单选题
Hidden Valley looks a lot like the dozens of other camps that dot the woods of central Maine. There's a lake, some soccer fields and horses. But the campers make the difference. They're all American parents who have adopted kids from China. They're at Hidden Valley to find bridges from their children's old worlds to the new. Diana Becker watches her 3-year-old daughter Mika dance to a Chinese version of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star." "Her soul is Chinese," she says, "but really she's growing up American." Hidden Valley and a handful of other "culture camps" serving families with children from overseas reflect the huge rise in the number of foreign adoptions, from 7,093 in 1990 to 15,774 last year. Most children come from Russia(4,491 last year)and China(4,206)but there are also thousands of others adopted annually from South America, Asia and Eastern Europe. After cutting through what can be miles of red tape, parents often come home to find a new
predicament
. "At first you think, 'I need a child'," says Sandy Lachter of Washington, D.C., who with her husband, Steve, adopted Amelia, 5, from China in 1995. "Then you think, 'What does the child need?'"
The culture camps give families a place to find answers to those kinds of questions. Most grew out of local support groups; Hidden Valley was started last year by the Boston chapter of Families with Children from China, which includes 650 families. While parents address weighty issues like how to raise kids in a mixed-race family, their children just have fun riding horses, singing Chinese songs or making scallion pancakes. "My philosophy of camping is that they could be doing anything, as long as they see other Chinese kids with white parents," says the director, Peter Kassen, whose adopted daughters Hope and Lily are 6 and 4.
The camp is a continuation of language and dance classes many of the kids attend during the year. "When we rented out a theater for 'Mulan,' it was packed," says Stephen Chen of Boston, whose adopted daughter Lindsay is 4. Classes in Chinese language, art and calligraphy are taught by experts, like Renne Lu of the Greater Boston Chinese Cultural Center. "Our mission is to preserve the heritage," Lu says.
Kids who are veteran campers say the experience helps them understand their complex heritage. Sixteen-year-old Alex was born in India and adopted by Kathy and David Brinton of Boulder, Colo., when he was 7. "I went through a stage where I hated India, hated everything about it," he says. "You just couldn't mention India to me." But after six sessions at the East India Colorado Heritage Camp, held at Snow Mountain Ranch in Estes Park, Colo., he hopes to travel to India after he graduates from high school next year.
单选题
What is the author's primary purpose in writing the passage?
单选题
Which of the following is closest in meaning to the underlined word "predicament" in PARAGRAPH TWO?
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】解析:词义题。根据第二段“predicament”后面Sandy所说的话“At first you think.‘I need achild’,”says Sandy Lachter of Washington,D.C.,who with her husband,Steve,adopted Amelia,5,from China in1995.“Then you think,‘What does the child need?’”可知,虽然通过了重重困难收养了一个孩子,但是却发现了新的问题,那就是不知道孩子想要什么,所以家长的处境变得进退两难。故选A。
单选题
Where are the adopted kids served by Hidden Valley from?
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】解析:细节题。根据第一段“They’re all American parents who have adopted kids from China.”可知Hidden Valley帮助的孩子来自中国。故选C。
单选题
What can a culture camp help to do according to Peter Kassen?
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】解析:细节题。根据Peter Kassen定位到第三段“‘My philosophy of camping is that they couldbe doing anything,as long as they see other Chinese kids with white parents,’says the director,Peter Kassen.”可见他的观点是“只要孩子们看到其他中国孩子能和他们的白人父母在一起做的,他们都可以做”,因此选B。A项“文化野营活动可以帮助被收养的儿童理解他们复杂的传统文化”,不是Peter Kassen的观点。C项“文化野营活动可以帮助美国人从俄罗斯和中国收养更多孩子”,D项“文化野营活动可以帮助美国人从其他国家收养孩子”,这都与原文不符,也不是Peter Kassen的观点。
单选题
What can be inferred about Alex from the last paragraph?
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】解析:推断题。根据最后一段第一句以及Alex所说的话,可知Alex对他的出生国家印度有了改观,对自己跨种族的家庭有了新的认识。故选D。也可以使用排除法,排除其他三项。A项与原文不符,故排除;文中并没有提到“East India Colorado Heritage Camp”帮助Alex移民,而是帮助他重新了解印度,排除B项;Alex是受到“East India Colorado Heritage Camp”帮助而不是Hidden Valley,排除C项。