Contrary to common belief, social media websites such as Facebook do not weaken personal ties, they strengthen them in unique ways for different age groups, according to a new study．

The rapid spread of Facebook, which has more than 500 million users worldwide, has prompted concerns about its negative effects, but researchers at the University of Texas have reached a different conclusion．

"Our findings suggest that Facebook is not replacing face-to-face interactions between friends, family and colleagues," said S．Craig Watkins, an associate professor of radio, TV and film who headed the research team．

"In fact, we believe there is sufficient evidence that social media afford opportunities for new expressions of friendship, intimacy and community．"

The researchers questioned 900 college students and recent graduates about how and with whom they interact on Facebook．

More than 60 percent of Facebook users said posting status updates was among the most popular activities, followed by 60 percent who wrote comments on their profile and 49 percent who posted messages and comments to friends．

The researchers also found that although about the same number of men and women use Facebook, they do so in different ways．

"There is a noteworthy difference in aims in how to use a tool like Facebook．We found that for women the content tends to be more affectionate, and （they） are especially interested in using it for connection," said Watkins．

       "For men, it's more functional," he added．

       Watkins pointed out that, for example, women are more likely to post pictures of social gatherings with friends, while men are more likely to post pictures of hobbies, or post a political or pop-culture related link．

What's the popular viewpoint of ordinary people about the function of social media websites? They think ____．

     A．It is positive to personal ties

     B．It has negative effects on personal ties

     C．It makes no difference to personal ties

     D．It has both good and bad effects to personal ties

What's the meaning of the underlined word in the second paragraph?

     A．resulted from        B．had            C．showed      D．produced

What do Facebook users like to do mostly on Facebook? They like to ____．

       A．create new expressions of friendship                    '

       B．wrote comments on their profile

       C．update their personal statuses

       D．post messages and comments to friends

According to the study, ____．

       A．Men concentrate more on the functions of Facebook

       B．Much more men use Facebook than women

       C．Men and women use a tool like Facebook for the same aim

       D．Facebook is taking the place of face-to-face interactions between friends

  Contrary to the impression that grandmothers are delighted to help their grown daughters and care for their grandchildren, a study of multigenerational families shows that many older women hate the frequent demands that the younger generations make on their time and energy.

  “Young women with children are under a lot of pressure these days, and they expect their mothers to help them pick up the pieces,” noted Dr. Bertram J. Cohler, a behavioral scientist at the University of Chicago. “This is often the strongest source of complaint on the part of Grandmother, who has finished with child caring and now has her own life to live. Grandmothers like to see their children and grandchildren, but on their own time.”

  Dr. Cohler is director of a study, sponsored by the National Institute of Aging, of 150 workingclass families that live in a Midwestern suburb. He and Dr. Henry U. Gruebaum of Harvard Medical School, have already completed their study of four such families in New England.

  Dr. Cohler tells of a middle-aged Boston woman who works as a cook all week and for her parish (教区) on Sundays. Every Saturday, her one day off, her daughter and family visit, expecting mother to make lunch, shop, and visit. “That's not how she wants to grow old,” said Dr. Cohler, who was told by the older woman, “My daughter would never speak to me if she knew how angry and unhappy I get.”

  In all the four New England families studied, the older women disliked the numerous phone calls and visits from their grown daughters, who often turned to the mothers for advice, physical resources, love, and companionship as well as baby-sitting services. “American society keeps increasing the burdens for older people, particularly those in their 50s and 60s,” Dr. Cohler said in an interview here. “They're still working and they're taking care of their grown children and maybe also their aged parents. Sometimes life gets to be too much.”

Which of the following is closest in meaning to the expression “pick up the pieces” in the second paragraph?

   A. Save a bad situation.              B. Put children's toys in their proper places.

   C. Gather up pieces of clothing.       D. Keep the room in good order.

The middle-aged Boston woman ______.

   A. expects her mother to cook lunch for her

   B. enjoys the room in good order  

   C. visits an older woman every Saturday

   D. works six days a week

The passage is mainly about ______.

   A. young women's inability to look after their children

   B. Grandmothers' attitudes toward helping their grown daughters

   C. average American women's family life

   D. grandmother should give more help to their daughters

From Dr. Cohler's study we may reach the conclusion that ______.

