6 . The summer holidays have just begun, but it is a busy morning at Cadoxton Primary School, in Barry, an industrial town in Wales. It runs a summer programme for hard-up (拮据的) children, providing meals and activities over the holidays with the aim of helping kids to spend the time more meaningfully. As young people run laughing and screaming into the school cafeteria for breakfast, their parents hung out, some visibly relieved. Just three days into the six-week school holidays one mother says her nine-year-old daughter has already asked five times to go bowling. “Without the school’s help,” she says, “it would be a long and expensive six weeks.”

In the popular imagination, school summer holidays conjure up (使……呈现于脑际) a picture of carefree youthful exploration. But many parents rely on the term-time services that schools give their kids, such as tutors and meals. If the holidays approach, they can suddenly find their schedules and budgets stretched. Researchers also say that the long break often sets back children’s learning, and that children from poorer backgrounds are desperately affected due to their shortage of money.

Many poor children fall behind their wealthier peers over the holidays. “Summer is the most unequal time of the year,” says Matthew Boulay of the National Summer Learning Association. “Well-off parents can fill the gap left by school and consolidate (使巩固) their children’s unfamiliar knowledge well, keeping their children stimulated with summer camps, trips abroad or private tutors. Poorer families, apparently, find this harder, since their income is relatively low and demand for sponsored activities offered by governments,” he adds.

Holidays can be a financial stress, which is absolutely true. In countries where some children receive free school meals, summer means bigger grocery bills for hard-up families. Households where both parents work have to pay for extra childcare, too. The Family and Childcare Trust, a charity, says that in Britain, where childcare costs are the highest in the OECD, a club of mostly rich countries. Parents will spend an average of 33 per child per week on childcare this summer, mainly because of the sharp shortage of governmental funding sponsor.

1. What is the purpose of the summer programme?

A．To lengthen students’ school life.	B．To keep students busy all the time.
C．To provide students with free meals.	D．To enrich students’ summer holidays.

2. What does the underlined word “stretched” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?

A．Rich.

B．Tight.

C．Reasonable.

D．Affordable.

3. Which statement does Matthew Boulay probably agree with?

A．Badly-off parents are likely to give up sponsoring their kids.

B．Well-off parents are unwilling to offer their kids extra tutors.

C．Students from poor family can well deal with the peer pressure.

D．Students from rich family can strengthen their learned knowledge.

4. Why must British parents pay for the childcare in summer holiday?

A．Because of insufficiency of free tutors.	B．Because of shortage of social sponsor.
C．Because of shortage of free school meals.	D．Because of lack of governmental support.