For parents with grown children, sometimes the pain of an empty nest can be better than the pain of a full basement. It turns out birds face a similar but slightly more deadly dilemma. When young birds leave the nest early, they help their future generations survive better but they themselves are more likely to die, according to a new study.
Young birds can have a tough life—as can their parents. A noisy nest attracts predators that can wipe out the entire year's reproductive efforts at one stroke. Thus, bird parents push their young to leave the nest early—even when they are not quite ready—to increase the chances that at least one will survive, making sure all their "eggs" are not in one basket. But these early birds suffer as a result. Their death rate can be as high as 70%, compared with just 12% for species that are late bloomers.
Suspecting survival rates had something to do with how ready the birds were to take wing. An ecologist, Thomas Martin, tested fledgling(雏鸟) flying ability at different ages in about a dozen species and recorded the results with high-speed video.
As expected, younger birds had poorly developed wings and flew badly. Moreover, when researchers forced a gray sparrow called a junco(which has some of the lowest fledgling survival rates among the species studied) to stay in the nest for 13 days instead of 10, more lived to adulthood. Just 10% died within 7 days, compared with 30% for the early birds.
But it turns out that some bird moms are willing to keep their kids in the nest a bit longer. Birds such as the white-breasted nuthatch(五子雀), which nests in well-protected tree holes, let the young hang about longer at home, Martin's team discovered. In contrast, birds that nest on the ground or in the open pushed for early departures. That's because they suffer comparatively high losses of chicks in the nest.
Are there any lessons for human parents? “Some parallels exist,” Martin says, “but with people, there's so much more culture that comes into it.”
1.What does the new study find?
A.Young Birds' early leaving from the nest benefits bird parents themselves.
B.Parents with grown children suffer the pain of an empty nest.
C.There is a strong bond between empty-nest parents and young birds.
D.The wrong time of young birds' leaving may bring the whole family a disaster.
2.Which does the underlined word “predators” in paragraph 2 refer to?
A.The birds' parents. B.The birds' natural enemies.
C.The younger competitors. D.The future generations.
3.What did the case of the gray sparrow show?
A.More birds have poorly developed wings than ever.
B.More gray sparrows live to adulthood than ever.
C.The longer the young stayed in the nests, the higher their survival rates were.
D.The earlier the young left the nests, the higher their survival rates were.
4.What may decide young birds' leaving time from home according to the research?
A.The bird moms. B.The bird species.
C.The wings' shape. D.The location of their nests.
高三英语阅读选择中等难度题
For parents with grown children, sometimes the pain of an empty nest can be better than the pain of a full basement. It turns out birds face a similar but slightly more deadly dilemma. When young birds leave the nest early, they help their future generations survive better but they themselves are more likely to die, according to a new study.
Young birds can have a tough life—as can their parents. A noisy nest attracts predators that can wipe out the entire year's reproductive efforts at one stroke. Thus, bird parents push their young to leave the nest early—even when they are not quite ready—to increase the chances that at least one will survive, making sure all their "eggs" are not in one basket. But these early birds suffer as a result. Their death rate can be as high as 70%, compared with just 12% for species that are late bloomers.
Suspecting survival rates had something to do with how ready the birds were to take wing. An ecologist, Thomas Martin, tested fledgling(雏鸟) flying ability at different ages in about a dozen species and recorded the results with high-speed video.
As expected, younger birds had poorly developed wings and flew badly. Moreover, when researchers forced a gray sparrow called a junco(which has some of the lowest fledgling survival rates among the species studied) to stay in the nest for 13 days instead of 10, more lived to adulthood. Just 10% died within 7 days, compared with 30% for the early birds.
But it turns out that some bird moms are willing to keep their kids in the nest a bit longer. Birds such as the white-breasted nuthatch(五子雀), which nests in well-protected tree holes, let the young hang about longer at home, Martin's team discovered. In contrast, birds that nest on the ground or in the open pushed for early departures. That's because they suffer comparatively high losses of chicks in the nest.
Are there any lessons for human parents? “Some parallels exist,” Martin says, “but with people, there's so much more culture that comes into it.”
1.What does the new study find?
