第十三期 (4/7)

Passage One

Barbara Cooney, whose name appears on one hundred ten books in all,

was the creator of many popular children's books.

For 60 years she wrote some, and she provided pictures for her own books and for books written by others.

Barbara Cooney was born in New York City in nineteen seventeen.

Her mother was an artist and her father sold stocks on the stock market.

Barbara Cooney was known for her carefully detailed work.

One example is in her artwork for the book "Eleanor".

It is about Eleanor Roosevelt, who became the wife of President Franklin Roosevelt.

Cooney made sure that a dress worn by Eleanor as a baby was historically correct down to the smallest details.

One of her books is called "Hattie and the Wild Waves". It is based on the childhood of her mother.

The girl Hattie lives in a wealthy family in New York.

One day she tells her family that she wants to be a painter when she grows up.

The other children make fun of the idea of a girl wanting to paint houses.

Many of Barbara Cooney's later books took place in the small northeastern state of Maine.

She spent summers there when she was a child, then moved to Maine in her later years. She loved Maine.

She gave her local library almost a million dollars. The state showed its love for her.

In 1996, the governor of Maine declared Barbara Cooney a State Treasure.

Passage Two

American children now eat an average of three snacks a day between meals

and those snacks add up to almost one-third of all the daily calories eaten by children.

And those extra calories could help explain the rise in overweight children in the United States.

Another reason is that these teenagers have little time to do some sports.

The snacking has increased since the nineteen seventies.

And what kinds of snacks have increased the most?

Salty, high-fat foods like chips, cake, cookies.

Some experts say parents should limit snacks to one a day for children age six and older.

They also advise parents to provide healthy snacks like fruits and vegetables.

American schools also need to improve their nutrition.

For example, schools may have selling machines that offer what many people would consider junk food.

There has been a push for schools to offer more healthful snacks and lunch choices and fewer sugary drinks.

Earlier this month Coca-Cola said it would stop selling sugary drinks in American schools unless parents requested them.

Its competitors at Pepsi just announced that they will stop sales of sugared drinks to schools worldwide.

It's needed to do a much better job of making sure that what's in those selling machines is very consistent.

It's thought that the time has come for standards.

There is a growing consensus in the society that eating high fat food

will bring much trouble for the American society and the young people,

such as many diseases related to high fat.