Long before I could read on my own, my mother often read to me from the book Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey. My mother’s voice changed my world. And many years after that, the read aloud made me a reader.

All these years later, I was in a classroom reading aloud a picture book to a small boy who was troubled by poverty and loneliness. In that moment, in the joy of the read aloud, this boy had an idea that started something big. He said. “Mrs Allyn, let’s make sure everyone knows how good this feels. Let’s have a holiday for the read aloud.”

That led to my creation of World Read Aloud Day six years ago to honor this young boy’s wish for everyone to be able to have a read aloud every day. Since then, World Read Aloud Day has become a worldwide event reaching over one million people in more than 65 countries around the world, a number that is growing every day.

In the 21st century, the message that every child should have the right to read is urgent. There are 57 million children who are not in school and hundreds of millions more who are in school but are not learning. By age four, children from low-income families read far less than those in high-income families.

And yet, the good news is this: A six-year study of children’s reading habits found that reading aloud to kids every day will put them a year ahead of kids who are not read aloud to daily, no matter what kind of family kids are from.

The message is powerfully clear: Reading al oud to children can close the word gap. Children who grow up as readers become better citizens, and every child should have that right to read. So let’s just pay attention to the right to read until all children can do it. And yes, in this way, we can, we will, change the world together.

【小题1】World Read Aloud Day was set up in order to ________.

A．show the use of read aloud	B．sell more story books
C．show respect for a boy’s great wish	D．celebrate a worldwide event

【小题2】What can we know about the reading situation in the 21st century?

A．Poor children don’t read enough.	B．Children have no chance to read.
C．Children cannot read messages.	D．Poor children don’t like learning.

【小题3】What should we do according to the six-year study mentioned in the passage?

A．Study children’s reading habits early.	B．Read aloud to kids until they can read.
C．Show children how to be better citizens.	D．Give kids the task to change the world.

【小题4】How does the writer prove the importance of reading?

A．By listing numbers.	B．By giving examples.
C．By presenting research results.	D．By giving reasons.