单选题 Children in the United States are exposed to many influences other than that of their families. Television is the most significant of these influences, because the habit of watching television usually begins before children start attending school.
Parents are concerned about the lack of quality in television programs for children. The degree of violence in many of these shows also worries them. Studies indicate that, when children are exposed to violence, they may become aggressive or insecure.
Parents are also concerned about the commercials that their children see on television. Many parents would like to see fewer commercials during programs for children. And some parents feel that these shows should not have any commercials at all because young minds are not mature enough to deal with the claims made by advertisers.
Educational television has no commercials and has programs for children that many parents approve of. The most famous of these is Sesame Street, which tries to give preschool children a head start in learning the alphabet and numbers. It also tries to teach children useful things about the world in which they live.
Even though most parents and educators give Sesame Street and shows like it high marks for quality, some critics argue that all television, whether educational or not, is harmful to children. These critics feel that the habit of watching hours of television every day turns children into bored and passive consumers of their world rather than encouraging them to become active explorers of it.

单选题 Which of the following statements is NOT based on the passage?
A. Parents are worried about the influence of television on their children.
B. Television has much influence on children.
C. Both parents and their children like watching educational television.
D. Some critics think that television is not good for children.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 主旨判断题。选项A(父母们担心电视对孩子有影响)出现在第二段,选项B(电视对孩子有很大影响)正是本文的中心思想,选项D(一些批评家认为电视对孩子们没有好处)是文章最后一句话的意思,而选项C(父母和孩子都喜欢看教育节目)在原文中未提及,原文只说父母赞同教育节目,所以C是正确答案。
单选题 In what ways do children suffer from television?
A. They become the victims of social violence.
B. They spend hours watching television instead of doing school work.
C. The programs make children lose interest in the world.
D. The programs make children spend too much of their parents' money.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 细节判断题。选项B和D在文章中未提及,选项A中关于暴力的内容文章中虽然提到,但作者只是说父母担心电视节目中的暴力会影响孩子,而不是“孩子们成为暴力的对象”,所以C是最接近作者思想的。
单选题 Parents would not like their children to see commercials because ______.
A. they think that their children are not old enough to handle advertising
B. commercials teach children alphabet and numbers
C. commercials help to sell products
D. they don't like commercials
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 细节理解题。原文第三段最后一句话说父母们认为儿童节目中不应播放广告,因为他们觉得young minds are not mature enough,还不能正确对待广告,所以选项A符合原文意思。
单选题 Educational television is widely appreciated because ______.
A. it does have the same commercials as others
B. it offers programs for both children and their parents
C. many parents like the programs it offers for their children
D. children can learn some school subjects before they go to school
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 细节理解题。原文第四段第一句话提到“Educational television has no commercials and has programs for children that many parents approve of”,因此选项C(父母们喜欢教育电视提供给孩子们的节目)符合原文意思,是正确答案。
单选题 Which of the following can best serve as the title of the passage?
A. Watching Too Much Television Is Harmful to Young Minds
B. Television Is More Harmful than Education
C. Television's Influence on Children
D. More Education Televisions
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 主旨理解题。一篇文章的标题必须切题、概括,本文自始至终围绕电视对孩子的影响这一主题展开。选项A过于偏颇,选项B只涉及一方面的比较,选项D不够概括,所以C是正确答案。