Question

 

  Anyone who doubts that children are born with a healthy amount of ambition need spend only a few minutes with a baby eagerly learning to walk. No matter how many times the little ones stumble in their first efforts, most keep on trying, determined to master their amazing new skill. It is only several years later, many psychologists and teachers agree, that a good number of kids seem to lose their natural drive to succeed. For the parents of such kids, whose own ambition is often tied to their children’s success, it can be a painful experience.

  Figuring out why the fire went out is the first step. Assuming that a kid doesn’t suffer from a learning disability, or isn’t involved in some family crisis at home, many educators attribute a sudden lack of motivation to a fear of failure or classmate pressure. “Everything is within the kids’ control; their intelligence is changeable,” says Lisa Blackwell, a research scientist at Columbia University. “More than any teacher or workshop,” Blackwell says, “parents can play a key role in conveying this message to their children by praising their effort, and progress rather than emphasizing their ‘smartness’ or praising high performance alone. Most importantly, parents should let their kids know that mistakes are a part of learning.”

  Some experts say our education system, with its strong emphasis on testing and separation of students into different levels of ability, also bears blame for the disappearance of drive in some kids. “These programs shut down the motivation of all kids who aren’t considered gifted and talented. They destroy their confidence,” says Jeff Howard, a social psychologist. Howard and other educators say it’s important to expose kids to a world beyond homework and tests, through volunteer work, sports, hobbies and other extracurriculum activities.

  “The problem of the issue is that many students experience education as irrelevant to their life goals and ambitions,” says Michael Nakkual, a Harvard education professor. The key to getting kids to aim higher at school is to free them of the idea that class work is irrelevant, to show them how doing well at school can actually help them fulfill their dreams beyond it. They need to understand that you have to learn to walk before you can run.

1.According to the passage, the parents of kids with no ambition        .

A. don’t do a very good job teaching them to walk

B. are to blame if the kids do poorly in school

C. feel pain because ambitions are connected to their success

D. should take part in extra-curriculum activities with kids

2.The underlined part “the fire went out” probably means        .

A. the motivation was suddenly lost

B. the fear of failure was suddenly gone

C. the learning disability was suddenly lost

D. the fire was suddenly gone

3.All the following can contribute to a sudden lack of ambition EXCEPT        .

A. learning disability                  B. classmate pressure

C. emphasis on testing                  D. extracurricular activities

4. What is the most important thing for parents in motivating their kids?

A. By punishing kids who don’t display ambition.

B. By emphasizing smartness and high performance.

C. By telling kids that mistakes are a part of learning.

D. By praising the effort and progress they have made.

5. We can infer from the passage that        .

A. children who have lost their ambition will never succeed in life

B. school performance has much to do with students’ later success

C. both the parents and the school are to blame for the lost ambition

D. younger kids learning to walk are more ambitious than older ones

 

Answer 1

【答案】

 

1.C

2.A

3.D

4.C

5.B

【解析】

試題分析：

1.C 推斷題。根據(jù)第一段可知，在有目標(biāo)的孩子家長的帶領(lǐng)下，孩子通常表現(xiàn)得非常好。相比之下，沒有目標(biāo)的孩子家長通常會感到很痛苦因為目標(biāo)總是與孩子的成功緊密相連，故C選項正確

2.A 推斷題。根據(jù)文章手段的描述可知，此處的the fire went out(火熄滅）指的是目標(biāo)突然缺失的情況 故A正確

3.D 細(xì)節(jié)題。根據(jù)文章的描述可知，全文并未提及參加課外活動會導(dǎo)致目標(biāo)突然喪失，故D選項正確

4.C 細(xì)節(jié)題。根據(jù)文章第二段的描述可知，家長最重要的是應(yīng)告訴孩子錯誤也是學(xué)習(xí)的一部分少，故D正確

5.B推斷題。由文章的描述可知，孩子在學(xué)校的表現(xiàn)也與孩子后來是否取得成功緊密相連。故B選項正確

考點：考察知識性文章

點評：文章主要向讀者介紹了設(shè)定目標(biāo)和孩子是否取得成功的聯(lián)系。文章集中考察了細(xì)節(jié)題和推斷題，考生應(yīng)抓住文章的要害信息，提高閱讀的速度和解題的正確率。