Question

    The point of an apology-to express regret and repair relationships-is lost because children may dislike the apologizer even more after the insincere apology than before.

A new study looks at whether children can tell apart willingly given and forced expressions of regret-and they do. The findings suggest that exploring ways to help your child learn to have empathy (同情) for the victim (受害者), thus making sure of a sincere apology, is more  helpful than immediately forcing him to say “I’m sorry”。

Smith and co-workers looked at how children aged 4-9 viewed three types of apologies among kids of the same age: unprompted (自发的) apologies, prompted but willingly given apologies, and forced apologies. They found that kids viewed willing apologies the same, whether prompted or unprompted by adults. But the forced apologies weren’t seen as effective, especially by the 7-to 9-year-olds, Smith says.

All children thought the wrongdoers felt worse after the apology than before, but the 7-to 9-year-old children thought the forced apologizers’ bad feelings were rooted in self-interest (concern about punishment, for example),rather than regret. Children of all ages also thought the victims felt better after receiving a wiling apology, but they saw the receivers of the forced apology as feeling worse than the receivers of the willing apologies.

How can parents help their young children respond with empathy after they’ve upset another person, and deliver a willing apology? “When your child is calm, help him/her see how the other person is feeling, and why,” Smith says. “An apology is one way to do it, but there are lots of other ways. Research shows that even preschoolers value it when a wrongdoer makes amends (补偿) with action. Sometimes this is more powerful than words.”

1.What is the study mainly about?

A.What kids usually do to show their regret.

B.What is the best way for kids to apologize.

C.How kids in different age groups apologize.

D.What kids think of different types of apologies.

2.What do the children think of the forced apology?

A.It makes both sides feel worse.

B.It calms down the victims quickly

C.It always brings punishment to wrongdoers.

D.It gets wrongdoers into the habit of telling lies.

3.What’s the purpose of the last paragraph?

A.To conclude the text.

B.To provide more details.

C.To offer advice.

D.To give evidence.

4.What can be the best title for the text?

A.Kids are too shy to apologize.

B.Forcing kids to apologize doesn’t benefit anybody

C.Sincere apologies win kids good relationships

D.Kids need help to make a sincere apology

Answer

1.D

2.A

3.C

4.B

【解析】

这是一篇说明文。本文主要介绍了一个研究—儿童如何看待不同类型的道歉，研究表明儿童能辨别真诚和被迫的道歉，且他们认为被迫式的道歉是让双方都不舒服的方式，并在最后给出了家长应该如何引导孩子道歉的建议。

1.细节理解题。根据第二段“Smith and co-workers looked at how children aged 4-9 viewed three types of apologies among kids of the same age: unprompted (自发的) apologies, prompted but willingly given apologies, and forced apologiesThey found that kids viewed willing apologies the same, whether prompted or unprompted by adults. But the forced apologies weren’t seen as effective, especially by the 7-to 9-year-olds, Smith says.”（ 史密斯和他的同事研究了4-9岁的孩子如何看待同龄孩子之间的三种道歉: 自发的道歉，提示但是自愿的道歉，以及被迫的道歉。他们发现孩子们认为自愿的道歉是一样的，不管是成年人提示的，还是自愿的。 但是强迫道歉并不是有效的，特别是对于7到9岁的孩子来说。）可知这个研究指出了儿童对不同类型的道歉有着不同的看法。故选D。

2.细节理解题。根据第四段关键句“All children thought the wrongdoers felt worse after the apology than before”（所有的孩子都认为做错事的人在道歉以后，比以前感觉更糟）和“but they saw the receivers of the forced apology as feeling worse than the receivers of the willing apologies”（但是他们认为被迫道歉的接收者比自愿道歉的接收者感觉更糟糕。）可知，儿童认为被迫形式的道歉使双方都感觉更糟。故选A。

3.推理判断题。根据最后一段第一句“How can parents help their young children respond with empathy after they’ve upset another person, and deliver a willing apology?”（家长能如何帮助他们的孩子，在他们使另外一个人沮丧之后，用同理心去回应并表现出愿意道歉呢？）及下文提到的家长帮助孩子的方法可知，本段的目的是针对上文指出的问题提出建议。故选C。

4.主旨大意题。本文主要介绍了一个研究—儿童如何看待不同类型的道歉，研究表明儿童能辨别真诚和被迫的道歉，且他们认为被迫式的道歉是让双方都不舒服的方式，并在最后给出了家长应该如何引导孩子道歉的建议。因此本文的最佳标题应该是“强迫孩子道歉不能使任何人受益。”故选B。