Parents and kids today dress alike, listen to the same music, and are friends. Is this a good thing? Sometimes, when Mr. Ballmer and his 16-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, listen to rock music together and talk about interests they both enjoy, such as pop culture, he remembers his more distant relationship with his parents when he was a teenager.
“I would never have said to my mom, ‘Hey, the new Weezer album is really great. How do you like it?’” says Ballmer. “There was just a complete gap in taste.”
Music was not the only gulf. From clothing and hairstyles to activities and expectations, earlier generations of parents and children often appeared to move in separate orbits.
Today, the generation gap has not disappeared, but it is getting narrow in many families. Conversations on subjects such as sex and drugs would not have taken place a generation ago. Now they are comfortable and common. And parent—child activities, from shopping to sports, involve a feeling of trust and friendship that can continue into adulthood.
No wonder greeting cards today carry the message, “To my mother, my best friend.”
But family experts warn that the new equality can also result in less respect for parents. “There’s still a lot of strictness and authority on the part of parents out there, but there is a change happening,” says Kerrie, a psychology professor at Lebanon Valley College. “In the middle of that change, there is a lot of confusion among parents.”
Family researchers offer a variety of reasons for these evolving roles and attitudes. They see the 1960s as a turning point. Great cultural changes led to more open communication and a more democratic(民主的) process that encourages everyone to have a say.
“My parents were on the ‘before’ side of that change, but today’s parents, the 40-year-olds, were on the  ‘after’ side,” explains Mr. Ballmer. “It’s not something easily done by parents these days, because life is more difficult to understand or deal with, but sharing interests does make it more fun to be a parent now.”
【小题1】The underlined word gulf in Para.3 most probably means _________.

Children and young people tend to have certain role models – people they want to be like when they grow   1 . Though at first children would have wished to copy their mother, father or a (n)  2  relative, gradually these role models are thought of as famous people or popular   3 . People have different opinions about  whether  popular stars or other famous people are good role models for children. Charming models, such as Katie Price, are often   4  and thought highly of by young girls. This is the biggest worry of parents and teachers. They wish to   5  their children to have the concept that success is achieved through hard work and   6  rather than an attractive looking.

Most people tend to grow up to be those 7  are close to home — their parents or family friends. Some decide to be like their favorite teacher. A child who loves to   8  may want to grow to be the next Picasso or Van Gogh; Someone who loves to   9  might imagine themselves as a famous writer; if a child enjoys dancing, he or she   10  well admire a famous dancer, but this is not the case. A lot of dance students wish to be like their  11  teacher.

Therefore, the job of a teacher is   12  just providing knowledge of a given subject. They should be able to   13  their students’ trust and  14  them well. Helping youngsters to learn from models, to learn how to accept   15  with grace(优雅) and losing with respect, is central to any parent’s or teacher’s job. Manners are very important and a dance teacher can make use of  his or her position and influence(影响) to introduce  good behaviors to youngsters.

1.                A．younger        B．stronger        C．older D．taller

2.                A．generous       B．favorite         C．ordinary  D．humorous

3.                A．fans           B．stars           C．singers   D．dancers

4.                A．awarded        B．admired        C．admitted  D．afforded

5.                A．encourage      B．receive         C．hold D．ignore

6.                A．luck           B．imagination      C．effort    D．effect

7.                A．what           B．which          C．it    D．who

8.                A．read and write   B．sing and dance   C．listen and speak D．draw and paint

9.                A．write          B．read           C．travel    D．think

10.               A．should         B．may           C．must  D．need

11.               A．dance          B．music          C．art   D．piano

12.               A．better than      B．less than        C．more than D．rather than

13.               A．receive        B．lose           C．gain  D．accept

14.               A．communicate with                 B．keep up with   C．come up with   D．catch up with

15.               A．challenging      B．falling          C．failing D．winning

B

Laws that would have ensured pupils from five to 16 received a full financial education got lost in the ‘wash up’. An application is calling on the next government to bring it back.

At school the children are taught to add up and subtract（减法） but, extraordinarily, are not routinely shown how to open a bank account — let alone how to manage their finances in an increasingly complex and demanding world.

Today the parenting website Mumsnet and the consumer campaigner Martin Lewis have joined forces to launch an online application to make financial education a compulsory element of the school curriculum in England. Children from five to 16 should be taught about everything from pocket money to pensions, they say. And that was exactly the plan preserved in the Children, Schools and Families bill that was shelved by the government in the so-called “wash-up” earlier this month — the rush to legislation before parliament was dismissed. Consumer and parent groups believe financial education has always been one of the most frustrating omissions of the curriculum.

As the Personal Finance Education Group (Pfeg) points out, the good habits of young children do not last long. Over 75% of seven- to 11-year-olds are savers but by the time they get to 17, over half of them are in debt to family and friends. By this age, 26% see a credit card or overdraft（透支） as a way of extending their spending power. Pfeg predicts that these young people will “find it much harder to avoid the serious unexpected dangers that have befallen many of their parents' generation unless they receive good quality financial education while at school.”

The UK has been in the worst financial recession（衰退）for generations. It does seem odd that — unless parents step in — young people are left in the dark until they are cruelly introduced to the world of debt when they turn up at university. In a recent poll of over 8,000 people, 97% supported financial education in schools, while 3% said it was a job for parents.

