For a long time, researchers have tried to nail down just what shapes us--or what, at least, shapes us most. And over the years, they've had a lot of exclamation moments. First it was our parents, particularly our mothers. Then it was our genes. Next it was our peers, who show up last but hold great sway. And all those ideas were good ones--but only as far as they went.
Somewhere, there was a sort of temperamental dark matter exerting an invisible gravitational pull of its own. More and more, scientists are concluding that this unexplained force is our siblings.
From the time we are born, our brothers and sisters are our collaborators and co-conspirators, our role models and cautionary tales. They are our scolds,protectors, goads, tormentors, playmates, counselors, sources of envy, objects of pride. They teach us how to resolve conflicts and how not to; how to conduct friendships and when to walk away from them. Sisters teach brothers about the mysteries of girls; brothers teach sisters about the puzzle of boys. Our spouses arrive comparatively late in our lives; our parents eventually leave us. Our siblings may be the only people we'll ever know who truly qualify as partners for life. "Siblings," says family sociologist Katherine Conger, "are with us for the whole journey."
Within the scientific community, siblings have not been wholly ignored, but research has been limited mostly to discussions of birth order.Older sibs were said to be strivers;younger ones rebels;middle kids the lost souls.The stereotypes were broad，if not entirely untrue，and there the discussion mostly ended.
But all that’s changin9.At research centers in the U.S.，Canada，Europe and elsewhere，investigators are launching a wealth of new studies into the sibling dynamic，looking at ways brothers and sisters steer one another int0—or away from--risky behavior how they form a protective buffer(減震器)against family upheaval;how they educate one another about the opposite sex;how all siblings compete for family recognition and come to terms--or blows--over such impossibly charged issues as parental favoritism.
From that research，scientists are gaining intriguing insights into the people we become as adults.Does the manager who runs a harmonious office call on the peacemaking skills learned in the family playroom? Does the student struggling with a professor who plays favorites summon up the coping skills acquired from dealing with a sister who was Daddy’s girl? Do husbands and wives benefit from the inter—gender negotiations they waged when their most important partners were their sisters and brothers? All that is under investigation.“Siblings have just been off the radar screen until now，”says Conger.But today serious work is revealing exactly how our brothers and sisters influence us.
1.The beginning of the passage indicates that
A.researchers have found out what shapes us.
B.our peer is the last factor influencing us.
C.what researchers found contributes in a limited way.
D.what researchers found is good and trustworthy.
2.In the third paragraph, the author tries to demonstrate that our siblings
A.offer us much useful information.
B.have great influences on us.
C.are the ones who love us completely.
D.accompany us throughout our life.
3.In scientific community, previous research on siblings
A.mostly focused on the sibling order.
B.studied the characteristics of the kids.
C.studied the matter in a broad sense.
D.wasn’t believable and the discussion ended.
4.Which of the following is NOT sibling dynamic?
A.A brother cautions his sister against getting into trouble.
B.Sisters have quarrels with each other.
C.Siblings compete for parental favoritism.
D.Older kids in a family try hard to achieve.
5.From the last paragraph，we can conclude that
A.managers learned management skills from the family playroom.
B.spouses learned negotiation skills from their siblings.
C.studies on siblings are under the way。
D.studies on siblings need thorough investigation.
【文章概要】
本文通過分析研究得出兄弟姐妹對我們影響最深刻。第1段指出研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)父母、朋友和基因影響著我們的性格：第2段指出研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，兄弟姐妹對我們的影響最大;第3段具體分析了兄弟姐妹在我們生命中扮演的角色，再次證明兄弟姐妹對我們的影響力;第4-6段指出科學界對兄弟姐妹對性格的影響的研究存在局限性及近來研究方向的轉(zhuǎn)變。
【答案解析】
1.[C]細節(jié)判斷題。第1段指出了研究人員研究什么塑造我們，并取得了一些成果，最后一句“但這僅僅是就目前的研究而言”表明目前研究的局限性，C表達了這個含義。由第1段可知，研究者還在探索到底是什么塑造了我們，故A錯誤;該段倒數(shù)第2句提到雖然我們的同齡人出現(xiàn)得最晚，但是影響卻最深刻，故B也錯了;trustworthy在文中沒有依據(jù)，故排除D。
2.[B]段落大意題。第3段講到了兄弟姐妹在我們生活中扮演的各種角色對我們生命的影響，故選B;A“提供給我們有用的信息”屬段落細節(jié)，不是作者在第3段想要說明的問題;C“完完全全愛我們的人”過于絕對且在文中找不到對應(yīng)信息點;D“伴隨我們一生”只是影響我們的一個方面，故D也可排除。
3.[A]細節(jié)判斷題。根據(jù)scientific community定位到第4段首句。由該句but轉(zhuǎn)折處可知答案應(yīng)為A。第2句提到年長的、年小的、中間的孩子共有的定式，并沒有對他們的個性特征進行研究，故B排除;最后一句說這種定式很普遍，但并不意味著從廣義上來研究兄弟姐妹對我們的影響，故C排除;D在文中沒有依據(jù)。
4.[D] 細節(jié)判斷題。根據(jù)sibling dynamic定位到第5段。本題可用排除法。A、B對應(yīng)steer away from risky behavior;C在該段提及，也屬sibling dynamic。D在第4段有提到，但不屬于sibling dynamic。
5.[C]細節(jié)推斷題。末段倒數(shù)第3旬提到All that is under investigation，C與此同義，為正確答案。A、B只是該段中的個別例證;最后一句提到要進一步研究兄弟姐妹是如何影響我們的，D項的表述與原文有出入。
