Question

【題目】 When John was growing up, other kids felt sorry for him. His parents always had him weeding the garden，carrying out the garbage and delivering newspapers. But when John reached adulthood, he was better off than his childhood playmates. He had more job satisfaction, a better marriage and was healthier. Most of all, he was happier.Far happier.

These are the findings of a 40year study that followed the lives of 456 teenage boys from Boston. The study showed that those who had worked as boys enjoyed happier and more productive lives than those who had not. “Boys who worked in the home or community gained competence (能力) and came to feel they were worthwhile members of society，”said George Vaillant, the psychologist (心理學(xué)家) who made the discovery. “And because they felt good about themselves, others felt good about them.”

Vaillant's study followed these males in great detail. Interviews were repeated at ages 25, 31 and 47. Under Vaillant, the researchers compared the men's mentalhealth scores with their boyhood activity scores. Points were awarded for parttime jobs, housework, effort in school，and ability to deal with problems.

The link between what the men had done as boys and how they turned out as adults was surprisingly sharp．Those who had done the most boyhood activities were twice as likely to have warm relations with a wide variety of people，five times as likely to be well paid and 16 times less likely to have been unemployed. The researchers also found that IQ and family social and economic class made no real difference in how the boys turned out.

Working—at any age—is important.Childhood activities help a child develop responsibility, independence, confidence and competence—the underpinnings (基礎(chǔ)) of emotional health. They also help him understand that people must cooperate and work toward common goals. The most competent adults are those who know how to do this.Yet work isn't everything. As Tolstoy once said，“One can live magnificently in this world if one knows how to work and how to love, to work for the person one loves and to love one's work.”

【1】What do we know about John?

A.He enjoyed his career and marriage.

B.He had few childhood playmates.

C.He received little love from his family.

D.He was envied by others in his childhood.

【2】Vaillant's words in Paragraph 2 serve as ________．

A.a description of personal values and social values

B.an analysis of how work was related to competence

C.an example for parents' expectations of their children

D.an explanation why some boys grew into happy men

【3】Vaillant's team obtained their findings by ________．

A.recording the boys' effort in school

B.evaluating the men's mental health

C.comparing different sets of scores

D.measuring the men's problem solving ability

【4】What does the underlined word “sharp” probably mean in Paragraph 4?

A.Quick to react.B.Having a thin edge.

C.Clear and definite.D.Sudden and rapid.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】A

【2】D

【3】C

【4】C

【解析】

這是一篇說明文。文章主要講了研究表明，那些小時(shí)候工作過的人比那些沒有工作過的人生活得更快樂、更有成效。

【1】細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第一段He had more job satisfaction, a better marriage and was healthier.（他的工作滿意度更高，婚姻更美滿，身體也更健康。）由此可知，約翰享受他的事業(yè)和婚姻，故選A。

【2】推理判斷題。根據(jù)第二段 “Boys who worked in the home or community gained competence (能力) and came to feel they were worthwhile members of society，”said George Vaillant, the psychologist (心理學(xué)家) who made the discovery.“And because they felt good about themselves, others felt good about them.”（發(fā)現(xiàn)這一現(xiàn)象的心理學(xué)家Vaillant說:“在家庭或社區(qū)工作的男孩獲得了能力，并開始覺得自己是社會(huì)中有價(jià)值的成員。”“因?yàn)樗麄儗?duì)自己感覺良好，別人也對(duì)他們感覺良好。”）由此可以推斷出，Vaillant在第二段的話解釋了為什么一些男孩成長為快樂的人，故選D。

【3】細(xì)節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第三段Under Vaillant, the researchers compared the men's menta lhealth scores with their boyhood activity scores.可知Vaillant的研究小組通過比較不同的分?jǐn)?shù)得到了他們的發(fā)現(xiàn)，故選C。

【4】詞義猜測題。根據(jù)下文Those who had done the most boyhood activities were twice as likely to have warm relations with a wide variety of people，five times as likely to be well paid and 16 times less likely to have been unemployed.（那些在童年時(shí)期參加過最多活動(dòng)的人，與各種各樣的人保持親密關(guān)系的可能性是其他人的兩倍，獲得高薪的可能性是其他人的五倍，失業(yè)的不可能性是其他人的16倍。）由此可知，The link between what the men had done as boys and how they turned out as adults was surprisingly sharp．的意思是男性在孩童時(shí)期的行為和成年后的表現(xiàn)之間的聯(lián)系是驚人的明確。“sharp”的意思明確，故選C。