Question

    Middle school is challenging for so many reasons — academics become more difficult, schedules fill up with activities, and, in what might be the most challenging region for kids and parents alike, friendships change. Friendships change over time, not just because our children evolve, but because the very nature of friendship evolves with them. The best parents should learn to let go so that their children can succeed in their tween friendships.

Early in childhood, our children’s friendships arise out of closeness and habit. We throw our kids into the sandbox with our friends’ kids, and this arrangement works for everyone. As kids get older, however, they begin to build emotional connections with friends based on similarity. Their shared interests, dreams, and goals begin to edge out mere convenience. When they become tweens, friendships become much more complex, and for good reason. Tweens use friendships as a way to try on an identity. They begin to build friendships based on new priorities.

All too often, the shifting sands of tween friendship result in broken hearts. Tweens feel abandoned and betrayed as friends move back and forth between comfortable old relationships and exciting new ones. As any parent knows, our own personal heartache hurts, but the secondhand heartbreak we experience through our children is much more painful, mainly because it’s out of our control. The urge to meddle, to save and heal, is powerful, and while meddling around in tween social contact may make us feel better, we must stay out of it.

Tweens move from relationship to relationship, adopting this detail of a friend’s personality,abandoning that characteristic of another, until they have collected the essential elements of their identity. Some relationships will survive this process, and some will not, but everyone is an important phase of the journey. We may not love every outfit our tweens try on, but it’s our job to be there when they emerge from the dressing room, when they do a little twirl and wait for us to tell them how grown up they have become.

1.What’s the main idea of the second paragraph?

A.Friendship become complex in every period of time.

B.Reasons for friendship building vary in different phases.

C.Tweens begin to build friendships based on the new priorities.

D.Important elements of friendship are needed in children’s life.

2.What does the underlined words in paragraph 3 mean?

A.Friendships are out of control.

B.Tweens feel abandoned and betrayed.

C.Friends move to exciting new relationships.

D.Friendships change from one to another among tweens.

3.What should parents do when tweens feel painful about their social contact?

A.They should blame them. B.They should help to bring their children under control.

C.They should be there and support them. D.They should meddle around in tween social contact.

4.Which is the best title of the passage?

A.Change of relationships among tweens B.Parenting in friendships among tweens

C.How to build friendships among tweens D.The nature of friendships among tweens

Answer

1.B

2.D

3.C

4.B

【解析】

这是一篇说明文。中学之所以充满挑战，原因有很多——学业变得更加困难，日程安排被各种活动填满，而且，在对孩子和父母来说可能是最具挑战性的地区，友谊会发生变化。文章分析了孩子不同年龄建立友谊的原因，指出青少年时期友谊是变化的，容易导致痛苦，建议家长在孩子面对社交痛苦时，支持孩子。

1.

主旨大意题。根据第二段中的Early in childhood, our children’s friendships arise out of closeness and habit.及 As kids get older, however, they begin to build emotional connections with friends based on similarity.和When they become tweens, friendships become much more complex, and for good reason.可知，在童年早期，我们的孩子的友谊产生于亲密和习惯。然而，随着孩子年龄的增长，他们开始基于相似点与朋友建立情感联系。当他们变成青少年时，友谊变得复杂得多，而且有很好的理由。由此可知，第二段从童年早期一直到青少年时期分别分析了建议友谊的原因，故第二段主要介绍的是“建立友谊的原因在不同的阶段是有所不同的”。故选B。

2.

词句猜测题。根据后文Tweens feel abandoned and betrayed as friends move back and forth between comfortable old relationships and exciting new ones.可知，当朋友们在舒适的旧关系和令人兴奋的新关系之间来回穿梭时，青少年会感到被抛弃和背叛。由此可知，在太多的情况下，青少年之间的友谊是互相改变的，划线部分意思是“友谊在青少年之间是互相改变的”。故选D。

3.

推理判断题。根据最后一段中We may not love every outfit our tweens try on, but it’s our job to be there when they emerge from the dressing room, when they do a little twirl and wait for us to tell them how grown up they have become.可知，我们可能不会喜欢我们的孩子们试穿的每一件衣服，但是当他们从试衣间出来的时候，当他们旋转的时候，等着我们告诉他们，他们已经长大了，这是我们的职责。由此推知，当青少年对社交感到痛苦时，父母应该在那里支持他们。故选C。

4.

主旨大意题。根据第一段中Middle school is challenging for so many reasons—academics become more difficult, schedules fill up with activities, and, in what might be the most challenging region for kids and parents alike, friendships change.可知，中学之所以充满挑战，原因有很多——学业变得更加困难，日程安排被各种活动填满，而且，在对孩子和父母来说可能是最具挑战性的地区，友谊会发生变化。结合文章还分析了孩子不同年龄建立友谊的原因，指出青少年时期友谊是变化的，容易导致痛苦，建议家长在孩子面对社交痛苦时，支持孩子。由此可知，B选项“在青少年之间的友谊中做父母”最符合文章标题，故选B。