A study led by the University of Exeter asked parents how often their children engaged in play that was “thrilling and exciting”, where they might experience some fear and uncertainty.
The study comes at a time when children have less opportunity for adventurous play out of sight of adults, such as climbing trees, riding bikes, or jumping from high surfaces. The study sought to test theories that adventurous play offers learning opportunities that help build resilience (韧性) in children, therefore helping to prevent mental health problems.
Researchers surveyed two groups of parents of children aged five to eleven: a group of 427 parents in Northern Ireland and a nationally representative group of 1, 919 parents in England, Wales and Scotland. Parents completed questions about their child’s play, their general mental health (pre-COVID) and their moods during the first COVID-19 lockdown.
Researchers found that children who spent more time playing outside had fewer “internalizing problems”, characterized as anxiety and depression, and were also more positive during the first lockdown. The effects were relatively small, as would be expected given the range of factors that affect children’s mental health, However, results were consistent even after researchers factored in a wide range of variables including child sex, age, parent employment status and parent mental health. The study in the larger group also found that the effect was more obvious in children from lower income families than those growing up in higher income households.
Belinda Kirk, an explorer, welcomed the findings on adventurous play. “It’s a normal instinct to want to protect your children, which I have in bountiful amounts. But we live in a world that is so obsessed (痴迷的) with physical safety that we’ve forgotten to balance it with mental health. We’ve prioritized physical safety or physical health over mental health, so we’re not letting kids fall down and learn to pick themselves up again, and therefore build up coping mechanisms and resilience,” she said.
Helen Dodd, Professor of Child Psychology at the University of Exeter, who led the study, said, “We’re more concerned than ever about children’s mental health, and our findings highlight that we might be able to protect children’s mental health by ensuring they have plentiful opportunities for adventurous play. This is really positive because play is free, instinctive and rewarding for children, and doesn’t require special skills. We now urgently need to invest in and protect natural spaces, well-designed parks and adventure playgrounds to support the mental health of our children.”
1. What does the study focus on?| A．The variety of adventurous activities. |
| B．Why children should engage more in outdoor play. |
| C．The relationship between adventurous play and mental health. |
| D．How to guarantee children’s safety when they play outside. |
| A．The results of the two groups are different. |
| B．The participants are from all over the world. |
| C．It surveyed the children’s mental states in a period of time. |
| D．It found playing outside had greater effects on children than other factors. |
| A．Adventurous play is not recommended to young children. |
| B．We often neglect to maintain children’s mental health. |
| C．It’s urgent to build children’s resilience to stress. |
| D．Falling down may do great harm to children. |
| A．A suggestion for future studies. |
| B．A major limitation of the study. |
| C．An insight into the results of this study. |
| D．An accepted explanation for the research findings. |
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【推荐1】On her first morning in America, last summer, my daughter went out to explore her new neighborhood alone.
Of course we were worried; we had just moved from Berlin, and she was just 8. But when she came home, we realized we had no reason to worry. She told us with pride how she had discovered the little park around the corner, and had made friends with a few local dog owners.
When this story comes up in conversations with American friends, we are usually met with polite disbelief.
A study by the University of California has found that American kids spend 90 percent of their free time at home, often watching TV or playing video games. Even when kids are physically active, they are watched closely by adults, either in school, at home, at afternoon activities or in the car. It seems that America’s middle class has taken overprotective parenting to a new level, with the government even acting as a super nanny.
Just take the example of the case of 10-year-old Rafi and 6-year-old Dvora Meitiv in 2015, in Silver Spring, Maryland, who were picked up by the police because their parents had dared to allow them to walk home from the park alone. The state’s Child Protective Services said their parents were guilty.
In reality, child abductions (绑架) by strangers in Silver Spring park are as rare as tiger attacks. Children are overprotected, which encourages dependency and affects their abilities to care for themselves and weigh risks. Mark Hemingway writes in The Federalist, “You know what it’s called when kids make mistakes without adult supervision (监督) and have to struggle with the possible results? Growing up.”
At least, parents who want to give their children more room to walk around shouldn’t be punished. Children are not easily damaged objects to be protected at all times.
1. Why does the author mention his daughter’s experience?| A．To express his worry about her safety. |
| B．To share the happiness of her growing up. |
| C．To show she has the space to take risks alone. |
| D．To encourage us to learn about the environment. |
| A．How American kids are raised at present. |
| B．Why many American kids like staying home. |
| C．The necessity of supervising kids in America. |
| D．The weaknesses of the American school system. |
| A．By telling an interesting story. |
| B．By using examples to explain. |
| C．By pointing out similarities and differences. |
| D．By showing the effect and then explaining the causes. |
【推荐2】In sport the sexes are separate. Women and men do not run or swim in the same races. Women are less strong than men. That at least is what people say. Women are called the weaker sex, or, if men want to please them, the fair sex. But boys and girls are taught together at schools and universities. There are women who are famous Prime Ministers, scientists and writers. And women live longer than men. A European woman can expect to live until the age of 74, a man only until he is 68. Are women’s bodies really weaker?