A.Young Birds' early leaving from the nest benefits bird parents themselves.
B.Parents with grown children suffer the pain of an empty nest.
C.There is a strong bond between empty-nest parents and young birds.
D.The wrong time of young birds' leaving may bring the whole family a disaster.
2.Which does the underlined word “predators” in paragraph 2 refer to?
A.The birds' parents. B.The birds' natural enemies.
C.The younger competitors. D.The future generations.
3.What did the case of the gray sparrow show?
A.More birds have poorly developed wings than ever.
B.More gray sparrows live to adulthood than ever.
C.The longer the young stayed in the nests, the higher their survival rates were.
D.The earlier the young left the nests, the higher their survival rates were.
4.What may decide young birds' leaving time from home according to the research?
A.The bird moms. B.The bird species.
C.The wings' shape. D.The location of their nests.
高三英语阅读选择中等难度题查看答案及解析
Andrea Yoch loves her adult sons, but would also love to not live with them. This is especially true in the 2, 200-square-foot rental in St. Paul, where she and her husband moved after the boys left their childhood home (a 5,000-square-foot property with a pool). But now Ben, 20, and Ryan, 23 are crammed with their parents in a house where a movie playing in one room can be heard in almost any other.
After her sons showed up due to the lockdown after the Coronavirus crisis struck- Ben from Boston, where he is a college student, and Ryan from New York, where he was starting out as an assistant advertising account executive- Ms. Yoch rushed to set up temporary offices in a bedroom and a basement that now also functions as a super crowded gym. "I would give anything for them to restart their lives, "she said.
As the pandemic （流 行 病） continues, Wall Street bankers, Uber drivers, academics, artists and many other adults have given up their independent lives and migrated home. Some fled heavily populated cities for the rural suburban houses where they grew up and the promise of home-cooked meals and free laundry. Others ended up in downsized spaces designed for empty nesters or in apartments already shared with other family members, such as grandparents or teenage siblings.
Parents caught by the increase of layoffs and canceled contracts found themselves feeding grown children who were in the same position. Mothers who had grown accustomed to freedom were suddenly expected to go back to cooking and cleaning.
“Some parents see this as a welcome surprise, but it can also add a lot of financial stress," said Lindsey Piegza, chief economist at the investment bank Stifel. You can't assume that parents are necessarily in a better-off position than their adult children: a lot of Americans live paycheck to paycheck and don’t have enough savings to accommodate extra people living in their households.”
1.Which word best describes Ms. Yoch's life with her two sons?
A.Exciting B.Inconvenient
C.Satisfying D.Disappointing
2.What does the underlined phrase "empty nesters" in Paragraph 3 refer to?
A.People without jobs.
B.Children staying abroad.
C.Grown-ups with no houses.
D.Parents with no children around.
3.Why do some parents unwillingly welcome their children back home?
A.Because they want their kids to be independent.
B.Because they don’t like to do all the laundry.
C.Because they are in no better financial situation.
D.Because they have sold or rented out their houses
4.What is the text mainly about?
A.The generation gap between parents and their children.
B.The life young people used to live before going to college.
C.The parents' life being affected by children in the lockdown
D.The economic crisis brought about by the deadly coronavirus.
高三英语阅读选择中等难度题查看答案及解析
Night after night, mom came to my bed and said good night, even long after my childhood years. As part of her nightly routine she would lean down, push my long hair out of the way and then kiss my forehead.
I can’t remember when it first started annoying me-her hands pushing my hair that way. But it did annoy me anyway for they felt rough against my young skin. Finally, one night, I lashed out at her, “Stop doing that-your hands are too rough!” She didn’t say anything in reply, and never did she end ml y day with that special expression of love again. That night, I found myself lying awake long after she left my room. Regrettably, I never told her I was sorry.
Time after time, with the passing years, my thought would often return to that night. I missed my mother’s hands, and her goodnight kiss upon my forehead, sometimes the memory of that unspeakable night seemed very close and sometimes far away. It was always there in the back of my mind.
