On average, American kids ages 3 to 13 spent 29 hours a week in school, eight hours more than they did in 1981. They also did more household work and participated in more of such organized activities as soccer and ballet. Involvement in sports, in particular, rose almost 50% from 1981 to 1997: boys now spend an average of four hours a week playing sports; girls log half that time. All in all, however, children's leisure time dropped from 40% of the day in 1981 to 25%.
"Children are affected by the same time crunch (危机)that affects their parents," says Sandra Hofferth, who headed the recent study of children's timetable. A chief reason, she says, is that more mothers are working outside the home. (Nevertheless, children in both double-income and "male breadwinner" households spent comparable amounts of time interacting with their parents, 19 hours and 22 hours respectively. In contrast, children spent only 9 hours with their single mothers.)
All work and no play could make for some very messed-up kids. "Play is the most powerful way a child explores the world and learns about himself," says T. Berry Brazelton, professor at Harvard Medical School. Unstructured play encourages independent thinking and allows the young to negotiate their relationships with their peers, but kids ages 3 to 12 spent only 12 hours a week engaged in it.
The children sampled spent a quarter of their rapidly decreasing "free time" watching television. But that, believe it or not, was one of the findings parents might regard as good news. If they're spending less time in front of the TV set, however, kids aren't replacing it with reading. Despite efforts to get kids more interested in books, the children spent just over an hour a week reading. Let's face it, who's got the time?
1. By mentioning "the same time crunch" (Line 1, Para. 2) Sandra Hofferth means( ).
2. According to the author, the reason given by Sandra Hofferth for the time crunch is( ).
3. According to the author a child develops better if( ).
4. The author is concerned about the fact that American kids( ).
5. We can infer from the passage that( ).
问题1选项
A.children have little time to play with their parents
B.children are not taken good care of by their working parents
C.both parents and children suffer from lack of leisure time
D.both parents and children have trouble managing their time
问题2选项
A.quite convincing
B.partially true
C.rather confusing
D.totally groundless
问题3选项
A.he has plenty of time reading and studying
B.he is left to play with his peers in his own way
C.he has more time participating in school activities
D.he is free to interact with his working parents
问题4选项
A.are engaged in more and more structured activities
B.are increasingly neglected by their working mothers
C.are spending more and more time watching TV
D.are involved less and less in household work
问题5选项
A.extracurricular activities promote children's intelligence
B.most children will turn to reading with TV sets switched off
C.efforts to get kids interested in reading have been fruitful
D.most parents believe reading to be beneficial to children
第1题:C
第2题:B
第3题:B
第4题:A
第5题:D
1.判断推理题。题干意为: Sandra Hofferth所说的“the same time crunch”是什么意思?根据题干定位至第二段第一句: Children are affected by the same time crunch (危机)that affects their parents (时间危机影响孩子,同样也影响父母)。该句上段主 题是:孩子们的休闲时间从40%降到了 25%。该句的后文主题是:更多母亲在外工作,即与孩子相处的休闲时间也减少了。因此,两者都面临的时间危机就是C项“父母和孩子都缺乏休闲时间”。
2.判断推理题。题干意为: 在作者看来,关于时间危机,Sandra Hofferth所给的原因…。根据题干关键词Sandra Hofferth定位至第二段: more mothers are working outside the home (更多的母亲在外工作)。后面括号内应该是作者的看法: Nevertheless,children in both double-income and "male bread winner" households spent comparable amounts of time interacting with their parents, 19 hours and 22 hours respectively. In contrast, children spent only 9 hours with their single mothers (然而,孩子与父母相处的时间分别是:双亲同时工作的为19小时,父亲一人工作的为22小时,而单身母亲家庭只有9小时)。因此可知,作者不完全支持Sandra Hofferth 的说法。一方面,单身母亲和双亲工作的家庭,与孩子相处的时间少于父亲一人工作的家庭,即,作者大体同意Sandra Hofferth的说法。另一方面,作者认为需要根据不同家庭结构来分析此问题。因此,作者认为Sandra Hofferth所给的原因是“部分正确”
3.判断推理题。题干意为:在作者看来,一个孩子在什么情况下会更好地成长?第三段指出了作者认为的玩耍对孩子成长的好处: Unstructured play encourages independent thinking and allows the young to negotiate their relationships with their peers...(自由玩耍能鼓励独立思考,让孩子们与他们的同伴协商他们的关系……)。因此B项“如果让他和同伴们自由玩耍”正确。
4.判断推理题。题干意为:作者所关心的事实是美国孩子…。A:参加有组织的活动越来越多。第三段最后一句指出: but kids ages 3 to 12 spent only 12 hours a week engaged in it (但是,3—12岁的孩子一周只花了 12小时自由玩耍)。由此可见作者认为孩子自由玩耍的时间越来越少。所以A项所述作者会比较关心。B:上班母亲越来越忽视孩子。第二段谈及母亲上班有影响到孩子的休闲时间,但并不能推测出B项所述,因此排除B项。C:用来看电视的时间越来越多。第四段的确指出:The children sampled spent a quarter of their rapidly decreasing "free time" watching television (调查的孩子的休闲时间迅速减少,但是他们花其中四分之一的时间来看电视),但并不能推测出C项所述,因此排除C项。D:做的家务劳动越来越少。第一段指出: They also did more household work (做的家务劳动越来越少),由此可知,D项所述错误。因此本题选A。
5.判断推理题。题干意为:从文章中,我们能推断出什么?A:课外活动促进儿童智力发展。文章并未有所体现。B:如果关掉电视机,多数孩子会去读书。最后一段指出: If they’re spending less time in front of the TV set, however, kids aren’t replacing it with reading (然而,如果他们花更少的时间看电视,孩子们不会以阅读来取代看电视)。因此B项错误。C:培养孩子们的读书兴趣的努力已经颇有成效。文章最后指出: Despite efforts to get kids more interested in books, the children spent just over an hour a week reading (尽管人们付出努力来培养孩子的读书兴趣,但孩子们一周仅有一个多小时用来读书)。因此C项错误。本题用排除法,可得出答案为D选项“大多数父母认为阅读对孩子有益”。