From developing social skills to getting creativity, pretend play in young children is compared to being a “metaphoric (隐喻性的) multivitamin” in an article published by Florida Atlantic University’s David F. Bjorklund, Ph.D.

Pretend play happens naturally, especially when the people are relaxed and not under stress and typically has no immediate practical purpose. “In the background of pretend play, skills include imagination, the ability to think about possibilities that differ from reality, mental time travel, and copying, among other symbolic abilities,” said Bjorklund. He explains that pretend play works as an experience-expectant process, strengthening the brain’s readiness for focused learning.

“It’s not clear whether the lengthened time of childhood and teenager development created more chances for play or if this playfulness appeared as a result of that lengthened time,” said Bjorklund. “However, this development of childhood, along with the prolonged neural plasticity (神经可塑性) it brings, may have been an important fitness for the development of the modern human mind.”

He says pretend play probably plays an important part in developing and improving psychological skills rather than being only necessary for their appearance. “Advanced pretend play is most obvious during the prolonged teenage stage in humans,” added Bjorklund. “This has led to a unique childhood stage, lasting until about age 7, characterized by greater independence and social interaction.”

During this time, children join in more hard play while their cognitive (认知的) abilities continue to develop. Bjorklund stresses that this prolonged teenage period and its neural plasticity are necessary for training our unique social-cognitive skills.

“These practices may not only make learning more difficult, but negatively influence children’s sense of learning by themselves,” said Bjorklund. “Pretend play is developed to improve children’s achievement and perfection of important cultural knowledge and skills during a lengthened teenage period. The abilities needed by modern children have changed and may need new ways of learning, but we should not lose sight of the huge benefits that pretend play can still afford our youngest members.”

Q: Where is the text probably taken from?

An ad in a newspaper.

A review of a bestseller.

A report for an experiment.

An essay in a science magazine.

文章出处题。根据文章第一段“From developing social skills to getting creativity, pretend play in young children is compared to being a ‘metaphoric (隐喻性的) multivitamin’ in an article published by Florida Atlantic University’s David F. Bjorklund, Ph.D.(在佛罗里达大西洋大学David F. Bjorklund博士发表的一篇文章中，从培养社交技能到培养创造力，幼儿的假装游戏被比作‘隐喻性的复合维生素’)”以及文章最后一段“The abilities needed by modern children have changed and may need new ways of learning, but we should not lose sight of the huge benefits that pretend play can still afford our youngest members. (现代儿童所需的能力已经改变，可能需要新的学习方式，但我们不应该忽视假装游戏仍然可以为我们最年轻的成员带来的巨大好处。)”可知，文章主要介绍了假装游戏对儿童发展的积极影响，所以文章可能选自科学杂志上的一篇文章。故选D。