A study was done with 30 three-year-old children and their parents. Half of the children participated in the
experimental study; the other half acted as the control group. In the experimental group, the parents were given
a two-hour training session in which they were taught to ask open-ended questions rather than yes-or-no questions.
For example, the parent should ask, “What is the doggie doing?” rather than “Is the doggie running away?” (78)
The parents in the experimental group were also instructed in how to help children find answers, how to suggest
alternative possibilities and how to praise correct answers.
At the beginning of the study, the children did not differ in measures of language development, but at the end of
one month, the children in the experimental group showed 5. 5 months ahead of the control group on a test of verbal
expression and vocabulary. Nine months later, the children in the experimental group still showed an advance of 6
months over the children in the control group.
6 Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?
A Children who talk a lot are more intelligent.
B Parents who listen to their children can teach them more.
C Active children should read more and be given more attention.
D Verbal ability can easily be developed with proper methods.
7 What does “it” in line2 can most probably be replaced by?
A Parents increasing children's language development
B Reading techniques being simple
C Parents reading to children
D Children's intelligence development
8 According to the author, which of the following questions is the best type to ask children about?
A Do you see the elephant? B Is the elephant in the cage?
C What animals do you like? D Shall we go to the zoo?
9 The difference between the control group and the experimental group was _______
A the training that parents received
B the age of the children
C the books that were read
D the number of the children
10 The best conclusion we can draw from the passage is that _______.
A parents should be trained to read to their children
B the more children read, the more intelligent they will become
C children's language skills increase when they are required to respond actively
D children who read actively seem six months older
Passage 3
Questions 11 to 15 are based on the following passage:
(79) The agriculture revolution in the nineteenth century involved two things: the invention of
labor—saving machinery and the development of scientific agriculture. Labor—saving naturally
appeared first where labor was scarce. “In Europe”, said Thomas Jefferson, “ the object is to
make the most of their land, labor being sufficient; here it is to make the most of our labor,
land being abundant.” It was in America, therefore. That the great advances in nineteenth—century
agricultural machinery first came. At the opening of the century, with the exception of a crude (粗糙的) plow,
farmers could have carried practically all of the existing agricultural tools on their backs. (80) By 1860, |