61. The passage is mainly about _____________.

A. how to manage school lessons

B. how to deal with the financial crisis

C. teaching young people about money

D. teaching students how to study effectively

62. It can be inferred from the first two paragraphs that __________.

A. the author complains about the school education

B. pupils should not be taught to add up and subtract

C. students have been taught to manage their finances

D. laws on financial education have been effectively carried out

63. The website and the consumer campaigner joined to _________.

A. instruct the pupils to donate their pocket money

B. promote the connection of schools and families

C. ask the government to dismiss the parliament

D. appeal for the curriculum of financial education

64. According to Pfeg, ___________.

A. it is easy to keep good habits long

B. teenagers spend their money as planned

C. parents are willing to pay the debt for their kids

D. it will be in trouble if the teenagers are left alone

65. A poll is mentioned to ___________.

A. stress the necessity of the curriculum reform

B. show the seriousness of the financial recession

C. make the readers aware of burden of the parents

D. illustrate some people are strongly against the proposal

A new study of 8,000 young people in the journal of HealthandSocialBehavior shows that although love can make grown?ups live healthily and happily，it is a bad thing for young people.Puppy love (早恋) may bring trouble for young people and can cause depression (沮丧).The study shows that girls become more depressed than boys，and young girls are the worst of all.
The possible reason for the connection between love and higher risk of depression for girls is “loss of self”.According to the study，even though boys would say “lose themselves in a romantic (浪漫的) relationship”，this “loss of self” is much more likely to cause depression when it happens to girls.Young girls who have romantic relationships usually like hiding their feelings and opinions.They won’t tell that to their parents.
Dr.Marianm Kaufman，who works on young people problems，says 15% to 20% of young people will have depression during their growing.Trying romance often causes the depression.She advises kids not to jump into romance too early.During growing up，it is important for young people to build strong friendship and a strong sense of self.She also suggests the parents should encourage their kids to keep close to their friends，attend more interesting school activities and spend enough time with family.
Parents should watch for their children’s eating or mood changes.If they see some，they need to give help.The good news is that the connection between romance and depression seems to become weak with age.Love will always make us feel young，but only maturity (成熟) gives us a chance to avoid its bad side effects.

1. 1.

   What’s the main idea of the passage?

   1. A.
      Puppy love may bring young people depression.
   2. B.
      Parents should agree to their children’s love.
   3. C.
      Romance is a two?edged sword for grown?ups.
   4. D.
      Romance is good for young people.
2. 2.

   Who are most likely to become depressed?

   1. A.
      Young people who have a strong sense of self.
   2. B.
      Young boys whose parents watch for their behavior.
   3. C.
      Young girls who always hide their feelings and opinions.
   4. D.
      Careless parents whose children are deep in love.
3. 3.

   According to the passage，the author ________ puppy love.

   1. A.
      is for
   2. B.
      is against
   3. C.
      is not interested in
   4. D.
      thinks highly of
4. 4.

   Dr.Marianm Kaufman does NOT suggest parents’encouraging their kids to ________.

   1. A.
      keep close to their friends
   2. B.
      attend more interesting activities
   3. C.
      chat more on line
   4. D.
      spend more time with their family

B

Laws that would have ensured pupils from five to 16 received a full financial education got lost in the ‘wash up’. An application is calling on the next government to bring it back.

At school the children are taught to add up and subtract（减法） but, extraordinarily, are not routinely shown how to open a bank account — let alone how to manage their finances in an increasingly complex and demanding world.

Today the parenting website Mumsnet and the consumer campaigner Martin Lewis have joined forces to launch an online application to make financial education a compulsory element of the school curriculum in England. Children from five to 16 should be taught about everything from pocket money to pensions, they say. And that was exactly the plan preserved in the Children, Schools and Families bill that was shelved by the government in the so-called “wash-up” earlier this month — the rush to legislation before parliament was dismissed. Consumer and parent groups believe financial education has always been one of the most frustrating omissions of the curriculum.

As the Personal Finance Education Group (Pfeg) points out, the good habits of young children do not last long. Over 75% of seven- to 11-year-olds are savers but by the time they get to 17, over half of them are in debt to family and friends. By this age, 26% see a credit card or overdraft（透支） as a way of extending their spending power. Pfeg predicts that these young people will “find it much harder to avoid the serious unexpected dangers that have befallen many of their parents' generation unless they receive good quality financial education while at school.”

The UK has been in the worst financial recession（衰退）for generations. It does seem odd that — unless parents step in — young people are left in the dark until they are cruelly introduced to the world of debt when they turn up at university. In a recent poll of over 8,000 people, 97% supported financial education in schools, while 3% said it was a job for parents.

61. The passage is mainly about _____________.

A. how to manage school lessons

B. how to deal with the financial crisis

C. teaching young people about money

D. teaching students how to study effectively

62. It can be inferred from the first two paragraphs that __________.

A. the author complains about the school education

B. pupils should not be taught to add up and subtract

C. students have been taught to manage their finances

D. laws on financial education have been effectively carried out

63. The website and the consumer campaigner joined to _________.

A. instruct the pupils to donate their pocket money

B. promote the connection of schools and families

C. ask the government to dismiss the parliament

D. appeal for the curriculum of financial education

64. According to Pfeg, ___________.

A. it is easy to keep good habits long

B. teenagers spend their money as planned

C. parents are willing to pay the debt for their kids

D. it will be in trouble if the teenagers are left alone

65. A poll is mentioned to ___________.

A. stress the necessity of the curriculum reform

B. show the seriousness of the financial recession

C. make the readers aware of burden of the parents

D. illustrate some people are strongly against the proposal