（Natural News）Many parents have tried to gave their children a head start on education with get-smart videos and enrichment activities as early as infancy, but free play is often sacrificed, so the American Academy of Pediatrics says that the best medicine for busy children is an increase in traditional “playtime”.

A number of studies suggest that unstructured（无条理的）play can help children become creative, discover their own interests, develop problem-solving abilities, and relate to others socially, according to a report prepared by two academy committees for release Monday at the group’s annual meting. On the contrary, a lack of such playtime can create stress for both children and parents, and it can also cause obesity（肥胖）when children spend too much time sitting in front of educational videos. The report notes lack of playtime could even lead to depression in many children.

The report thinks the lack of playtime lies in the fact that parents want to have super-smart children and safe places for children to play is decreasing. A balance between free playtime and educational activities should be struck, the report states.

“In the current environment, where so many parents feel pressure to be super parents, I believe this message is an important one,” said Dr. Kenneth Ginsburg, the report’s lead author and a pediatrician（小儿科医师）at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Noted pediatrician, author, and presenter of cable TV’s “What Every Baby Knows,” Dr. T. Betty Brazelton agreed. “Children with structured activities” are missing the chance to dream, to make their own world work the way they want it. That to me is a very important part of childhood.

1. From the passage we can see that today’s children really need more 　　 　　　.

A. enrichment activities　　　 B. conventional playtime

C. structured activities　　　 D. educational activities

2. Which of the following is a proper word to describe today’s children?

A. Dull. 　　　　 B. Busy. 　　　　 C. Happy. 　　　 D. Free.

3. According to the report, the balance between 　　 　　　_ is important for a child.

A. structured activities and unstructured activities

B. educational videos and recess time

C. fee playtime and traditional playtime

D. enrichment activities and social activities

4. Dr. T. Berry Brazelton mainly emphasizes 　　 　　　 in the last paragraph.

A. children’s ability to dream

B. the roles of structured activities

C. the important activities in his childhood

D. the harm of too many structured activities

5. It can be inferred from the passage that 　　 　　　　　 　　　.

A. children given a lot of unstructured activities can be more creative

B. get-smart videos and enrichment can create super children

C. there is a competition among parents to be super parents

D. child obesity is mainly caused by lack of playtime

（Natural News）Many parents have tried to gave their children a head start on education with get-smart videos and enrichment activities as early as infancy, but free play is often sacrificed, so the American Academy of Pediatrics says that the best medicine for busy children is an increase in traditional “playtime”.

A number of studies suggest that unstructured（无条理的）play can help children become creative, discover their own interests, develop problem-solving abilities, and relate to others socially, according to a report prepared by two academy committees for release Monday at the group’s annual meting. On the contrary, a lack of such playtime can create stress for both children and parents, and it can also cause obesity（肥胖）when children spend too much time sitting in front of educational videos. The report notes lack of playtime could even lead to depression in many children.

The report thinks the lack of playtime lies in the fact that parents want to have super-smart children and safe places for children to play is decreasing. A balance between free playtime and educational activities should be struck, the report states.

“In the current environment, where so many parents feel pressure to be super parents, I believe this message is an important one,” said Dr. Kenneth Ginsburg, the report’s lead author and a pediatrician（小儿科医师）at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Noted pediatrician, author, and presenter of cable TV’s “What Every Baby Knows,” Dr. T. Betty Brazelton agreed. “Children with structured activities” are missing the chance to dream, to make their own world work the way they want it. That to me is a very important part of childhood.

56. From the passage we can see that today’s children really need more                .

A. enrichment activities                B. conventional playtime

C. structured activities                 D. educational activities

57. Which of the following is a proper word to describe today’s children?

A. Dull.                B. Busy.                C. Happy.                    D. Free.

58. According to the report, the balance between                    _ is important for a child.

A. structured activities and unstructured activities

B. educational videos and recess time

C. fee playtime and traditional playtime

D. enrichment activities and social activities

59. Dr. T. Berry Brazelton mainly emphasizes                   in the last paragraph.

A. children’s ability to dream

B. the roles of structured activities

C. the important activities in his childhood

D. the harm of too many structured activities

60. It can be inferred from the passage that                                    .

A. children given a lot of unstructured activities can be more creative

B. get-smart videos and enrichment can create super children

C. there is a competition among parents to be super parents

D. child obesity is mainly caused by lack of playtime

On average, America kids aged 3 to 12 spent 29 hours a week in school, eight hours more than they did in 1981. They also did more household work and participated in more of such organized activities as soccer and ballet. Involvement in sports, in particular, rose almost 50% from 1981 to 1997: boys now spend an average of four hours a week playing sports; girls half that time. All in all, however, children's leisure time dropped from 40% of the day in 1981 to 25%

“Children are affected by the same time crisis that affects their parents,” says Sandra Hofferth, who headed the recent study of children’s timetable. A chief reason, she says, is that more mothers are working outside the home. (Nevertheless, children in both double-income and “male breadwinner” households spent 19 hours and 22 hours with their parents respectively（各自的）. In contrast, children spent only 9 hours with their single mothers.)

All work and no play could make for some very messed-up kids. "Play is the most powerful way a child explores the world and learns about himself," says T. Berry Brazelton, professor at Harvard Medical School. Unstructured play encourages independent thinking and allows the young to develop their with their parents relationships with their peers, but kids aged 3 to 12 spent only 12 hours a week engaged in it.

The children sampled spent a quarter of their rapidly decreasing "free time" watching television. But that, believe it or not, was one of the findings parents might regard as good news. If they’re spending less time in front of the TV set, however, kids aren't replacing it with reading. Despite efforts to get kids more interested in books, the children spent just over an hour a week reading. Let's face it, who's got the time?

1．By mentioning “the same time crisis” (in Para. 2), Sandra Hofferth means_________.

A．children have little time to play with their parents

B．children are not taken good care of by their working parents

C．both parents and children suffer from the lack of leisure time

D．both parents and children have trouble managing their time

2．According to the author, a child develops better if           .

A．he has plenty of time reading and studying

B．he is left to play with his peers in his own way

C．he has more time participating in school activities

D．he is free to interact with his working parents

3．The author is concerned about the fact that American kids__________.

A． are engaged in more and more structured activities

B．are increasingly neglected by their working mothers

C．are spending less time watching TV

D．are involved more and more in household work

4．We can infer from the passage that___________.

A．extracurricular（课外活动）activities promote children's intelligence

B．most children will turn to reading with TV sets switched off

C．efforts to get kids interested in reading have been fruitful

D． most parents believe reading to be beneficial to children