dogs appeared first in the ASY region,” Savolainen says.

Archaeological data and a genetic study recently published in Nature suggest that dogs originate from the Middle East. But Savolainen rejects that view. “Because none of these studies included samples from the ASY region, evidence from ASY has been overlooked,” he says.

Peter Savolainen and PhD student Mattias Oskarsson worked with Chinese colleagues to analyse DNA from male dogs around the world. Their study was published in the scientific journal Heredity.

Approximately half of the gene pool was universally shared everywhere in the world, while only the ASY region had the entire range of genetic diversity. “This shows that gene pools in all other regions of the world most probably originate from the ASY region,” Savolainen says.

“Our results confirm that Asia south of the Yangtze River was the most important -- and probably the only -- region for wolf domestication, and that a large number of wolves were domesticated,” says Savolainen.

In separate research published recently in Ecology and Evolution, Savolainen, PhD student Arman Ardalan and Iranian and Turkish scientists conducted a comprehensive study of mitochondrial DNA, with a particular focus on the Middle East. Because mitochondrial DNA is inherited only from the mother in most species, it is especially useful in studying evolutionary relationships.

“Since other studies have indicated that wolves were domesticated in the Middle East, we wanted to be sure nothing had been missed. We find no signs whatsoever that dogs originated there,” says Savolainen.

In their studies, the researchers also found minor genetic contributions from crossbreeding between dogs and wolves in other geographic regions, including the Middle East.

“This subsequent dog/wolf hybridisation（混合淡化技术）contributed only modestly to the dog gene pool,” Savolainen explains.

1.What does Dr. Peter Savolainen believe?

A. Dogs’ ancestors came from the Middle East.

B. Wolves were probably first trained to work for humans in the ASY region.

C. Analysis of Y-chromosomal DNA should be combined with mitochondrial DNA.

D. Samples of the previous studies are enough to support the conclusion.

2.We can learn from the passage that _______.

A．there is a universal agreement on the place of first domestication

B．data from ASY may highlight where dogs came from

C．Dr. Savolainen’s research mainly focuses on the Middle East

D．the dog/wolf hybridization makes up most of the dog gene pool

3.What is special about mitochondrial DNA?

A．It is only used in studying evolutionary relationships.

B．It alone can provide hard evidence for Savolainen’s research.

C．It is the most useful in finding out the birth place of dogs.

D．It comes from the mother of most animals and plants.

 

 Dr. Peter Spence, _____ headmaster of the school, told us, “_____ fifth of pupils here will go on to study at Oxford and Cambridge.”

A．\, A               B. \, The               C. the, The                   D. a, A

 

　Demands for stronger protection for wildlife in Britain sometimes hide the fact that similar needs are felt in the rest of Europe. Studies by the Council of Europe, of which 21 countries are members, have shown that 45 per cent of reptile (爬行动物) species and 24 per cent of butterflies are in danger or dying out.

　　European concern for wildlife was outlined by Dr Peter Baum, an expert in the environment and natural resources division of the council, when he spoke at a conference arranged by the administrators of a British national park. The park is one of the few areas in Europe to hold the council’s diploma for nature reserves of the highest quality, and Dr Baum had come to present it to the park once again. He was afraid that public opinion was turning against national parks, and that those set up in the 1960s and 1970s could not be set up today. But Dr Baum clearly remained a strong supporter of the view that natural environments needed to be allowed to survive in peace in their own right.

　　“No area could be expected to survive both as a true nature reserve and as a tourist attraction,” he went on. The shortsighted view that reserves had to serve immediate human demands for outdoor recreation should be replaced by full acceptance of their importance as places to preserve nature for the future.

　　“We forget that they are the guarantee (保证) of life systems, on which any built-up area depends,” Dr Baum went on. “We could manage without most industrial products, but we could not manage without nature. However, our natural environment areas, which are the original parts of our countryside, have become mere islands in a spoiled and highly polluted land.”

59. Recent studies by the Council of Europe have declared that ____ .

　A. wildlife needs more protection only in Britain

　B. all species of wildlife in Europe are in danger of dying out

　C. there are fewer species of reptiles and butterflies in Europe than elsewhere

　D. many species of reptiles and butterflies in Europe need protecting

60. Why did Dr Baum come to a British national park?

　A. Because he needed to present it with a council's diploma.

　B. Because he was concerned about its management.

　C. Because it was the only national park of its kind in Europe.

　D. Because it was the only park that had ever received a diploma from the council.

61. The last sentence in the second paragraph implies that ____ .

　A. people should make every effort to create more environment areas

　B. people would go on protecting national parks

　C. certain areas of the countryside should be left intact (完整的)

　D. people would defend the right to develop the areas around national parks

62.Which of the following can be inferred from the last paragraph?

　A. We have developed industry at the expense of countryside.

　B. We have forgotten what our original countryside looked like.

　C. People living on islands should protect natural resources for their survival.

　D. We should destroy all the built-up areas.

Dr. Peter , _____ headmaster of the school, told us, “______ fifth of pupils here go

on to study at Oxford and Cambridge.”

 A. 不填；A     B.不填；The    C. the; The    D. a; A