Parents vary greatly in their degree of strictness towards their children. Some may be especially strict in money matters. Others are sever over times of coming home at night or punctuality for meals. In general,the controls imposed represent the needs of the parents and the values of the community as much as the child’s own happiness.
As regard the development of moral standards in the growing child, consistency is very important in parental teaching. To forbid a thing one day and excuse it the next is no foundation for morality(道德). Also, parents should realize that “ example is better than precept ”. If they are not sincere and do not practice what they preach(說教), their children may grow confused and emotionally insecure when they grow old enough to think for themselves, and realize they have been to some extent fooled.
A sudden awareness of a marked difference between their parents’ principles and their morals can be a dangerous disappointment.
練習題：
Choose correct answers to the question:
1.Eagerly watching the child’s acquisition of new skill ______
A.can be avoided
B.is universal among parents
C.sets up dangerous states of worry in the child
D.will make him lose interest in learning new things
2.In the process of children’s learning new skills parents ________
A. should encourage them to read before they know the meaning of the words they read
B. should not expect too much of them
C. should achieve a balance between pushing them too hard and leaving them on their own
D.should creative as many learning opportunities as possible
3.The second paragraph mainly tells us that _________
A. parents should be strict with their children
B. parental controls reflect only the needs of the parents and the values of the community.
C. parental restrictions vary, and are not always enforced for the benefit of the children alone.
D. parental vary in their strictness towards their children according to the situation.
4.The word “precept” (Line3, Para.3) probably means “_______”
A. Idea
B.punishment
C. behavior
D. instruction
5.In moral matters, parents should ________
A. observe the rules themselves
B. be aware of the marked difference between adults and children
C. forbid things which have no foundation in morality
D.consistently ensure the security of their children
1.[B] 事實細節(jié)題。第1段第1句中的every parent，often等詞表明這種做法在父母中是非常普遍的，顯然B與之相符。A說法無原文依據(jù)，且由原文可看出題干所述現(xiàn)象是很難避免的;C中dangerous—詞在原文中本是修飾其他情緒，故C不符;D是過多地讓孩子自己一個獨處的后果,不是題干所述行為的后果。
2.[C] 推理判斷題。第1段第2句說明父母逼得太過分，應避免。最后一句則說明對小孩太放任自流同樣不利。由這兩點，我們可以做出如下判斷：父母對孩子的“嚴”和“松”之間有一個恰當?shù)?ldquo;度”。C與之相符。
3.[C] 事實細節(jié)題。文章第2段表明：不同的家長對孩子的管制程度不同;家長對小孩的管制不僅是為了孩子個人的幸福，也反映了父母的需要以及社區(qū)的價值觀，故C與原文相符。
4.[D] 詞義理解題。由precept所在句可猜測precept應與example相對，且與下文的p
