Question

We have two daughters：Kristen is seven years old and Kelly is four. Last Sunday evening，we invited some people home for dinner. I dressed them nicely for the party，and told them that their job was to join Mommy in answering the door when the bell rang. Mommy would introduce them to the guests，and then they would take the guests’coats upstairs and put them on the bed in the second bedroom.

The guests arrived. I introduced my two daughters to each of them. The adults were nice and kind and said how lucky we were to have such good kids.

Each of the guests made a particular fuss over Kelly，the younger one，admiring her dress，her hair and her smile. They said she was a remarkable girl to be carrying coats upstairs at her age.

I thought to myself that we adults usually make a big “to do” over the younger one because she’s the one who seems more easily hurt. We do it with the best of intentions.

But we seldom think of how it might affect the other child. I was a little worried that Kristen would feel she was being outshined. I was about to serve dinner when I realized that she had been missing for twenty minutes. I ran upstairs and found her in the bedroom，crying. I said，“What are you doing，my dear?”

She turned to me with a sad expression and said，“Mommy，why don’t people like me the way they like my sister? Is it because I’m not pretty? Is that why they don’t say nice things about me as much?”

I tried to explain to her，kissing and hugging her to make her feel better.

Now whenever I visit a friend’s home，I make it a point to speak to the elder child first.

The underlined expression“make a big‘to do’over”（Paragraph 4） means________.

A. show much concern about                          B. have a special effect on

C. list jobs to be done for                         D. do good things for

The guests praised Kelly for carrying coats upstairs because of her________.

A. beautiful hair                             B. pretty clothes

C. lovely smile                             D. young age

Kristen felt sad and cried because________.

A. the guest gave her more coats to carry

B. she didn’t look as pretty as Kelly

C. the guests praised her sister more than her

D. her mother didn’t introduce her to the guests

We can conclude from the passage that________.

A. parents should pay more attention to the elder children

B. the younger children are usually more easily hurt

C. people usually like the younger children more

D. adults should treat children equally

Answer 1

【小题1】A

【小题2】D

【小题3】C

【小题4】D

解析:

【小题1】猜义题。根据下文中的“because she’s the one who seems more easily hurt“可猜测出make a big “to do” over的意思是“表示出许多的关心”。

【小题2】细节题。第三段“They said she was a remarkable girl to be carrying coats upstairs at her age.”表明客人们表扬她的原因是因为她年龄小。

【小题3】细节推断题。根据第三段“Each of the guest made a particular fuss over Kelly， the younger one， admiring her dress， her hair and her smile.”可推断出Kristen难过和哭泣的原因是客人对她妹妹表扬得比她多。

【小题4】主旨题。根据这篇短文的内容我们可以得出成年人对孩子必须平等对待的结论。