LONDON — Life for Cathy Hagner and her three children is set to permanent(永久的) fast-forward.
Their full school day and her job as a lawyer's assistant are busy enough. But Hanger also has to take the two boys to soccer or hockey or basketball while dropping off her daughter at piano lessons or Girl Scout Club.
Often, the exhausted family doesn't get home until 7 pm. There is just time for a quick supper before homework. In today's world, middle-class American and British parents treat their children as if they are petitors racing for some finishing line.
Parents take their children from activity to activity in order to make their future bright. It seems that raising a genius has bee a more important goal than raising a happy and well-balanced child.
“Doctors across the country are reporting a growing number of children suffering from stomachaches and headaches due to exhaustion and stress,” says child expert William Doherty of the University of Minnesota.
Teachers are dealing with exhausted kids in the classroom. It's a very serious problem. Many children attend after-school clubs by necessity. But petitive pressures also create an explosion of activities. They include sports, language, music and math classes for children as young as four.
“There is a new parenting trend(趋势) under way which says that you have to tap all your child’s potential(潜能) at a young age; otherwise you will let him down,” says Terry Apter, a Cambridge-based child and adolescent psychiatrist(青少年精神病专家).
“It isn't entirely new: there have always been pushy parents. But what was previously(以前) seen as strange behaviour is now well accepted.”
【小题1】 From the second paragraph of this passage we can find that . A．Hagner wastes much time helping her children's lessonsB．Hagner doesn't spend much time on her full-time jobC．Hagner is interested in sports and musicD．Hagner busies herself by following a trend【小题2】British parents, as the writer described in this passage, . A．treat their children as sports playersB．pay no attention to their children's lessonsC．bring up their children in a simple wayD．give their children little time to develop freely【小题3】The writer's opinion about after-school clubs is that . A．activities in the country are too petitiveB．children should attend four clubs at a timeC．some clubs result in petitive pressuresD．clubs should have more subjects for school children【小题4】The last paragraph tells us that in Britain . A．parents used to take their children to every clubB．parents used to be wise on how to raise childrenC．parents have all benefited from children’s clubsD．parents have e to know the standard of educationD
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(答案→)D
解析：
现在的英、美中产家庭的父母亲让孩子们参加各种课外俱乐部，学习体育、语言、音乐、数学等，把孩子们变成了学习的机器。
【小题1】语义理解题。因为第 2 段就是第 1 段内容的具体化。
【小题2】判断题。从文章内容可以看出，在英国，孩子们在学校已经够累了，回到家里，父母亲还要他们参加课外俱乐部的一个又一个活动，孩子们自己发展的空间当然没有了。
【小题3】判断题。第 6 段第 4 句话 But petitive pressures also create an explosion of activities 把俱乐部不好的作用讲得清楚明了。
【小题4】判断题。从本段第 2 句话 But what was previously(以前) seen as strange behaviour is now well accepted 可以判断出，在英国，过去家长们是知道怎样教育孩子们的。
【小题5】主旨题。通读全文可知答案。