If you have a brother or sister, you already know you are different from each other. You live together in the same house and with the same parents, but you have different personalities.

Why is this? One possible reason is the way your parents treat you.

    First–born children receive all the attention from their parents. Most families have twice as many photos of a first–born than any other child．Parents usually give first–borns more responsibility（责任）and depend on them to take care of younger brothers and sisters. As a result, first–borns are often responsible, hard–wording and serious. They often want to do well at school and work. There are more first–born American presidents than second or last-born children—for example, George W. Bush, George Washington, and Lyndon Baines Johnson.

When a second child arrives, parents are not so excited．The second child has to compete with the first–born for the parents’ attention and love. These children often choose different sports and hobbies to do well at school and work, but have to be creative to get their family’s attention. They are often friendly and cool. Many famous talk-show hosts were born last.

（　 ）1. The writer thinks that the second children are often _______.

A．outgoing and serious                     B．cool and friendly

C．hard-working and serious                D．creative and responsible

（　 ）2. The underlined word “personalities” means _______ in the passage.

A．友好                   B．冷静                 C．个性                 D．智商

（　 ）3. _______ is usually the happiest in the family according to the passage.

A．The eldest child                                       B．The second child

C．The youngest child                                  D．The father

（　 ）4. We can learn from the passage that ________.

A．the second child is very similar to the first-born child

B．brothers and sisters usually have the same personalities

C．it’s easy for the second child to get his or her parents’ attention

D．there are more first-born successful people than second or last-born people

（　 ）5. The passage is mainly about          .

A．birth order and personalities

B．the personalities of the second child in a family

C．the personalities of the eldest child in a family

D．the personalities of the youngest child in a family

词汇运用 用所给词的适当形式填空（共15小题；每小题1分，满分15分）
【小题1】It’s cold outside, you should keep the door __________________ . (close)
【小题2】Now most families have at __________________ one TV. (little)
【小题3】Sandwich got its name from a man __________________ John Montagu. (call)
【小题4】I’m frightened of __________________ by plane. (travel)
【小题5】What  __________________ to you just now? (happen)
【小题6】Thank you for  __________________ to me. (write )
【小题7】I found it easy  __________________ English well. (learn)
【小题8】The following Saturday, we  __________________ the great museum. (visit)
【小题9】Listen! Someone  __________________ Beijing Opera in the next room. (sing)
【小题10】How __________________! The rabbit jumped down a big tree. (amaze)
【小题11】She learned English all by  __________________ last year(she)
【小题12】Alice saw a white camel  __________________ by. (pass)
【小题13】The pet was small enough __________________ through the door. (go)
【小题14】On Sunday doors in our school were all  __________________ (lock)
【小题15】Yesterday, after she drank some water, she __________________ a little ill. (feel)

Today, there are many problems between parents and children. Many people always ask, “ Why do we often argue(争论)?”

Parents show their love for children in different ways. They cook nice food, buy new clothes for them. They also care about their studies. Parents always ask “ You must work hard”,  “You should do your homework”, “Why not do homework for your exam?” all the time.

When children get bad marks(分数), their parents get very angry. They stop their children watching TV, playing games or going outside until they are good at their studies.

Why? Most families have only one child. The child is the hope of the family, they want the child to be the best.

Many children want to do things themselves. They want to do many unusual things that parents dislike. They like pop music, basketball and other new things. They enjoy surfing on the Internet and playing QQ games. They spend a lot of time chatting online and listening to the QQ music. In their parents’ eyes, these are a waste of time. For these reasons, parents and children often argue.

词汇运用 用所给词的适当形式填空（共15小题；每小题1分，满分15分）

1.It’s cold outside, you should keep the door __________________ . (close)

2.Now most families have at __________________ one TV. (little)

3.Sandwich got its name from a man __________________ John Montagu. (call)

4.I’m frightened of __________________ by plane. (travel)

5.What  __________________ to you just now? (happen)

6.Thank you for  __________________ to me. (write )

7.I found it easy  __________________ English well. (learn)

8.The following Saturday, we  __________________ the great museum. (visit)

9.Listen! Someone  __________________ Beijing Opera in the next room. (sing)

10.How __________________! The rabbit jumped down a big tree. (amaze)

11.She learned English all by  __________________ last year(she)

12.Alice saw a white camel  __________________ by. (pass)

13.The pet was small enough __________________ through the door. (go)

14.On Sunday doors in our school were all  __________________ (lock)

15.Yesterday, after she drank some water, she __________________ a little ill. (feel)

My grandfather is eighty years old. He sometimes complains（抱怨）about how fast things have changed.

He often says that families aren’t the families they used to be. A lot of families have broken up（破裂）. If husband and wife have problems with their marriage, they will no longer stay together. And mothers used to stay at home to take care of their children, but now they’re busy working. They have no time to look after children at home. What’s more, more and more people drive. We used to walk five miles to school every day, even in winter. But now children don’t. And in school, children don’t have to think more as we used to. In math class, for example, we used to add, subtract, multiply and divide（加、减、乘、除）using our heads. But now most students use calculators. Most families have computers now. In the past, we didn’t have computers. We even had no lights. My mother to spend all day cooking in the kitchen. But now few people eat home-cooked food. And people seldom talk to each other. They are too busy to talk, too busy to eat, too busy to think… Life used to be simple, but it isn’t any more.

根据短文内容，判断句子是否正确，正写（A），错写（B）。（10分）

1.The writer’s grandfather thinks people now are much busier than they used to be.

2.Students have to think more at school now than past.

3.．People like to eat home—cooked food now.

4.．Lots of couples（夫妇）don’t live together because of unhappy problems.

【小题】5．People have too much time to talk with each other now.