Text 4 Despite the general negative findings, it is important to remember that all children who live through a divorce do not behave in the same way. The specific behavior. depends on the child’s individual personality, characteristics, age at the time of divorce, and gender. In terms of personality, when compared to those rated as relaxed and easygoing, children described as temperamental and irritable have more difficulty coping with parental divorce, as indeed they have more difficulty adapting to life change in general. Stress, such as that found in disrupted families, seems to impair the ability of temperamental children to adapt to their surroundings, the greater the amount of stress, the less well they adapt. In contrast, a moderate amount of stress may actually help an easygoing, relaxed child learn to cope with adversity.
A、There is some relationship between age and children’s characteristic reaction to divorce. As the child grows older, the greater is the likelihood of a free expression of a variety of complex feelings, an understanding of those feelings, and a realization that the decision to divorce cannot be attributed to any one simple cause. Self-blame virtually disappears after the age of 6, fear of abandonment diminishes after the age of 8, and the confusion and fear of the young child is replaced in the older child by shame, anger, and self-reflection.
B、Gender of the child is also a factor that predicts the nature of reaction to divorce. The impact of divorce is initially greater on boys than on girls. They are more aggressive, less compliant, have greater difficulties in interpersonal relationships, and exhibit problem behaviors both at home and at school. Furthermore, the adjustment problems of boys are still noticeable even two years after the divorce. Girls’ adjustment problems are usually internalized rather than acted out, and are often resolved by the second year after the divorce. However, new problems may surface for girls as they enter adolescence and adulthood. How can the relatively greater impact of divorce on boys than on girls be explained? The greater male aggression and noncompliance may reflect the fact that such behaviors are tolerated and even encouraged in males in our culture more than they are in females. Furthermore, boys may have a particular need for a strong male model of self-control, as well as for a strong disciplinarian parent. Finally, boys are more likely to be exposed to their parents’ fights than girls are, and after the breakup, boys are less likely than girls to receive sympathy and support from mothers, teachers, or peers.
C、第36题：Temperamental, irritable kids have difficulty adapting to parental divorce because_____.
D、［A］ they care too much about the life change
E、［B］ the great stress of their families diminishes their ability
F、［C］ they tend to lose temper easily and are sensitive to the life change
G、［D］ they are faced with more parents’ fights than the relaxed, easygoing children
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试题解析
本题考查事实细节。第一段第三句提到，“喜怒无常、性格急躁的孩子与个性温和、容易相处的孩子相比，更难以应对父母的离异，因为他们一般更难以适应生活上的变化”。该句中as引导原因状语从句。因此［A］为正确答案，其中“care too much about”是原文“have more difficulty adapting to”的改写。［B］有较大干扰性，该段第四句进一步分析指出，压力使孩子难以适应生活上的变化，但这种压力可能来自家庭也可能来自其它方面。［C］中前一部分“容易发脾气”不是原因，只能算是不适应环境的表现。［D］本身从文中无法推知，更不是原因。全文末句提到的是“男孩比女孩面临父母更多的争吵”。
