Nutrition influences not only students' grades at school but their growth and development. Improper nutrition is one of the causes of childhood obesity. What can you do to help your child avoid childhood obesity?

My first piece of advice is to look in your fridge. What are you buying at the grocery store? Think about it: if you don't buy junk food or snacks, your kids won't eat them at home. Now if you're like me — both of your kids are at school, you'll know you can't police them every second of the day. This is the time when you'll need to talk to your children about their food choices. If you don't know the right food choices, there are so many free resources on-line to guide you.

Try new things. I was very surprised to find out my 4-year-old daughter likes balsamic vinegar — she calls it the "black sauce". She likes to have it with tomatoes and cucumbers. You just never know what your kids might like.

Don't get stressed if you can't always prepare something healthy. You may sometimes leave the house and forget to take something out for dinner, or you are running late and there's no time to cook before you have to take one of the kids somewhere. However, you can still make healthy choices while dining out. Many of the fast food restaurants offer fruit and milk instead of soda. I like to buy organic frozen pizzas from the organic market — for a quick dinner solution(解决办法). All the ingredients are natural. What I do is to serve the pizza with something raw: lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, or fruit to try to give the kids something healthy with that meal.

In closing, take baby steps. Don't try to change your family's eating habits in one go, or you'll go nuts.

1.This passage is written mainly to          us

A．explain why today’s kids are overweight

B．tell us the importance of healthy eating

C．give parents some healthy eating tips

D．teach parents what to cook at home

2. The writer believes it is very important for parents to          

A．make sure their fridge is full of food.

B．teach their children how to eat healthily

C．check their children’s grades at school

D．provide their children with their favorite food

3. Paragraph 4 tells parents they should           .

A．never take their kids to a fast food restaurant

B．eat out in a nice restaurant with their kids at times

C．choose healthy food while eating out with their kids

D．cook healthy food for their kids however busy they are

4.According to the passage, it does NOT seem to be a good idea to        .

A．tell children what to eat at school

B．find free resources on healthy eating online

C．put balsamic vinegar on tomatoes or cucumbers

D．try to change a family’s eating habits in a very short time

 

Many years ago, I pulled a family out of a burning car somewhere in Wyoming. Last week I received a telephone call from a woman who could not stop crying as she told me that one of my stories had saved her son from committing suicide. In closing she called me a hero.

That got me thinking about what a hero is. Was I a hero because I pulled a family from a burning car? If so, how could I be a hero just because I wrote a story that saved someone’s life?

Today I looked up the word “hero” in the dictionary to see exactly what it meant. It read “a person who does something brave” and also “a person who is good and noble”.

That statement impressed me more than the part about being brave. So I thought about something very important. And I remembered what happened to me years ago.

After my marriage of twenty years ended, I was in such a condition. I was within hours trying to get enough courage to end the pain and misery. When I returned home, someone had sent me a card in the mail which told me how much they would appreciate me as a friend. That wonderful card probably saved my life. That person, without even knowing it, saved a life and became a hero.

The many stories I kept writing in the following years saved the life of a teenage boy. In turn that makes the person who sent me the card a double hero. I suppose that is why I fight so hard to help the children now living in orphanages (孤儿院). Most children come out of these institutions with a very hard and bitter attitude against the world. The gifts we send them let them know that they have not been forgotten. Hopefully, most of them will never hurt anyone because of the kindness shown to them by those of us who cared. If it works, we will also become "heroes".

1.The main idea of the passage is _______________.

A. why the writer should be a hero       B. what a hero exactly is

C. whether the writer is a hero          D. that everyone is a hero

2.Why did the woman call the writer a hero at the end of the call?

A. Because he asked her son not to kill himself.

B. Because he saved a family from a burning car.

C. Because his story saved her son’s life.

D. Because he was cute and kind to everybody.

3.What does the underlined word “it” in the last sentence of Paragraph 5 refer to?

A. The wonderful card the writer received.

B. The action of sending the card.

C. The fact that the sender helped the writer.

D. The fact that the sender was a friend of the writer.

4. What’s the writer’s attitude to “brave people”?

 A. neutral          B. supportive      C. objective       D. irony

 

Is early childhood education really necessary? Early childhood education primarily focuses on learning through playing to develop the child’s physical, sensory, communicational and social development． Early childhood education has become a concern of the government, who pushes poor children to be formally trained before they are old enough for Kindergarten．
There are good reasons for the government to push early childhood education．Studies have shown that orphaned children who did not receive good care and education become developmentally delayed causing failure in school, and even in life．Further studies show that poor children who take part in Head Start programs are more prepared for school, less likely to end up in Special Education classes, and are less likely to receive public help or go to jail．
There are also negative parts to putting a child in formal education programs too early．Time Magazine online explains that “the younger the child the less his chances of catching up with first-grade work．” I have personally witnessed many children of my generation who went to Head Start programs become frustrated and bored with school before they finished high school．Yet parents have been sure that the earlier the child starts school, the better off he or she is, so they push to start children earlier．
Actually while early formal education of poor children does show great gains in the early elementary years, studies also show that this head start is really a “false start”, as the gains are lost in middle and high school years．It seems that environment is a bigger factor on life’s success than early education．Head Start programs have not achieved its original goal in closing the achievement gap in poor and middle school children．Perhaps it is time to find other ways to close that gap．
【小题1】The purpose of the government valuing the early childhood education is ________．
A．to develop the children’s communication
A．to give orphaned children good care and education
C．to get the children prepared for the kindergarten
D．to train the children formally and regularly
【小题2】According to the studies, which of the following is True?

