As any homemaker who has tried to keep order at the dinner table knows, there is far more to a family meal than food. Sociologist Michael Lewis has been studying 50 families to find out just how much more.
Lewis and his co-workers carried out their study by videotaping the families while they ate ordinary meals in their own homes. They found that parents with small families talk actively with each other and their children. But as the number of children gets larger, conversation gives way to the parents’ efforts to control the loud noise they make. That can have an important effect on the children. “In general the more question-asking the parents do, the higher the children’s IQ scores,” Lewis says. “And the more children there are, the less question-asking there is.”
The study also provides an explanation for why middle children often seem to have a harder time in life than their siblings. Lewis found that in families with three or four children, dinner conversation is likely to center on the oldest child, who has the most talk about, and the youngest, who needs the most attention. “Middle children are invisible,” says Lewis. “When you see someone get up from the table and walk around during dinner, chances are it’s the middle child.” There is, however, one thing that stops all conversation and prevents anyone from having attention: “When the TV is on,” Lewis says, “dinner is a non-event.”
1.The writer’s purpose in writing the text is to _________.
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A．show the relationship between parents and children |
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B．teach parents ways to keep order at the dinner table |
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C．report on the findings of a study |
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D．give information about family problems |
2.Parents with large families ask fewer questions at dinner because _________.
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A．they are busy serving food to their children |
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B．they are busy keeping order at the dinner table |
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C．they have to pay more attention to younger children |
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D．they are tired out having prepared food for the whole family |
3.By saying “Middle children are invisible” in paragraph 3, Lewis means that middle children _________.
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A．have to help their parents to serve dinner |
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B．get the least attention from the family |
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C．are often kept away from the dinner table |
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D．find it hard to keep up with other children |
4.Lewis’ research provides an answer to the question _________.
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A．why TV is important in family life |
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B．why parents should keep good order |
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C．why children in small families seem to be quieter |
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D．why middle children seem to have more difficulties in life |
While income worry is a rather common problem of the aged, loneliness is another problem that aged parents may face. Of all the reasons that explain their loneliness, a large geographical distance between parents and their children is the major one. This phenomenon is commonly known as “Empty Nest Syndrome”（空巢综合症）.
In order to seek better chances outside their countries, many young people have gone abroad, leaving their parents behind with no clear idea of when they will return home. Their parents spend countless lonely days and nights, taking care of themselves, in the hope that someday their children will come back to stay with them. The fact that most of these young people have gone to Europeanized or Americanized societies makes it unlikely that they will hold as tightly to the value of duty as they would have if they had not left their countries. Whatever the case, it has been noted that the values they hold do not necessarily match what they actually do. This geographical and cultural distance also prevents the grown-up children from providing response in time for their aged parents living by themselves.
The situation in which grown-up children live far away from their aged parents has been described as “distant parent phenomenon”, which is common both in developed countries and in developing countries. Our society has not yet been well prepared for “Empty Nest Syndrome”.
1.According to the passage, the loneliness of aged parents is mainly caused by _________.
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A．their earlier experience of feeling lonely |
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B．the unfavorable living conditions in their native countries |
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C．the common worry about their income |
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D．the geographical distance between parents and children |
2.Many young people have gone abroad, leaving their aged parents behind, to _________.
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A．live in the countries with more money |
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B．seek a better place for their aged parents |
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C．continue their studies abroad |
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D．realize their dreams in foreign countries |
3.If young people go abroad, _________.
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A．they do not hold to the value of duty at all |
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B．they can give some help to their parents back home |
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C．they cannot do what they should for their parents |
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D．they believe what they actually do is right |
4.From the last paragraph, we can infer that _________.
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A．the situations in the developed and developing countries are different |
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B．“Empty Nest Syndrome” has arrived unexpectedly in our society |
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C．children will become independent as soon as they go abroad |
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D．the aged parents are not fully prepared for “Empty Nest Syndrome” |
We may look at the world around us, but somehow we manage not to see it until whatever we’ve become used to suddenly disappears. 36 , for example, the neatly-dressed woman I 37 to see—or look at—on my way to work each morning.
For three years, no matter 38 the weather was like, she was always waiting at the bus stop around 8:00 am. On 39 days, she wore heavy clothes and a pair of woolen gloves. Summertime 40 out neat, belted cotton dresses and a hat pulled low over her sunglasses. 41 , she was an ordinary working woman. Of course, I 42 all this only after she was seen no more. It was then that I realized how 43 I expected to see her each morning. You might say I 44 her.
“Did she have an accident? Something 45 ?” I thought to myself about her 46 . Now that she was gone, I felt I had 47 her. I began to realize that part of our 48 life probably includes such chance meetings with familiar 49 : the milkman you see at dawn, the woman who 50 walks her dog along the street every morning, the twin brothers you see at the library. Such people are 51 markers in our lives. They add weight to our 52 of place and belonging.
Think about it. 53 , while walking to work, we mark where we are by 54 a certain building, why should we not mark where we are when we pass a familiar, though 55 , person?
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20.A unnamed B. unforgettable C. unbelievable D. unreal
—Your sister nearly _________ all her spare time to her study during the three years.
—That’s right, or she _________ the first place in her school in the College Entrance Examination.
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A．devoted; wouldn’t have taken |
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B．spent; wouldn’t have taken |
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C．hadn’t devoted; hadn’t taken |
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D．hadn’t spent; couldn’t take |
—I paid him 200 yuan for the sneakers.
—Oh, he charged you too much. You _________ them with half the money.
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A．could have bought |
B．needn’t have bought |
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C．must have bought |
D．wouldn’t have bought |
You must trust him; he is a man who _________ his promise.
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A．speaks out |
B．lives up to |
C．depends on |
D．keeps on |
