Question

    We have two daughters: Kristen is seven years old and Kelly is four. Last Sunday evening, we invited some people home for dinner. I dressed them nicely for the party, and told them that their job was to join Mommy in answering the door when the bell rang. Mommy would introduce them to the guests, and then they would take the guests' coats upstairs and put them on the bed in the second bedroom.

    The guests arrived. I introduced my two daughters to each of them. The adults were nice and kind and said how lucky we were to have such good kids.

    Each of the guests made a particular fuss over Kelly, the younger one, admiring her dress, her hair and her smile. They said she was a remarkable girl to be carrying coats upstairs at her age.

    I thought to myself that we adults usually make a big "to do" over the younger one because she's the one who seems more easily hurt. We do it with the best of intentions.

    But we seldom think of how it might affect the other child. I was a little worried that Kristen would feel she was being outshined. I was about to serve dinner when I realized that she had been missing for twenty minutes. I ran upstairs and found her in the bedroom, crying.

    I said, "What are you doing, my dear?"

    She turned to me with a sad expression and said, "Mommy, why don't people like me the way they like my sister? Is it because I 'm not pretty? Is that why they don't say nice things about me as much?"

    I tried to explain to her, kissing and hugging her to make her feel better.

    Now, whenever I visit a friend's home, I make it a point to speak to the elder child first.

1.The underlined expression 'make a big "to do" over' (paragraph 4) means _______.

A. show much concern about

B. have a special effect on

C. list jobs to be done for

D. do good things for

2.The guests praised Kelly for carrying coats upstairs because of her _______.

A. beautiful hair

B. pretty clothes

C. lovely smile

D. young age

3.Kristen felt sad and cried because _______.

A.    the guest gave her more coats to carry

B.    she didn't look as pretty as Kelly

C.    the guests praised her sister more than her

D.    her mother didn't introduce her to the guests

4.We can conclude from the passage that _______.

A. parents should pay more attention to the elder children

B. the younger children are usually more easily hurt

C. people usually like the younger children more

D. adults should treat children equally

Answer

1.A

【详解】  这是一套词义猜测题，注意上一段中：Each of the guests made a particular fuss over Kelly中的particular, 而且注意fuss在这里是“照顾”“关注”的意思。另外，原文because she's the one who seems more easily hurt，所以需要更多的关注与保护。

2.D

【详解】 这是一套简单的事实判断题。因为Kelly年仅4岁就可以出色地完成任务。参考句子：They said she was a remarkable girl to be carrying coats upstairs at her age,对于在Kelly这样年龄的孩子来说，她能够把衣服拿到楼上去，是个相当不简单的女孩子。

3.C 

【详解】事实细节题。从细节Each of the guests made a particular fuss over Kelly以及Kristen 所说的话“why don't people like me the way they like my sister? Is it because I'm not pretty? Is that why they don't say nice things about me as much?” 中可找到答案

4.D

【详解】推理判断题。由整篇文章大意可知，作者通过自己家里举办一次晚餐中，两个孩子受到不同的“待遇”，知晓在兄弟姐妹中，了解到大孩子受冷落的际遇，由此在作为客人造访别人时，大人应当也应当公平地对待孩子们，不可过分关注（年龄）小的孩子而忽视大孩子们的感受。文章的最后一句也是点睛之笔：Now, whenever I visit a friend's home, I make it a point to speak to the elder child first.

【备考建议】这是一篇非常生活化的有关家庭子女教育的文章，对于这类叙述性，而且夹杂有寓意性的文章，一般来说，事实细节题是比较容易做对的，比如，第57、58题；词义猜测题，一定要根据上下文来推断出其实际含义，比如第56题；而富含说理性的题目，则应该从整体把握，比如第59题,这题推理判断题中，选项A、B、C本身没有错，都是片面的，要么只说到大孩子，要么只说到小的孩子，因此都不是本篇文章的结论，而只有选项D是最全面的。