A．Children with good early education may have a rich life．

B．The orphaned children are usually unhappy in their life．

C．Children without early education can do well at school．

D．Head Start programs are helpful to the poor children．

【小题3】The author’s attitude toward the early childhood education is _________．

A．puzzling

B．objective

C．indifferent

D．approving

【小题4】The main idea of the last passage is that __________．

A．the early childhood education is very necessary

B．Head Start programs have helped the children a lot

C．environment is the most important to life’s success

D．better ways should be found to help the poor children

Is early childhood education really necessary? Early childhood education primarily focuses on learning through playing to develop the child’s physical, sensory, communicational and social development．Early childhood education has become a concern of the government, who pushes poor children to be formally trained before they are old enough for Kindergarten．

There are good reasons for the government to push early childhood education．Studies have shown that orphaned children who did not receive good care and education become developmentally delayed causing failure in school, and even in life．Further studies show that poor children who take part in Head Start programs are more prepared for school, less likely to end up in   

Special Education classes, and are less likely to receive public help or go to jail．

There are also negative parts to putting a child in formal education programs too early．Time Magazine online explains that “the younger the child the less his chances of catching up with first-grade work．” I have personally witnessed many children of my generation who went to Head Start programs become frustrated and bored with school before they finished high school．Yet parents have been sure that the earlier the child starts school, the better off he or she is, so they push to start children earlier．

Actually while early formal education of poor children does show great gains in the early elementary years, studies also show that this head start is really a “false start”, as the gains are lost in middle and high school years．It seems that environment is a bigger factor on life’s success than early education．Head Start programs have not achieved its original goal in closing the achievement gap in poor and middle school children．Perhaps it is time to find other ways to close that gap．

1.The purpose of the government valuing the early childhood education is ________．

    A．to develop the children’s communication

    A．to give orphaned children good care and education

    C．to get the children prepared for the kindergarten

    D．to train the children formally and regularly

2.According to the studies, which of the following is True?

    A．Children with good early education may have a rich life．

    B．The orphaned children are usually unhappy in their life．

    C．Children without early education can do well at school．

    D．Head Start programs are helpful to the poor children．

3. The author’s attitude toward the early childhood education is _________．

    A．puzzling     B．objective   C．indifferent   D．approving

4.The main idea of the last passage is that __________．

    A．the early childhood education is very necessary

    B．Head Start programs have helped the children a lot

    C．environment is the most important to life’s success

    D．better ways should be found to help the poor children

 

Is early childhood education really necessary? Early childhood education primarily focuses on learning through playing to develop the child’s physical, sensory, communicational and social development. Early childhood education has become a concern of the government, who pushes poor children to be formally trained before they are old enough for Kindergarten.

There are good reasons for the government to push early childhood education. Studies have shown that orphaned children who did not receive good care and education become developmentally delayed causing failure in school, and even in life. Further studies show that poor children who take part in Head Start programs are more prepared for school, less likely to end up in Special Education classes, and are less likely to receive public help or go to jail.

There are also negative parts to putting a child in formal education programs too early. Time Magazine online explains that “the younger the child the less his chances of catching up with first-grade work.” I have personally witnessed many children of my generation who went to Head Start programs become frustrated and bored with school before they finished high school. Yet patents have been sure that the earlier the child starts school, the better off he or she is, so they push to start children earlier.

Actually while early formal education of poor children does show great gains in the early elementary years, studies also show that this head start is really a “false start”, as the gains are lost in middle and high school years. It seems that environment is a bigger factor on life’s success than early education. Head Start programs have not achieved its original goal in closing the achievement gap in poor and middle school children. Perhaps it is time to find other ways to close that gap.

The purpose of the government valuing the early childhood education is ________.

A. to develop the children’s communication

B. to give orphaned children good care and education

C. to get the children prepared for the kindergarten

D. to train the children formally and regularly

According to the studies, which of the following is True?

A. Children with good early education may have a rich life.

B. The orphaned children are usually unhappy in their life.

C. Children without early education can do well at school.

D. Head Start programs are helpful to the poor children.

“……the younger the child the less his chances of catching up with first-grade work.” suggests that _________.

A. the early childhood education is helpless to the child’s grade

B. it is good for the young children to receive early education

C. the early education can help the children follow the grade

D. the younger the children are, the more clever they will be

The author’s attitude toward the early childhood education is _________.

A. puzzling                B. objective                C. indifferent   D. approving

The main idea of the last passage is that __________.

A. the early childhood education is very necessary

B. Head Start programs have helped the children a lot

C. environment is the most important to life’s success

D. better ways should be found to help the poor children