雅思阅读第089套P3:LATCHKEY CHILDRENREADING PASSAGE 3
You should spend about 20minutes on Questions 27 - 40, which are based on Reading Passage 3below.
LATCHKEY CHILDREN
Latchkey child was a termcoined to describe children who wore or carried house keys to school so thatthey could let themselves into their home when they returned from school. Theterm came into use during the Second World War, when fathers had gone off towar, and mothers had gone into industry, making the tanks, planes, uniforms andbullets the soldiers needed. The children went home with keys on chains,ribbons or a piece of string tied around their necks. Some mothers chose towork the night shift, called the "swing shift", and tucked theirchildren into bed, locked the door and went to the factory. The country’sresponse was prompt and comprehensive. Programmes were set up in factories, inschools and community centres, to gather in all the children whose parents werebusy with the war effort. These programmes closed promptly when the war ended,and women resumed their roles as housewives. More than sixty years on, thereare large numbers of working mothers, but unlike in wartime, the country isn’torganised to care for their children.
Sadly, finding young childrenat home without adult supervision has become much loo commonplace. Latchkeychildren were once found only among the lower classes, but the situation hasgradually spread to the middle and upper classes. The same is true ofadolescent violence. In the past, shootings and stabbings were associatedprimarily with inner city, or poverty stricken areas permeated with abusivefamilies and neglectful schools. However, in recent limes, the “teen violence”epidemic has penetrated society at every economic level. An increase in thenumber of working mothers, as well as single-parent families, combined with adecrease in extended families that once helped with childcare, has contributedto the growing ranks of latchkey kids.
According to one census,one-third of all school-age children in the United States are, for some part ofthe week, latchkey kids, that is, they go home to an empty house or apartment.The total number may be between five and seven million children between fiveand thirteen years old. Marian Wright Edelman, the director of the Children’sDefence Fund, thinks it’s close to 16 million children. The Census Bureau foundthat 15% were home alone before school, 76% after school and 9% at night.Presumably, the 9% have parents who work night shifts.
One-half of all children in thecountry aged 12 to 14 are home alone for an average of seven hours a week. Thevery poor in America arc less likely to leave their children alone at home, orallow them to go home alone, than families who earn twice their level ofincome. This is probably because the very poor live in less safeneighbourhoods, and have fewer friends or family who can step in, in case ofemergency. In spite of the hours spent on the job, working mothers spend anaverage of five-and-a-half hours a day with their children.
When latchkey children arefunctioning well, we don’t hear about them. But we do hear about the one-thirdof all complaints to child welfare agencies which involve latchkey children. Weknow about the 51% who are doing poorly in school. Most teachers believe thatbeing alone at home is the number one cause of school failure. The afternoonhours are the peak time for juvenile crime. In the last 11 years, juvenilecrime has increased 48%. The Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development foundthat 8th graders who are alone 11 hours a week are twice as likely to abusedrugs as adolescents who are busy after school.
Unsupervised children are morelikely to become depressed, smoke cigarettes and marijuana and drink alcohol.They are also more likely to be the victims of crimes. When home alone,latchkey children generally watch television, eat snacks, play with pets andfight with siblings.
Adolescents who fall under theclassification of latchkey children are more likely than others of the same agegroup to experience feelings of rage and isolation and to express thoseemotions in a physically aggressive manner. While there are certainly geneticand biological factors involved in the development of an adolescent’spropensity towards acting out their feelings of rage and isolation, environmentalso plays a key role in this arena. Sociologists have found that many latchkeychildren, because they are frequently raised in dysfunctional families, aretaught by example to be manipulative, secretive and unpredictable. They ofteninstinctively develop a sense of timing and management of their emotions. Theseare skills that can be easily and directly used to portray a false picture ofthemselves and their living situation.
Making the decision: When is achild ready to be home alone? Personality characteristics, skills, and maturityare useful criteria for determining a child’s readiness to be home alone.Personality doesn’t generally change much with age, although children can learnto modify some of their reactions as they learn what is expected of them. Thereare some children who find it very difficult to be alone, some who need timeand gradual exposure to become accustomed to being by themselves, and some whoadapt easily.
