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 a little depressed lately.”

This incident stuck in my mind because it confirmed 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 anymore. 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 innate(天生) biological states, but also on patterns of access to social knowledge. Movement from one social rote(生搬硬套) to another usually involves learning the secrets of the new status. Children have always been taught adult secrets, but slowly and in stages: we tell sixth graders things we keep hidden from fifth graders.

In the last 30 years, however, a secret-revelation(揭示) machine has been brought in 98 percent of American homes. It is called television. Television passes information to all viewers alike, indiscriminately (不加区分地). 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 symbol that must be memorized and practices. Children must read simple books before they can read complex materials.

Traditionally, a child is supposed to learn about the adult world______________.

A．through contact with society

B．naturally and by biological instinct (本能)

C．gradually and under guidance

D．through exposure to social information

The phenomenon that today’s children seem adult like is due to ____________.

A．the widespread influence of television

B．the poor arrangement of teaching content

C．the fast pace of human intellectual development

D．the constantly rising standard of living

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 practice more.

D．It can control what children are to learn.

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

 A．He feels amused by their premature (早熟) 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

【小题1】C

【小题2】A

【小题3】D

【小题4】B

解析:

【小题1】 考察细节理解题。根据文章第五段，可知他们是被成人逐渐告知的。文中的slowly and in stages与选项B中的gradually意义相同

【小题2】考察推理判断题。作者将孩子成人化的现象归咎于 。答案来自文章第六段：近30年来，孩子通过电视，不加区分地获得各种信息，包括孩子不该获得的信息。

【小题3】考察细节理解题。作者为什么赞成通过印刷品交流沟通？ 文章最后一段说明了印刷品可以控制孩子获取社会信息的内容。

【小题4】考察作者态度题。作者如何看待当今孩子的变化？ 整篇文章表现了作者对孩子成人化的关注，并探讨其中的原因。文章第四段表明了作者的态度，即这种现象不好说是好是坏，没有否定也没有肯定。