1 . While video games used to be considered harmful to young people, various studies have also proved the positive effects of computer games, especially action video games.

Angela Pasqualotto from the University of Trento and her team have now tested whether such video games can help primary school children learn to read. They’ve developed such a computer game called Skies of Manawak.

“Reading involves many important skills, including knowing how to move our eyes on the page or how to use our working memory to connect words into a meaningful sentence,” explains Pasqualotto. “It’s known that action video games improve these still, such as vision, general attention, working memory and cognitive (认知的) flexibility.”

For their study, the researchers tested 150 school children between the ages of eight and twelve. Half of them played the game Skies of Manawak two hours a week for six weeks. The other half, the control group, received the educational game Scratch, which is intended to teach children the basics of programming. Both games are basically to train the executive (执行的) functions of the brain.

“We started by examining the children’s ability to read words, non-words and paragraphs and their attention control,” explains Pasqualotto. “After six weeks, these skills were tested again.”

“We found a seven-fold improvement in attention control in the children who played our action video game compared to the control group,” said Pasqualotto. The team also saw significant improvements in reading speed and accuracy among Skies of Manawak players—there were no improvements in the kids who played Scratch. It’s also worth mentioning that the children’s reading skills have improved, although the game itself doesn’t contain any reading exercises.

“For the study, we also carried out three further evaluation tests six, twelve and eighteen months after the training. Each time, the trained children performed better than the control group,” adds Pasqualotto.

Of course, while the study suggests some benefit in action video games, it does not mean that one must do nothing else.

1. What did the 150 school children do in the study?

A．They received training on programming.	B．They finished some reading ability tests.
C．They created video games on their own.	D．They played games with reading exercises.

2. What does the further evaluation suggest about Skies of Manawak?

A．Its influence on reading skills is not temporary.	B．The study results about it seem to be untrustworthy.
C．Reading ability can’t be improved with its assistance.	D．Kids need consistent reading training after playing it.

3. What is the author’s opinion on action video games?

A．They have nothing to do with reading.	B．People shouldn’t get addicted to them.
C．School kids are supposed to avoid them.	D．They should be replaced with Scratch.

4. Which of the following can serve as the best title for the text?

A．Video Games Prove Harmless to Young People at School

B．Time for Children to Play Video Games Should Be Limited

C．Children Easily Fall in Love With Reading in a Video Game

D．Playing Action Video Games Improves Kids’ Reading Skills