Today only one person in five in the United States lives within 50 miles of his birthplace. Since the country was first settled, Americans have moved around a great deal, and are often far away from their parents. Because they have broken ties with their past at a young age, chosen their own occupations, established their own homes and developed their own lifestyles, few American children grow up closely surrounded by grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins as they do in Italy, Nigeria, or India, for example. This along with the fact that modern American families do not have servants has made the “baby-sitter” a vital part of the American scene. A “sitter” is someone who is hired to care for children for a specific length of time—usually relatively short—while the parents are out for an evening, going to a party or a course of study for example. Sometimes the baby-sitter is also hired for longer period, perhaps when the parents are away for a weekend. In such cases the “sitter” is likely to be a mature and motherly woman. For short periods, teen-agers, college students, nursing students, and others are commonly employed on an hourly basis.

　　From the point of view of convenience, the best sitters are often young people who live in your apartment building or close by in the neighborhood. This gives you a chance to meet the parents and see what they are like. If an emergency occurs, young sitters can call upon their parents quickly for help; you do not have to take them far to see them home at night or pay expensive taxi fares. Another advantage is that young people living close by can usually fill in quite readily on short notice or for short periods of time.

　　In an apartment house you can ask the superintendent for permission to post a notice for a baby-sitter by the mailboxes. This is often the best way to find out if there is anyone in the building who is interested in baby-sitting. Retired people as well as students are often glad to earn a little money in this way and can be found by such a note.

　　1. We can infer from the first paragraph that ______.

　　A. the American is a movable and independent nation

　　B. the Americans are often far away from their parents

　　C. the Children in Italy, Nigeria, or India doesn’t feel like living with their parents

　　D. the Americans broke ties with their past at a young age

　　2. A baby-sitter is a person who ______.

　　A. helps to do housework

　　B. is a cleaning woman

　　C. looks after children while their parents are out

　　D. takes care of babies and cooks for the family

　　3. Who can be a baby-sitter?

　　A. Women

　　B. Man

　　C. College student

　　D. All the above

　　4. It is advised that when you are out for short periods, you may hire ______ to be baby-sitters.

　　A. motherly women

　　B. retired people

　　C. young people

　　D. mature women

　　5. The following are all the benefits of finding a young sitter that lives close to your house EXCEPT ______.

　　A. they can handle the emergency quickly

　　B. you can meet them in person

　　C. they can quickly go on duty

　　D. they are employed on an hourly basis

　　參考答案：A. C. D. C. D