1 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct.   For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

The family who eats together

What’s the price of a family meal? For many families in the world’s wealthiest countries, the answer seems to be, ‘too much’. For instance, in the United States,     1     is often a trendsetter in such things, the majority of families report eating a single meal together fewer than five days a week. In fact, the frequency of shared meals     2     (decrease) in American families by 33 per cent over the last twenty years. The meals     3     have shortened too: from an average of 90 minutes to just 12 minutes.

So perhaps we’re better off asking ourselves     4     the cost of not eating together is. Once again, we could turn to the figures. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has found that 15-year-olds who reported not regularly     5     (share) family meals were twice as likely to be absent from school. In Europe, research has suggested that children who don’t eat dinner with their parents at least twice a week face a 40 per cent higher risk of fatness. Another study,     6     (conduct) by the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (滥用) at Columbia University, found that kids who eat dinner with their parents five or more times a week are     7     (likely) to have problems with drugs and alcohol.

But those numbers, impressive     8     they seem, may be beside the point. After all, having a meal together is more than just a preventive measure     9     future misfortune. The primary cost of the family meal is also the very thing that makes it important: time.

The time spent together over food leads to all the positive outcomes that are measured in the studies. That time spent together has less noticeable—but no less real—effects too. So often,     10     is at the family meal that the family as such—the family as an organic unit with shared memories and feelings and ambitions—is made.

2 . Directions: Read the following passage Summarize the main idea and the main point(s)of the following passage in no more than 60 words. Use your own words as far as possible.

Adding math talk to story time at home is a winning equation for children's math achievement, according to new research from the University of Chicago. The study shows a marked increase in math achievement among children whose families used Bedtime Math, an iPad app that delivers engaging math story problems for parents and children to solve together.

Even children who used the app with their parents as little as once a week saw gains in math achievement by the end of the school year. The app's effect was especially strong for children whose parents tend to be anxious or uncomfortable about math.

Previous research from this group has demonstrated the importance of adults' attitudes about math for children's math success. For example, a recent study found that math-anxious parents who help their children with math homework actually weaken their children's math achievement.

The new findings demonstrate that structured, positive interactions around math at home can cut the link between parents' uneasin about math and children's' low math achievement.

“Many Americans experience high levels of anxiety when they have to solve a math problem, with a majority of adults feeling at least some worries about math,” said Beilock, a professor in psychology. “These math-anxious parents are probably less likely to talk about math at home, which affects how competent(能干的)their children are in math. Bedtime Math encourages a dialogue between parents and kids about math, and offers a way to engage in high-quality math interactions.”

Study participants included 587 first-grade students and their parents. Families were given an iPad installed with a version of the Bedtime Math app, with which parents and their children read stories and answer questions involving math, including topics like counting, shapes and problem-soling. A control group received a reading app that had similar stories without the math content and questions related to reading comprehension instead. Children's math achievement was assessed at the beginning and end of the school year. Parents completed a questionnaire about their nervousness about math.

The more time parents and children in the math group used the app, the higher children's achievement on a math assessment at the end of the school year. Indeed, children who frequently used the math app with their parents outperformed similar students in the reading group by almost three months in math achievement at the year's end.

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