A (2020·全国卷Ⅱ·B)
Some parents will buy any hightech toy if they think it will help their child，but researchers said puzzles help children with mathrelated skills.
Psychologist Susan Levine，an expert on mathematics development in young children at the University of Chicago，found children who play with puzzles between ages 2 and 4 later develop better spatial skills.Puzzle play was found to be a significant predictor of cognition(认知) after controlling for differences in parents' income，education and the amount of parent talk，Levine said.
The researchers analyzed video recordings of 53 childparent pairs during everyday activities at home and found children who play with puzzles between 26 and 46 months of age have better spatial skills when assessed at 54 months of age.
“The children who played with puzzles performed better than those who did not，on tasks that assessed their ability to rotate(旋转) and translate shapes，”Levine said in a statement.
The parents were asked to interact with their children as they normally would，and about half of the children in the study played with puzzles at one time.Higherincome parents tended to have children play with puzzles more frequently，and both boys and girls who played with puzzles had better spatial skills.However，boys tended to play with more complex puzzles than girls，and the parents of boys provided more spatial language and were more active during puzzle play than the parents of girls.
The findings were published in the journal Developmental Science.
【语篇解读】 本文主要介绍了接触智力游戏有助于孩子发展与数学相关的技能，特别是孩子的空间技能。
1．In which aspect do children benefit from puzzle play?
A．Building confidence.
B．Developing spatial skills.
C．Learning selfcontrol.
D．Gaining hightech knowledge.
B [细节理解题。根据第二段中的“Psychologist Susan Levine...found children who play with puzzles between ages 2 and 4 later develop better spatial skills.” 以及第三段内容可知，孩子们通过玩智力游戏可以培养空间技能。故选B。]
2．What did Levine take into consideration when designing her experiment?
A．Parents' age.
B．Children's imagination.
C．Parents' education.
D．Childparent relationship.
C [细节理解题。根据第二段最后一句“Puzzle play was found to be a significant predictor of cognition (认知) after controlling for differences in parents' income，education and the amount of parent talk，Levine said.”可知，Levine 在设计实验时，考虑到了父母的收入、教育程度以及与孩子说话的多少。故选C。]
3．How do boys differ from girls in puzzle play?
A．They play with puzzles more often.
B．They tend to talk less during the game.
C．They prefer to use more spatial language.
D．They are likely to play with tougher puzzles.
D [细节理解题。根据倒数第二段最后一句“However，boys tended to play with more complex puzzles than girls...”可知，男孩较女孩而言，倾向于玩更复杂的智力游戏。故选D。]
4．What is the text mainly about?
A．A mathematical method.
B．A scientific study.
C．A woman psychologist.
D．A teaching program.
B [主旨大意题。阅读全文内容，尤其是最后一段“The findings were published in the journal Developmental Science.”可知，该篇文章主要介绍的是一项科学研究。故选B。]
