Children’s Play

Paragraph 1: Psychologists divide early childhood play into distinct developmental stages. Sensorimotor play (play involving both sensory and motor activity) begins very early and develops in much the same way in all cultures. Infants progress from playing with their fingers and toes to manipulating external objects such rattles and stuffed animals, to fully functional play (using objects serve the functions they normally have), which appears by the end of the first year. So a twelve-month-old infant is more inclined to turn the dial on a toy phone than merely sucking on or banging the toy. 

 

 

 

1. The word distinct in the passage s closest in meaning to 

 

A. standard 

 

B. major 

 

C. separate

 

D. brief 

 

 

2. It can be inferred from paragraph 1 that an example of fully functional sensorimotor play would be a child 

 

A. banging pots and pans 

 

B. sucking on a toy phone 

 

C. manipulating rattles and stuffed animals 

 

D. turning knobs and pushing buttons on a toy television set

 

 

 

 

 

Paragraph 2: Perhaps the most significant breakthrough in play activities is the emergence of the symbolic (or pretend) play stage at eleven to thirteen months of age. The earliest episodes of pretending are simple ones in which infants pretend to engage in familiar activities such as eating, drinking, or sleeping. But by eighteen to twenty-four months of age, toddlers have progressed to a point where they will pretend to perform multiple acts in a meaningful sequence. They can also coordinate their actions with those of a play partner, making social games of imitating each other and sometimes even cooperating to achieve a goal. Parents foster this development by providing toddlers with a secure base of affection and by playing along with their child’s little dramas. 

 

 

 

3. According to paragraph 2, which of the following is characteristic of children’s symbolic play at the time of its first appearance? 

 

A. Playing games in which children copy each other’s actions 

 

B. Coordinating actions with those of play partners 

 

C. Pretending to be involved in such familiar activities as eating

 

D. Cooperating to accomplish an aim 

 

 

 

 

 

Paragraph 3: Symbolic play truly blossoms at age two. By age two, toddlers can use one object (a block) to symbolize another (a car). They clearly understand pretense: if you hand them a towel and suggest that they wipe up the imaginary tea you just spilled, they will do it. Since there is no tea in sight, children’s willingness to clean it up suggests that they can construct a mental representation of someone else’s pretend event and then act according to this representation. Pretend play becomes increasingly social and complex between ages two and five. More importantly, children combine their capacity for increasingly social play and their capacity for understanding pretense to cooperate with each other at planning their pretend activities: they name and assign roles that each player will enact, propose play scripts, and may even stop playing to modify the script if necessary. Indeed, play episodes are among the most complex social interactions that preschoolers have. 

 

 

 

4. According to paragraph 3, all of the following are characteristic of symbolic play among children between the ages two and five EXCEPT 

 

A. using one object to represent a very different kind of object 

 

B. refusing to stop and change a play script once play has begun

 

C. understanding that others are pretending, and acting accordingly 

 

D. cooperating in planning joint activities 

 

 

 

 

 

Paragraph 4: But what good is play? Intellectually, play provides a context for using language to communicate and using the mind to fantasize, plan strategies, and solve problems. Children often show more advanced intellectual skills during pretend play than they do when performing other activities, suggesting that play fosters cognitive development. Indeed, preschool children who engage in a great deal of pretend play perform better on tests of cognitive development, language skills, and creativity than children who “pretend” less often. 

 

 

 

5 What is the role of the sentence “Indeed, preschool children who engage in a great deal of pretend play perform better on tests of cognitive development, language skills, and creativity than children who “pretend” less often” in paragraph 4? 

 

A. It provides an example of children showing more advanced intellectual skills during pretend play than while performing other activities. 

 

B. It helps explain why children often show more advanced intellectual skills during pretend play than while performing other activities. 

