Answer Explanation - The importance of children’s play
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Answer Explanation - The Importance of Children's Play
Go to the Reading Passage: The Importance of Children's Play
Reading Passage "The Importance of Children's Play" Answer Explanation:
Questions 1-8:
Complete the notes below.
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
Question 1: Building a 'magical kingdom' may help develop .................... .
Answer: creativity.
Keywords: building, magical kingdom, help develop.
Explanation: In the last sentence of the first paragraph, it is mentioned that although Alice isn't aware of it, her fantasy of building a magical kingdom is helping her take her first steps towards her capacity for creativity, which will have important repercussions in her adult life.
Here, helping her take her first steps towards her capacity = help develop.
Evidence: "Although she isn't aware of it, this fantasy is helping her take her first steps towards her capacity for creativity and so it will have important repercussions in her adult life."
Therefore, the correct answer is: creativity.
Question 2: Board games involve .................... and turn-taking.
Answer: rules.
Keywords: board games, involve, turn-taking.
Explanation: The last sentence in the second paragraph states that when Alice and her brother settle down with a board game, she learns about the need to follow rules and take turns with a partner.
Here, learning about the need to follow = involve, and take turn with a partner = turn-taking.
Evidence: "Later on, when they tire of this and settle down with a board game, she's learning about the need to follow rules and take turns with a partner."
Therefore, the correct answer is: rules.
Question 3: Populations of .................... have grown.
Answer: cities.
Keywords: populations, have grown.
Explanation: To find the answer to this question, we need to find any recent changes in population in urban areas or cities. If we look at paragraph 5 and sentence 1, we notice that it is talking about the "changing time", and how half of the global population now lives in cities. The fifth paragraph mentions that over half the people in the world now live in cities, indicating that city populations have increased.
Here, over half the people in the world now live in = populations have grown.
Evidence: "But we live in changing times, and Whitebread is mindful of a worldwide decline in play, pointing out that over half the people in the world now live in cities."
Therefore, the correct answer is: cities.
Question 4: Opportunities for free play are limited due to: Fear of .................... .
Answer: traffic.
Keywords: opportunities for free play, limited, fear of.
Explanation: The last part of the fifth paragraph explains that outdoor play is curtailed by perceptions of risk to do with traffic, indicating that fear of traffic limits opportunities for free play.
Here, perceptions of risk to do with = fear of.
Evidence: "Outdoor play is curtailed by perceptions of risk to do with traffic, as well as parents' increased wish to protect their children from being the victims of crime..."
Therefore, the correct answer is: traffic.
Question 5: Opportunities for free play are limited due to: Fear of .................... .
Answer: crime.
Keywords: opportunities for free play, limited, fear of.
Explanation: The same sentence in the fifth paragraph also mentions that parents' increased wish to protect their children from being the victims of crime limits outdoor play, indicating that fear of crime is another factor.
Here, parents' increased wish to protect their children from being the victims of = fear of.
Evidence: "Outdoor play is curtailed by perceptions of risk to do with traffic, as well as parents' increased wish to protect their children from being the victims of crime."
Therefore, the correct answer is: crime.
Question 6: Opportunities for free play are limited due to: Increased .................... in academic learning.
Answer: competition.
Keywords: increased, academic learning.
Explanation: The fifth paragraph notes that the emphasis on 'earlier is better' is leading to greater competition in academic learning and schools, which limits opportunities for free play.
Here, greater = increased.
Evidence: "......... and by the emphasis on ‘earlier is better’ which is leading to greater competition in academic learning and schools."
Thus, the correct answer is: competition.
Question 7: It is difficult to find .................... to support new policies.
Answer: evidence.
Keywords: difficult to find, support, new policies.
Explanation: In the last sentence in paragraph 6, the text states that "... But what they often lack is the evidence to base policies on."
Here, often lack = difficult to find.
Evidence: "... But what they often lack is the evidence to base policies on."
Therefore, the correct answer is: evidence.
Question 8: research needs to study the impact of play on the rest of the child's .................... .
Answer: life.
Keywords: research, study, impact, children.
