Text 4

　　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 change 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.

　　1. Temperamental, irritable kids have difficulty adapting to parental divorce because_____.

　　[A] they care too much about the life change

　　[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

　　2. 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

　　3. 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

　　4. According to the author, the reason why parental divorce has 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

　　5. 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.

　　答案

　　1. A 2.D 3.A 4.C 5.B

　　總體分析

　　本文介紹了父母離異對(duì)不同的孩子影響不同。

　　第一段：先提出造成孩子對(duì)父母離異有不同反應(yīng)的幾個(gè)因素，接著分析個(gè)性在孩子適應(yīng)父母離異狀況時(shí)的影響。

　　第二段：分析父母離異對(duì)不同年齡的孩子的影響。

　　第三段：分析父母離異對(duì)不同性別的孩子的影響。