Early or Later Day Care

    The British psychoanalyst John Bowlby maintains that separation from the parents during the sensitive ”attachment" period from birth to three may scar¹ a child"s personality and predispose² to emotional problems in later life. Some people have drawn the conclusion from Bowlby，s work that children should not be subjected to day care before the age of three because of the parental separation it entails, and many people do believe this.³ But there are also arguments against such a strong conclusion.
　　Firstly, anthropologists point out that the insulated love affair between children and parents found in modern societies does not usually exist in traditional societies. For example，in some tribal societies，such as the Ngoni，the father and mother of a child did not rear their infant alone 一 far from it⁴. Secondly, common sense tells us that day care would not be so widespread today if parents，care-takers found children had problems with Statistical studies of this kind have not yet been carried out, and even if they were, the results would be certain to be complicated and controversial. Thirdly，in the last decade there have been a number of careful American studies of children in day care，and they have uniformly reported that day care had a neutral or slightly positive effect on children"s development. But tests that have had to be used to measure this development are not widely enough accepted to settle the issue.
　　But Bowlby"s analysis raises the possibility that early day care has delayed effects. The possibility that such care might lead to，say，more mental illness or crime 15 or 20 years later can only be explored by the use of statistics. Whatever the long-term effects, parents sometimes find the immediate effects difficult to deal with.⁵ Children under three are likely to protest at leaving their parents and show unhappiness. At the age of three or three and a half almost all children find the transition to nursery easy，and this is undoubtedly why more and more parents make use of child care at this time. The matter, then, is far from clear-cut⁶, though experience and available evidence indicate that early care is reasonable for infants.

词汇：

psychoanalyst / ˌsaɪkəʊˈænəlɪst / n.精字申分析学家，心理分析学家

insulate / "ɪnsjʊleɪt / vt.隔绝

rear / rɪə(r) / vt.抚养
care-taker / "keərt"eɪkə(r) / n.照顾者，看管人

 infant / ˈɪnfənt / n.婴儿

predispose / ˌpri:dɪ"spəʊz / vi. 易导致

entail / ɪn"teɪl / vt.蕴涵；需要

anthropologist / ˌænθrəˈpɒlədʒɪst / n.人类学家

注释：

1.scar:留下伤痕
2.predispose:易导致。又如：Fatigue predisposes one to catch cold.疲劳使人易患感冒。
3.Some people have drawn the conclusion from Bowlby’s work that children should not be subjected to day care before the age of three because of the parental separation it entails，and many people do believe this. 一些人从波比的研究得出结论，孩子三岁之前不应该送日托，因 为这蕴涵着孩子不得不跟父母分开。很多人确实相信这个结论。subject (to)：使遭受，受 到。又如:We were subjected to the torture of the heat.我们受到酷热知折磨。entail:蕴涵； 需要。又如:Negotiating with him entails great patience.和他谈判需要很大的耐性。语言的 一个特点是具有蕴涵关系，因此懂得语言中的蕴涵关系对于提高阅读理解能力、进行正确的 推理是相当重要的。一般说来，具体蕴涵一般，反之则不然。因此，日托蕴涵孩子与父母分 离，但孩子与父母分离不蕴涵日托，因为其他的办法也可以使孩子与父母分离。同理，谈判蕴涵耐心，但耐心不蕴涵谈判，因为需要耐心的不只是谈判。
4. ... the father and mother of a child did not rear their infant alone 一 far from it.父母不单独抚养婴儿，远非如此。rear:抚养，培养。
5.Whatever the long-term effects, parents sometimes find the immediate effects difficult to deal with.不论长远后果如何，孩子的父母们有时会觉得眼前的后果难以应付。（眼前的后果指下 一句说到的孩子不愿去日托而会抗议、表示不高兴）
6.clear-cut:鲜明的，明确的

Which of the following best expresses the writer"s attitude towards early day care?

A:Children under three should stay with their parents B:Early day care has positive effects on children"s development C:The issue is controversial and its settlement calls for the use of statistics D:The effects of early day care on children are exaggerated and parents should ignore the issue

C
On Christmas Eve—the night before Christmas Day—children all over Britain put a stocking at the end of their beds before they go to sleep. Their parents usually tell them that Father Christmas will come during the night.
Father Christmas is very kind-hearted. He gets to the top of each house and climbs down the chimney into the fireplace. He fills each of the stockings with Christmas presents.
Of course, Father Christmas isn’t real. In Jim and Kate’s house, "Father Christmas" is really Mr. Green. Mr. Green doesn’t climb down the chimney. He waits until the children are asleep. Then he quietly goes into their bedrooms and fills their stockings with small presents. When they were very young, Mr. Green sometimes wore a red coat. But he doesn’t do that now. The children are no longer young, and they know who "Father Christmas" really is. But they still put their stockings at the end of their beds.

A:the night of Christmas Day B:the evening of Christmas Day C:Christmas Day D:the night before Christmas Day

After their day's shopping, they ______.

A:were happy with their bargains B:had got everything they wanted C:got more than they had hoped for D:had to go back to the sales the next day

C On Christmas Eve─the night before Christmas Day─children all over Britain put a stocking at the end of their beds before they go to sleep. Their parents usually tell them that Father Christmas will come during the night. Father Christmas is very kindhearted. He gets to the top of each house and climbs down the chimney into the fireplace. He fills each of the stockings with Christmas presents. Of course, Father Christmas isnt real. In Jim and Kates house, “Father Christmas” is really Mr. Green. Mr. Green doesnt climb down the chimney. He waits until the children are asleep. Then he quietly goes into their bedrooms and fills their stockings with small presents. When they were very young, Mr. Green sometimes wore a red coat. But he doesnt do that now. The children are no longer young, and they know who “Father Christmas” really is. But they still put their stockings at the end of their beds. Christmas Eve is ________.

A:the night of Christmas Day B:the evening of Christmas Day C:Christmas Day D:the night before Christmas Day

C On Christmas Eve─the night before Christmas Day─children all over Britain put a stocking at the end of their beds before they go to sleep. Their parents usually tell them that Father Christmas will come during the night. Father Christmas is very kindhearted. He gets to the top of each house and climbs down the chimney into the fireplace. He fills each of the stockings with Christmas presents. Of course, Father Christmas isnt real. In Jim and Kates house, “Father Christmas” is really Mr. Green. Mr. Green doesnt climb down the chimney. He waits until the children are asleep. Then he quietly goes into their bedrooms and fills their stockings with small presents. When they were very young, Mr. Green sometimes wore a red coat. But he doesnt do that now. The children are no longer young, and they know who “Father Christmas” really is. But they still put their stockings at the end of their beds. Christmas Eve is ________.

A:the night of Christmas Day B:the evening of Christmas Day C:Christmas Day D:the night before Christmas Day

C On Christmas Eve─the night before Christmas Day─children all over Britain put a stocking at the end of their beds before they go to sleep. Their parents usually tell them that Father Christmas will come during the night. Father Christmas is very kindhearted. He gets to the top of each house and climbs down the chimney into the fireplace. He fills each of the stockings with Christmas presents. Of course, Father Christmas isnt real. In Jim and Kates house, “Father Christmas” is really Mr. Green. Mr. Green doesnt climb down the chimney. He waits until the children are asleep. Then he quietly goes into their bedrooms and fills their stockings with small presents. When they were very young, Mr. Green sometimes wore a red coat. But he doesnt do that now. The children are no longer young, and they know who “Father Christmas” really is. But they still put their stockings at the end of their beds. Christmas Eve is ________.

A:the night of Christmas Day B:the evening of Christmas Day C:Christmas Day D:the night before Christmas Day