Most of us spend our lives seeking the natural world. To this ____1____, we go fi shing, sit in the garden, drink outside rather than inside the pub, live in the ____2____ or go to the seaside. It is my profound belief that not only ____3____ we all need nature, but we all seek nature, ____4____ we know we are doing so or not.

But despite this, our children are growing up ____5____ . I spent my boyhood ____6____ trees on Streatham Common, South London. These days, children are robbed ____7____ these ancient freedoms, due to problems like crime, traffi c and the loss of the open ____8____.

A study in Sweden indicated that kindergarten children who could play in a natural environment had less ____9____ and greater physical ability than children used only ____10____ a normal playground. A U.S. study suggested that when a school gave children ____11____ to a natural environment, academic levels were raised across the entire school.

Another study found that children play ____12____ in a natural environment. In playgrounds, children create a hierarchy (等级) ____13____ on physical abilities, with the tough ones taking the ____14____ . But when a grassy area was planted with bushes, the children got much ____15____ into fantasy play, and the social hierarchy was now on ____16____ and creativity.

But children are frequently discouraged ____17____ involvement with natural spaces, for health and safety reasons, for  ____18____ that they might get dirty or that they might cause damage. So, instead, the damage is ____19____ to the children themselves: not to their bodies but to their ____20____.

1.   A. reason  B. advantage  C. end     D. purpose

2.   A. woods   B. suburbs   C. slums   D. downtown

3.   A. do       B. as       C. are         D. because

4.   A. though  B. whether       C. if       D. unless

5.   A. nature-longing  B. nature-loving   C. nature-granted  D. nature-deprived

6.   A. climb   B. to climb  C. climbing   D. climbed

7.   A. at      B. on       C. with         D. of

8.   A. spaces  B. parks    C. playgrounds  D. greens

9.   A. trouble  B. illness  C. disability   D. weakness

10. A. of       B. in       C. at       D. to

11.  A. approach  B. progress  C. chance  D. access

12.  A. happily  B. differently C. instinctively  D. naturally

13.  A. relied  B. dependent  C. based   D. formed

14.  A. lead  B. head  C. advance  D. priority

15.  A. more  B. less  C. quicker  D. easier

16.  A. background  B. capacity C. technique  D. imagination

17.  A. of  B. at  C. from  D. with

18.  A. dread  B. fear  C. fright  D. terror

19.  A. done  B. made  C. created   D. caused

20.  A. hearts  B. nerves C. souls  D. strengths