Question

As any homemaker who has tried to keep order at the dinner table knows, there is far more to a family meal than food. Sociologist Michael Lewis has been studying 50 families to find out just how much more.

Lewis and his co-workers carried out their study by videotaping(录像) the families while they ate ordinary meals in their own homes. They found that parents with small families talk actively with each other and their children. But as the number of children gets larger, conversation gives way to the parents’ efforts to control the loud noise they make. That can have an important effect on the children. “In general, the more question-asking the parents do, the higher the children’s IQ scores,” Lewis says. “And the more children there are, the less question-asking there is. ”

The study also provides an explanation for why middle children often seem to have a harder time in life than their siblings(兄弟姐妹). Lewis found that in families with three or four children, dinner conversation is likely to center on the oldest child, who has the most to talk about, and the youngest, who needs the most attention. “Middle children are invisible,” says Lewis. “When you see someone get up from the table and walk around during dinner, chances are it’s the middle child.” There is, however, one thing that stops all conversation and prevents anyone from having attention: “When the TV is on,” Lewis says, “dinner is a non-event.”

1.The writer’s purpose in writing the text is to ______.

A．report on the findings of a study

B．teach parents ways to keep order at the dinner table

C．show the relationship between parents and children

D．give information about family problems

2.Parents with large families ask fewer questions at dinner because ______.

A．they are busy serving food to their children

B．they have to pay more attention to younger children

C．they are busy keeping order at the dinner table

D．they are tired out having prepared food for the whole family

3.By saying “Middle children are invisible” in paragraph 3, Lewis means that middle children ______.

A．have to help their parents to serve dinner

B．find it hard to keep up with other children

C．are often kept away from the dinner table

D．get the least attention from the family

4.Which of the following statements would the writer agree to?

A．Parents should talk to each of their children frequently.

B．It is a good idea to have the TV on during dinner.

C．It is important to have the right food for children.

D．Elder children should help the younger ones at dinner.

 

Answer 1

【答案】

1.A

2.C

3.D

4.A

【解析】

试题分析：本文介绍了跟踪研究的报告，从不同家庭就餐时的状况可以看出孩子小的时候和大的时候不同，中间的孩子受到父母的关注少，建议父母要多和孩子交流。

1.概括推理题。Sociologist(社会学家)Michael Lewis写此文的目的概括说来应是“关于一份50年的跟踪研究的报告”，而B、C、D项都只是这份report中的一项，故选A

2.细节认定题。根据文中第二段第三句“But as the number of children gets larger，conversation gives way to the parents’ efforts to control the loud noise they make”可知此题选C。

3.推理判断题。Middle children处于the oldest children与the youngest child中间。根据文中第三段第二句话的介绍，可推知“Middle children are invisibles(无视的，看不见)”一句话的意思是D项，即the middle children get the least attention from the family。

4.推理判断题。根据文中第二段“In general the more question—asking the parents do，the higher the children’s IQ scores”，可推知A项正确。

考点：考查生活类短文

点评：时尚生活类的阅读文章是指那些反映当下人们的生活状态、社会热点、流行时尚以及发展趋势的文章。这类文章由于和人们的生活关系最为密切，所以在英语报刊中占有大量的篇幅，从而也成为高考试题中经常出现的题材。时尚生活类的文章的特点来源于真实生活，有很强的现实意义，语言地道，经常使用流行词汇或用语。做好这一类的阅读理解需要考生经常阅读英文报刊，了解生活实际，具有较宽广的知识