Question

Kelly Payton's fifth grade students might read newspaper articles about immigration or Syrian refugees(難民) or climate change. Sometimes they read the same stories, and other times they're instructed to go online and like other readers, click on the headlines that most appeal to them.

By reading current stories about the concerns of others, Payton, a teacher at a public school, has noticed her students developing more empathy(共鳴).

That was the goal of “A Mile in Our Shoes” a new program from Newsela, which takes content from a variety of believable news sources like the Associated Press, The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times, and rewrites the articles at five reading levels to make reading news accessible to all ages.

“ Relevance means so much to students,” Gross said. "When students feel as though a topic is related they perform better on standardized tests. It doesn't mean we throw out historical documents, but ii brings it much more to life when you can tic it to things in their lives and the communities around them.”

So in 2013, Gross developed an interactive platform, used by about 1 million teachers across America, where kids from grades 2-12 could read content that is interesting and understandable. For example, here’s two versions about sanctuary(庇護）cities.

The original story began: Ignoring fresh threats from the White House, city leaders across the U.S. are promising to strengthen their fight against President Donald Trump's promised crackdown on so-called “sanctuary cities" despite the financial risks.

The version rewritten for the lowest reading level began: Some U.S. cities are very welcoming when it comes to immigration(移民). Many cities have become “sanctuary cities.” These cities allow immigrants. They are welcome even if they do not have permission to live in the United States.

Adding this to Newscla wasn’t intended to be political, Gross said, but was a response to concerns he heard from teachers after the election that their students weren’t getting exposure to different opinions. Instead, kids were repeating what they heard at home from parents.

1.What might Kelly Payton's fifth grade students do?

A. Read news stories about global warning.

B. Make an attempt to protect Syrian refugees.

C. Go online to write comments on immigration.

D. Share some appealing headlines on the Internet.

2.What is the goal of “A Mile in Our Shoes''?

A. To improve students' listening ability.

B. To rewrite newspapers for all students.

C. To cooperate with some news sources.

D. To help students understand others’ feelings.

3.Why did Gross develop an interactive platform in 2013?

A. Because it could help students’ health.

B. Because students could make friends.

C. Because 1 million teachers could buy it.

D. Because it may be beneficial to students' lives.

4.Which of the following is Newsela' intention by rewriting the original story?

A. Train students to be political.

B. Appeal to the teachers’ attention.

C. Expose students to different views.

D. Have students repeal parents’ views.

Answer 1