阅读理解。
About six years ago I was eating lunch in a restaurant in New York City when a woman and a young boy
sat down at the next table, I couldn't help overhearing parts of their conversation. At one point the woman
asked, "So, how have you been?" And the boy-who could not have been more than seven or eight years old-
replied. "Frankly, I've been feeling a little depressed lately."
This incident stuck in my mind because it confirmed (确认) my growing belief that children are changing.
As far as I can remember, my friends and I didn't find out we were "depressed", that is, in low spirits, until
we were in high school.
Undoubtedly a change in children has increased steadily in recent years. Children don't seem childlike
anymore. Children speak more like adults, dress more like adults and behave more like adults than they used
to.
Whether this is good or bad is difficult to say, but it certainly is different. Childhood as it once was no
longer exists. Why?
Human development is depended not only on born biological states, but also on patterns of gaining social
knowledge. Movement from one social role to another usually involves learning the secrets of the new social
positions. Children have always been taught adult secrets, but slowly and in stages; traditionally, we tell sixth
graders things we keep hidden from fifth graders.
In the last 30 years, however, a secret-revelation (揭示) machine has been equipped in 98 percent of
American homes. It is called television. Television passes information to all viewers alike, whether they are
children or adults. Unable to resist the temptation (诱惑), many children turn their attention from printed texts
to the less challenging, more attractive moving pictures.
Communication through print, as a matter of fact, allows for a great deal of control over the social
information which children will gain. Children must read simple books before they can read complex materials.
1. According to the author, feeling depressed is _____. [ ]
A. a sure sign of a mental problem in a child
B. a mental state present in all humans, including children
C. something that cannot be avoided in children's mental development
D. something hardly to be expected in a young child
2. Traditionally, a child is supposed to learn about the adult world _____. [ ]
A. through connection with society
B. gradually and under guidance
C. naturally without being taught
D. through watching television
3. According to the author, that today's children seem adultlike results from _____. [ ]
A. the widespread influence of television
B. the poor arrangement of teaching content
C. the fast pace of human scientific development
D. the rising standard of living
4. What does the author think of communication through print for children? [ ]
A. It enables children to gain more social information.
B. It develops children's interest in reading and writing.
C. It helps children to read and write well.
D. It can control what children are to learn.
5. What does the author think of the change in today's children? [ ]
A. He feels their adultlike behavior is so funny.
B. He thinks people should pay attention to the change.
C. He considers it a rapid development.
D. He seems to be upset about it.
