单选题 Despite the general negative findings, it is important to remember that all children who live through a divorce do not behave in the same way. The specific behavior depends on the child's individual personality, characteristics, age at the time of divorce, and gender. In terms of personality, when compared to those rated as relaxed and easygoing, children described as temperamental and irritable have more difficulty coping with parental divorce, as indeed they have more difficulty adapting to life changes in general. Stress,such as that found in disrupted families, seems to impair the ability of temperamental children to adapt to their surroundings, the greater the amount of stress, the less well they adapt. In contrast, a moderate amount of stress may actually help an easygoing, relaxed child learn to cope with adversity.
There is some relationship between age and children's characteristic reaction to divorce. As the child grows older, the greater is the likelihood of a free expression of a variety of complex feelings, an understanding of those feelings, and a realization that the decision to divorce cannot be attributed to any one simple cause. Self-blame virtually disappears after the age of 6, fear of abandonment diminishes after the age of 8, and the confusion and fear of the young child is replaced in the older child by shame,anger,and self-reflection.
Gender of the child is also a factor that predicts the nature of reaction to divorce. The impact of divorce is initially greater on boys than on girls. They are more aggressive, less compliant, have greater difficulties in interpersonal relationships, and exhibit problem behaviors both at home and at school. Furthermore, the adjustment problems of boys are still noticeable even two years after the divorce. Girls' adjustment problems are usually internalized rather than acted out, and are often resolved by the second year after the divorce. However, new problems may surface for girls as they enter adolescence and adulthood. How can the relatively greater impact of divorce on boys than on girls be explained? The greater male aggression and noncompliance may reflect the fact that such behaviors are tolerated and even encouraged in males in our culture more than they are in females. Furthermore, boys may have a particular need for a strong male model of self- control,as well as for a strong disciplinarian parent. Finally, boys are more likely to be exposed to their parents' fights than girls are, and after the breakup, boys are less likely than girls to receive sympathy and support from mothers, teachers, or peers.
单选题 Temperamental, irritable kids have difficulty adapting to parental divorce because ______.
  • A. they care too much about the life changes
  • B. the great stress of their families diminishes their ability
  • C. they tend to lose temper easily and are sensitive to the life change
  • D. they are faced with more parents' fights than the relaxed,easygoing children
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 本题为细节题。根据第一段第三句In terms of personality, when compared to those rated as relaxed and easygoing, children described as temperamental and irritable have more difficulty coping with parental divorce, as indeed they have more difficulty adapting to life changes in general．可知，“喜怒无常、性格急躁的孩子与个性温和、容易相处的孩子相比，更难以应对父母的离异，因为他们一般更难以适应生活上的变化”，该句中as引导原因状语从句，因此A为正确答案。
单选题 The following statements are true EXCEPT ______.
  • A. divorce is usually caused by more than one reason
  • B. a six-year-old boy may fear being deserted by his parents
  • C. as the kids grow older,they have a better understanding of divorce
  • D. a young girl may feel more shameful on parental divorce than an older boy
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 本题为细节判断题。根据第二段第三句Self-blame virtually disappears after the age of 6, fear of abandonment diminishes after the age of 8, and the confusion and fear of the young child is replaced in the older child by shame, anger, and self-reflection．可知，孩子在8岁以后对父母离异的羞愧、愤怒及自我反省心理取代了6岁前的困惑和恐惧心理。由此可见，年长的孩子更容易感到羞愧，而D项与本句描述的事实相反，为本题的正确选项；另本句还提到8岁以后孩子对被抛弃的恐惧才会减少，因此B项符合事实；根据该段第二句As the child grows older, the greater is the likelihood of a free expression of a variety of complex feelings, an understanding of those feelings, and a realization that the decision to divorce cannot be attributed to any one simple cause．可知，长大的孩子更能意识到父母离异的决定不能简单归结于任何单一的原因，因此C项正确，故正确答案为D。
单选题 It can be inferred from the passage that the impact of divorce ______.
  • A. on kids of different sexes will probably change as they grow older
  • B. may cause most kids' difficulties in communicating with others
  • C. on an irritable girl is greater than a noncompliant boy
  • D. is always greater on boys than on girls
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 本题为归纳题。通读全文可知决定父母离异对孩子影响的因素有性格、年龄和性别。第一段说的是喜怒无常、性格急躁的孩子更容易受父母离异的影响；第二段说的是随着年龄的增长，一些影响会消失或新的影响会出现；第三段说的是父母离异最初对男孩的影响较大，而女孩受到的影响较隐蔽。四个选项中只有A的论述最为全面；仔细阅读全文，不难发现文中并没有提到“孩子交流”的问题，所以B项可排除；C项涉及了性别和个性两个因素，无法判断谁受到的影响更大；而D项只考虑了性别因素，过于片面，故正确答案为A。
单选题 According to the author, the reason why parental divorce has a greater effect on boys than on girls is that ______.
  • A. all cultures encourage male aggression and noncompliance
  • B. boys are always involved in their parents' fights
  • C. males are usually viewed as the models in self-control and strong will
  • D. boys are basically more self-disciplined than girls
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 本题为细节题。根据文章第三段The greater male aggression and noncompliance may reflect the fact that such behaviors are tolerated and even encouraged in males in our culture more than they are in females．Furthermore, boys may have a particular need for a strong male model of self-control, as well as for a strong disciplinarian parent．Finally, boys are more likely to be exposed to their parents' fights than girls are, and after the breakup, boys are less likely than girls to receive sympathy and support from mothers, teachers, or peers．可知离婚对男孩影响比女孩大的原因有三点分别是我们的文化更能容忍男孩具有攻击性和不驯服性；男孩更希望树立起自律的强悍形象，也希望父母严格自律和较少得到他人的同情与支持。四个选项中只有C项符合三个原因中的第二点；A项错在all cultures，文章中说的是our culture；第三点原因中说的是“男孩更容易看到(be exposed to)父母吵架”，而不是陷入(involved in)，故B项错误；文中并未对男孩女孩谁更自律做出比较，因而D项错误，故正确答案为C。
单选题 What is the main idea of the passage?
  • A. Parental divorce has a negative effect on children all through their life.
  • B. The impact of parental divorce on children varies in personality, age and gender.
  • C. Boys may become more aggressive than girls in disrupted families.
  • D. Kids of different ages behave differently on parental divorce.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 本题为主旨大意题。根据文章第一段的第一、二句Despite the general negative findings, it is important to remember that all children who live through a divorce do not behave in the same way．The specific hehavior depends on the child's individual personality, characteristics, age at the time of divorce, and gender．可知经历父母离异的孩子会有不同的行为，而这些行为多取决于孩子的个性特点、性别及其在父母离婚时的年龄。文章接下来的内容则是围绕着这三个因素展开论述的，由此可知B项应为文章的主旨。