单选题 About six years ago I was eating lunch in a restaurant in New York City when a woman and a young boy sat down at the next table. I couldn't help overhearing parts of their conversation. At one point the woman asked: "So, how have you been?" And the boy—who could not have been more than seven or eight years old—replied. "Frankly, I've been feeling a little depressed lately." This incident stuck in my mind because it confirmed my growing belief that children are changing. As far as I can remember, my friends and I didn't find out we were "depressed" until we were in high school.
The evidence of a change in children has increased steadily in recent years. Children don't seem childlike anymore. Children speak more like adults, dress more like adults and behave more like adults than they used to. Whether this is good or bad is difficult to say, but it certainly is different. Childhood as it once was no longer exists. Why?
Human development is based not only on innate (天生的) biological states, but also on patterns of access to social knowledge. Movement from one social role to another usually involves learning the secrets of the new status. Children have always been taught adult secrets, but slowly and in stages: traditionally, we tell sixth graders things we keep hidden from fifth graders.
In the last 30 years, however, a secret-revelation (揭示) machine has been installed in 98 percent of American homes. It is called television. Television passes information, and indiscriminately (不加区分地), to all viewers alike, be they children or adults. Unable to resist the temptation, many children turn their attention from printed texts to the less challenging, more vivid moving pictures.
Communication through print, as a matter of fact, allows for a great deal of control over the social information to which children have access. Reading and writing involve a complex code of symbols that must be memorized and practiced. Children must read simple books before they can read complex materials.

单选题 According to the author, feeling depressed is ______.

A. a sign of a psychological problem in a child
B. something hardly to be expected in a child
C. an inevitable phase of children's mental development
D. a mental experience present in all humans, including children

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[解析] 推理题。题干意为“作者认为，心情郁闷是”。A项意为“孩子有心理问题的迹象”；B项意为“孩子几乎不应该经历的事情”；C项意为“孩子心理发展过程中不可避免的阶段”；D项意为“所有人包括孩子都会有的一种心理经历”。根据题干线索词feeling depressed定位至第一段，其中最后两句提到：小孩向妈妈诉说心情郁闷这一举动使作者坚信现在的小孩正在发生变化，而作者回忆说，自己和朋友是在高中时期才发现自己会心情郁闷。由此推知，作者认为，心情郁闷不应该是小孩经历的事情。B选项与其意思一致，故B为正确答案。

单选题 Traditionally, a child is supposed to learn about the adult world ______.

A. through contact with society
B. gradually and under guidance
C. naturally and by biological instinct
D. through exposure to social information

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[解析] 细节题。题干意为“从传统角度上讲，小孩理应学习成年人的世界”。A项意为“通过与社会的接触”；B项意为“逐步地并且在指导下”；C项意为“自然而然地并且通过本能”；D项意为“通过接触社会知识”。根据题干线索词traditionally和learn the adult world定位至第三段最后一句，即：孩子经常慢慢地并且分阶段地被教会成年人的秘密。从传统意义上讲，我们所教给六年级的孩子的东西就需要对五年级的孩子保密。由此推断，根据传统，小孩应一步一步地在他人的教导下学习成年人。B项与其意思一致，故B为正确答案。

单选题 The phenomenon that today's children seem adult-like is attributed by the author to______.

A. the widespread influence of television
B. the poor arrangement of teaching content
C. the fast pace of human intellectual development
D. the constantly rising standard of living

【正确答案】 A

【答案解析】[解析] 推理题。题干意为“现在的小孩看上去越来越像大人，作者将这一现象归咎于”。A项意为“电视的广泛影响”；B项意为“教学内容的不合理安排”；C项意为“人类智能化发展的快速步伐”；D项意为“生活水平的日渐提高”。该题可采用排除法作答。B、C、D选项的内容在文中均未提及。A选项在文中第四段提及，其中第三句提到，电视会不加区分地将信息传递给所有电视观众，无论是小孩还是成年人。由此推知，作者将小孩成人化这一现象归咎于电视的信息传播作用。故A为正确答案。

单选题 Why is the author in favor of communication through print for children?

A. It enables children to gain more social information.
B. It develops children's interest in reading and writing.
C. It helps children to memorize and practice more.
D. It can control what children are to learn.

【正确答案】 D

【答案解析】[解析] 推理题。题干意为：“作者为什么赞同用印刷品来向孩子传递信息?”A项意为“它能使孩子获得更多的社会知识”；B项意为“它能培养孩子对阅读和写作的兴趣”；C项意为“它能帮助孩子记忆和练习更多东西”；D项意为“它能掌控孩子所学内容”。根据题干线索词communication through print定位至最后一段，其中第一句提到，事实上，以印刷品为媒介的信息交流方式能够在很大程度上控制孩子所接收到的社会信息。由此推断，作者支持用印刷品来向孩子传递信息是因为后者可以控制孩子所学信息。故D为正确答案。

单选题 What does the author think of the change in today's children?

A. He feels amused by their premature behavior.
B. He thinks it is a phenomenon worthy of note.
C. He considers it a positive development.
D. He seems to be upset about it.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】[解析] 推理题。题干意为：“作者对现在孩子的变化作何感想?”A项意为“他为孩子们的早熟行为感到高兴”；B项意为“他认为这是一个值得关注的现象”；C项意为“他认为这是一种积极的发展”；D项意为“他看似对此感到不安”。文中第二段第四句提到“Whether this is good or bad is difficult to say, but it certainly is different”(这究竞是好是坏还很难说，但肯定是一种与众不同的现象)，这里的this即指the change in children。由此推断，作者对孩子早熟这一现象所持态度比较客观。纵观四个选项，A、C、D选项中对作者态度的描述偏主观，B选项比较中立，故B为正确答案。