You can easily find that your sister or brother is different from you. You live together in the same house and have the same parents, but you have different personalities(性格).
Why? One possible reason is the way your parents treat you.
Firstborn children receive all the attention from their parents. Generally speaking, a firstborn has twice as many photos as any other child has. Parents usually give firstborns more responsibilities (责任)and depend on them to take care of younger brothers and sisters. As a result, firstborns are often responsible, hard-working, and serious. They often want to do well at school and in work. More firstborns became American Presidents, for example George W.Bush, George Washington and Lyndon Baines Johnson, than second or last-borns.
When a second child arrives, parents are more relaxed. The second child has to compete (竞争)with the first-born for parents’ attention and love. These children often choose different sports and hobbies to develop different personalities. They are often outgoing, but can be jealous and get angry easily.
The youngest child is usually the happiest, and has fewer responsibilities and more freedom(自由的). These children do well at school and in work, but have to be creative（创造性的） to get their family’s attention. They are often friendly and cool. Many famous talk-show hosts were born last.
小题1:The underlined word “jealous” means_______ in Chinese
A. 友好的 B. 嫉妒的 C. 快乐的
小题2:The writer thinks that the second-born children are often ______.
A. outgoing but jealous
B. cool and friendly
C. hard-working and serious
小题3:. ______ is usually the happiest in the family according to the passage.
A. The eldest child
B. The second child
C. The youngest child
小题4: We can learn from the passage that ______.
A. the second child is very similar to the firstborn child
B. brothers and sisters usually have the same personalities
C. more firstborns became American presidents than second or last-borns
小题5: The passage is mainly about ______.
A. birth order and personalities
B. children and their parents
C. different children and different work
