Question

    Not long ago, my wife and I spent a weekend together without any of our three children. This was the first time we had been alone for more than a few hours since our oldest was born four years ago.

What did we do on our short vacation? My wife read the first hundred or so pages of Tom Jones , a book she has been meaning to read for ages. There was takeout and a nice long walk along the shore of Lake Michigan. Football was watched. But mostly? We slept, without worrying for once about whether a shrill voice might awaken us between the hours of 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. to demand a glass of water (“No，not that one，the Tinkerbell cup!’’）. We were too relaxed to do anything else.

As parents, we might tell other people that given the chance for even a short child-free break we would love to do some reading or take in a concert. This is not true. The truth is that what most of us really want is a chance not to think about how well we are using our time.

By admitting this，I realize the myth(错误的看法）of the brain-dead parents. Being brain-dead is what a parent like me looks forward to rather than something to be accused of. The novelist Lucy Ellmann recently provided a convenient summary in an interview：

You watch people get pregnant and know they’ll be emotionally and intellectually absent for 20 years. Thought, knowledge, adult conversation, and vital political action are all put on hold. With a kiddo, you become a human koala while your old friends continue to have “interests”. They do art and literature and science, you see, not diapers(尿不湿）.

When you become responsible for the life of a very small person, nothing is more important than shouldering that responsibility. In that sense，parenting is a chance to reconsider the value of an extra 20 minutes in bed or a short phone conversation with an old friend. As to my wife and me, we spent the weekend eating steamed dumplings and drinking wine until we fell asleep.

We value the all-too-rare experience of being brain-dead.

1.What did the author and his wife mainly do on the weekend?

A.They did some reading. B.They had a sound sleep.

C.They had a nice long walk. D.They watched a football match.

2.What do the underlined words “put on hold” in paragraph 5 refer to?

A.In control. B.Forbidden.

C.Abandoned. D.In vain.

3.How does keeping kids change the author’s life?

A.He begins to feel lonely. B.He is no longer responsible.

C.He becomes absent-minded. D.He hardly has his own time.

4.What’s the best title of the passage?

A.Tips for new parents B.Avoiding being brain-dead parents

C.The myth of brain-dead parents D.How to steal time as brain-dead parents

Answer

1.B

2.C

3.D

4.C

【解析】

这是一篇夹叙夹议文。作者和妻子度过了一个没有孩子们打扰的周末，感慨有了孩子之后，父母把全部时间、精力花费在孩子身上，因而十分珍惜偶尔拥有的轻松时刻。

1.细节理解题。根据第二段中“But mostly? We slept, without worrying for once about whether a shrill voice might awaken us…”可知，作者和妻子我和妻子在没有三个孩子的情况下共度了一个周末，他们大部分时间是睡觉，不用担心被叫醒。故选B项。

2.词义猜测题。词义猜测题。根据划线短语前一句，“people get pregnant and know they’ll be emotionally and intellectually absent for 20 years. ” 和后一句 “you become a human koala while your old friends continue to have ‘interests’”，人们怀孕后会在情感、智力上有缺席。与那些依然保持原有兴趣的老朋友相比，父母为孩子把自己的想法、 知识、成人间的交流和重要的政治活动都搁置在一边了。因此可以推测put on hold 意思为“放弃”。故选C项。

3.推理判断题。根据第6段中“parenting is a chance to reconsider the value of an extra 20 minutes in bed or a short phone conversation with an old friend（为人父母给了我们机会，让我们重新认识多睡20分钟或与老朋友打个简短电话的价值。）”可以推断，有了孩子之后，父母几乎不再有属于自己的时间，这是为人父母之后生活的一种改变。故选D项。

4.主旨大意题。根据第四段中“I realize the myth(错误的看法）of the brain-dead parents. Being brain-dead is what a parent like me looks forward to rather than something to be accused of.”和最后一段“we value the all-too -rare experience”， 作者通过自身经历明白以往人们关于“脑死亡”家长的一些错误的看法；作者认为为人父母之后，体验“脑死亡”是不应该被指责的。因此全文主旨是对“脑死亡”家长的错误看法。故选C项。