Which phenomenon describes how good readers improve quickly while poor readers may become more frustrated and avoid reading as they grow older?

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Multiple Choice

Which phenomenon describes how good readers improve quickly while poor readers may become more frustrated and avoid reading as they grow older?

Think about how reading skill tends to build on itself over time. When someone reads well, they encounter a lot of text, pick up more vocabulary, understand patterns faster, and read more fluently. That easier, more satisfying experience leads to even more reading, which keeps widening the gap with peers who struggle. Those who find reading hard often feel frustrated, read less, and miss opportunities to practice, so their decoding and comprehension lag even further as they grow older. This widening of the advantage for strong readers and the disadvantage for struggling readers is described by the Matthew Effect. Other options describe tools or parts of language rather than how reading ability changes over time, so they don’t capture this growth pattern.

Think about how reading skill tends to build on itself over time. When someone reads well, they encounter a lot of text, pick up more vocabulary, understand patterns faster, and read more fluently. That easier, more satisfying experience leads to even more reading, which keeps widening the gap with peers who struggle. Those who find reading hard often feel frustrated, read less, and miss opportunities to practice, so their decoding and comprehension lag even further as they grow older. This widening of the advantage for strong readers and the disadvantage for struggling readers is described by the Matthew Effect.

Other options describe tools or parts of language rather than how reading ability changes over time, so they don’t capture this growth pattern.

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