1. Answer: creativity

1. Answer: creativity
Explain building a “magical kingdom” may help develop …
– Key words: magical kingdom, develop
– The phrase “magical kingdom” is put in the double quotes, implying it is emphasized as a phrase used in the text. As we can easily locate the phrase in the first sentence of the passage, we should pay attention to the first paragraph. What we need to focus on now is what the fantasy of building a magical kingdom can help develop, referring to its benefits in the future. The answer should be mentioned in the next sentences, after describing what building a magical kingdom is like. In those sentences, “take first steps towards her capacity” can be understood as “develop”, and it refers to “creativity”. Therefore, creativity is the answer.
2. Answer: rules
Explain board games involve … and turn-taking
– Key words: board games, turn-taking
– We have to find information referring to board games. It is in the last sentence of paragraph 2 (we use scanning skills to find the word “board game” in the passage): “When they tire of this and settle down with a board game, she‟s learning how to follow the rules and take turns with a partner”. So with board games, a child can learn to “follow the rules” and “take turns” (it means “turntaking”, which is mentioned already as one of the two things involved). As the word needed should be a noun (after “involve”) and the task asks for one word only, it must be “rules”.
3. Answer: cities
Explain populations of … have grown
– Key words: populations, grown
– Remember that question 3 belongs to the section “Recent changes affecting children‟s play”, so we should focus on the part of the passage where the author mentions “changes”, which is paragraph 5. Here, the author refers to “changing times”. “Population” means “the number of people or a species living in a certain area”. The word needed here should be a noun referring to a place or a species. In paragraph 5, the writer confirms that “over half of people in the world now live in cities”, implying the number of people living in cities has increased/ grown compared to the past. Therefore, The answer is “cities”.