Years have passed, I’m no longer a young girl, and mom is in her mid-seventies. Those hands I once thought to he rough are still taking care of me and my family. Over the years, those hands have reached into a medicine cabinet for the remedy that would calm a young girl’s upset stomach or soothe boys painful knee. The very same hands have also cooked the best fried chicken in the world, gotten stains out of my jeans and dished out ice cream on a hot summer day.
Now my own children are all grown and gone, and mom no longer has clad. On special days, I find myself drawn to her house to spend the night with her. On the Eve of one Thanksgiving, as I was about to fall asleep in my old bedroom, a rough, but loving hand, hesitantly stole across my face and brushed the hair from my forehead. Then a kiss, ever so gently, touched my eyebrow.
For the thousandth time I recalled the night when my young voice and gratefully complained, “Stop doing that-your hands are too rough!” then I caught Mom’s hand in mine involuntarily with the deepest regret, I told her how sorry I had felt about that night all those years. To my surprise, Mom didn’t know what I was talking about. She had forgiven and forgotten long ago. That night, I fell asleep with new appreciation for my gentle mother and her caring hands. The guilt that I had felt for so long suddenly disappeared, and nowhere was it to be found.
1.What message does the writer try to carry in her story?
A.A Mother’s hands are always rough.
B.A mother should stay home and take care of her children.
C.A child should be grateful for his or her mother’s love.
D.A child will never learn to appreciate his or her mother’s love.
2.When the writer was young, it was part of her mom’s nightly routine to .
A.get stains out of the family’s clothes B.dish out ice cream for the family
C.soothe the writer’s painful knee D.kiss the writer the forehead before she fell asleep
3.After the writer lashed out at her mother, she .
A.told her mother she was sorry at once
B.had been missing her mother’s hands and goodnight kiss
C.went to her mother’s bedroom and said good night
D.caught her mom’s hands in hers
4.Which of the following sentences from the reading is the writer’s opinion?
A.Night after night, Mom came to my bed and said goodnight.
B.That night, I found myself lying awake long after she left my room.
C.Sometimes, the memory of that unspeakable night seemed very close and sometimes far away.
D.Now my own children are all grown and gone and mom no longer has dad.
高三英语阅读选择中等难度题查看答案及解析
Having an older brother comes with plenty of benefits. Big brothers tend to look out for their younger siblings(兄弟姐妹）,and despite the occasional rocky moment here and there, many siblings enjoy life-long close relationships. However, a new study finds an interesting downside: children with older brothers take longer when it comes to developing language skills.
The study, conducted by a group of researchers in Paris, France, builds upon earlier research that had already established that having older siblings is associated with poor linguistic(语言的）development. Now, researchers say they have come to a more specific conclusion: only children with an older brother exhibit these linguistic difficulties.
One would assume that children with older brothers would grow up around more conversation on a daily basis, thus speeding up their language development. Yet researchers say such children actually take longer than their older brothers to begin developing these skills.
Researchers studied more than 1,000 children from birth to the age of five-and-a-half years old. Each child’s language skills were tested at ages 2,3,and 5.5,using tests specially designed to measure numerous aspects of language development such as vocabulary, syntax, and verbal reasoning.
What the research team discovered was significant: children with an older brother had, on average, a two-month delay in their language development compared to those with an older sister.
As far as explaining this phenomenon, researchers have proposed two hypotheses(假设).The first is that older sisters tend to talk more often than older brothers, which would compensate for parents potentially being less present than they were for their first child. The second hypothesis is that older sisters usually compete with their siblings less than older brothers for their parents’ attention.
As of now, the study’s authors say they can’t say for certain why children with older brothers have a harder time developing language skills. In the future they would like to investigate if culture or location affects the results of these studies.
1.What does the underlined word“downside”in paragraph 1 mean?
A.difficulty B.drawback C.mistake D.burden
2.What does the previous research suggest about older siblings?
A.Having older siblings will affect the younger one’s language development.
B.Many children prefer having brothers and sisters.
C.Older brothers may have something to do with the linguistic difficulties.
D.Children with older siblings would grow up around more conversation.
3.Why do children with older brothers experience the delay in language development?
A.Parents tend to focus more on the first child.
B.Older sisters are more caring than older brothers.
C.Older brothers always seek to get more attention from their parents.
D.Younger children are always ignored by their older brothers.
