As a parent you might never guess all the ways a good imagination benefits your child. It

As a parent you might never guess all the ways a good imagination benefits your child. It helps a preschooler(学龄前儿童)：

Develop social skills

As children play pretend, they explore relationships between family members, friends and co­workers and learn more about how people interact. Playing doctor, they imagine how physicians care for their patients. Playing house, they learn more about how parents feel about their children. Imaginative play helps develop empathy(同情) for others. If children can imagine how it feels to be left out of a game or to lose a pet, they are better able to help those in need. They become more willing to play fair, to share, and to cooperate.

Build self­confidence

Young children have very little control over their lives. Imagining oneself as a builder of skyscrapers(摩天大楼) or a superhero defending the planet is empowering to a child. It helps them develop confidence in their abilities and their potential.

Boost intellectual growth

Using the imagination is the beginning of abstract thought.Children who can see a king's castle in a mound(堆) of sand or a delicious dinner in a mud pie are learning to think symbolically(象征性地). This skill is important in school where a child will have to learn that numerals symbolize groups of objects, letters symbolize sounds, and so on.

Practice language skills

Kids who play pretend with their friends do a lot of talking.This helps boost their vocabulary, improve sentence structure and promote communication skills.

Work out fears

Playing pretend can help children work out their fears and worries. When children role­play about the big, bad monster under the bed, they gain a sense of control over him and he doesn't seem quite so big or so bad. Imaginative play also helps kids vent(发泄) confusing feelings they might have, such as anger toward a parent or compete with a new sibling(兄弟姐妹)．

To encourage your youngster's imagination, read to him every day. Books offer children the opportunity to visit other worlds and create new ones of their own.

For generations children have enjoyed reading the story of Peter Pan because Peter takes them on fascinating adventures.Reader's Digest Young Families offers a beautiful typical Disney edition of Peter Pan, which is an iParenting Media Award winner. Click here to find out how you can get this classic story along with 2 free books—Bambi and Pinocchio.

16．What's NOT the advantage of children having a good imagination?

A．Understanding the other people's feelings and problems.

B．Expressing their feelings like anger.

C．Having a strong faith in their own abilities and potential.

D．Helping them form a good habit of reading stories.

17．What does the underlined word “Boost” mean?

A．Improve.  B．Limit.

C．Push.  D．Praise.

18．From the last paragraph we can learn that ________．

A．Reader's Digest Young Families wins an iParenting Media Award

B．Disney edition of Peter Pan can be got online for free

C．the story of Peter Pan has been popular with kids

D．Bambi and Pinocchio are offered for free because of bad sales

19．What's the purpose of writing the article?

A．To tell readers the benefits of encouraging children's imagination.

B．To introduce some wonderful Disney stories to readers.

C．To provide ways of helping make kids more imaginative.

D．To persuade parents to buy the Disney edition of Peter Pan.

这是一篇应用文，介绍想象力对儿童的益处，最后说明培养孩子想象力的方法——给孩子读书。

16．D　细节理解题。从最后两段可知，要让孩子提高想象力，最好的办法就是多读书给他们。这里并没有说可以帮助他们养成阅读故事的好习惯。用排除法也可解答该题。从“Develop social skills”部分可知A项表述正确；从“Work out fears”部分可知B项表述正确；而C项与“Build self­confidence”部分的信息一致。

17．A　词义猜测题。结合该段的内容，即丰富的想象力带给儿童的又一好处，例如，可以帮助孩子进行抽象思考等，因此，可推知该段标题的意思是“促进智力发育”，故选A。

18．C　推理判断题。依据该段第一句话推断Peter Pan的故事一直深受儿童喜爱。其余选项则与原文不符。

19．A　写作意图题。本篇文章采用“总——分”的写作方式，从文章第一段即可判断这篇文章的写作目的。