Parents are a child’s first teachers. But some parents never learned from good examples. In New York City, a nonprofit agency called Covenant House tries to help homeless young mothers become good parents.
The twelve or so teenagers who live at the shelter attend parenting classes four days a week. The class is called Mommy and Me. Teacher Delores Clemens is a mother of five and a grandmother. She teaches basic skills, like how to give a baby a bath and how to dress a baby depending on the season.
She remembers one student who learned from her mother not to pick up a crying baby. The mother said that would only make the child needy and overly demanding. Delores Clemens says, “that's not true. You have to hold your baby! He is crying for a reason. If you never pick him up, he's going to keep crying. Pick your baby up. Cuddle your baby. Hug him! And she started to do that. They just want a little cuddling and a little love. And it works!”
Delores Clemens says her students also learn how to be good mothers by letting themselves be mothered. Around three hundred fifty teenage mothers graduate from Covenant House's Mommy and Me class every year.
In class, with her baby son is Natasha. She lived on the streets. She is glad not only for the warmth and shelter of Covenant House. As she told reporter Adam Phillips, she is also glad for the help they offer in seeking a more secure life.
The World Health Organization says the United States has forty-one births for every one thousand girls age fifteen to nineteen. That is higher than other developed countries, as well as some developing ones. By comparison, northern neighbor Canada has fourteen births and southern neighbor Mexico has eighty-two.
小题1:What is the text mainly about?
A．Parents who are a child’s first teachers.
B．A class where teens learn mothering and are mothered.
C．A nonprofit agency that offers a more secure life.
D．A kind teacher who help homeless young mothers.小题2:Covenant Houses’ Mommy and Me class is intended to _____.
A．help homeless young mothers become good parents
B．provide homeless young mothers with a warm shelter
C．help mothers in New York be good parents
D．teach some parents how to love their children小题3:What can we know about Delores Clemens from the text?
A．She has a mother of five and a grandmother.
B．She thinks a crying baby should be picked up and hugged.
C．She teaches advanced skills on how to be good mothers.
D．She is very glad for the warmth and shelter of Covenant House.小题4: According to the World Health Organization, which country has the highest births for girls age fifteen to nineteen?
A．Canada
B．the United States of America
C．Mexico
D．Britain