4.What will further research of the study focus on?
A.The reasons for children’s delay in language development.
B.Other aspects that may influence the outcomes of the study.
C.More assumptions to explain the phenomenon.
D.The effect of culture on children’s language learning.
高三英语阅读选择中等难度题查看答案及解析
Making Peace with Your Parents
As a teen, you’re going through big changes physically and mentally. Your interests are increasing. 1. Here is the challenge: Kids need to explore the world in new ways, and parents need to protect them from the dangers that are all out in that world. These conflicts can easily set off fireworks in otherwise calm houses. Sometimes conflicts can’t be avoided. But by paying attention to the building blocks of successful relationships, you can work towards making home a happy and healthy place for you and your parents.
For example, try to find a time to talk when your parents are not angry, tired, distracted or hungry. A good time to talk is when you’re all relaxed. Timing is everything. If the conversation begins to turn into an argument, you’d better calmly and coolly ask to stop the conversation for now. 2. Listen to what your parents are saying, and repeat it back to them. This shows them that you’re listening. 3. Respect is the building block of good communication. People who respect each other and care about each others’ feelings can disagree without getting things ugly. 4. How do you build trust? Trust comes by actually doing what you say you’re going to do. Some teens find that doing fun activities with their parents can improve their relationships. Sometimes we forget that parents are more than rule-maker—they’re interesting people who like to watch movies and go shopping—just like their teenagers!
What do you do if you are trying your best, but your relationship with your parents continues to be rocky? 5. You can find supportive adults, such as a teacher or a coach, who can lend an ear. Remember you can only change your own behavior. Your parents are the only ones who can change theirs.
A.You may consider seeking outside help.
B.And then you’ll be able to accept what your parents say.
C.You can pick it up again when everyone’s more relaxed.
D.Faced with the challenge, children don’t know what to do.
E.And your desire to take control of your own life is growing.
F.It also gives them a chance to clear things up if you’re not on the same page.
G.You are more likely to get along with your parents and have more independence if your parents believe in you.
高三英语七选五中等难度题查看答案及解析
One of the latest trends(趋势) in American childcare is Chinese au pairs.Au Pair in Stamford,Conn.,for example,has got increasing numbers of requests for Chinese au pairs from zero to around 4,000 since 2004.And that’s true all across the country.
“I thought it would be very useful for him to learn Chinese at an early age,”Joseph Stocke,the managing director of a company,says of his 2-year-old son.“I would at least like to give him the chance to use the language in the future.”After only six months of being cared for by a 25-year-old woman from China,the boy can already understand basic Chinese daily expressions,his dad says.
Li Drake,a Chinese native raising two children in Minnesota with an American husband,had another reason for looking for an au pair from China:She didn’t want her children to miss out on their roots.“Because I am Chinese,my husband and I wanted the children to keep exposed to(接触) the language and culture(文化),”she says.
“Staying with a native speaker is better for children than simply sitting in a classroom,” says Suzanne Flynn,a professor in language education of children.“But parents must understand that just one year with an au pair is unlikely to produce wonders.Complete mastery demands continued learning until the age of 10 or 12.”
The popularity of au pairs from China has been strengthened by the increasing numbers of American parents who want their children to learn Chinese.It is expected that American demand for au pairs will continue to rise in the next few years.
1.What does the term “au pair” in the text mean?
A.A mother raising her children on her own.
B.A young foreign woman taking care of children.
C.A professor in language education of children.
D.A child learning a foreign language at home.
2.Li Drake has her children study Chinese because she wants them ______.
A.to live in China some day
B.to speak the language at home
C.to catch up with other children
D.to learn about the Chinese culture
3.How can children learn a foreign language best according to Flynn?
A.From their parents.
B.By attending classes.
C.From a native speaker.
D.By starting at an early age.
4.What can we infer from the text?
A.Learning Chinese is becoming popular in America.
B.Educated women do better in looking after children.
C.Chinese au pairs need to improve their English skills.
D.Children can learn a foreign language well in six months.
