2014届高考英语一轮复习自选训练 阅读理解36.docVIP

2014届高考英语一轮复习ll across the country, kids are heading back to school. Despite advice from the nation’s secretary of health and human services, recess(课间休息) and physical education have in many schools been cut back or canceled. While most of kids are eager to catch up with friends, the general feeling is that “playtime is over.” Summer vacation does offer most children a bit of free playtime – the sort that leads to physical activity and self-organized play, often in short supply during the school year. Still, it’s not enough. Playtime shouldn’t be limited to summer vacation: it’s important all year. For most American children in the past, “going out to play” was the norm. Today, according to a University of Michigan study, children spend 50 percent less time outside than they did just 20 years ago. There is a direct line between lack of play and some frightening public health and social trends: tragic statistics for obesity(肥胖), 4.5 million children diagnosed with attention deficit disorder(ADD) (儿童多动症), an increase in childhood depression and classroom behavioral problems, and an inability to interact well with peers. Just an hour a day of active play — running, chasing, games like dodge ball — can provide intense skill learning. Physical activity is known to lessen the symptoms of mild attention deficit disorder, and reduces the risk of childhood obesity. Active kids can perform better academically in the long term. We should be aware of how important play is to one’s development. Even a play-deprived social mammal(哺乳动物) like a rat or monkey will become unable to tell friend from enemy, and poor at handling stress when it enters adulthood. My studies of young murderers revealed that most had lacked normal, developmentally appropriate play as children and pre-adolescents. Play is fun, but ultimately it is also useful. The smarter the animal, the more they play. For humans, play refreshes us because it gets us in touch with our core selves and the joy of life. I fe