Explanation: The answer can be found in the eight paragraph where the writer says that Dr Jenny Gibson points out that there is very little data on the impact it has on the child's later life.
Here, child's later life = rest of the child's life.
Evidence: "Dr Jenny Gibson agrees, pointing out that although some of the steps in the puzzle of how and why play is important have been looked at, there is very little data on the impact it has on the child’s later life."
Therefore, the correct answer is: life.
Questions 9-13:
Do the following statements agree with the information given on the reading passage?
In boxes 9-13 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
Question 9: Children with good self-control are known to be likely to do well at school later on.
Answer: TRUE.
Keywords: good self-control, do well, school.
Explanation: Paragraph 11 explains that in a study with toddlers and preschoolers, those who had greater self-control solved problems more quickly and became better problem-solvers when exploring an unfamiliar setup, and make them more successful problem solvers in the long run. This shows a direct connection between early self-control and later academic success. So we can infer that children with good self-control are likely to become successful problem solvers later on which means doing well at school.
Here, greater self-control = good self-control, later on = long run, and more successful problem-solvers = likely to do well at school.
Evidence: "She found that children with greater self-control solved problems more quickly when exploring an unfamiliar set-up requiring scientific reasoning. ‘This sort of evidence makes us think that giving children the chance to play will make them more successful problem-solvers in the long run."
Therefore, the correct answer is: TRUE.
Question 10: The way a child plays may provide information about possible medical problems.
Answer: TRUE.
Keywords: child plays, provide information, medical problems
Explanation: Paragraph 13 discusses how playful behaviour is an important indicator of healthy emotional and social development. In this paragraph, Dr Jenny Gibson also adds that in her previous research, she investigated how observing children at play can give important clues about their well-being and can even be useful in the diagnosis of neurodevelopmental disorders like autism.’ This implies that abnormalities in play may point to developmental or medical concerns.
Evidence: "Playful behaviour is also an important indicator of healthy social and emotional development. In my previous research, I investigated how observing children at play can give us important clues about their well-being and can even be useful in the diagnosis of neurodevelopmental disorders like autism."
Therefore, the correct answer is: TRUE.
Question 11: Playing with dolls was found to benefit girls’ writing more than boys’.
Answer: NOT GIVEN.
Keywords: dolls, benefit, girls' writing.
Explanation: Even though paragraph 14 mentions that children wrote longer and better-structured stories when they first played with dolls representing characters in the story, it does not clearly say if they were boys or girls. Moreover, there is no information in the passage comparing the impact of playing with dolls on girls’ versus boys’ writing skills. No such comparison is made, so the answer is not given.
Therefore, the correct answer is: NOT GIVEN.
Question 12: Children had problems thinking up ideas when they first created the story with Lego.
Answer: FALSE.
Keywords: problems, thinking up ideas, Lego
Explanation: The passage in paragraph 14 clearly states that children wrote longer and better-structured stories when they first played with dolls and later a similar result was found when they first created a story with Lego. The writer keeps on saying that with the Lego building, not a single child had problems finding out what to write about throughout the whole year of the project.’ That means children had no problem thinking up ideas when they first created the story with Lego.
Evidence: "Children wrote longer and better-structured stories when they first played with dolls representing characters in the story. In the latest study, children first created their story with Lego *, with similar results. ‘Many teachers commented that they had always previously had children saying they didn’t know what to write about. With the Lego building, however, not a single child said this through the whole year of the project.’"
Therefore, the correct answer is: FALSE.
Question 13: People nowadays regard children’s play as less significant than they did in the past.
Answer: TRUE.
Keywords: children's play, less significant than the past.
Explanation: The answer to this question is in the first sentence in the last paragraph where it mentions that "somehow the importance of play has been lost in the recent decades. It’s regarded as something trivial, or even as something negative that contrasts with “work”.
Therefore, the correct answer is: TRUE.
Evidence: 'Somehow the importance of play has been lost in recent decades. It’s regarded as something trivial, or even as something negative that contrasts with “work”.'
This is the end of the Answer Explanation section for the reading passage - "The Importance of Children’s Play". If you still have any questions or confusion regarding the explanations, please leave your thoughts in the comment section.
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