高三英语阅读选择简单题查看答案及解析
A new app aims to help parents interpret what their babies want based on the sound of their cry. The free app ChatterBaby, which was released last month, analyzes the features of a baby's cry, to help parents understand whether their children might be hungry, fussy (大惊小怪) or in pain. While critics say caregivers should not rely too much on their smartphones, others say it's a helpful tool for new or tired parents.
Ariana Anderson, a mother of four, developed the app. She originally designed the technology to help deaf parents better understand why their babies were upset, but soon realized it could be a helpful tool for all new parents.
To build a database, Anderson and her team uploaded 2,000 audio samples of baby cries. She used cries recorded during ear piercings and vaccinations (接种) to distinguish pain cries. And to create a baseline for the other two categories, a group of moms had to agree on whether the cry was hungry or fussy.
Anderson's team continues to collect data and hopes to make the app more accurate by asking parents to get specific about what certain sounds mean.
Pediatrician Eric Ball pointed out that evaluating cries can never be an exact science. ''I think that all of the apps and technology that new parents are using now can be helpful but need to be taken seriously, '' Ball said. ''I do worry, that some parents will get stuck in big data and turn their parenting into basically a spreadsheet (电子表格) which I think will take away the love and caring that parents are supposed to be providing for their children.''
But Anderson says the aim of the app is to have parents interpret the results, not to provide a yes or no answer. The Bells say it's a win-win. They believe they are not only helping their babies now but potentially others in the future.
1.How does the app judge what babies want?
A.By collecting data.
B.By recording all the sounds.
C.By analyzing the sound of their crying.
D.By asking parents about specific messages.
2.Who was the app designed for in the beginning?
A.Deaf parents. B.All new parents.
C.Ariana Anderson. D.Babies often crying.
3.What can we know according to Ball?
A.Parents should use the app wisely.
B.The app can provide an accurate result.
C.Parents and babies are addicted to the app.
D.The app makes babies love their parents.
4.What can be a suitable title for the text?
A.App Knows Why Babies Cry B.App Prevents Babies Crying
C.Parents Build Babies' Database D.Parents Overrely on Smartphones
高三英语阅读选择中等难度题查看答案及解析
Your children's education doesn’t have to stop after school. These game apps for your iPhone, iPad and Android will keep your youngsters’ minds active outside the classroom. Of course, let your children play the developmental games in moderation.
Elmo Loves 123s
Help your children identify and count numbers from 1 to 20 and do some simple calculation. Everyone's favorite furry character, Elmo, and Abby Cadabby will guide kids along the way. （under five years,$4.99; iPad）
Habitat the Game
Players adopt a virtual polar bear and must complete real-world actions, such as turning off lights and conserving water, to keep the creature healthy. Kids will take pride in making an actual difference in the world with these exciting games. (4 years+, free; iPhone, iPad, Android)
Disney Story Central
Bedtime just gets a lot less painful thanks to Disney Story Central. The large selection of e-books star Disney characters, such as Mickey Mouse, the princesses, and Doc MacStuffins. Plus, the bookworms will earn awards as progress is made day by day.(2 years+, free for iPad for the first 4 books, with additional purchase packages starting at$4)
GoldieBlox and the Movie Machine
GoldieBlox, the toy company focusing on inspiring girls to become innovators, has created GoldieBlox and the Movie Machine, its first app for inspiring engineers. Your kids will learn the basics of cartoons and create her own one-second animated GiFs. (6 years+, free; iphone iPad)
1.Which of the apps can teach kids to care about the environment?
A.Elmo Loves 123s. B.Habitat the Game.
C.Disney Story Central. D.GoldieBlox and the Movie Machine.
2.What do we know about Disney Story Central?
A.It is designed for girls. B.It is suitable for all ages.
C.It offers rewards to advancers. D.It offers free books to iPhone users.
3.Who is the text most probably written for?
A.Young engineers. B.Parents.
C.Game developers. D.Teenagers.
高三英语阅读选择中等难度题查看答案及解析
Tests, after-school activities and problems at home can increase stress for students. But research now suggests that the main reason for the students’ rising anxiety levels is something else.
A psychology professor Jean Twenge said “What a lot of teens told me is that using social media and their phones seems forced. This use of phones has led to a loss of sleep and face-to- face interactions.” Last year, in the journal Pediatrics three researchers wrote that too much social media use might contribute to the development of mental health problems in teenagers, such as loneliness, depressive symptoms and anxiety.
