题目内容
The Best of Friends
The evidence for harmony may not be obvious in some families.But it seems that four out of five young people now get on with their parents,which is the opposite of the popularly-held image(形象) of unhappy teenagers locked in their room after endless family quarrels.
An important new study into teenage attitudes surprisingly shows that their family life is more harmonious than it has ever been in the past.“We were surprised by just how positive today’s young people seem to be about their families,”said one member of the research team.“They’re expected to be rebellious(叛逆的) and selfish but actually they have other things on their minds:they want a car and material goods,and they worry about whether school is serving them well.There’s more negotiation(商议) and discussion between parents and children,and children expect to take part in the family decision-making process.They don’t want to rock the boat.”
So it seems that this generation of parents is much more likely than parents of 30 years ago to treat their children as friends.“My parents are happy to discuss things with me and willing to listen to me,”says 17-year-old Daniel Lazall.“I always tell them when I’m going out clubbing.As long as they know what I’m doing,they’re fine with it.”Susan Crome,who is now 21,agrees.“Looking back on the last 10 years,there was a lot of what you could call negotiation.For example,as long as I’d done all my homework,I could go out on a Saturday night.But I think my grandparents were a lot stricter with my parents than that.”
Maybe this positive view of family life should not be unexpected.It is possible that the idea of teenage rebellion is not rooted in real facts.A researcher comments,“Our surprise that teenagers say they get along well with their parents comes because of a brief period in our social history when teenagers were regarded as different beings.But that idea of rebelling and breaking away from their parents really only happened during that one time in the 1960s when everyone rebelled.The normal situation throughout history has been a smooth change from helping out with the family business to taking it over.”
1.What is the popular image of teenagers today?
A.They worry about school.
B.They dislike living with their parents.
C.They have to be locked in to avoid troubles.
D.They quarrel a lot with other family members.
2.The study shows that teenagers don’t want to _______.
A.share family responsibility
B.cause trouble in their families
C.go boating with their family
D.make family decisions
3.Compared with parents of 30 years ago,today’s parents _______.
A.go to clubs more often with their children
B.are much stricter with their children
C.care less about their children’s life
D.give their children more freedom
4.According to the author,teenage rebellion _______.
A.may be a false belief
B.is common nowadays
C.existed only in the 1960s
D.resulted from changes in families
5.What is the passage mainly about?
A.Negotiation in family. B.Education in family.
C.Harmony in family. D.Teenage trouble in family.
1.D
解析:这是一道细节判断题。根据第一段“which is the opposite of the popularly-held image of unhappy teenagers locked in their room after endless family quarrels.”可知(青少年)流行的形象是和父母无休止争吵完后把自己锁在屋子里,所以给人的印象是常常和其他家庭成员争吵。
2.B
解析:这是一道细节判断题。根据第二段最后一句“They don’t want to rock the boat.”可知孩子们不想制造麻烦。“rock the boat”是捣乱、制造麻烦的意思。
3.D
解析:这是一道细节判断题。根据第三段第一句“So it seems that this generation of parents is much more likely than parents of 30 years ago to treat their children as friends.”和Susan Crome的描述“Looking back on the last 10 years,there was a lot of what you could call negotiation.”可知这一代的父母比起30年前上一代的父母更善于把孩子当成朋友看待,Susan说有很多事情都可以和她父母商量。也就是说这一代父母给孩子更多自由。
4.A
解析:这是一道归纳题。根据最后一段第二句“It is possible that the idea of teenage rebellion is not rooted in real facts.”作者认为青少年的反叛的观念并不一定来源于事实,所以青少年反叛的观点不一定正确。
5.C
解析:这是一道主旨题。本文主要结束了家庭和睦的问题,比较了这一代父母对待青少年的态度以及和上一代父母的比较,结论是现在的家庭比以往更加和睦。
Joe came to New York from the Middle West, dreaming about painting. Delia came to New York from the South, dreaming about music. Joe and Delia met in a studio. Before long they were good friends and got married.
They had only a small flat to live in , but they were happy. They loved each other, and they were both interested in art. Everything was fine until one day they found they had spent all their money.
Delia decided to give music lessons. One afternoon she said to her husband:
“Joe, I’ve found a pupil, a general’s daughter. She is a sweet girl. I’m to give three lessons a week and get $5 a lesson.”
But Joe was not glad.
“But how about me?” he said.” Do you think I’m going to watch you work while I play with my art? No, I want to earn some money too.”
“Joe, you are silly,” said Delia. “You must keep at your studies. We can live quite happily on $15 a week.”
“Well, perhaps I can sell some of my pictures,” said Joe.
Every day they parted in the morning and met in the evening. A week passed and Delia brought home fifteen dollars, but she looked a little tired.
“Clementina sometimes gets on my nerves. I’m afraid she doesn’t practice enough. But the general is the oldest man! I wish you could know him, Joe.”
And then Joe took eighteen dollars out of his pocket.
“I’ve sold one of my pictures to a man from Peoria,” he said, “and he has ordered another.”
“I’m so glad,” said Delia. “Thirty-three dollars! We never had so much to spend before. We’ll have a good supper tonight.”
Next week Joe came home and put another eighteen dollars on the table. In half an hour Delia came, her right hand in a bandage.
“What’s the matter with your hand?” said Joe. Delia laughed and said:
“Oh, a funny thing happened! Clemantina gave me a plate of soup and spilled some of it on my hand. She was very sorry for it. And so was the old general. But why are you looking at me like that, Joe?”
“What time this afternoon did you burn your hand, Delia?”
“Five o’clock, I think. The iron-I mean the soup-was ready about five, Why?”
“Delia, come and sit here,” said Joe. He drew her to the couch and sat beside her.
“What do you do every day, Delia? Do you really give music lesson? Tell me the truth.”
She began to cry.
“I couldn’t get any pupils,” she said, “So I got a place in a laundry ironing shirts. This afternoon a girl accidentally set down an iron on my hand and I got a bad burn. But tell me, Joe, how did you guess that I wasn’t giving music lessons?”
“It’s very simple,” said Joe. “I knew all about your bandages because I had to send them upstairs to a girl in the laundry who had an accident with a hot iron. You see, I work in the engine-room of the same laundry where you work.”
“And your pictures? Did you sell any to that man from Peoria?”
“Well, your general with his Clemantina is an invention, and so is my man from Peoria.”
And then they both laughed.
【小题1】To support the family, Delia worked as .
A.a tutor | B.a music teacher |
C.an artist | D.a laundry assistant |
A.a man from Peoria liked Joe’s pictures |
B.Delia earned $15 dollars a week easily |
C.the couple worked at the same laundry |
D.Clemantina and the general were kind |
A.The general | B.Clemantina | C.Herself | D.A girl |
A.Clemantina was an invention of the general |
B.Clemantina was an invention of the man from Peoria |
C.there were no such men as the general, Clemantina and the man from Peoria |
D.the general, Clemantina and the man from Peoria were the couple’s clients |
A.faithful | B.honest |
C.ashamed | D.heartbreaking |
A.A service of love | B.A story of Joe and Delia |
C.Lies and truth | D.Servants of love |