结构推理 Directions: Read the following passage(s) carefully and give brief answers to the questions. Americans are people obsessed (困扰) with child rearing. In their books, magazines, talk shows, parent training courses, White House conferences, and chats over the back fence, they endlessly debate the best way to raise children. Moreover, Americans do more than debate their theories; they translate them into action. They erect playgrounds for the youngsters pleasure, equip large schools for their education, and train skilled specialists for their welfare. Whole industries in America are devoted to making children happy, healthy and wise. But this interest in childhood is relatively new. In fact, until very recently people considered childhood just as a brief, and unimportant prelude (序幕) to adulthood and the real business of living. By and large they either ignored children or beat them, much as we would amuse ourselves with some little dogs. When they gave serious thought to children at all, people either conceived (认为) of them as miniature (小型的) adults or as peculiar, unformed animals. Through the ages the experiences of childhood have been as varied as its duration. Babies who have been nurtured (养育) exclusively by their mother in one generation are left with day-care workers in another. In some places children have been trained to get through dangerous mountain passes, and carry heavy objects on their heads. In other places they have been taught complicated piano concertos (协奏曲). But diverse as it has been, childhood has one common experience at its core and that is the social aspect of nurture. All children need adults to bring them up. Because human young take so long to become independent, we think that civilization may have grown up around the need to feed and protect them. (words:：296) 1. What is the passage mainly about? 2. How were children treated in the past? 3. What were children regarded as in the past? 4. What do the examples in Paragraph 3 try to illustrate? 5. According to the author, what do children need most?