Question

Is early childhood education really necessary? Early childhood education primarily focuses on learning through playing to develop the child’s physical, sensory, communicational and social development．Early childhood education has become a concern of the government, who pushes poor children to be formally trained before they are old enough for Kindergarten．

There are good reasons for the government to push early childhood education．Studies have shown that orphaned children who did not receive good care and education become developmentally delayed causing failure in school, and even in life．Further studies show that poor children who take part in Head Start programs are more prepared for school, less likely to end up in Special Education classes, and are less likely to receive public help or go to jail．

There are also negative parts to putting a child in formal education programs too early．Time Magazine online explains that “the younger the child the less his chances of catching up with first-grade work．” I have personally witnessed many children of my generation who went to Head Start programs become frustrated and bored with school before they finished high school．Yet parents have been sure that the earlier the child starts school, the better off he or she is, so they push to start children earlier．

Actually while early formal education of poor children does show great gains in the early elementary years, studies also show that this head start is really a “false start”, as the gains are lost in middle and high school years．It seems that environment is a bigger factor on life’s success than early education．Head Start programs have not achieved its original goal in closing the achievement gap in poor and middle school children．Perhaps it is time to find other ways to close that gap．

1.The purpose of the government valuing the early childhood education is ________．

A．to develop the children’s communication

B．to give orphaned children good care and education

C．to get the children prepared for the kindergarten

D．to train the children formally and regularly

2.According to the studies, which of the following is True?

A．Children with good early education may have a rich life．

B．The orphaned children are usually unhappy in their life．

C．Children without early education can do well at school．

D．Head Start programs are helpful to the poor children．

3.“the younger the child the less his chances of catching up with first-grade work．” suggests that _________．

A．the early childhood education is helpless to the child’s grade

B．it is good for the young children to receive early education

C．the early education can help the children follow the grade

D．the younger the children are, the cleverer they will be

4.The author’s attitude toward the early childhood education is _________．

A．puzzling                   B．objective                 C．indifferent                 D．approving

5.The main idea of the last passage is that __________．

A．the early childhood education is very necessary

B．Head Start programs have helped the children a lot

C．environment is the most important to life’s success

D．better ways should be found to help the poor children

Answer

1.C

2.D

3.A

4.B

5.D

【解析】

试题分析：早期教育固然重要，但是过早的教育对孩子也有负面影响，而且研究表明，环境对个人的成功更重要。

1.考查细节理解。第一段说，政府关注儿童早期教育的问题，希望贫困儿童能在上幼儿园前接受正规培训。选C。

2.考查推理判断。第二段从正反两方面阐述研究的结果：接受过早期教育的穷孩子今后的人生和没有接受过早期教育的穷孩子不一样，从而得出结论：早期教育对穷孩子大有裨益。选D。

3.句意理解题：这句话的意思是：孩子的年龄越小，赶上好成绩的机会就越小，所以早期教育对孩子的成绩没有什么影响，选A

4.考查推理判断。从全文来看，作者一直客观地引用他人的研究来介绍早期教育的利与弊，所以作者在阐述这个话题时是“客观的”。 选B。B

5.考查段落大意。通过对早期教育利与弊的分析，作者在最后一段指出要寻找更好的方法帮助孩子获得人生的成功。选D

考点：考查教育类短文