閱讀理解
Have you ever thought about what determines the way we are when we grow up? Remember the
TV program Seven Up? It started following the lives of a group of children in 1973. We first meet
them as wide-eyed seven-year-olds and catch up with them at seven-year intervals:nervous
14-year-olds, serious 21-year-olds and then grown-ups.
Some of the stories are inspiring, others sad, but what is interesting in almost all the cases is the
way in which the children's early hopes and dreams are shown in their future lives. For example, at
seven, Tony is a lively child who says he wants to become a sportsman or a taxi driver. When he
grows up, he goes on to do both. How about Niki? She says, "I would like to find out about the moon.
"And she goes on to become a space scientist. As a child, soft-spoken Bruce says he wants to help
"poor children" and ends up teaching in India.
But if the lives of all the children had followed this pattern, the program would be far less interesting
than it actually was. It was the children whose childhood did not prepare them for what was to come
that made the program so interesting. Where did their ideas come from about what they wanted to do
when they grew up? Are children influenced by what their parents do, by what they see on television or
by what their teachers say? How great is the effect of a single important event? Many film directors,
including Steven Spielberg, say that an early visit to the cinema was the turning point in their lives.
Dr. Margaret McAllister, who has done a lot of research in this area, thinks that the major factors are
parents, friends and their wider society.
1. What does the text mainly discuss?
A. New ways to make a TV program interesting.
B. The importance of TV programs to children.
C. Different ways to make childhood dreams come true.
D. The influence of childhood experience on future lives.
2. What does the underlined word "influenced" mean in the last paragraph?
A. Impressed.
B. Improved.
C. Affected.
D. Attracted.
3. What are the examples in Paragraph 2 meant to show?
A. Many people's childhood hopes are related to their future jobs.
B. There are many poor children in India who need help.
C. Children have different dreams about their future.
D. A lot of people are very sad in their childhood.
4. Spielberg's story is meant to show that __________.
A. going to a movie at an early age helps a child learn about society
B. a single childhood event may decide what one does as a grown－up
C. parents and friends can help a child grow up properly
D. films have more influence on a child than teachers do