The personality characteristicsof the child who is ready to be home alone is a child who
- is not fearful, feels at easein the world and is self-confident
- is calm, and is not excitablewhen something unexpected happens
- is outgoing and talks abouthis or her feelings and thoughts readily with parents and others
- admits wrongdoing, even whenexpecting disapproval
- has courage enough to resistpressure from friends and others.
In many communities there areactivities for school-age children whose parents work and cannot be at home inthe afternoon. The importance of looking into these is stressed by childdevelopment professionals. According to James Comer of Yale University,"the period between 10 and 15 years is a time when young people re-examinetheir attitudes and values. They are being pressured by peers. They need to beprotected by responsible adults who will help them examine and counter some ofthese attitudes."
The activities available varyas does the cost. Some are more popular with children than others, and some aremore rewarding, but all are preferable to sitting at home in front of thetelevision. These programmes can vary in cost or are free, depending upon theparticular activity and the age of the child. All of them offer the opportunityto acquire skills and knowledge that are useful throughout life. Children whoare not learning anything for hours every week are at a distinct disadvantagecompared to children who are engaged in enriching activities. In the words ofT. Berry Brazelton, of Harvard University: "During these all importantbridge years between childhood and adulthood, kids really do need somethingconstructive to do, and they also still need to have their activitiessupervised. Most of all, they need to know that their parents care about them,are involved in their lives, and have their best interests at heart."
SECTION 3: QUESTIONS 27-40
Questions 27-29
Choose THREE letters A- H
NB Your answers may be given inany order
Which THREE of thefollowing statements are mentioned in the text?
AYouth crime is no longer attributable toeconomic background.
BThe greatest cause for concern is thechildren whose parents work the night shift.
CLatchkey children whose parents havealcohol-abuse problems are more likely to drink alcohol when unsupervised athome.
DThe safer the nighbourhood, the lower thecrime rate amongst adolescents
EBecause of financial considerations,children from middle-class or upper-class backgrounds have more access to communityactivities.
FLatchkey children are not only drawn tocrime; they are victims of crime. too.
GExpense should not be a factor in allowingchildren to get involved in out-of-school activities.
HKnowing how to say no to one's peers is asign of an adolescent's maturity
Questions 30-31
Choose the correct letter A,B, C or D.
30The writer says that during the war
Achildren whose parents were absent fromthe heme were belter looked after than present-day children in the samesituation are.
Bthe country was slow to react to theproblem of latchkey children.
Cthe role of the housewife changed forever.
Dall wives whose husbands had gone off tofight were expected to work in industry.
31According to the Census Bureau, mostchildren were left alone
Aat night.
Bin the morning.
Cin the afternoon.
Dall day.
Questions 32-35
Do the following statementsagree with the information given in Reading Passage 3?
In spaces 32 - 35 below,write
TRUE
if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE
if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN
If there is no information on this
32 _________________ Latchkey children can be experts at hiding the truth about theirsituation.
33 _________________ Latchkey children leave home at a very early age.
34 _________________ Latchkey children’s aggressive emotional responses are dueprincipally to their biological make-up.
35 _________________ Good communication skills are a measure of a child's ability tobe left unsupervised.
Questions 36-40
Complete the summary.
Choose NO MORE THAN TWOWORDS from the passage for each answer.
The Second World War gave rise to the phenomenon of the latchkey child, as mothers had to abandon their traditional duties and fill the places of men in 36 _________________
Fortunately, there was a quick 37 _________________ to this by the authorities to help mothers so that their children would not be left at home unsupervised. However, now, so many years after the war, this type of support has disappeared and the problem of having children alone at home without 38 _________________ is very common . These children generally perform poorly at school, display 39 _________________ behaviour and may lake up smoking and drinking, alcohol. While 40 _________________ and level of maturity plays a part in how a child copes with being a latchkey child, experts say that the remedy for this situation is more parental involvement and interest in their children's lives.
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