Question

About six years ago I was eating lunch in a restaurant in New York City when a woman and a young boy sat down at the next table. I couldn’t help overhearing parts of their conversation. At one point the woman asked, “So, how have you been?” And the boy who could not have been more than seven or eight years old replied, “Frankly, I’ve been feeling a little depressed lately.”

This incident stuck in my mind because it strengthened my growing belief that children are changing. As far as I can remember, my friends and I didn’t find out we were “depressed” until we were in high school.

The evidence of a change in children has increased steadily in recent years. Children don’t seem childlike any more. Children speak more like adults, dress more like adults and behave more like adults than they used to.

Whether this is good or bad is difficult to say, but it certainly is different. Childhood as it once was no longer exists. Why?

Human development is based not only on born biological states, but also on patterns of access to social knowledge. Movement from one social role to another usually involves learning the secrets of the new situation. Children have always been taught adult secrets, but slowly and in stages: traditionally, we tell sixth graders things we keep hidden from fifth graders.

In the last 30 years, however, a secret-revelation machine has been fixed in 98 percent of American homes. It is called television. Television passes information, indiscriminately, to all viewers alike, whether they are children or adults. Unable to resist the temptation, many children turn their attention from printed texts to the less challenging, more vivid moving pictures.

Communication through print, as a matter of fact, allows for a great deal of control over the social information to which children have access. Reading and writing involve a complex code of symbols that must be memorized and practised. Children must read simple books before they can read complex materials.

1.Traditionally, a child is supposed to learn about the adult world _________ .

A. through touch with society

B. gradually and under guidance

C. naturally and by biological instinct

D. through exposure to social information

2.In the author’s opinion, the phenomenon that today’s children seem adult like is caused by _____.

A. the widespread influence of television

B. the poor arrangement of teaching content

C. the fast step of human intellectual development

D. the constantly rising standard of living

3.Why is the author in favor of communication through print for children?

A. It enables children to gain more social information.

B. It develops children’s interest in reading and writing.

C. It helps children to memorize and practise more.

D. It can control what children are to learn.

4.What does the author think of the change in today’s children?

A. He feels amused by the children’s adultlike behavior.

B. He thinks it is a phenomenon worthy of note.

C. He considers it a positive development.

D. He seems to be upset about it.

Answer

1.B

2.A

3.D

4.B

【解析】

试题分析：文章主要讲的是儿童早熟的问题。

1.推理判断题。根据“Children have always been taught adult secrets, but slowly and in stages: traditionally, we tell sixth graders things we keep hidden from fifth graders.”可知，讨论的是传统方式的学习途径。been taught受教，应该说相当于B项中的under guidances；in stages就是按阶段，循序渐进，这个意思与B中的gradually一样。故选B。

2.细节理解题。根据“many children turn their attention from printed texts to moving pictures,”孩子们把注意力从书本转向了电视。上一段提到按照传统学习方式，孩子们就是传统的孩子，而以电视为主体的方式，必然造成儿童发生某种变化，在文章中这种变化就是成人化。故选A。

3.细节理解题。根据“Communication through print, as a matter of fact, allows for a great deal of control over the social information to which children have access.”是说通过印刷媒介交流儿童能够接触到的信息。故选D。

4.观点态度题。根据“Children must read simple books before they can read complex materials”可知，用must这样强烈肯定色彩的词，说明了对孩子们身上发生的变化应该值得注意。故选B。

考点：社会现象类阅读