Each summer, no matter how pressing my work schedule, I take off one day exclusively for my son. We call it dad-son-day. This year our third stop was the amusement park, where he discovered that he was tall enough to ride one of the fastest roller coasters（过山车）in the world. We blasted through face-stretching turns and loops for ninety seconds. Then, as we stepped off the ride, he shrugged and, in a distressingly calm voice, remarked that it was not as exciting as other rides he’d been on. As I listened, I began to sense something seriously out of balance.
Throughout the season, I noticed similar events all around me. Parents seemed hard pressed to find new thrills for indifferent kids. Surrounded by ever-greater stimulation, their young faces were looking disappointed and bored.
Facing their children’s complaints of “nothing to do”, parents were shelling out large numbers of dollars for various forms of entertainment. In many cases the money seemed to do little more than buy transient relief from the terrible moans of their bored children. This set me pondering the obvious question: “How can it be so hard for kids to find something to do when there’s never been such a range of stimulating entertainment available to them?”
What really worries me is the intensity of the stimulation. I watch my little daughter’s face as she absorbs the powerful onslaught（冲山）of arousing visuals and bloody special, effects in movies.
Why do children immersed in this much excitement seem starved for more? That was, I realized, the point. I discovered during my own reckless adolescence that what creates excitement is not going fast, but going faster. Thrills have less to do with speed than changes in speed.
I’m concerned about the cumulative effect of years at these levels of feverish activity. It is no mystery to me why many teenagers appear apathetic（麻木的）and burned out, with a “been there, done that” air of indifference toward much of life. As increasing numbers of friends’ children are prescribed medications-stimulants to deal with inattentiveness at school or anti-depressants to help with the loss of interest and joy in their lives-I question the role of kids’ boredom in some of the diagnoses.
My own work is focused on the chemical imbalances and biological factors related to behavioral and emotional disorders. These are complex problems. Yet I’ve been reflecting more and more on how the pace of life and the intensity of stimulation may be contributing to the rising rates of psychiatric problems among children and adolescents in our society.
1. The author felt surprised in the amusement park at the fact that _____.
2. According to the author, children are bored _____.
3. From his own experience, the author came to the conclusion that children seem to expect _____.
4. In Para.6, the author expresses his doubt about the effectiveness of trying to change children’s indifference toward much of life by _____.
5. In order to alleviate children’s boredom, the author would probably suggest _____.
问题1选项
A.his son could keep his balance so well on the fast-moving roller coaster
B.his son blasted through the turns and loops with his face stretched
C.his son was not as thrilled by the roller coaster ride as expected
D.his son appeared distressed but calm while riding the roller coaster
问题2选项
A.even if they are exposed to more and more kinds of entertainment
B.when they don’t have any access to stimulating fun games
C.when they are left alone at weekends by their working parents
D.unless their parents can find new thrills for them
问题3选项
A.a much wider variety of sports facilities
B.ever-changing thrilling forms of recreation
C.physical exercises that are more challenging
D.activities that require sophisticated skills
问题4选项
A.creating more stimulating activities for them
B.diverting their interest from electronic visual games
C.spending more money on their entertainment
D.prescribing medications for their temporary relief
问题5选项
A.balancing school work with extracurricular activities
