A) the widespread influence of television

　　B) the poor arrangement of teaching content

　　C) the fast pace of human intellectual development

　　D) the constantly rising standard of living(A)

　　34. Why is the author in favor 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 memorize and practice more.

　　D) It can control what children are to learn.(D)

　　35. What does the author think of the change in today’s children?

　　A) He feels amused by chair premature behavior.

　　B) He thinks it is a phenomenon worthy of note.

　　C) He considers it a positive development.

　　D) He seems to be upset about it.(B)

　　这篇材料讲的是儿童早熟的问题。开头首先讲述了一个作者亲历的故事，作为引出儿童早熟问题的契机——六年前我在餐厅里遇见一对母子并偷听了他们的谈话;母亲问儿子过的怎么样，儿子回答说最近有一点沮丧(a little depressed lately)。

　　母子的对话深深印在作者的脑子里，因为它证实了作者的一个想法：现在的孩子正在改变。是什么方面改变了?作者拿现在的孩子与小时候的自己做了对比：小时的我直到高中才知道沮丧是什么滋味(I didn’t find out we were “depressed” until we were in high school)。

　　问题已经提出，接下来作者就要证明这个问题确实存在。第三段举出了很多现在儿童早熟的表现：Children speak more like adults, dress more like adults and behave more like adults than they used to。

　　儿童早熟的原因何在?从第四段开始，文章进入了分析问题阶段。第一句话就一针见血，指出问题的根源出在接触社会知识的途径上(patterns of access to social knowledge)。社会角色转变后通常要学习相应的新知识(Movement from one social rote to another usually involves learning the secrets of the new status)，大人们一直在教给孩子们这样的知识，但要进度是缓慢的、按部就班的(slowly and in stages)。这里所说的社会角色转变也就是年龄增长的结果，比如上六年级和上五年级即是两种不同的社会角色。

　　第四段说的是孩子们过去吸收新知识的情形，第五段则开始介绍现状。还是从途径说起，98%的美国家庭都已经安装了电视(installed in 98 percent of American homes)，电视是一个传递信息的载体，传递对象不分成人与儿童，儿童通过看电视过早地吸收了尚不适合他们的知识。

　　文章最后一段介绍了通过书本传授知识的好处，这也算是作者提出的儿童早熟问题的一个解决方案。通过印刷品传授知识可以更容易地控制儿童接触到的知识是适合他们的年龄层次的(allows for a great deal of control over the social information to which children have access)，只要不让儿童在成长到一定程度之前接触较为复杂的知识就可以了(Children must read simple books before they can read complex materials)。

　　31. According to the author, feeling depressed is ________.

　　A) a sure sign of a psychological problem in a child

　　B) something hardly to be expected in a young child

　　C) an inevitable has of children’s mental development

　　D) a mental scale present in all humans, including children(B)

　　题目问根据作者的说法，“感到沮丧”是……。

　　A，孩子出现心理问题的明确信号。

　　B，很难想象会在小孩子身上出现。