【推荐1】Pre-school teacher Rosa Ramirez has a special way of asking her students to line up for playtime outside. “Pueden pararse si llevan puesto algo de color amarillo, como una abeja,” she tells them. In English, Ramirez would say, “You can stand up if you are wearing yellow—like a bee.” But this is the half of the school day in which she teaches completely in Spanish.

Students are not confused by her language choice. Most of the four-year-olds wearing yellow stand up as instructed. The pre-school bilingual program at Gates Street Early Education Center in Lincoln Heights is part of a growing number of bilingual education models in California and across the country. Many of them are designed to serve students from Spanish-speaking families, as well as students from other cultures, under growing evidence that learning two languages can help people from all backgrounds become stronger students.

About 3.8 million students in U.S. schools are native Spanish speakers who are not good at English. They make up a large part of about five million students nationwide identified as English language learners. English language learners are the fastest-growing population in schools and the lowest-performing, as judged by achievement tests and graduation rates. Sixty-seven percent of students with limited English skills graduated from high school after four years in 2016, compared with 84% of all students.

Language experts recommend how to improve the situation: more high-quality, long-term bilingual programs can close the achievement gap between English learners and native English Speakers after five to six years, according to research.

The programs can be hard to put into practice. Problems include a debate over the best way to teach English learners, shortages of bilingual teachers, and even the fact that bilingual programs often grow fastest in areas where upper-income parents ask for them. That’s good for children who participate, but it worries people who want to see language-minority students have equal access.

“If we can make children feel more ready and more accepted, then we’ve gone a long way to making them ready to learn, ” says Tara Fortune, an expert in children education.

1. How do the pre-school children react after hearing Rosa Ramirez's words?

A．They all stand up and try to catch bees.

B．Most children in yellow stand up as she asks.

C．They are all happy to wear new yellow clothes.

D．A large number of the children are confused.

2. What is the purpose of bilingual education models in America?

A．To help students from other cultures study.

B．To help students learn as many languages as they can.

C．To make English popular among students abroad.

D．To make students from other backgrounds physically stronger.

3. What is the situation of students who are native Spanish speakers, according to the passage?

A．They make up a small share of English language learners.

B．Sixteen percent of them fail to graduate every year on average.

C．They perform relatively poorly in studies.

D．84% of them can graduate with good scores.

4. What is the bilingual program like?

A．It is not accepted by rich families from other cultures.

B．It is not a good thing if it lasts for the whole life of students.

C．It is common in schools with students from different backgrounds.

D．It is hard to introduce especially with language-minority students.

【推荐3】A campaign is being launched to encourage children to surrender 30 minutes of screen time a day to head for the great outdoors.

The newly formed Wild Network—a collaboration of nearly 400 organizations—is attempting to attract youngsters away from television and computer screens to fields, woods and parks. Members of the network include the National Trust, RSPB, Play England and the NHS. Organizers say it is the UK’s biggest ever campaign to reconnect children with nature and outdoor play, and claim it could help improve fitness, mental alertness and general well-being.

A documentary film, Project Wild Thing, will forecast the launch at more than 50 cinemas across the UK from Friday. It looks at the increasing link between children and nature.

Andy Simpson, chairman of the Wild Network, said, “The tragic truth is that kids have lost touch with nature and the outdoors in just one generation. Time spent outdoors is decreasing, roaming (漫步) ranges have fallen largely, activity levels are declining and the ability to identify common species has been lost.”

Suggestions on how to get more time in nature include collecting conkers (七叶树果),camping, snail racing, and observing autumn colour on trees.

From January, the network will aim to make suggestions on how the government can do more to get children muddy and bright-eyed.

This is not the first time the message of less screen time, more play has been brought up. Children in the 1980s were requested to do the same by the BBC TV series Why Don’t You, which somewhat confusingly called on its viewers to “switch off the TV set and go to do something less boring instead”.

1. What does the underlined word “surrender” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?

A．Get around.	B．Give up.
C．Take up.	D．Run away.

2. For what purpose is the Wild Network organized?

A．To make children read more books.

B．To help children distinguish (辨别) the natural world.

C．To get children out of too much homework from school.

D．To encourage children to participate in outdoor activities.

3. Which of the following shows that kids have lost touch with nature and the outdoors?

A．Time spent on study is decreasing.

B．Chances of traveling abroad are fewer and fewer.

C．Time spent outdoors is less and activity levels are down.

D．The ability to identify common species has been improved.