   A. daughters should be independent of their old grandmothers

   B. grandmother should give more help to their daughters

   C. mothers and daughters should support each other

   D. daughters should be more considerate toward their mothers

Contrary to many people believe, highly intelligent children are not necessarily certain to achieve academic success. In fact, so-called gifted students may fail to do well because they are unusually smart. Ensuring that a gifted child reaches his or her potential requires an understanding of what can go wrong and how to satisfy the unusual learning requirements of extremely bright young people.
One common problem gifted kids face is that they, and those around them, place too much importance on being smart. Such an emphasis can encourage a belief that bright people do not have to work hard to do well. Although smart kids may not need to work hard in the lower grades, when the work is easy, they may struggle and perform poorly when the work gets harder because they do not make the effort to learn. If the academic achievement of highly intelligent children remains below average for an extended period, many teachers will fail to recognize their potential. As a result, such students may not get the encouragement they need, further depressing their desire to learn. They may fall far behind in their schoolwork and even develop behavior problems.
IQ is just one element among many in the recipe for success—Children develop well or struggle in school for a host of reasons apart from IQ. These include motivation and persistence, social competence, and the support of family, educators and friends.
Because highly gifted children solve the most varied thought problems faster and more thoroughly than those with more average talents do, they need additional intellectual stimulation while they wait for the rest of the kids to learn the basics. Two central approaches are used to satisfy the educational needs of such children: acceleration and enrichment. Acceleration means studying material that is part of the standard subjects for older students. Enrichment involves learning information that falls outside the usual subjects.
A child might skip one or more grades as a way of accelerating in school. But being with older children for the entire school day—and perhaps for grade-based extracurricular activities such as sports—can make a child feel inferior in every filed outside of academics. One very bright fourth-grader who had skipped two grades remained far ahead of his classmates intellectually, but as his classmates reached adolescence, his social and other shortcomings became painfully apparent. While acceleration is not an option, or not a good one, enrichment can be. After all, school is not a race but an adventure in learning. As such, the goal is not finishing first but absorbing as much knowledge as possible in the time assigned. Thus, providing opportunities for a child to study topics outside the regular subjects can be at least as valuable as pushing him or her through the required material faster.
【小题1】What is the basic reason for the low academic achievement of highly intelligent children?

A．Skipping one of more grades and studying together with older children.

B．Learning the same material in the standard subjects for older students.

C．Learning information that is not included in the regular subjects.

D．Learning how to read with fluency even in their pre-school days.

A．He is in favor of enrichment rather than acceleration.

B．He is in favor of acceleration rather than enrichment.

C．He speaks highly of both enrichment and acceleration.

D．He thinks neither enrichment nor acceleration is a good choice.

Contrary to common belief, social media websites such as Facebook do not weaken personal ties, they strengthen them in unique ways for different age groups, according to a new study．
The rapid spread of Facebook, which has more than 500 million users worldwide, has prompted concerns about its negative effects, but researchers at the University of Texas have reached a different conclusion．
"Our findings suggest that Facebook is not replacing face-to-face interactions between friends, family and colleagues," said S．Craig Watkins, an associate professor of radio, TV and film who headed the research team．
"In fact, we believe there is sufficient evidence that social media afford opportunities for new expressions of friendship, intimacy and community．"
The researchers questioned 900 college students and recent graduates about how and with whom they interact on Facebook．
More than 60 percent of Facebook users said posting status updates was among the most popular activities, followed by 60 percent who wrote comments on their profile and 49 percent who posted messages and comments to friends．
The researchers also found that although about the same number of men and women use Facebook, they do so in different ways．
"There is a noteworthy difference in aims in how to use a tool like Facebook．We found that for women the content tends to be more affectionate, and （they） are especially interested in using it for connection," said Watkins．
"For men, it's more functional," he added．
Watkins pointed out that, for example, women are more likely to post pictures of social gatherings with friends, while men are more likely to post pictures of hobbies, or post a political or pop-culture related link．
【小题1】What's the popular viewpoint of ordinary people about the function of social media websites? They think ____．

Contrary to common belief, social media websites such as Facebook do not weaken personal ties, they strengthen them in unique ways for different age groups, according to a new study．

The rapid spread of Facebook, which has more than 500 million users worldwide, has prompted concerns about its negative effects, but researchers at the University of Texas have reached a different conclusion．

"Our findings suggest that Facebook is not replacing face-to-face interactions between friends, family and colleagues," said S．Craig Watkins, an associate professor of radio, TV and film who headed the research team．

"In fact, we believe there is sufficient evidence that social media afford opportunities for new expressions of friendship, intimacy and community．"

The researchers questioned 900 college students and recent graduates about how and with whom they interact on Facebook．

More than 60 percent of Facebook users said posting status updates was among the most popular activities, followed by 60 percent who wrote comments on their profile and 49 percent who posted messages and comments to friends．

The researchers also found that although about the same number of men and women use Facebook, they do so in different ways．

"There is a noteworthy difference in aims in how to use a tool like Facebook．We found that for women the content tends to be more affectionate, and （they） are especially interested in using it for connection," said Watkins．

"For men, it's more functional," he added．

Watkins pointed out that, for example, women are more likely to post pictures of social gatherings with friends, while men are more likely to post pictures of hobbies, or post a political or pop-culture related link．

1.What's the popular viewpoint of ordinary people about the function of social media websites? They think ____．

2.What's the meaning of the underlined word in the second paragraph?

3.What do Facebook users like to do mostly on Facebook? They like to ____．

4.According to the study, ____．