单选题 Play is the principal business of childhood, and more and more in recent years research has shown the great importance of play in the development of a human being. From earliest infancy, every child needs opportunity and the right material for play, and the main tools of play are toys. Their main function is to suggest, encourage and assist play. To succeed in this they must be good toys, which children will play often, and will come back to again and again. Therefore it is important to choose suitable toys for different stages of a child' s development.
In recent years research on infant development has shown the standard a child is likely to reach, within the range of his inherited abilities, is largely determined in the first three years of his life. So a baby' s ability to profit from the right play materials should not be underestimated. A baby who is encouraged and stimulated, talked to and shown things and played with, has the best chance of growing up successfully.
The next stage, from three to five years old, curiosity knows no bounds. Every type of suitable toys should be made available to the child, for trying out, experimenting and learning, for discovering his own particular ability. Bricks and jigsaws and construction toys; painting, scribbling and making things; sand and water play; toys for imaginative and pretending play; the first social games for learning to play and get on with others.
By the third stage of play development -- from five to seven or eight years -- the child is at school. But for a few more years play is still 'the best way of learning, at home or at. school. It is. easier to see which type of toys the child most enjoys.
Until the age of seven or eight, play and work mean much the same thing to a child. But once reading has been mastered, then books and school become the main source of learning. Toys are still interesting and valuable, they lead on to new hobbies, but their significance has changed -- to a child of nine or ten years, toys and games mean, as to adults, relaxation and fun.

单选题 The writer wants us to understand that a child ______.
A. has to be .taught how to play B. likes a toy
C. matures through play D. can grow up with toys

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】[解析] 本题考察对文章要点的归纳。
[解题要点] C项完整地概括了文章的主旨，即“孩子在玩中成长”。 A项、B项和D项在语义上不完全正确或不完整。
[思路拓展] 解答概括文章主旨的题要注意每一段开头的句子，这道题即如此。像下面时间段的表示：第一段“from early infancy”，第三段“from three to five years old”，第四段“from five to seven or eight years”，第五段“until the age of seven eight”都是解答本题的线索。

单选题 Toys have several functions except ______.
A. helping children to play
B. urging children to play
C. recommending ways for children to play
D. asking children to play

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[解析] 本题考察对文章细节的理解。
[解题要点] 根据题意，确定答案在第一段第三句话“Their main function is to suggest，encourage and assist play．”。A项对应“assist”；B项对应“encourage”；C项对应“suggest”；只有D项文中没有提到。
[思路拓展] 此题中A项、B项和C项3个选项是对原文的解释，只要找到原文相关地方，加以逐一对照，即可选出正确答案。

单选题 The passage tells us that children are the most curious when they are about ______.
A. fours years old B. six years old
C. one year old D. two years old

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】[解析] 本题考察对文章细节的理解。
[解题要点] 根据题意，确定答案在第三段第一句话“．．．from three to five years old，curiosity knows no bounds．”。A项“four years old”正好在“three to five years old”这个范围里，而其他选项都不在此范围。
[思路拓展] 有时选项不一定很明显地在原文中找到，但只要在规定范围内，即是正确的。

单选题 The passage is about ______.
A. the importance of education B. the importance of play
C. the children' s speech development D. the relationship between play and study

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[解析] 本题考察考生归纳中心思想的能力。
[解题要点] 本文论述的是“玩在人类成长过程中的重要性”。这一思想在文中第一段第一句话就点明了：“the importance of play in the development of a human being”。接下来的几段中，作者围绕孩子成长的不同年龄段分别阐述了这一思想。A项、C项和D项文中没有涉及到。
[思路拓展] 在很多情况下，我们可以在文章的第一段直接找到或概括出整篇文章的中心思想。第一段往往起着统领全文的作用。