B
It is irrefutable: Parents, who talk to, read and engage with their very young children as often as possible, help them build literacy(读写能力) skills at an early age.
Also certain: Parents of very young children usually have to do a lot of laundry. And low-income families tend to bring their kids with them to public laundromats(洗衣房).
Those truths appear once a week at select neighborhood laundromats in Chicago. That’s when librarians lay down colorful mats and oversized board books beside the industrial washing machines.
Inside one of about 14 laundromats in the city’s low-income neighborhoods, the librarians gather all available children for Laundromat Story Time(LST), a Chicago Public Library(CPL) program.
With the noise of the washers and dryers, anywhere between a handful to more than a dozen children hear stories, sing songs and play games designed to help their brains develop. The event also aims to instruct parents on how to repeat the experience for their kids, working to raise poor literacy rates in underserved communities.
“We read books, we sing songs, we do plays,” says Becca Ruidl, the CPL’S STEAMTeam early learning manager, who runs the LST program. “We kind of keep it going so parents can walk in and join in at any time. But a big part of what we do is model literary skills for parents so they can do it at home with their kids.”
While a laundromat seems an unlikely place to engage with children, “we really wanted to meet people in the community where they’re,” Ruidl says.
And it clearly meets a need: Library officials say the program is in increasing demand, while Ruidl says families have adjusted their household’s laundry day to suit the librarians’ laundromat visits. At the same time, LST’S co-sponsors—including a laundry industry trade group and Libraries Without Borders, an organization fighting poverty through literacy—have worked with the CPL to draft an instruction handbook to help expand the concept to other U.S. cities.
24. What does the word “irrefutable” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?
A. Undoubtful. B. Controversial. C. Impossible. D. Fruitful.
25. Why are public laundromats chosen for LST?
A. Parents of poor families do a lot of laundry.
B. They offer a perfect atmosphere for leaning.
C. Poor parents often go there with their kids.
D. Reading to kids promotes their literacy skills.
26. What can we infer about LST from the last paragraph?
A. It is demanding. B. Its focus has been adjusted.
C. It will fight poverty. D. Its concept will be spread.
27. What is the best title for the text?
A. Literacy at the Laundromat B. Models of Parenting
C. Laundromats for Kids D. Magic in Story Time
