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 or a headstrong toddler starting to talk. No matter how many times the little ones stumble in their initial efforts, most keep on trying, determined to master their amazing new skill. It is only several years later, around the start of middle or junior high school, many psychologists and teachers agree, that a good number of kids seem to lose their natural drive to succeed and end up joining the ranks of underachievers. For the parents of such kids, whose own ambition is often inseparately tied to their children's success, it can be a bewildering, painful experience. So it is no wonder some parents find themselves hoping that ambition can be taught like any other subject at school.
It's not quite that simple. "Kids can be given the opportunities, but they can't be forced," says Jacquelynne Eccles, a psychology professor at the University of Michigan who led a study examining what motivated first-and seventh-graders in three school districts. Even so, a growing number of educators and psychologists do believe it is possible to unearth ambition in students who don't seem to have much. They say that by instilling confidence, encouraging some risk taking, being accepting of failure and expanding the areas in which children may be successful, both parents and teachers can reignite that innate desire to achieve.
Dubbed Brainology, the unorthodox approach uses basic neuroscience to teach kids how the brain works and how it can continue to develop throughout life. The message is that everything is within the kids' control, that their intelligence is
malleable
.
Some experts say our education system, with its strong emphasis on testing and rigid separation of students into different levels of ability, also bears blame for the disappearance of drive in some kids. Some educators say it's important to expose kids to a world beyond homework and tests, through volunteer work, sports, hobbies and other extracurricular activities. "The crux of the issue is that many students experience education as irrelevant to their life goals and ambitions," says Michael Nakkula, a Harvard education professor who runs a Boston-area mentoring program called Project IF (Inventing the Future), which works to get low-income underachievers in touch with their aspirations. The key to getting kids to aim higher at school is to tell them the notion that classwork is irrelevant is not true, to show them how doing well at school can actually help them fulfill their dreams beyond it. Like any ambitious toddler, they need to understand that they have to learn to walk before they can run.
单选题
The passage is mainly about________.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】解析:题目问:文章主要是关于什么?第一段:So it is no wonder some parents find themselves hoping that ambition can be taught like any other subject at school.通过这句话可知,很多家长希望学校能教授培养孩子有抱负的课程。据此可知,应选择D。
单选题
According to the passage, most educators believe that many kids________.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】解析:题目问:根据文章内容,多数教育工作者相信许多孩子什么?第一段:It is only several years later,around the start of middle or junior high school, many psychologists and teachers agree,that a good number of kids seem to lose their natural drive to succeed and end up joining the ranks of underachievers.通过此段话可知,许多心理学家和教师同意,只是几年以后,在初中开始的阶段,许多孩子失去了获得成功的自然动力,并加入后进行列中。据此可知,应选择C。
单选题
Paragraph 1 mentions some parents who would see their kids' failure as________.
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】解析:题目问:第一段提到的一些父母对于孩子的失败是怎样的反应?第一段:For the parents of such kids,whose own ambition is often inseparately tied to their children’s success,it can be a bewildering,painful experience.通过此句话可知,对于那些将自己的抱负与孩子的成功紧密结合的家长来说,孩子的失败是令人困惑的,是一种痛苦的经历。据此可知,应选择C。
单选题
The word "malleable" in Paragraph 3 most probably means________.
单选题
Some experts suggest that many kids lose ambition in school because they are________.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】解析:题目问:一些专家认为孩子们在学校丧失抱负是因为什么?第四段:Some experts say our education system,with its strong emphasis on testing and rigid separation of students into different levels of ability,also bears blame for the disappearance of drive in some kids.通过此句话可知,我们的教育制度强调考试,并把学生分成不同能力水平的等级,导致孩子们缺少动力。据此可知,应选择D。
单选题
The last paragraph implies________.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】解析:题目问:最后一段暗示了什么?最后一段提到了Project IF(Inventing the Future),这个方案的作用就是让后进的孩子逐渐接近他们的目标。据此可知,应选择A。