Researchers are still not sure whether phones cause student depression or depression causes phone use. Yet 70 percent of teens see anxiety and depression as major problems among their peers, according to a February Pew Research Center report.
Schools are starting to take steps to deal with the problem. Many public schools pay outside companies to watch students’ social media activity for signs of pain. Some schools have organized some events in which people do not use their electronic devices. Belfast Area High School in Maine had one such event in April. About 20 percent of students and school employees took part, demonstrating the influence that the technology has on their daily life.
Emily Mogavero, a 17-year-old student in New York, said “I definitely feel stressed to keep up my information and stuff. It kind of worries me that I’m on my smart phone so long.” Mogavero said she sometimes puts her phone out of reach or powers it down so she doesn’t hear anything.
Some parents are not letting their children get smart phones until they grow up. A teacher, Erin Schifferli, says her 12-year-old daughter, Aeva, won’t get a phone until she is 16 years old. Deirdre Birmingham of Montclair signed on a campaign called “Wait Until Eighteen” because she didn’t think her video game-loving 10-year-old son was ready for a smart phone.
1.What’s the main cause of teenagers’ mental problems according to the text?
A.Being addicted to social media. B.Being lacking in enough sleep.
C.Too much homework. D.Too many activities.
2.What does Mogavero think of using smart phones too much?
A.It is necessary. B.It is worrying.
C.It is reasonable. D.It is meaningless.
3.How can parents deal with the children’s problem?
A.Help their children grow up quickly.
B.Stop their children using smart phones.
C.Pay more attention to children’s study.
D.Sign on more campaigns to make a difference.
4.What can we learn from the text?
A.Over-using phones influences teens’ social interactions.
B.70 percent of people have anxiety and depression.
C.Almost all the students liked the schools’ activities.
D.The findings of the research are very definite.
高三英语阅读选择中等难度题查看答案及解析
Boomerang children who return to live with their parents after university can be good for families, leading to closer, more supportive relationships and increased contact between the generations, a study has found.
The findings contradict research published earlier this year showing that returning adult children trigger a significant decline in their parents’ quality of life and wellbeing.
The young adults taking part in the study were “more positive than might have been expected” about moving back home – the shame is reduced as so many of their peers are in the same position, and they acknowledged the benefits of their parents’ financial and emotional support. Daughters were happier than sons, often slipping back easily into teenage patterns of behaviour, the study found.
Parents on the whole were more uncertain, expressing concern about the likely duration of the arrangement and how to manage it. But they acknowledged that things were different for graduates today, who leave university with huge debts and fewer job opportunities.
The families featured in the study were middle-class and tended to view the achievement of adult independence for their children as a “family project”. Parents accepted that their children required support as university students and then as graduates returning home, as they tried to find jobs paying enough to enable them to move out and get on the housing ladder.
“However,” the study says, “day-to-day tensions about the prospects of achieving different dimensions of independence, which in a few extreme cases came close to conflict, characterized the experience of a majority of parents and a little over half the graduates”.
Areas of divergence included chores, money and social life. While parents were keen to help, they also wanted different relationships from those they had with their own parents, and continuing to support their adult children allowed them to remain close.
1.What is the finding of the previous research?
A.Boomerang children made their parents happier.
B.The parents were looking forward to their children’s return.
C.The parents’ quality of life became worse than before.
D.Boomerang children never did any housework.
2.What are college graduates’ attitudes towards returning home?
A.They are ashamed of turning to their parents for help.
B.They are glad that they could come back.
C.They are doubtful about whether they should return.
D.They are proud to be independent from the family.
3.What is the reason for the “boomerang children” phenomenon?
A.The children want to keep in closer touch with their parents.
B.The parents want to provide support to their children.
C.It is harder for the children to secure a satisfying job.
D.There is more housework needed to be done by the children.
4.The underlined word “divergence” in paragraph 7 may be best replaced by ________.
A.disagreement B.harmony C.responsibility D.cooperation
高三英语阅读选择中等难度题查看答案及解析