The American Family
In the American family the husband and wife usually share important decision making. When the children are (51) enough, they take part as well. Foreigners are often surprised by the permissiveness (宽容) of American parents. The old rule that "children should be seen and not heard" is rarely (52), and children are often allowed to do (53) they wish without strict control of their parents. The father seldom expects his children to listen to him (54) question, and children are encouraged to be (55) at an early age. Some people believe that American parents carry this freedom (56) far. Others think that a strong father image would not (57) the American values of equality and independence. Because Americans emphasize the importance of independence, young people are expected to (58) their parental families by the time they have (59) their late teens or early twenties. Indeed, not to do so is often regarded as a (60), a kind of weak dependence.
This pattern of independence often results in serious (61) for the aging parents of a small family. The average American is expected to live (62) the age of 70. The job-retirement age is (63) 65. The children have left home, married, and (64) their own households. At least 20 percent of all people over 65 do not have enough retirement incomes. (65) the major problem of many elderly couples is not economic. They feel useless and lonely with neither an occupation nor a close family group.
51 A senio B junio C old D young
52 A watched B followed C understood D grasped
53 A what B that C which D when
54 A for B on C without D in
55 A dependent B independent C sure D secure
56 A too B almost C nearly D so
57 A gain B welcome C suit D estimate
58 A breakup B break into C breakthrough D break away from
59 A reached B come C arrived D developed
60 A reward B criticism C failure D success
61 A events B problems C matters D affairs
62 A on B up C from D beyond
63 A only B usually C sometimes D seldom
64 A set forth B set aside C setup D set down
65 A But B Therefore C In contrast D On the other hand
答案：
51. C 52. B 53. A 54. C 55. B
56. A 57. C 58. D 59. A 60. C
61. B 62. D 63. B 64. C 65. A
解析：
51. 句意是“孩子足够大的时候也会参与做家庭决定”，表年龄用 old , 故选 C.
52. 考查搭配： to follow a rule 遵守规定，rule 后跟的是that引导的同位语从句，故选 B.
53. 考查宾语从句，从句they wish 缺宾语，能充当宾语的只有 what，故选 A .
54. 考查搭配：without question 毫无疑问，故选 C.
55. 句意是“孩子被鼓励在较小年龄时就独立”，因此选 independent，其他词意不符，故选 B.
56. “ too far ” 在这里指 “过远或过头”，与文章意思相符，故选 A.
57. 句意是“严父形象与美国独立平等的价值观不相符”， suit 指“符合”； meet 和 satisfy 带有满足的意思；fit 指适合，一般用语尺寸大小。故选 C.
58. 考查相似短语：break up 指“打碎或结束”， break into 指“闯入”， break though 指“突破”， break away from 指 “脱离”。根据句意，显然选 D.
59. 达到某一年龄段我们说 reach a certain age，故选 A.
60. 句意是“不能够独立被视为一种失败”，因此选 C.
61. 严重的问题用 serious problems，故选 B .
62. 句意是“一般美国人的寿命预期超过70岁”，beyond 表超过，故选 D .
63．句意是“ 退休的通常年龄是65岁”，用 usually 选 B.
64. 考查相似短语：set forth 阐明，set aside 留出，set up 建立，set down 写下，句意是“建立家庭”，故选 C.
65．文末大意是“虽然退休金不足，但经济问题不是老年人的主要问题”，therefore 表示因果关系，in contrast 和 on the other hand 表示对比，表示转折的只有 but，故选 A.
