As any housewives who has tried to keep order at the dinner table knows, there is far more to a family meal than food. Sociologist Michael Lewis has been studying 50 families to find out just how much more.
Lewis carried out his study by videotaping the families while they ate ordinary meals in their own homes. They found that parents with small families talk actively with each other and their children. But as the number of children gets larger, conversation gives way to the parents’ efforts to control the loud noise they make. That can have an important effect on the children. “In general the more question-asking the parents do, the higher the children’s IQ scores,” Lewis says. “And the more children there are, the less question-asking there is.”
The study also provides an explanation for why middle children often seem to have a harder time in life than their siblings. Lewis found that in families with three or four children, dinner conversation is likely to center on the oldest child, who has the most to talk about, and the youngest, who needs the most attention. “Middle children are invisible,” says Lewis. “When you see someone get up from the table and walk around during dinner, chances are it’s the middle child.” There is, however, one thing that stops all conversation and prevents anyone from having attention: “When the TV is on,” Lewis says, “dinner is nothing.”
小题1:The writer’s purpose in writing the text is to _________.
A．show the relationship between parents and children
B．teach parents ways to keep order at the dinner table
C．report on the findings of a study
D．give information about family problems小题2:By saying “Middle children are invisible” in paragraph 3, Lewis means that middle children _________.
A．have to help their parents to serve dinner
B．get the least attention from the family
C．are often not allowed to come to the dinner table
D．find it hard to get along well with other children小题3:Which of the following statements would the writer agree to?
A．Parents should talk to each of their children frequently.
B．It is a good idea to have the TV on during dinner.
C．It is important to have the right food for children.
D．Elder children should help the younger ones at dinner.
