单选题 When bringing a newborn baby home from the hospital, most new parents expect a few sleepless nights. However, when an uninterrupted night's sleep becomes a distant memory, and it is no longer weeks, but months or years since you experienced one, a parent may grow angry, frustrated, and exhausted.
Our firstborn, Robert, was nine-month-old when a girlfriend mentioned that her month-old daughter was regularly sleeping through the night. I was overcome with bitter envy, for it was a feat our son had yet to do. Finally, at twelve months, he slept an entire night. I was elated, believing we'd finally overcome that particular hurdle. Unfortunately, it was the only complete night's sleep we would enjoy for the next four years.
Three pediatricians insisted Robert's problem was not unusual, and that he would eventually grow out of it. He had no problem going to sleep. In fact, at bedtime he never resisted, and drifted off to dreamland with relative ease. Yet, within an hour after my husband and I went to bed, he would wake up. Sometimes those nocturnal activities would include diaper changes, or eventually trips to the bathroom. Yet, often they would be repeated throughout the night, and would require a great deal of coaxing before sleep was again achieved.
Sometimes Robert would behave erratically, flailing around restlessly, being cranky and irrational. Had I not personally supervised his daily care, I would have suspected these nightmarish fits were the product of some daytime trauma.
As my husband and I desperately sought an uninterrupted night of sleep, we began trying every, trick imaginable. As per advice from the experts, we briefly tried the tough love routine, where a parent checks for the obvious (such as wet diapers), and then walks away, allowing the baby to cry himself to sleep. It was agony for all concerned, and did absolutely no good. Someone suggested that Robert might be waking up, when we all went to bed, due to the absence of noise. My husband immediately purchased a small radio for the nursery. Another article said warm milk before bedtime would do the trick, while another suggested no beverage. We rocked, walked, ignored, coddled, fed, gave beverages, and took them away.
The most frightening aspect of this type of problem is what sleep deprivation can eventually do to a parent's state of mind and judgment. I recall one instance when my husband snapped, and began shouting at our wakeful two-year-old son. It so terrified our child, it caused him to literally forget to breathe, and then he broke into a heartbreaking silent sob. My husband was devastated by his own behavior, and we were always grateful that those years of sleepless nights didn't escalate into a more severe situation.
By the time Robert was three, we moved to another community, and new doctors. But two doctors later, and a son nearing kindergarten, still had not provided us with a complete night's rest. I wonder about those doctors, who choose to discount our problem, ignoring what it could be doing to our family, and how even the best parents might slip into child abuse when sleep is not sufficient.

单选题 According to the author, what would parents eventually do with a sleepless, troublesome newborn baby?
A. They might turn themselves into pediatricians themselves after some years.
B. They would treasure the experience because it would become a distant dream.
C. They would be overcome with bitter envy for some regularly sleeping children.
D. They would probably become some abusive parents because of sleep insufficiency.

单选题 Which of the following is NOT used by the author to stop the child's crying at night?
A. Leaving the baby crying alone in a room unattended.
B. Letting the baby listen to the radio for the nursery.
C. Feeding the baby with some warm milk and beverage.
D. Allowing the child to sleep in an absence of noise.

单选题 When they moved to another community, Robert's problem is ______.
A. still existing B. solved by another doctor
C. not further mentioned D. solved by the parents

单选题 The conditions of Robert include all EXCEPT that ______.
A. he had no problem going to sleep
B. he falls asleep easily
C. Robert always behaves well during the night
D. he would go to the bathroom several times each night

单选题 In this story, what is the author's attitude towards doctors?
A. Hateful. B. Complaining. C. Contemptuous. D. Disregardful.