1 . Math is a necessary skill that people use throughout their lives. Unfortunately, many children and adults feel stressed and anxious when they have to do math. They may be experiencing what is called “math anxiety”. Because of this, many people believe that they are bad at math and don’t like math.

A recent research has shown that some children as young as 6 years old may feel anxious about math. A team of researchers asked 154 children in grades 1 and 2 questions like “How do you feel when taking a big test in your math class?” The children expressed how nervous they felt by pointing to a position on a scale (刻度), where there were different faces from a very nervous face on the left to a calm face on the right. After answering these questions, the children took a math test. These researchers found that almost half of the children who participated in the study said that they were at least somewhat nervous about doing math. Also, children with higher math anxiety got worse scores on the math test.

Scientists have also found that math anxiety develops in children who experience certain kinds of social situations that influence their thoughts or feelings. This means that the child’s emotions, opinions, or behaviors are affected by things that other people say or do. For example, teachers with high math anxiety were more likely to have students with poorer math achievements at the end of the school year.

Good news is that researchers have found tools to help people with math anxiety. These tools are called interventions (干预). For example, researchers did an intervention where they asked children with math anxiety to write about their math-related worries. Then they found that children’s math test scores improved. Therefore, it is advised to talk to classmates and teachers about math anxiety. This is the first step toward helping to reduce the possibly harmful effects of math anxiety.

1. What does the underlined word “this” refer to in Paragraph 1?

A．Math ability.	B．Stressful life.
C．Math anxiety.	D．Painful memory.

2. How did the researchers measure kids’ anxiety?

A．By making a math project.

B．By recording math scores.

C．By asking kids questions.

D．By showing teaching problems.

3. What can be learned from Paragraph 3?

A．Anxiety determines math ability.

B．One’s math anxiety can affect others.

C．Students are born with math anxiety.

D．Children should avoid social situations.

4. What is suggested for students with math anxiety?

A．Talking about it.	B．Working harder.
C．Using math tools.	D．Attending lectures.