 

C. It helps explain why pretend play promotes children’s cognitive development. 

 

D. It provides evidence to support the idea that pretend play promotes children’s cognitive development.

 

 

 

 

 

Paragraph 5: Preschool pretend activities may also promote social development. To be successful at social pretend play, children must adopt different roles, coordinate their activities, and resolve disputes that may arise. Children may also learn about and prepare adult roles by playing house or playing school and thereby trying out the roles of their mothers, fathers, or nursery-school teachers. Perhaps due to the social skills they acquire (for example, an ability to cooperate) and the role-playing experiences they have, preschool children who participate in a lot of social pretend play tend to be more socially mature and more popular with peers than age mates who often play without partners. 

 

 

6. Which of the following questions is answered in paragraph 5？ 

 

A. In what ways can pretend play have a positive impact on children’s social development?

 

B. How do most children resolve the disputes that may arise in their social pretend play? 

 

C. Why do some children engage in a lot of social pretend play while others tend to play without partners? 

 

D. Why do children prefer certain role-playing experiences and not others? 

 

 

 

 

 

Paragraph 6: Finally, play may foster healthy emotional development by allowing children to express feelings that bother them or to resolve emotional conflicts. If Jenny has been scolded at lunch for failing to eat her peas, she may gain control of the situation at play as she scolds her doll for picky eating or persuades the doll to “eat healthy” and consume the peas. Indeed, playful resolutions of such emotional conflicts may even be important contributors to children’s understanding of authority and the rationales that underlie the rules they must follow. 

 

 

 

7. According to paragraph 5 and 6, pretend play can give preschool children the opportunity to engage in all of the following EXCEPT 

 

A. expressing feelings that make them uncomfortable 

 

B. taking on the role of a parent or some other adult 

 

C. settling disagreements with their peers 

 

D. challenging rules established by parents or other authorities

 

 

 

8. In paragraph 6, the author introduces the story about Jenny in order to 

 

A. provide evidence for the hypothesis that pretend play fosters healthy emotional development

 

B. argue that parental scolding can be a source of emotional conflict for children 

 

C. illustrate how pretend play can allow children to resolve emotional conflicts or express feelings that bother them 

 

D. make the point that pretend play generally helps children become more obedient to parents and other adults 

 

 

 

 

 

Paragraph 2: Perhaps the most significant breakthrough in play activities is the emergence of the symbolic (or pretend) play stage at eleven to thirteen months of age. ■The earliest episodes of pretending are simple ones in which infants pretend to engage in familiar activities such as eating, drinking, or sleeping. ■But by eighteen to twenty-four months of age, toddlers have progressed to a point where they will pretend to perform multiple acts in a meaningful sequence. ■They can also coordinate their actions with those of a play partner, making social games of imitating each other and sometimes even cooperating to achieve a goal. Parents foster this development by providing toddlers with a secure base of affection and by playing along with their child’s little dramas.■ 

 

 

 

9. Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage. 

 

Symbolic play develops through a number of relatively well-defined steps.

 

Where would the sentence best fit? 

 

 

 

 

 

10. Directions: An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that express the most important ideas in the passage. Some answer choices do not belong in the summary because they express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas in the passage. This question is worth 2 points. Drag your choices to the spaces where they belong. To review the passage, click on View Text. 

 

The development of play in early childhood falls into a number of stages. 

 

 

 

Answer Choices: 

 

A. In sensorimotor play, children progress from playing with their fingers and toes to using objects in functional ways. 

 

B. Children are incapable of pretending that one object is quite another object until they have learned how to use objects in functional ways. 

 

C. Sensorimotor play develops in much the same way in all cultures, but parental influence greatly affects the timing of the appearance and development of symbolic play. 

 

D. Symbolic or pretend play first appears in simple forms and, from the age of two on, becomes increasingly complex, social, and cooperatively planned. 

 

E. There is evidence that pretend play contributed significantly to children’s cognitive and social skills and may help resolve emotional conflicts with authority figures. 

 

F. Imitation of parents and other adults through pretend play is the most important means by which children develop their intellectual and social skills. 

 

 

 

 

 

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