Parents and kids today dress alike,listen to the same music,and are friends.Is this a good thing?Sometimes,when Mr.Ballmer and his 16yearold daughter,Elizabeth,listen to rock music together and talk about interests both enjoy,such as pop culture,he remembers his more distant relationship with his parents when he was a teenager.
“I would never have said to my mom,‘Hey,the new Weezer album is really great.How do you like it?’” says Ballmer.“There was just a complete gap in taste.”
Music was not the only gulf.From clothing and hairstyles to activities and expectations,earlier generations of parents and children often appeared to move in separate orbits(轨道).
Today,the generation gap has not disappeared,but it is getting narrow in many families.Conversations on subjects such as sex and drugs would not have taken place a generation ago.Now they are comfortable and common.And parentchild activities,from shopping to sports,involve a feeling of trust and friendship that can continue into adulthood.
No wonder greeting cards today carry the message,“To my mother,my best friend.”
But family experts warn that the new equality can also result in less respect for parents.
“There's still a lot of strictness and authority on the part of parents out there,but there is a change happening,” says Kerrie,a psychology professor at Lebanon Valley College.“In the middle of that change,there is a lot of confusion among parents.”
Family researchers offer a variety of reasons for these evolving(进化的)roles and attitudes.They see the 1960s as a turning point.Great cultural changes led to more open communication and a more democratic(民主的)process that encourages everyone to have a say.
“My parents were on the ‘before' side of that change,but today's parents,the 40yearolds,were on the ‘after' side,” explains Mr.Ballmer.“It's not something easily accomplished(完成)by parents these days,because life is more difficult to understand or deal with,but sharing interests does make it more fun to be a parent now.”
1. The underlined word “gulf” in Para.3 most probably means ______.
A. interestB. distanceC. differenceD. separation
2. Which of the following shows that the generation gap is disappearing?
A. Parents help their children develop interests in more activities.
B. Parents put more trust in their children's abilities.
C. Parents and children talk more about sex and drugs.
D. Parents share more interests with their children.
3. The change in today's parentchild relationship is ______.
A. more confusion among parents
B. new equality between parents and children
C. less respect for parents from children
D. more strictness and authority on the part of parents
4. By saying “today's parents,the 40yearolds,were on the ‘after’ side.” the author means that today's parents ______.
A. follow the trend of the change
B. can set a limit to the change
C. fail to take the change seriously
D. have little difficulty adjusting to the change
5. The purpose of the passage is to ______.
A. describe the difficulties today's parents have met with
B. discuss the development of the parentchild relationship
C. suggest the ways to handle the parentchild relationship
D. compare today's parentchild relationship with that in the past
参考答案及解析
【答案】 (1)B (2)D (3)B (4)A (5)B
【解析】(1)从该段第二句(即最后一句)中的“From clothing and hairstyles to activities and expectations,earlier generations of parents and children often appeared to move in separate orbits”可知,gulf表达的是与to move in separate orbits相近的意思,“在不同的轨道运行”也就是“有距离”。
(2)根据第一段内容可知,父母与子女有很多共同的兴趣和爱好,表明他们之间的代沟在逐渐消失。
(3)从第六段中的“...family experts warn that...”可知,目前的亲子关系的新转变。
(4)第八段中提到“...the 1960s as a turning point.Great cultural changes led to more open communication...”,也就是说40多岁的人能顺应变化的趋势。
(5)综观全文可知,本文主要讲的是亲子关系的发展变化
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