Passage Three
Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage.
It has been a wide-spread belief that the American family is dying. But a new study reveals that the American family is stronger than ever. This study affords surprising evidence of the persistence of American commitments to family life.
The American family is changing, not dying. It is becoming smaller, men and women are becoming more equal, and the divorce rate is higher. But despite the high divorce rate, marriage has never been more popular. The majority of divorced people remarry but only 2% marry more than twice. Most marriages last a long time, and a large proportion of divorces are from teenage marriages. Depending on the specific situation, there’s often good reason for teenage marriages to break up.
There is no evidence that children receive less attention from mothers who work outside the home than from mothers working inside the home. So far the amount of educational or development time hasn’t varied very much, whether or not the mother works outside the home. In fact, working mothers try to make up for it by setting aside time only for their children.
The study shows that television is by far the most significant new child-care arrangement of this century. The most important activity for children up to age 14 is watching television.
School is the second most time-consuming activity for children. They spend and average of about 19 hours a week in school. A larger proportion of children go to school now than ever before, and they stay in school longer. Another big change is that the proportion of very young children in day-care centers (日托站) has almost doubled in recent years. Compared with these two dramatic changes in child activity, the changes caused by mothers working outside the home appear very small.
31. The main idea of this article is that _______.
A the American family is dying
B young people today don’t want to get married
C the American family is changing, but it is stronger than ever
D education has resulted in dramatic changes in the American family
32. Which of the following statements in NOT true?
A Marriage is more popular than before.
B Many divorced people remarry.
C The majority of marriages last long.
D Working mothers devote less time to their children.
33. The author of this article believes that ________.
A the American family is here to stay
B children should not watch so much television
C mothers should not work when their children are small
D teenage marriages should be encouraged
34. What is the most significant new child-care arrangement of this century?
A The day-care center. B Television C The school. D Development time
35. According to the writer, which two major factors have led to the belief that the American family is dying?
A The divorce rate is high and working mothers neglect their children.
B The divorce rate is high and children care more about television than anything else.
C Divorces are becoming increasingly more and many teenage marriages break up.
D Children stay in school longer and mothers have little time to take care of them.
