Question

A primary school has banned Valentine’s Day cards because of concerns that young pupils spend too much time talking about boyfriends and girlfriends.

Ashcombe Primary School in Weston?super?Mare，Somerset，has told parents that cards declaring love can be “confusing” for children under the age of 11，who are still emotionally and socially developing.

In his February newsletter(簡訊)，Peter Turner，head teacher，warned that any cards found in school would be confiscated.

He wrote，“We do not wish to see any Valentine’s Day cards in school this year.Some children and parents encourage a lot of talks about boyfriends and girlfriends.”

“We believe that such ideas should wait until children are mature enough emotionally and socially to understand the commitment involved in having or being a boyfriend or girlfriend.”

Mr.Turner said any families wanting to support the Valentine’s Day concept should send cards in the post or deliver them to home addresses by hand.

His views were supported by Ruth Rice,46，who has twins Harriet and Olivia,9，at the school.

She said，“Children at that age shouldn’t really be thinking about Valentine’s Day，and they should be concentrating on their schoolwork.”

“They are at an age when they are easily influenced and most parents including myself are with Mr.Turner.”

She added，“The cards caused too much competition.If someone gets a card and another doesn’t then he or she will be disappointed.”

However，Rajeev Takyar,40，who sells newspapers and has two children Jai,11，and Aryan,5，at the school，said he was “genuinely outraged”．

He said，“There are schools that have banned conkers(康克戲) and snowballs，and now Valentine’s Day cards.”

“I think banning the cards stops children from having social skills.How are they going to learn about relationships otherwise？It’s ridiculous.”

Alec Suttenwood，founder of the Anti?Political Correctness Group，said of the ban，“It’s totally ridiculous.Young children just send the cards to each other as friends and to their parents.It’s just a bit of harmless fun.There is no difference between this and Mother’s or Father’s Day.”

1.Valentine’s Day cards may cause confusion among young children because ________.

A．they are too young to understand what love is

B．teachers haven’t taught them how to make friends

C．children shouldn’t learn about social relationships

D．students talk too much about boyfriends and girlfriends

2.The underlined word “confiscated” in Paragraph 3 can probably be replaced by “________”．

A．collected B．destroyed C．taken away D．burnt away

3.Ruth Rice was in favor of Mr.Turner’s view in that ________.

A．children like to compare Valentine’s Day cards

B．children should focus their mind on their lessons

C．sending holiday cards wastes both time and money

D．making friends has a negative influence on children

4.Which statement is TRUE according to the text?

A．Most of English parents want children to have fun.

B．Children should learn how to develop social skills.

C．English schools don’t allow students to play games.

D．Some parents think it unreasonable to ban the cards.

5.What is the best title of the text?

A．School Bans Valentine’s Day Cards

B．Shall We Send Valentine’s Day Cards?

C．Different Opinions on Valentine’s Day Cards

D．Parents’ Concern About Valentine’s Day Cards

 

Answer 1

1.A

2.C

3.B

4.D

5.A

【解析】

1.推理判斷題。根據(jù)文章的第二段可知，英國Ashcombe小學告知學生家長，11歲以下的孩子在情感和社交上都還不夠成熟，傳達愛意的情人節(jié)賀卡會讓他們感到“困惑”。因此最佳答案為A。

2.詞義猜測題。根據(jù)文章的前兩段可知，英國一所小學日前宣布禁止學生互送情人節(jié)賀卡，理由是小學生不應過多討論男女朋友的問題。老師在二月份的學校簡訊中提醒家長說，今年在學校發(fā)現(xiàn)的任何情人節(jié)賀卡將一律被沒收。confiscate意為“沒收”，與take away同義。

3.細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第八段可知，作為家長，Ruth Rice說：“孩子們現(xiàn)在不應該過多考慮情人節(jié)這個問題，而應把精力放在學習上�！惫蚀鸢笧锽。

4.推理判斷題。40歲的報刊經(jīng)銷商Rajeev Takyar表示自己“十分憤慨”。他說：“先是玩康克戲和打雪仗在某些學校被禁止，現(xiàn)在又是情人節(jié)賀卡。我認為禁送情人節(jié)賀卡不利于孩子們社交技能的培養(yǎng)。以后他們怎么去了解各種社會關系？真是荒謬�！庇纱送茢�，答案為D。

5.標題歸納題。從全文尤其是從本文第一段“A primary school has banned Valentine’s Day cards because of concerns that young pupils spend too much time talking about boyfriends and girlfriends.”可以看出此題答案為A。