Every other week it seems a new study comes out that adds to our already-formidable store of parental worries. But even by those

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问题     Every other week it seems a new study comes out that adds to our already-formidable store of parental worries. But even by those upgraded standards, the report issued last week by the federal government’s National Center for Health Statistics contained a jaw-dropper: the parents of nearly one of every five boys in the United States were concerned enough about what they saw as their sons’ emotional or behavioral problems that they consulted a doctor or a healthcare professional. By comparison, about one out of 10 parents of girls reported these kinds of problems.
    The report confirms what many of us have been observing for some time now: that lots of school-age boys are struggling. And, parents are intensely worried about them.
    What is bothering our sons? Some experts suggest we are witnessing an epidemic of ADD (attention deficit disorder) and say boys need more treatment. Others say that environmental pollutants found in plastics, among other things, may be eroding their attention spans and their ability to regulate their emotions.
    Those experts may be right but I have another suggestion. Let’s examine the way our child rearing and our schools have evolved in the last 10 years. Then ask ourselves this challenging question: could some of those changes we have embraced in our families, our communities and our schools be driving our sons crazy?
    Instead of unstructured free play, parents now schedule their kids’ time from dawn till dusk (and sometimes beyond). By age 4, an ever-increasing number of children are enrolled in preschool. There, instead of learning to get along with other kids, hold a crayon (蜡笔) and play Duck, Duck, Goose, children barely out of diapers are asked to fill out work sheets, learn calculation or study Mandarin. The drumbeat (鼓声) for early academics gets even louder when they enter "real" school. Veteran teachers will tell you that first graders are now routinely expected to master a curriculum that, only 15 years ago, would have been considered appropriate for second, even third graders. The way we teach children has changed, too. In many communities, elementary school shave become test-prep factories -- where standardized testing begins in kindergarten and ’"teaching to the test" is considered a virtue. At the same time, recess (休息时间) is being pushed aside in order to provide extra time for reading and math drills. So is history and opportunities for hands-on activities -- like science labs and art. Active play is increasingly frowned on -- some schools have even banned recess and tag. In the wake of school shootings like the tragedy at Virginia Tech, kids who stretch out a pointer finger, bend their thumb and shout "pow!" are regarded with suspicion and not little fear.
According to the passage, elementary schools encourage children to ______.

选项 A、play games with their mates after school
B、spend more time on some hands-on activities
C、do more quiet activities instead of active ones
D、put all their time and energy into reading and math drills

答案D

解析 根据题干中的elementary schools将本题出处定位到第五段第七句。该句提到小学成了学前教育的测试工厂。下句的At the same time表明,下面的内容与第七句并列,都是在讲小学里的事情,其中提到,为了给阅读和做数学练习腾出更多的时间,休息时间正在被挤掉,而历史和实际操作活动的机会也被挤掉了。由此可知,小学想让孩子把时间和精力都放在阅读和数学上,故答案为[D]。
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