B.consulting a specialist in child psychology
C.adjusting the pace of life and intensity of stimulation
D.promoting the practice of dad-son days
第1题:C
第2题:A
第3题:B
第4题:D
第5题:C
第1题:
【选项释义】
The author felt surprised in the amusement park at the fact that _____. 作者在游乐园对_____事实感到惊讶。
A. his son could keep his balance so well on the fast-moving roller coaster A. 他的儿子在快速移动的过山车上能很好地保持平衡
B. his son blasted through the turns and loops with his face stretched B. 他的儿子绷着脸在弯道和圈道中疾驰而过
C. his son was not as thrilled by the roller coaster ride as expected C. 他的儿子不像预期的那样对过山车感到兴奋
D. his son appeared distressed but calm while riding the roller coaster D. 他的儿子坐云霄飞车的时候看起来很痛苦，但很平静
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】根据题干定位到原文第一段第五、六句“然后，当我们下了车，他耸了耸肩，用一种令人沮丧的平静的声音说，这趟车不像他以前坐过的其他车那么刺激（as exciting as）。听着听着，我开始感觉（began to sense）到有什么东西严重失衡了。”由此可知，我其实感到惊讶的就是上文“儿子”所说的事，选项C符合原文。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“他的儿子在快速移动的过山车上能很好地保持平衡”，原文没有提及，属于无中生有；
B选项“他的儿子绷着脸在弯道和圈道中疾驰而过”，符合原文第一段第四句“我们在90秒里不停地扭着脸”，选项内容表述的是坐过山车的表现，是事实，作者并不会感到惊讶，属于反向干扰；
D选项“他的儿子坐云霄飞车的时候看起来很痛苦，但很平静”，原文没有提及，属于无中生有。
第2题:
【选项释义】
According to the author, children are bored _____. 根据作者的观点，孩子们很无聊_____。
A. even if they are exposed to more and more kinds of entertainment A. 即使他们接触到越来越多的娱乐方式
B. when they don’t have any access to stimulating fun games B. 当他们无法接触到刺激有趣的游戏时
C. when they are left alone at weekends by their working parents C. 当他们在周末被工作的父母单独留下时
D. unless their parents can find new thrills for them D. 除非他们的父母能给他们找到新的刺激
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】根据题干定位到文章第三段第三句话“这让我思考一个显而易见的问题：‘在从来没有如此多的刺激娱乐活动可供他们选择的情况下，孩子们怎么能这么难（hard）找到事情做呢？’由此可知作者认为很奇怪，因为即使有这么多刺激的东西，孩子还是觉得无聊，所以答案选A选项符合。
【干扰项排除】
B选项“当他们无法接触到刺激有趣的游戏时”，与原文第三段第三句表述“从来没有如此多的刺激娱乐活动的情况下”不符，属于曲解原文；
C选项“当他们在周末被工作的父母单独留下时”，原文没有提及，属于无中生有；
D选项“除非他们的父母能给他们找到新的刺激”，定位到文章第三段第二句话“在许多情况下，这些钱似乎只是暂时缓解（relief）了孩子们无聊的可怕呻吟”，由此可知即使父母给他们寻找刺激，孩子还是无聊，这里属于曲解原文。
第3题:
【选项释义】
From his own experience, the author came to the conclusion that children seem to expect _____. 从他自己的经验，作者得出结论，孩子们似乎期望_____。
A. a much wider variety of sports facilities A. 各种各样的体育设施
B. ever-changing thrilling forms of recreation B. 不断变化的令人兴奋的娱乐形式
C. physical exercises that are more challenging C. 更有挑战性的体育锻炼
D. activities that require sophisticated skills D. 需要复杂技能的活动
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】定位到文章第五段第三句“我在自己鲁莽的青春期发现，创造兴奋的不是快速，而是变得更快（faster）”从这里孩子们期待兴奋，而兴奋的来源是更快的速度，由此可知答案选B。
【干扰项排除】
A、C、D选项原文没有提及，属于无中生有。
第4题:
【选项释义】
In Para.6, the author expresses his doubt about the effectiveness of trying to change children’s indifference toward much of life by _____. 在第6段中，作者通过_____表达了他对试图改变孩子们对生活的冷漠态度的有效性的怀疑。
A. creating more stimulating activities for them A. 为他们创造更多刺激的活动
B. diverting their interest from electronic visual games B. 转移他们对电子视觉游戏的兴趣
C. spending more money on their entertainment C. 花更多的钱在娱乐上
D. prescribing medications for their temporary relief D. 为他们的暂时缓解而开的药方
【考查点】事实细节题。
【解题思路】根据题干定位第六段最后一句“随着越来越多朋友的孩子被开了药物治疗——用兴奋剂来治疗在学校的注意力不集中，用抗抑郁药来缓解他们对生活失去兴趣和快乐——我质疑（question）孩子的无聊在某些诊断中的作用。”由此可知现在孩子们治疗无聊的方法是吃药，但是作者对这种做法提出了质疑，所以答案选D。
【干扰项排除】
A选项“为他们创造更多刺激的活动”，定位到文章第三段第三句话“这让我思考一个显而易见的问题：‘在从来没有如此多的刺激娱乐活动可供他们选择的情况下，孩子们怎么能这么难找到事情做呢？’，由此可知作者已经明说刺激活动解决不了孩子的无聊，这里的态度不是质疑的态度，这里属于偷换概念；
B选项“转移他们对电子视觉游戏的兴趣”，原文没有提及，属于无中生有；
C选项“花更多的钱在娱乐上”，定位到文章第三段第二句话“在许多情况下，这些钱似乎只是暂时缓解了孩子们无聊的可怕呻吟”，由此可知这是父母现在的做法，作者是持否定态度的，作者很肯定地说这种做法是没有用的，不是质疑态度，所以属于偷换概念。
第5题:
【选项释义】
In order to alleviate children’s boredom, the author would probably suggest _____. 为了减轻孩子们的无聊感，作者可能会建议_____。
A. balancing school work with extracurricular activities A. 平衡学校工作和课外活动
B. consulting a specialist in child psychology B. 向儿童心理学专家咨询
C. adjusting the pace of life and intensity of stimulation C. 调整生活节奏和刺激强度
D. promoting the practice of dad-son days D. 提倡父子节的做法
【考查点】推理判断题。
【解题思路】根据题干定位到原文最后一段的最后一句“然而，我一直在越来越多地思考，生活的节奏（the pace of life）和刺激的强度（the intensity of stimulation）可能是如何导致我们社会中儿童和青少年精神问题比率上升的”这里作者推测出儿童感觉到无聊的原因，既然找出了原因那么作者最可能会根据这个原因来提出建议，所以答案选C。
【干扰项排除】
A、B、D选项原文没有提及，属于无中生有。
