Identifying the main points

Direction: This passage is from the CET-4 test of June, 2003. Read it over and try to answer the multiple-choice questions.



On average, American kids ageing 3 to 12, spent 29 hours a week in school, eight hours more than they did in 1981. They also did more household work and participated in more of such organized activities as soccer and ballet (芭蕾舞). Involvement in sports, in particular, rose almost 50% from 1981 to 1997: Boys now spend an average of four hours a week playing sports; girls log half that time. All in all, however, children's leisure time dropped from 40% of the day in 1981 to 25%.

"Children are affected by the same time crunch (危机) that affects their parents," says Sandra Hofferth, who headed the recent study of children's timetables. A chief reason, she says, is that more mothers are working outside the home. (Nevertheless, children in both double-income and "male breadwinner" households spent comparable amounts of time interacting with their parents, 19 hours and 22 hours respectively. In contrast, children spent only 9 hours with their single mothers.)

All work and no play could make for some very messed-up kids. "Play is the most powerful way a child explores the world and learns about himself," says T. Berry Brazelton, professor at HarvardMedicalSchool. Unstructured play encourages independent thinking and allows the young to negotiate their relationships with their peers, but kids ageing 3 to 12 spent only 12 hours a week engaged in it.

The children sampled spent a quarter of their rapidly decreasing "free time" watching television. But that, believe it or not, was one of the findings parents might regard as good news. If they're spending less time in front of the TV set, however, kids aren't replacing it with reading. Despite efforts to get kids more interested in books, the children spent just over an hour a week reading. Let's face it, who's got the time?



1. By mentioning "the same time crunch" (Sentence 1, Para. 2) Sandra Hofferth means ________.

A) children have little time to play with their parents

B) children are not taken good care of by their working parents

C) both parents and children suffer from lack of leisure time

D) both parents and children have trouble managing their time

2. According to the author, the reason given by Sandra Hofferth for the time crunch is ________.

A) quite convincing B) partially true

C) totally groundless D) rather confusing

3. According to the author a child develops better if ________.

A) he has plenty of time reading and studying

B) he is left to play with his peers in his own way

C) he has more time participating in school activities

D) he is free to interact with his working parents

4. The author is concerned about the fact that American kids ________.

A) are engaged in more structured activities

B) are increasingly neglected by their working mothers

C) are spending more time watching TV

D) are involved less and less in household work

5. We can infer from the passage that ________.

A) extracurricular activities promote children's intelligence

B) most children will turn to reading with TV sets switched off

C) efforts to get kids interested in reading have been fruitful

D) most parents believe reading to be beneficial to children



Now let's examine the correct answers to the questions and the errors students may make in the test. This passage talks about children's leisure time, which is said to have dropped dramatically since 1981.

Question 1 is a local question. It tests the ability to understand a specific sentence, ie. the first sentence of Para. 2. The correct answer is "C". About 40 per cent of the test takers failed to find the correct answer. The problem lies in their incomplete mastery of the word "same" in the 1st sentence of Para. 2.

Question 2 is another local question. It tests the ability to get specific information from the second paragraph. Sandra Hofferth's view is stated clearly. However, the author goes further on the matter with the information in the parentheses. The transition word "Nevertheless" shows that the author doubts the reason given by Sandra Hofferth. Therefore, the correct answer to the question is "B". Yet, A), C), and D) were given by 60 per cent of the test takers. This shows that some students have difficulty in recognizing transition words and understanding the logical connection between sentences.

Question 3 tests the ability to understand important details. The correct answer, B), is found on the basis of Para. 3. About 72 per cent of the test takers got the right answer.

Question 4 is an overall question. It tests the ability to identify the main point of the passage. The first paragraph gives a detailed description of the rapid decrease of children's free time. The 2nd paragraph tries to find the reason for the reduction of children's leisure time. The third paragraph explains how important leisure time is to the growth of children. The 4th paragraph tries to investigate the ways kids spend their free time. After reading the whole passage we can make an accurate inference that the author is concerned about the fact that American kids are engaged in more structured activities. The correct answer to this question is "A".

Question 5 is another local question. It tests the understanding of the last paragraph. "D" is the correct answer. However, 34 per cent of the test takers picked "A". They could not distinguish between extracurricular activities and what kids do in their leisure time.

Answers: C, B, B, A, D



Direction: This passage is from the CET-4 test of June, 1997. Read it and try to answer the multiple-choice questions.

The fridge is considered a necessity. It has been so since the 1960s when packaged food first appeared with the label: "store in the refrigerator."

In my fridgeless Fifties childhood, I was fed well and healthily. The milkman came daily, the grocer, the butcher (肉商), the baker, and the ice-cream man delivered two or three times a week. The Sunday meat would last until Wednesday and surplus (剩余的) bread and milk became all kinds of cakes. Nothing was wasted, and we were never troubled by rotten food. Thirty years on, food deliveries have ceased, fresh vegetables are almost unobtainable in the country.

The invention of the fridge contributed comparatively little to the art of food preservation. A vast array of well-tried techniques already existed — natural cooling, drying, smoking, salting, sugaring, bottling ...

What refrigeration did promote was marketing — marketing hardware and electricity, marketing soft drinks, marketing dead bodies of animals around the globe in search of a good price.

Consequently, most of the world's fridges are to be found, not in the tropics where they might prove useful, but in the wealthy countries with mild temperatures where they are climatically almost unnecessary. Every winter, millions of fridges hum away continuously, and at vast expense, busily maintaining an artificially-cooled space inside an artificially-heated house — while outside, nature provides the desired temperature free of charge.

The fridge's effect upon the environment has been evident, while its contribution to human happiness has been insignificant. If you don't believe me, try it yourself, invest in a food cabinet and turn off your fridge next winter. You may miss the hamburgers, but at least you'll get rid of that terrible hum.

1. The statement "In my fridgeless Fifties childhood, I was fed well and healthily" (Sentence 1, Para.2) suggests that ________ .

A) the author was well-fed and healthy even without a fridge when he was in his fifties

B) the author was not accustomed to using fridges even when he was in his fifties

C) there was no fridge in the author's home in the 1950s

D) the fridge was in its early stage of development in the 1950s

2. Why does the author say that nothing was wasted before the invention of fridges?

A) People would not buy more food than was necessary.

B) Food was delivered to people two or three times a week.

C) Food was sold fresh and did not get rotten easily.

D) People had effective ways to preserve their food.

3. Who benefited the least from fridges according to the author?

A) Inventors.

B) Consumers.

C) Manufacturers.

D) Travelling salesmen.

4. Which of the following phrases in the fifth paragraph indicates the fridge's negative effect on the environment?

A) "Hum away continuously".

B) "Climatically almost unnecessary".

C) "Artificially-cooled space".

D) "With mild temperatures".

5. What is the author's overall attitude toward fridges?

A) Neutral.

B) Critical.

C) Objective.

D) Compromising.

Answer: C, D, B, A, B