The fastest men can run a mile in under 4 minutes. The best women need 4.5 minutes. Women’s time is always slower than men’s, but some facts are a surprise. Some of the fastest women swimmers today are teenage girls. One of them swam 400 meters in 4 minutes 21.2 seconds when she was only 16. The first ‘Tartan’ in film was an Olympic swimmer, Johnny Weissmuller. His fastest 400 meters was 4 minutes 49.1 seconds, which is 37.9 seconds slower than a girl 50 years later! This does not mean that women are catching men up. Conditions are very different now and sport is much more serious. It is so serious that some women athletes are given hormone injections. At the Olympics a doctor has to check whether the women athletes are really women or not. It seems sad that sport has such problems. Life can be very complicated when there are two separate sexes!
1. Women are called the weaker sex because _________.| A．women do as much as men | B．people think women are weaker than men |
| C．sport is easier for men than for women | D．in sport the two sexes are always together |
| A．Boys and girls study separately everywhere. |
| B．Women do not run or swim in races with men. |
| C．Famous Prime Ministers are women. |
| D．Men can expect to live longer than women in Europe. |
| A．say other things, too | B．don’t say this much |
| C．say this but may not think so | D．only think this |
| A．women are weaker than men, but faster | B．women are slower than men, but stronger |
| C．men are not always stronger and faster than women | D．men are faster and stronger than women |
【推荐3】A Japanese company has ordered all of its 2,700 employees to get identical (一模一样的) hairstyles. For men, the preferred cut is short on the sides and back but longer on top. For women, the company prefers a bob with a longer fringe (刘海) that can be swept to one side. This unusual request is its effort to help the country save energy.
The spokeswoman for the Tokyo-based construction firm Maeda Corporation Chizuru Inoue explained, “Our company is eager to protect the environment and we encourage our staff to carry out many environment-friendly actions.”
She added, “We are not sure of the data yet, but we believe if people have short hair, they do not need to use their hair driers for so long and they will use less water. If all our employees do this, then we may save a lot of power.” Some staff are confused about which style they must have and have been asking which salons (美容院) give the best cut.
The energy-saving move is part of a national campaign to reduce energy consumption (消耗) following the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Japan has been struggling to produce enough electricity since the tsunami（海啸） ended production at the Fukushima plants. The disaster resulted in a review of the country’s energy policy that now means less than a quarter of its remaining nuclear plants are in use. The government has talked about a move away from nuclear energy towards more sustainable (能持续的) technologies. Many government departments have taken measures to save power, including a reduced use of air conditioning in offices and schools. Many employees cannot turn down the air conditioner below 27 degrees in the hottest summer months.
1. The company gave the order of hairstyles to .| A．keep the company offices clean | B．show a good image of the business |
| C．make the staff look tidy and pretty | D．help reduce energy consumption |
| A．is building more nuclear plants | B．has to rethink its energy policy |
| C．limits people’s daily energy use | D．decides to close old nuclear plants |
| A．nuclear power forms 1/4 of Japan’s energy | B．nuclear plants will soon disappear in Japan |
| C．the company is not alone in saving energy | D．other companies have copied the “hairstyle order” |
| A．Sustainable power is welcome in Japan | B．Nuclear disaster brings bad results |
| C．Short hairstyles may help save energy | D．Japan is lacking in energy |
【推荐1】A typical school day in the UK starts around 8:30 am. This is often even earlier elsewhere in the world, with students sitting down to their first lesson at 7:30 am in the US. The average teenager ideally needs eight to nine hours’ sleep each night, but in reality a lot of teenagers struggle to get this much. A lot of the problems happen because our sleep patterns are not fixed, and they change as we grow.
So a later school start time could help to solve this problem, by ensuring to get their eight plus hours of sleep and react properly to their body’s natural rhythms (规律). There has been a general change over the past 25 years to shorten the school day. This is not at the cost of teaching time (which has remained constant) but at the cost of natural breaks, which has led to reduced lunch time and lesson breaks.
Later start times could help teens’ grades and health. This is mainly because it makes the management of children easier. Managing hundreds of children “playing” requires effective staffing. And there is always the fear that behavior worsens during breaks. So the theory goes that having them in class and strictly managed must be better.
But this means that students barely have enough time to absorb what they were doing in maths before suddenly they are forced to study ancient history. And teaching staff also move through from one class to another, with hardly a rest or time to refocus.
Clearly rethinking the school day could benefit everyone included. Anyway, it could also lead to better achievement in teenagers and less of a struggle for parents in the mornings. For teachers, it could also mean a less stressful day all around and what could be better than that?
1. How do schools often shorten the school day?| A．They reduce children’s lunch time and lesson breaks. |
| B．They reduce the teaching time. |
| C．They properly adjust children’ natural rhythms. |
| D．They increase more holidays. |
| A．To make children behave better in class. |
| B．To make children quickly take in what they learned. |
| C．To reduce children’s excitement. |
| D．To manage children more easily. |
| A．It will add to the teacher’s pressure. |
| B．It has always been there for 25 years. |
| C．Parents may support it. |
| D．It benefits the students only. |
【推荐2】Tea was first discovered and drunk in China. As the hometown of tea, China has a long history of processing and drinking tea. Today, China accounts for 60% of tea plantations in the world. A great number of tea gardens are in more than 20 provinces throughout the country.
