Question

    Imagine you are 10 years old. You live in a big city and want to visit your best friend, a five-minute walk away, and then you can go to the park, another 10 minutes’ walk. The problem is that there’s a big dangerous road between you and your friend, and another between your friend’s home and the park. When you ask your parents if you can walk there, they say no. But they are too busy to take you there themselves.

Instead, you have a video conversation with your friend, or perhaps you play a video game on the sofa. You’ve lost out on exercise and time outside, interacting with your neighborhood and, of course, play time with your friend. This is the reality for many kids today - but it doesn’t have to be this way.

Tim Gill, the author of Urban Children: Growing Up in a Risky Society, says a child-friendly city is one that allows “everyday freedom”, so children can spread their wings as they grow. “It’s not enough to just talk about playgrounds and nice, pretty public spaces. That just creates play places they have to be taken to by adults,” says Gill.

“Society’s mistake is that our planning systems just focus on cars, house-building and the economy - rather than the environment, health and quality of life,” argues Gill, “You won’t find any urban planners who can disagree with that. It’s because our decision-makers fail to look beyond the next two or three years.”

Tim Gill lists five challenges for urban children in his book: traffic and pollution, high-rise living, crime and social fears, inadequate and unequal access to the city.

Designing cities with young people in mind - particularly outdoor spaces that encourage safe movement and social interaction - stands to be an issue of growing concern globally. By 2050, around 70 percent of people will live in cities, and the majority of them will be under 18. Today, over a billion children are growing up in cities.

1.Why does the author make an assumption in the first paragraph?

A.To show his doubts. B.To give an example.

C.To present the issue. D.To express his opinion.

2.What problem does the author want to raise about urban children?

A.They have few friends.

B.They spend much time on videos.

C.They are unhealthy for lack of exercise.

D.They lose “freedom” because of the risky society.

3.What does the underlined word “that” in Paragraph 4 refer to?

A.Low quality of life. B.Lack of public spaces.

C.Improper city planning. D.Criticism on city planners.

4.What would be the best title for the text?

A.Paying attention to young children B.The call for a child-friendly city

C.Challenges for urban children D.Problems in modern cities

Answer

1.C

2.D

3.C

4.B

【解析】

本文是一篇说明文。文章提出孩子们因城市不安全因素丧失活动自由的问题。指出了我们城市规划中存在的问题。最后呼吁建立孩子友好型城市。

1.

推理判断题。第一段提到假设你10岁，你住在大城市。如果你想去找自己最好的朋友玩，只需要5分钟就可以走到他家。然后再走10分钟，你就可以到公园了。但是问题是，你家和朋友家之间有一条危险的大马路。朋友家和公园之间也有一条大马路。你问爸爸妈妈你可以自己去找朋友玩吗，他们不准你去。而且他们也没空送你去好朋友家。作者第一句话首先imagine（做假设），然后第二句话就提出the problem（问题）。所以前面的假设主要是为后面的问题做铺垫。故选C项。

2.

推理判断题。第一段讲因为一些外在的危险你不能去朋友家，第二段提到因为不能去朋友家，所以许多孩子待在家里视频、玩游戏。他们失去了外出锻炼以及与人交流的机会。这就是城市孩子们的现状。第三段提到Tim Gill的观点，孩子友好型城市应该给予孩子们充分的自由。综合这三段内容，作者主要是提出孩子因为城市危险因素而丧失了部分自由的问题。故选D项。

3.

词义猜测题。由“Society’s mistake is that our planning systems just focus on cars, house-building and the economy - rather than the environment, health and quality of life,” argues Gill, “You won’t find any urban planners who can disagree with that”可知，Gill认为我们的城市规划只注重车辆、房屋建设以及经济而没有考虑环境、健康以及生活质量这些因素。You won’t find any urban planners who can disagree with that。这是一个双重否定句表肯定意义。意思是所有的城市规划者都赞同这一点。that指代前一句话Gill的观点，即我们的城市规划不合理。故选C项。

4.

主旨大意题。由最后一段“Designing cities with young people in mind - particularly outdoor spaces that encourage safe movement and social interaction - stands to be an issue of growing concern globally.”可知，作者认为城市设计应考虑到孩子们的安全以及社交需求。第一段第二段作者提出问题即孩子们因城市不安全因素丧失活动自由。中间段落提到了我们现今城市规划的一些问题。最后一段提倡城市设计应该考虑到孩子们的需求和安全。纵观全文，作者旨在呼吁建立一个孩子友好型城市。故选B项。