大學英語四級仔細閱讀訓練附答案

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　　Psychiatrists ***精神病專家*** who work with older parents say that maturity can be an asset in child rearing-older parents are more thoughtful, use less physical discipline and spend more time with their children. But raising kids takes money and energy. Many older parents find themselves balancing their limited financial resources, declining energy and failing health against the growing demands of an active child. Dying and leaving young children is probably the older parents’ biggest, and often unspoken, fear. Having late-life children, says an economics professor, often means parents, particularly fathers, “end up retiring much later.” For many, retirement becomes an unobtainable dream.

　　Henry Metcalf, a 54-year-old journalist, knows it takes money to raise kids. But he’s also worried that his energy will give out first. Sure, he can still ride bikes with his athletic fifth grader, but he’s learned that young at heart doesn’t mean young. Lately he’s been taking afternoon naps ***午睡*** to keep up his energy. “My body is aging,” says Metcalf. “You can’t get away from that.”

　　Often, older parents hear the ticking of another kind of biological clock. Therapists who work with middle-aged and older parents say fears about aging are nothing to laugh at. “They worry they’ll be mistaken for grandparents, or that they’ll need help getting up out of those little chairs in nursery school,” says Joann Galst, a New York psychologist. But at the core of those little fears there is often a much bigger one: “that they won’t be alive long enough to support and protect their child,” she says.

　　Many late-life parents, though, say their children came at just the right time. After marrying late and undergoing years of fertility ***受孕*** treatment, Marilyn Nolen and her husband. Randy, had twins. “We both wanted children,” says Marilyn, who was 55 when she gave birth. The twins have given the couple what they desired for years, “a sense of family.” Kids of older dads are often smarter, happier and more sociable because their fathers are more involved in their lives. “The dads are older, more mature,” says Dr. Silber,

　　“and more ready to focus on parenting.”

　　36. Why do psychiatrists regard maturity as an asset in child rearing?

　　A*** Older parents are often better prepared financially.

　　B*** Older parents can take better care of their children.

　　C*** Older parents are usually more experienced in bringing up their children.

　　D*** Older parents can better balance their resources against children’s demands.

　　37. What does the author mean by saying “For many, retirement becomes an unobtainable dream” ***Lines 7-8, Para. 1***?

　　A*** They are reluctant to retire when they reach their retirement age.

　　B*** They can’t obtain the retirement benefits they have dreamed of.

　　C*** They can’t get full pension unless they work some extra years.

　　D*** They have to go on working beyond their retirement age.

　　38. The author gives the example of Henry Metcalf to show that ________.

　　A*** older parents should exercise more to keep up with their athletic children

　　B*** many people are young in spirit despite their advanced age

　　C*** older parents tend to be concerned about their aging bodies

　　D*** taking afternoon naps is a good way to maintain energy

　　39. What’s the biggest fear of older parents according to New York psychologist Joan Galst?

　　A*** Approaching of death.

　　B*** Slowing down of their pace of life.

　　C*** Being laughed at by other people.

　　D*** Being mistaken for grandparents.

　　40. What do we learn about Marilyn and Randy Nolen?

　　A*** They thought they were an example of successful fertility treatment.

　　B*** Not until they reached middle age did they think of having children.

　　C*** Not until they had the twins did they feel they had formed a family.

　　D*** They believed that children born of older parents would be smarter.


 

　　36. C 37. D 38. C 39.A 40. C



 

　　Communications technologies are far from equal when it comes to conveying the truth. The first study to compare honesty across a range of communication media has fund that people are twice as likely to tell lies in phone conversations as they are in emails. The fact that emails are automatically recorded—and can come back to haunt ***困擾*** you—appears to be the key to the finding.

　　Jeff Hancock of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, asked 30 students to keep a communications diary for a week. In it they noted the number of conversations or email exchanges they had lasting more than 10 minutes, and confessed to how many lies they told. Hancock then worked out the number of lies per conversation for each medium. He found that lies made up 14 per cent of emails, 21 per cent of instant messages, 27 per cent of face-to-face interactions and an astonishing 37 per cent of phone calls.

　　His results to be presented at the conference on human-computer interaction in Vienna, Austria, in April, have surprised psychologists. Some expected emailers to be the biggest liars, reasoning that because deception makes people uncomfortable, the detachment ***非直接接觸*** of emailing would make it easier to lie. Others expected people to lie more in face-to-face exchanges because we are most practised at that form of communication.

　　But Hancock says it is also crucial whether a conversation is being recorded and could be reread, and whether it occurs in real time. People appear to be afraid to lie when they know the communication could later be used to hold them to account, he says. This is why fewer lies appear in email than on the phone.

　　People are also more likely to lie in real time—in a instant message or phone call, say—than if they have time to think of a response, says Hancock. He found many lies are spontaneous ***脫口而出的*** responses to an unexpected demand, such as: “Do you like my dress?”

　　Hancock hopes his research will help companies work our the best ways for their employees to communicate. For instance, the phone might be the best medium foe sales where employees are encouraged to stretch the truth. But, given his result, work assessment where honesty is a priority, might be best done using email.

　　57. Hancock’s study focuses on ________.

　　A*** the consequences of lying in various communications media

　　B*** the success of communications technologies in conveying ideas

　　C*** people are less likely to lie in instant messages

　　D*** people’s honesty levels across a range of communications media

　　58. Hancock’s research finding surprised those who believed that ________.

　　A*** people are less likely to lie in instant messages

　　B*** people are unlikely to lie in face-to-face interactions

　　C*** people are most likely to lie in email communication

　　D*** people are twice as likely to lie in phone conversations

　　59. According to the passage, why are people more likely to tell the truth through certain media of communication?

　　A*** They are afraid of leaving behind traces of their lies.

　　B*** They believe that honesty is the best policy.

　　C*** They tend to be relaxed when using those media.

　　D*** They are most practised at those forms of communication.

　　60. According to Hancock the telephone is a preferable medium for promoting sales because ________.

　　A*** salesmen can talk directly to their customers

　　B*** salesmen may feel less restrained to exaggerate

　　C*** salesmen can impress customers as being trustworthy

　　D*** salesmen may pass on instant messages effectively

　　61. It can be inferred from the passage that ________.

　　A*** honesty should be encouraged in interpersonal communications

　　B*** more employers will use emails to communicate with their employees

　　C*** suitable media should be chosen for different communication purposes

　　D*** email is now the dominant medium of communication within a company


 

　　57. D 58. A 59. A 60.B 61. C