For a long time, tea was used as herbal medicine. During the Western Zhou Dynasty (1046 BC—771 BC), it was a religious offering. The earliest record about tea as a drink appeared in the Western Han Dynasty (202BC—9), which indicates the actual time may be earlier than that. Chinese tea culture prospered during the Tang Dynasty (618—907) because of a famous person, Lu Yu, Tea Sage of China. The Tea Classics written by him is a tea encyclopedia, detailing rules concerning various aspects of tea, such as growth areas for tea trees, wares and skills for processing and tasting of tea, and the history of Chinese tea. Also, in this period, tea seeds were taken to Japan but the tea culture didn’t spread in Japan until the South Song Dynasty (1127—1279). In the Song Dynasty, Arabic merchants exported tea from Quanzhou, Fujian Province. Tea was sold to Southeast Asian and South African countries in the Ming Dynasty(1368—1644). In 1610, it went to Europe via Macau in a Dutch merchant ship. Thus it became an international drink.
For Chinese people, it is not only a popular beverage with a lot of health benefits, but also keeps a central piece of Chinese traditional culture. Tea and tea sets should match surrounding elements such as breeze, bright moon, pines, bamboo, plums and snow. All these show the ultimate goal of Chinese culture: the harmonious unity of human beings with nature.
Chinese tea can be classified in many ways, such as quality, producing area, growth environment and processing method. The most common classification of Chinese tea is: the basic tea and the reprocessing tea.
1. In what order does the writer describe Paragraph Two?| A．In order of time. | B．In order of number. |
| C．In order of location. | D．In order of importance. |
| A．China has lots of tea gardens in 20 provinces. |
| B．Tea was shipped to Europe in the 16th century. |
| C．Tea might be used as a drink in the Qin Dynasty. |
| D．Japan got the tea seeds in the South Song Dynasty. |
| A．The Popularity of China Tea | B．The Introduction to China Tea |
| C．The Diversity of China Tea | D．The Benefit of Drinking China Tea |
| A．The productive amounts. | B．The significant influences. |
| C．The chemical components. | D．The detailed classifications. |
【推荐3】A perfectly preserved wreck (沉船) that has lain unnoticed in the icy Baltic Sea for over 500 years has finally been confirmed. The European ship was first observed in 2009, when a sonar(声呐) exploration by the Swedish Maritime Administration (SMA) indicated a large object in the area. However, it was not until early 2019 that researchers from Soton and MMT found evidence of the sunken ship using underwater robotic cameras.
When the team observed the pictures of the 60-foot-long shipwreck, they were surprised to discover it was 99 percent complete. The scientists considered that the wreck's good condition is due to its place in the Baltic Seabed, where the oxygen levels are low. Oxygen is key to most ocean life's survival. Therefore, such an environment where the shipwreck stays reduces or completely removes the creatures that feed on rotting wood.
So although this ship is contemporary to the times of Christopher Columbus, it shows a remarkable level of preservation after 500 years at the bottom of the sea. Dr. Pacheco-Ruiz, who led the MMT effort, said,“It's almost like it sank yesterday. It's a truly astonishing sight."
The scientists are unsure what let the ship sink. However, the ship's guns, which are in their"ready to fire" positions, indicate it may have been the victim of a naval battle. Since the ship dates back to the early 16th century, historians predict it may have sunk during Sweden's three year independence war with its Danish rulers between 1521 and 1523. Alternatively, it could also have been involved in the border dispute (争端) between Russia and Sweden from 1554 to 1557.
The ship is by far the best-preserved shipwreck ever found from the Age of Exploration, when Europeans explored the world by sea.
What's more exciting is that the ship is similar to the Pinta and La Nina, which Comlubus famously sailed toward North America. The scientists, who continue to observe the shipwreck hope the boat's design will expose some of the technologies available to the Italian explorer during his 1492 voyage of discovery.
1. What scientific achievement did Soton 's and MMT' s researchers make?| A．Discovering a wreck using sonar. |
| B．Getting the wreck out or icy water. |
| C．Identifying the object found by SMA. |
| D．Making the ancient wreck well preserved. |
| A．It is generally unfit for creatures to live in. | B．It is tough for scientists to do research. |
| C．It contains too many harmful gases. | D．It is filled with rotting wood. |
| A．his curiosity about the time when the ship sank |
| B．his amazement at the ship's previous grandness |
| C．his surprise at the wreck's well-preserved condition |
| D．his shock at the sinking of the great European ship |
| A．The damage to the ship. | B．The causes of the ship's sinking. |
| C．The construction of the ship. | D．The possible function of the ship. |
| A．Recovering the ancient ships, the Pinta and La Nina. |
| B．Finding every aspect of life in the Age of Exploration. |
| C．Exploring the role the ship played in Columbus' exploration. |
| D．Leaning about Columbus' voyage according to the ship's design. |
