【推荐3】It has been argued by some that gifted children should be grouped in special classes. The ________ is based on the belief that in regular classes these children are held back in their intellectual (智力的)growth by   ________ situations that are designed for the   ________ children.There can be little doubt that ________ classes can help the gifted children to graduate earlier and take their place in life sooner. However, to take these   ________ out of the regular classes may create serious problems.

I observed a number of ________ children who were taken out of a special class and placed in a   ________ class. In the special class, they showed little ability to use their own judgment, relying   ________ on their teachers’ directions. In the regular class, having no worry about keeping up, they began to reflect   ________ on many problems, some of which were not on the school program.

Many are concerned that gifted children become   ________ and lose interest in learning. However, this   ________ is more often from parents and teachers than from students, and some of these   ________ simply conclude that special classes should be set up for those who are   ________. Some top students do feel bored in class, but why they   ________ so goes far beyond the work they have in school. Studies have shown that to be bored is to be anxious. The gifted child who is bored is an   ________ child.

Competition for admission to the country’s top private schools has always been tough. This is spreading from Manhattan to the rest of the country. Precise _______ data on private schools are unavailable, but interviews with representatives of independent and religious schools all told the same _______: too many applicants, higher rejection rates. Surveys indicate that Americans’ No. 1 _______ is education. _______ the long economic boom(繁荣) has given parents more income, many are turning to private schools, even at price tags of well over $10,000 a year. “We’re getting applicants from a broader area, _______, than we ever have in the past,” said Besty Haugh of the Latin School of Chicago, which experienced a 20 percent increase in _______ this year.

The problem is that while demand has increased, supply has not. “Every year, there are a few children who do not find places, but this year, for the first time that I know of, there are a(n) _______ number of children who don’t have places,” said Krents, who also heads a private-school admissions group in New York.

So what can parents do to give their 4-year-old a(n) _______? Schools know there is no simple way to pick a class when children are so young. Many schools give preference to boys or girls or alumni(校友) children. Some use lotteries. But most rely on a _______ of subjective and objective measures: tests that at best ________ developmental maturity and learning potential, interviews with parents and observation of applicants in classroom settings. They also want a diverse mix. Children may end up on a waiting list simply because their birthdays ________ at the wrong time year, or because too many applicants were boys.

The worst thing a parent can do is to pressure preschoolers to perform — ________, by pushing them to read or do math exercises ________ they’re ready. Instead, the experts say, parents should take a breath and look for ________. Another year in preschool may be all that’s needed. Parents, meanwhile, may need a more ________ mind about relatively unknown private schools — or about magnet(具有吸引力的) schools in the public system. There’s no sign of the private-school boom letting up.

I had my first job at the age of thirteen, when a friend of my mother who owned a bookshop hired me for six hours a week to help her in the shop. I was very _______ to earn my own pocket money and my parents _______interfered (干涉) with how I spent it, even when I was spending it _______.They believed that by earning money, spending it, and learning from the _______, I would become more mature (成熟的) and _______ in how to handle work, relationships with others, and money.

Like many _______ parents, my parents also let me and my brothers do things about which they _______ a great deal .When I was sixteen, for example, after I finished high school and before I entered university, I wanted to spend the summer months traveling around _______ .My mother was against the idea of my traveling alone at such a young age, but my father felt that it would be a great _______ for me .In the end,   my father won the __________ on the condition that I limited my traveling to France, my mother’s home, where I had many uncles, aunts and cousins __________ through the country who could __________ shelter and help if I needed them .

Three years later, my younger brother decided to __________ a year off after his first year in university and travel through the United States and the Caribbean. Again my mother was very worried and not __________ to see my brother leave school, but my father encouraged him and my brother spent a(n) __________ year working his way on trains and ships to __________ his passage to different ports and cities, and discovering many fascinating places and people.

These kinds of experiences are probably __________ for children in many countries but in the US they are fairly common. Most parents start __________ their children at a young age to do small things by themselves. By the time they have finished high school, many American kids have already had __________ jobs and traveled around the US or other countries on their own, have selected the university they plan to attend,   maybe even have decided on their future __________, and so on .