完形填空：

阅读下面短文，掌握其大意,然后从1~25各题所给的四个选项中，选出一个最佳答案。

　In the past American families tended to be quite large. Parents 　1 　five or more children were common. Over the years the 　2 　of the families has decreased (缩减). One reason for this is 　3 　in the cost of living. On the average children 　4 　 schools for more years than they 　5 　, making them financially (经济上) depend on their families 　6 　. Moreover children nowadays 　7 　and have more money to 　8 　entertainment. The parents 　9 　take the responsibility for 　10 　expenses. Meanwhile, families are 　11 　than they used to be. More and more American 　12 　work away from home.

　The break-up of the family occurs (发生) 　13 　the parents divorce (离婚). A lot of children in the 　14 　live part of young lives with only 　15 　. Broken families usually result in 　16 　for children alike. Children blame themselves when their parents 　17 　. They grow up feeling unsettled as they are moved 　18 　between parents. These single parents must 　19 　the children's emotional needs while also supporting them financially. This leaves very 　20 　time for the parents' own interests. Single parents often 　21 　other single parents. In this type of family unrelated children are forced to 　22 　brother and sister relationship. The 　23 　of many American families today are not good. However, recent science indicates(表明) that things are getting better. The divorce rate is declining. The rate of child birth 　24　. Perhaps Americans have learnt 　25 　important families are.

Since we are not wealthy now，we’d better take our daily expenses into________.

　　It is difficult for parents of nearly every family to teach their children to be responsible （有责任的）for housework, but with one of the following suggestions, you really can get your children to help at home.

　　If you give your children the impression that they can never do anything quite right, then they will regard themselves as unfit or unable persons. Unless children believe they can succeed, they will never become totally independent.

　　My daughter Carla’s fifth - grade teacher made every child in her class feel special. When students received less than a prefect test score, she would point out what they had mastered and declared firmly they could learn what they had missed.

　　You can use the same technique when you evaluate （评价）your child’s work at home. Don’t always scold and give lots of praise instead. Talk about what he has done right, not about what he hasn’t done. If your child completes a difficult task, promise him a Sunday trip or a ball game with Dad.

　　Learning is a process（过程）of trying and failing and trying and succeeding. If you teach your children not to fear a mistake of failure, they will learn faster and achieve success at last.

　　The whole passage deals with ________.

　　A. social education　　　　　　　　B. school education

　　C. family education　　　　　　　　D. pre - school education

　　The author thinks that________.

　　A. there is no way to get children to help at home

　　B. the more encouragement and praise you give, the more responsible and helpful children will become

　　C. it is very difficult to make children responsible for housework

　　D. children can be forced to help with housework

　The article gives us a good suggestion about how to evaluate（评价）your child’s work at home. That is to ________.

　　A. praise his success　　　　　　　 B. promise him a trip

　　C. give him a punishment　　　　　 D. promise him a ball game

　　The author advises readers to________.

　　A. learn from himself, for he has a good way of teaching

　　B. take pride in Carla’s fifth - grade teacher

　　C. do as what Carla’s teacher did in educating children

　　D. follow Carla’s example because she never fails in the test

E
In the old days, children were familiar with birth and death as part of life. Now this is perhaps the first generation of American youngsters who have never been close by during of the birth a baby and have never experienced the death of a family member.
　　Nowadays when people grow old, we often send them to nursing homes. When they get sick, we send them to a hospital, where children are forbidden to visit patients— even when those patients are their parents. This deprives（剥夺）the dying patient of family members during the last few days of his life and it deprives the children of an experience of death, which is an important learning experience.
　　Some of my colleagues and I once interviewed and followed about 500 in order to find out what they could teach us and how we could be of more benefit, not just to them but to the members of their families as well. We were most impressed by the fact that even those patients who were not told of their serious illness were quite aware of its potential outcome.
　　It is important for family members, and doctors and nurses to understand these patients’ communication in order to truly understand their needs, fears and fantasies. Most of our patients welcomed another human being with whom they could talk openly, honestly, and frankly about their trouble. Many of them shared with us their reat need to be informed, to be kept up-to-date on their medical condition and to be told when the end was near. We found out that patients who had been dealt with openly and frankly were better able to deal with the coming of death and finally to reach a true stage of acceptance before death.
82.The elders of today's Americans________ .
　　A. are often absent when a family member is born or dying
　　B. usually see the birth or death of a family member　　
C. are unfamiliar with birth and death
　　D. have often experienced the fear of death as part of life
83.Children in America are deprived of the chance to________.
　　A. visit a patient at hospital　　　　                             B. visit their family members
　　C. look after the patients　　　　                                          D. learn how to face death　
84.The need of a dying patient for people to accompany him shows________.
　　A. his wish for communication with other people　　             
B. his fear of death
　　C. his unwillingness to die                    　     
D. he feels very upset about his condition
85.It may be concluded from the passage that________.
　　A. dying patients should be truthfully informed of their condition
　　B. dying patients are afraid of being told of the coming of death
　　C. most patients are unable to accept death until it can’t be avoided
D. dying patients are not likely to be informed about their condition         

Long ago there was a poor farmer in Russia. He had been very__1__with everything he had. However，when he found his elder brother was_2__than him，he felt disappointed. So he__3_hard about how he could also be richer. Finally he got an idea. He started to spend less money on food and clothes to__4__some money to buy more land. Once he had enough money，he started__5_for land.

He__6__that on the neighboring land，there were some nomads (游牧民) living there. He bought some gifts and went to__7__their head. He presented the gifts to the head and told him the__8__of his visit. The head welcomed him，accepted the gifts and agreed to his_9__to get the land. The head told him that he could have the land__10__giving him anything. He can take as much land as he could__11__by walking through the land before sunset (日落)．He should start in the morning and whatever distance he could travel during the__12_，he could have it.

The farmer became very__13__when he heard this offer. Now he could have lots of__14__without paying anything. He came_15_the next morning and started running，not walking，__16__he could cover the largest area. To reach his goal，he neither ate food，nor drank water，nor had any rest. He just continued__17__.Without eating，or drinking，or resting he just got very__18__.When he came back to the head in the evening，he__19__right on the spot. Sadly his son buried him in a piece of land about 6 x 4 feet.

Don’t be greedy (贪婪的) or you will__20__everything finally.

1.                A．careful　　　   B．pleased         C．bored　　　  D．busy

2.                A．healthier       B．stronger        C．richer    D．cleverer

3.                A．thought        B．learned         C．tried D．worked

4.                A．borrow         B．spend          C．make D．save

5.                A．waiting         B．looking         C．preparing D．caring

6.                A．explained       B．hoped          C．noticed   D．guessed

7.                A．see            B．follow          C．help D．cheat

8.                A．chance         B．result          C．condition D．purpose

9.                A．promise        B．request         C．suggestion D．order

10.               A．for            B．by             C．without   D．before

11.               A．cover          B．farm           C．buy  D．have

12.               A．year           B．month         C．week D．day

13.               A．interested      B．sad            C．happy D．calm

14.               A．land           B．crop           C．experience D．knowledge

15.               A．quietly         B．early           C．finally D．suddenly

16.               A．so that         B．even if         C．because   D．whether

17.               A．dreaming       B．walking         C．speaking   D．running

18.               A．nervous        B．excited         C．tired  D．worried

19.               A．refused        B．died           C．appeared  D．rested

20.               A．lose           B．face           C．change    D．defeat