【小阅读^大脑袋】0322 NO.340

If you look for a book as a present for a child, you will be spoiled for choice even in a year there is no new Harry Potter. J.K Rowling’s wizard is not alone. The past decade has been a harvest for good children’s books, which has set off a large quantity of films and an increased sales of classics such as The Lord of the Rings.

Yet despite that, reading is increasingly unpopular among children. According to statistics in 1997, 23% said they didn’t like reading at all. In 2003, 35% did. And around 6% of children leave primary school each year unable to read properly.

Maybe the decline is caused by the increasing availability of computes games. Maybe the books boom has affected only the top of the educational pile. Either way, Chancellor Cordon Brown plans to change things for the bottom of the class. In his pre-budget report, he announced the national project of Reading Recovery to help the children struggling most.

Reading Recovery is aimed at six year olds, who receive four months of individual daily half-hour classes with a specially trained teacher. An evaluation either this year reported that children on the scheme made 20 months’ progress in just one year, whereas similarly weak readers without special help made just five months’ progress, and so ended the year even further below the level expected for their age.

International research tends to find that when British children leave primary school they read well, but read text often for fun than those elsewhere. Reading for fun matters because children who are keen on reading can report lifelong pleasure and loving books is an excellent indicator of future educational success. According to the OECD, being a regular and enthusiastic reader is of great advantage.
BDC
答案解析：
1．Which of the following is true of Paragraph 1?
A．Many children’ books have been adapted from films.
B．Many high-quality children’ books have been published.
C．The sales of classics have led to the popularity of films.
D．The sales of presents for children have increased.
解析：B正确
关于第一段的描述哪一项是正确的？
第一段主要说的是近些年图书事业的繁荣。the past decade has been a harvest for good children’s books,关键词一个是儿童图书，一个是丰收

2．What do we know about Reading Recovery?
A．An evaluation of it will be made sometime this year.
B．Weak readers on the project were the most hardworking.
C．It aims to train special teachers to help children with reading.
D．Children on the project showed noticeable progress in reading.
解析：D正确
关于读书复苏计划我们了解到的是什么？
关于这个计划的具体描述在第一段，可以逐项对应。而根据数据可以发现接受这个计划的孩子取得更大的进步，因此D正确。

3．Reading for fun is important because book-loving children _________.
A．take greater advantage of the project
B．show the potential to enjoy a long life
C．are likely to succeed in their education.
D．would make excellent future researchers
解析：C正确
而乐趣而读书很重要因为爱书本的孩子怎么样？
这可在文中找到对应之处：Reading for fun matters because children who are keen on reading can report lifelong pleasure and loving books is an excellent indicator of future educational success.这句中的matter和important同意

参考译文：
如果你想为孩子选一本书作为礼物，就算这一年没有新出版的哈利波特，你也会有很多选择。JK罗琳的魔法师并不是唯一的选择，在过去十年间的涌现是优秀儿童读书的丰收年。并且有很多拍摄成了经典的电影，反过来又提高了书的销售量。《指环王》就是一个很好的例子。

尽管如此，阅读在孩子中间越来越不受欢迎了。根据1997年的数据显示23%的孩子表示一点都不喜欢看书。到2003年这个比例上升到35%。每年大约有6%的从小学毕业的孩子不能正确地读书。

电脑游戏的日益盛行可能导致了这一下降的趋势。也许读书市场的繁荣只是影响到教育程度高的人。不管如何，戈登•布朗首相打算改变教育底层的现状。预算前报告中，他宣布了一项全国性的读书复苏计划，来帮助那些阅读能力差的孩子。

读书复苏计划的对象是6岁左右的孩童，他们要接受4个月的个人辅导，由经过特殊训练的老师教授每日半个小时的课程。今年的评估显示，加入该计划的孩子在一年中就取得了20个月程度的进步。而类似的读书能力弱却没有受到特殊辅导的孩子，仅取得5个月的进度，因此到了年末他们会比这个年龄的应有的水平还要低。

国际研究发现英国的小学毕业生阅读能力很好，不过他们与其他地方的孩子相比读书更是为了兴趣。为了乐趣读书这点至关重要，因为对读书感兴趣的孩子能获得长久的快乐，喜爱书本是未来成功教育的标志。据OECD称，做一个经常读书的爱书之人大有裨益。

词汇及短语：
wizard: 术士, 男巫; 变魔术的人
lord: 领主, 君主, （英国）贵族
availability: 有效;有益;可利用性; 可得到的东西(或人);可得性
pile: 一堆, 一叠
Chancellor: [英] 某些大学的名誉校长; [美] 某些大学的校长;(奥地利等的)总理[首相]
indicator: 指示信号；标志；迹象
enthusiastic：满腔热情的, 热心的，热烈的; 极感兴趣的