Igot my first bike when I was nine years old. Jimmy, the bike, was my first love-组卷网

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I got my first bike when I was nine years old. Jimmy, the bike, was my first love. I rode it everywhere. The suburb, the back lanes, the fields and forests, the river paths and swampland were far more exciting than any adventure novel or television series.

There’s nothing quite like the relationship between a child and his bicycle and the endless happiness two wheels and a pair of strong legs offer. No video or computer game can replace the liberation of being alone on a bicycle.

As parents, to deny children the simple pleasure of riding a bike is a failure of our responsibilities to raise independent and stable young citizens. We should offer our children a healthy alternative to hours in front of an addictive screen. Studies have shown that cycling promotes not only muscle growth but brain growth. Guess which country has children with the best mental health outcomes and is regularly the top of listings of the happiest young people. No surprise it’s the Netherlands, the unquestioned leader among industrial countries in encouraging bicycle use.

Our dependence on cars has degraded the public transport system, polluted our sky, led to the untimely death of thousands every year, and denied children safe access to their suburbs. A recent study found that 69% of children were accompanied to school. The same study found that a similar number of parents drove to work.

In some regions of Japan, when children start their first year of school, parents are expected to walk with them for the first few weeks, introducing them to residents and shopkeepers along the chosen route, letting the community take care of these children. However, driving children to school is proscribed. Children can choose to ride a bike or walk to school after they are familiar with the community, and it’s the community’s role to keep them safe.

Therefore, I strongly advise the government to provide better infrastructure (基础设施). Build separated cycle lanes, decrease speed limits, and design street scapes that favour people over cars. The results will be less pollution, quieter suburbs, a healthier population and, best of all, happy and independent children.

【小题1】What can we infer about the author from the text?

A．He was addicted to computer games.

B．He liked taking adventurous trips in nature.

C．He had great fun exploring the outside by cycling.

D．He got his first birthday present at the age of nine.

【小题2】Why does the author mention the Netherlands in Paragraph 3?

A．To introduce his good way of raising independent children.

B．To illustrate the great influence riding has on mental health.

C．To stress the importance of being physically and mentally healthy.

D．To explain cycling does best in city development in the Netherlands.

【小题3】What does the underlined word “proscribed” in Paragraph 5 probably mean?

A．Recommended.