I recently met a Texan couple whose son was still in diapers. They were seeking to get him into a preschool that ________ a private preparatory school with a great record for college admissions.
The couple were ambivalent (uncertain) about doing this. They were from immigrant and working-class backgrounds, and had thrived in public schools. In theory, they believed that all children should have an equal chance to succeed. But I ________ that if they got their son a spot in the preschool, they’d take it.
It’s a familiar story. Psychologists, sociologists and journalists have spent over a decade critiquing (评论;评判)the habits of “helicopter parents” and their school _________. They insist that hyper-parenting backfires — creating a generation of stressed-out kids who can’t ________ alone. Parents themselves alternate between feeling guilty, panicked and ridiculous.
But a new research shows that in our unequal era, this kind of parenting brings life-changing benefits. According to the research, when inequality hit a low in the 1970s, there wasn’t that much of a gap between what someone earned with or without a college degree. Strict parenting ________ an era of “permissive parenting” — giving children lots of freedom with little oversight.
In the 1980s, however, inequality increased sharply in Western countries, especially the United States, and the gap between white- and blue-collar pay widened. Permissive parenting was replaced by helicopter parenting. Middle- and upper-class parents who’d gone to public schools and spent evenings playing kickball in the neighborhood began elbowing their toddlers into fast-track preschools and spending evenings monitoring their homework and driving them to activities.
American parents eventually increased their _________ caregiving by about 12 hours a week, compared with the 1970s.
Not all the changes were rational. But________, the new parenting efforts seemed effective. When the researchers analyzed the 2012 PISA, an academic test of 15-year-olds around the world, along with reports from the teenagers and their parents about how they interact, they found that an “intensive parenting style” correlated with higher scores on the test.
It’s not enough just to ________ over your kids, however. If you do it as an “authoritarian” parent — defined as someone who ________ directives, expects children to obey and sometimes hits those who don’t — you won’t get the full benefits.
The most effective parents, according to the authors, are “authoritative.” They use reasoning to persuade kids to do things that are good for them. Instead of strict obedience, they emphasize _________, problem-solving and independence — skills that will help their offspring in future workplaces that we can’t even imagine yet.
And they seem most successful at helping their kids achieve the holy grails(圣杯) of modern parenting: college and postgraduate degrees, which now have a huge financial payoff.
The benefits aren’t just _________. In a British study, kids raised by authoritative parents reported better health and higher self-esteem. In the American study, they were less likely to use drugs, smoke or _________ alcohol.
So why wouldn’t everyone just become a(n) ________ parent? Religious people, regardless of their income, are more likely to be authoritarian parents who expect obedience and believe in corporal punishment, the authors found. Working-class and poor parents might not have the leisure time to hover or the budget to pay for activities and expensive schools. And they may _______ feel that they need to prepare their children for jobs in which rule-following matters more than debating skills. Those who can afford to helicopter are probably making things even more unequal for the next generation. Since there’s apparently no ________ to how much people will do for their kids, the prognosis for parenting doesn’t look good. Yet another reason to elect people who’ll make America more equal: We grown-ups can finally stop doing homework.
21. A.changes into | B.feeds into | C.turns into | D.transforms into |
22. A.claimed | B.doubted | C.suspected | D.questioned |
23. A.obsessions | B.associations | C.observations | D.investigations |
24. A.mention | B.action | C.transition | D.function |
25. A.objected to | B.contributed to | C.gave rise to | D.gave way to |
26. A.hands-down | B.hands-off | C.hands-on | D.hands-over |
27. A.for all the attention | B.for the most part | C.within defined areas | D.under right supervision |
28. A.look | B.hover | C.take | D.protect |
29. A.issues | B.figures | C.employs | D.evaluates |
30. A.reliability | B.probability | C.regularity | D.adaptability |
31. A.financial | B.physical | C.academic | D.mental |
32. A.abuse | B.refuse | C.counter | D.command |
33. A.permissive | B.authoritative | C.authoritarian | D.helicopter |
34. A.neutrally | B.formally | C.rightly | D.reluctantly |
35. A.link | B.proof | C.comparison | D.limit |