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In bringing up a child, every parent watches eagerly the child's acquisition（获得）of each new skill—the first spoken words, the first independent steps, or the beginning of reading and writing. It is often tempting to hurry the child beyond his natural learning rate, but this can set up dangerous feeling of failure and states of worry in the child. This might happen at any stage. A baby might be forced to use a toilet too early; a young child might be encouraged to learn to read before he knows the meaning of the words he reads. On the other hand, though, if a child is left alone too much, or without any learning opportunities, he loses his natural enthusiasm for life and his desire to find out new things for himself.

Parents vary greatly in their degree of strictness towards their children. Some may be especially strict in money matters; others are severe over times of coming home at night or punctuality for meals. In general, the controls imposed represent the needs of the parents and the values of the community as much as the child's own happiness.

As regards the development of moral standards in the growing child, consistency is very important in parental teaching. To forbid a thing one day and excuse it the next is no foundation for morality（道德）. Also, parents should realize that “example is better than precept”. If they are not sincere and do not practice what they preach（说教）, their children may grow confused and emotionally insecure when they grow old enough to think for themselves, and realize they have been to some extent fooled. A sudden awareness of a marked difference between their parent's principles and their moral can be a dangerous disappointment.

1．Eagerly watching the child's acquisition of new skills____.

A．should be avoided

B．is universal among parents

C．sets up dangerous states of worry in the child

D．will make him lose interest in learning new things

2．In the process of children's learning new skills parents____.

A．should encourage them to read before knowing the meaning of the words they read

B．should not expect too much of them

C．should achieve a balance between pushing them too hard and leaving them on their own

D．should create as many learning opportunities as possible

3．The second paragraph mainly tells us that____.

A．parents should be strict with their children

B．parental controls reflect only the needs of the parents and the values of the community

C．parental restrictions vary, and are not always enforced for the benefit of the children alone

D．parents vary in their strictness towards their children according to the situation

4．The word “precept” （Line 3, Para. 3）probably means____.

A．idea

B．punishment

C．behavior

D．instruction

5．In moral matters, parents should____.

A．observe the rules themselves

B．be aware of the marked difference between adults and children

C．forbid things which have no foundation in morality

D．consistently ensure the security of their children

1．【答案】B

【精析】由文章第一段第一句话可知，在抚养孩子的过程中，每位父母都渴望看到孩子获得新的技能，即这种渴望在父母中是比较普遍的，所以选B项。

2．【答案】C

【精析】根据第一段所讲的——父母太急于盼望孩子们掌握新技能会对孩子们产生不良影响，我们可以得出一个结论：父母应该在强迫孩子和给予他们自由之间保持平衡，故选C项。

3．【答案】C

【精析】由第二段第一句话“Parents vary greatly in their degree of strictness towards their children.”可知，应选C项。

4．【答案】D

【精析】由最后一段第四句话中的“If they are not sincere and do not practice what they preach”可知，precept的意思与preach相近，故选D项instruction（指导）。

5．【答案】A

【精析】由最后一段的内容可知，在道德问题方面，父母的教育方式要保持一致与连贯，不能朝令夕改。另外，父母还应身体力行，注重“身教重于言教”。故选A项。