Reading for pleasure can be an important and enjoyable childhood activity. Unlike listening and spoken language, which develop rapidly and easily in young children, reading is a taught skill and is acquired and developed through specific learning over time. Until now it has been unclear what effect—if any—encouraging children to read from an early age will have on their brain development, cognition(认知) and mental health later in life.
To find out this, researchers from the universities of the UK and China looked at data from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) groups in the US. Of the 10,243 participants studied, just under a half had little experience of reading for pleasure or did not begin doing so until later in their childhood. The remaining half had spent between three and ten years reading for pleasure.
The team found a strong link between reading for pleasure at an early age and a positive performance in adolescence on cognitive tests that measured such factors as verbal learning, memory and speech development, and at-school academic achievement. These children also had better mental health, when assessed using a number of clinical scores and reports from parents and teachers, showing fewer signs of stress and depression, as well as improved attention and fewer behavioral problems such as aggression and rule-breaking.
Children who began reading for pleasure earlier also tended to spend less screen time—for example, watching TV or using their smartphone or tablet—during the week and at weekends in their adolescence, and also tended to sleep longer.
The best amount of reading for pleasure as a young child was around 12 hours per week. Beyond this, there appeared to be no additional benefits. Instead, there was a gradual decrease in cognition, which the researchers say may be because they are sedentary and spend little time on other activities that could be cognitively improving, including sports and social activities.
【小题1】What did the research focus on?| A．The state of children’s reading ability. | B．The development of reading for pleasure. |
| C．Effects that early reading has on children. | D．Difficulties in listening, speaking and reading. |
| A．Improve their performance at school. | B．Better their mental pressure. |
| C．Better their observation ability. | D．Reduce their screen and sleeping time. |
| A．Sitting still for a long time. | B．Developing hobbies. |
| C．Taking physical exercise. | D．Participating in community activities. |
| A．Benefits of early reading for pleasure. |
| B．Ways for children to master a taught skill. |
| C．Important and enjoyable childhood activities. |
| D．Cognitive tests measuring academic achievement. |
