Question

When we give our kids holiday gifts, many of us can’t wait to hear their appreciative cries of “thank you!” once the wrapping gets ripped off. But here’s a tip: You’d be wise not to expect much gratitude from them for what they receive.

Gratitude can make us happier, healthier, and even fitter. But do the kids show their gratitude for the stuff we buy them? All the research I’ve done has convinced me that it won’t happen. One mom told me that when she asked her 16-year-old son to thank her for buying him a cellphone, he said, “But that’s what moms should do.” From a teenager’s angle, it’s a parent’s responsibility to take care of the family. According to Dunham, Yale’s assistant professor of psychology, “When teenagers code it that way, a gift is no longer something given freely and voluntarily”—it’s just mom and dad living up to their obligation.

Parents do have the right to demand good manners and children should thank sincerely whoever gives them something. But kids can’t know how blessed they are unless they have a basis for comparison. And they don’t learn that by a parent complaining that they’re ungrateful. We need to give our children the gift of a wider world view. Show by example that gratitude isn’t about stuff—which ultimately can’t make any of us happy anyway. It’s about realizing how lucky you are and paying your good fortune forward.

You can collect all the charitable appeals and sit down together with the kids to go through them. You set the budget for giving and the kids decide how it’s distributed. Once the conversation about gratitude gets started, it’s much easier to continue all year. Also you can set up a family routine at bedtime where kids describe three things that have made them grateful. When kids go off to college, you can text them a picture each week of something that inspires your appreciation.

Teaching children to focus on the positive and appreciate the good in their lives is perhaps the greatest gift we can give them. And we can all learn together that the things that really matter aren’t on sale at a department store.

1.How do children respond when receiving gifts from their parents?

A. They show no interest in their parents’ gifts.

B. They can’t wait to open their parents’ gifts.

C. They show much gratitude to their parents for the gifts.

D. They take their parents’ gifts for granted.

2.To make children grateful for what they have, parents should _________.

A. live up to their obligation

B. ask their children to have good manners

C. teach their children by setting an example

D. complain their children are ungrateful

3.What can we learn from the last two paragraphs?

A. No gifts are greater than teaching children to be positive and grateful.

B. Children ought to realize how lucky they are to have considerate parents.

C. Children are supposed to decide how to distribute their own money

D. It is easy for parents to start the conversation about gratitude.

4. What’s the purpose of the author writing this text?

A. To explain the reason why children offer no gratitude to their parents.

B. To give advice to parents on how to help children develop gratitude.

C. To encourage parents to do things together with their children.

D. To remind parents of their responsibility to educate their children.

Answer

1.D

2.C

3.A

4.B

【解析】

试题分析：本文属于议论文阅读，告诉我们现代社会中很多孩子对于自己得到的事物没有一颗感恩之心，作者对于这个现象给出了我们一些建议，同时告诉我们教给孩子关注生活中积极的事情并感激生活中那些美好的事物是父母亲给孩子的最好礼物。

1.D 推理判断题。根据第二段第五句From a teenager’s angle, it’s a parent’s responsibility to take care of the family.可知从年轻人的角度出发，照顾家人是父母亲的责任。也就是说他们把父母亲给他们礼物当成是理所当然的事情。故D正确。

2.C 细节理解题。根据第三段第五句Show by example that gratitude isn’t about stuff—which ultimately can’t make any of us happy anyway.作者建议父母亲通过给出例子想孩子证明感激不是金钱可以换来的，因为金钱是不能让我们开心的。也就是说建议我们通过举例的方式。故C正确。

3.A 推理判断题。感觉最后一段第一句Teaching children to focus on the positive and appreciate the good in their lives is perhaps the greatest gift we can give them.可知教给孩子关注生活中积极的事情并感激生活中那些美好的事物是父母亲给孩子的最好礼物。也就是A项“没有什么比教会孩子积极乐观有感恩心更重要的礼物了。”故A正确。

4.

【名师点睛】

议论文，有论点，有事实。作者往往根据一些很普通的事实，通过严谨的思维，缜密的推理得出一个具有普遍性或指导性的观点。该类文章逻辑性强，命题往往从事实的有关细节以及文章的主旨或作者的表达意图等方面着手，考查我们的思维能力和判定能力。

英语文章讲究使用主题段或主题句。主题段通常在文章开头，简要概括文章的中心思想，主题句可能在一段的开头交待该段的中心意思，再由全段展开或讨论这个意思。主题句也可能在中间或末尾，由全段展开讨论后归纳总结出来。段与段之间常用词语连接，承上启下，使文章行文连贯，为了深化主题，作者可能用许多方法来写。

议论文的阅读和其它体裁的文章阅读一样，可以有以下几种出题方式：1主旨大意；2细节理解；3推理判定等；4词义理解。

1．主旨大意题。主旨大意题是专门检查对短文整体理解程度的。每篇文章都有主题句表明其主题(中心)思想。常见的问题有：

(1) From the passage we know that ______.

(2) The best title of the passage should be ______.

(3) The main idea of the Paragraph is to _______.

(4) The main purpose of the passage is to _______.

(5) Which of the following best describes the main point of the passage?

在回答此类问题时，要找出文章的主题句，这些主题句经常在短文的开头或结尾处，在这两个地方很轻易找到它们。那些错误的答案干扰项有的太笼统，有的则太具体，片面，不能恰当地反映短文的中心思想。

2．细节理解题。细节题主要是检查与主题思想有关的细节。常见的问题形式有：

(1) According to the passage, the author mentions _______.

(2) Which of the following does the author discuss?

(3) Choose the right order of the events.

细节问题询问的是作者说了些什么，其答案在本文中已明确表述过，此时最好的办法就是在文中找出相关的细节，虽然答案中有的细节在文中很清楚，但可能与问题无关。假如问题采用的是反向思维，题中含有not 或except等表示否定意义的词，则要更加留意。

3．推理判定题。推理判定题主要是提问那些在文中未说明，但已特殊暗示的内容。题目的要求常是这样的：

(1) This article is particularly written for ______.

(2) The writer is trying to tell us ______.

(3) When the writer says----, he really means ______.

(4) The writer regards -----as ______.

(5) The writer’s attitude toward ----is _______.

做推理判定题时，要透过字里行间把握文章的真正内涵，客观地反映文章的思想，克服主观臆想。特殊留意那些最能反映句子之间，段落之间的逻辑关系的连词。深刻而正确地把握文章 的重点内容。

4．词义理解题。英语词语的词意非常丰富，语境不同，词意也不同，要专心揣摩在上下文中的含义。常见的问题形式有：

(1) The author uses the word “……” to mean ______.

(2) According to the passage , “……” probably means _____

(3) The word “……” in paragraph ---- refers to _______.

(4) The underlined word “……” means ______.

(5) The underlined phrase “……” means _____.

词义理解题中的词往往一词多义，可以采用利用上下文中说话者的语气推测其意义；在特定的语境中，进行逻辑推理的方式也可以获得合理的信息。

总之，上述关于议论文阅读理解的方法与技巧看起来挺费时，但事实上相反，只要我们平时练习时多加留意，形成习惯，这种方法则会成为我们阅读理解最省时，最可靠的一种。

考点：考查议论文阅读