Part A: Reading Comprehension
Directions: Read the following text. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on the ANSWER SHEET. (40 points)
Text 2
Parenting tips obtained from hunter-gatherers in Africa may be the key to bringing up more contented children, researchers have suggested. The idea is based on studies of communities such as the Kung of Botswana, where each child is cared for by many adults. Kung children as young as four will help to look after younger ones and “baby-wearing”, in which infants are carried in slings, is considered the norm.
According to Dr Nikhil Chaudhary, an evolutionary anthropologist at Cambridge University, these practices, known as alloparenting, could lead to less anxiety for children and parents.
Dr Annie Swanepoel, a child psychiatrist, believes that there are ways to incorporate them into western life. In Germany, one scheme has paired an old people’s home with a nursery. The residents help to look after the children, an arrangement akin to alloparenting. Another measure could be encouraging friendships between children in different school years, to mirror the unsupervised mixed-age playgroups in hunter-gatherer communities.
In a paper published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, researchers said that the western nuclear family was a recent invention which broke with evolutionary history. This abrupt shift to an “intensive mothering narrative”, which suggests that mothers should manage childcare alone, was likely to have been harmful. “Such narratives can lead to maternal exhaustion and have dangerous consequences,” they wrote.
By contrast, in hunter-gatherer societies adults other than the parents can provide almost half of a child’s care. One previous study looked at the Efé people of the Democratic Republic of Congo. It found that infants had an average of 14 alloparents a day by the time they were 18 weeks old, and were passed between caregivers eight times an hour.
Chaudhary said that parents now have less childcare support from family and social networks than during most of humans’ evolutionary history, but introducing additional caregivers could reduce stress and maternal depression, which could have a “knock-on” benefit to a child’s wellbeing. An infant born to a hunter-gatherer society could have more than ten caregivers—this contrasts starkly to nursery settings in the UK where regulations call for a ratio of one carer to four children aged two to three.
While hunter-gatherer children learnt from observation and imitation in mixed-age playgroups, researchers said that western “instructive teaching”, where pupils are asked to sit still, may contribute to conditions such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Chaudhary said that Britain should explore the possibility that older siblings helping their parents “might also enhance their own social development.”
26. According to the first two paragraphs, alloparenting refers to the practice of
27. The scheme in Germany is mentioned to illustrate
28. According to Paragraph 4, the “intensive mothering narrative”
29. According to Paragraph 6, what can we learn about the nurseries in the UK?
30. Which of the following would be the best title for the text?
答案与解析 (Answers)
26. [A] sharing childcare among community members.
解析：第一段描述了昆族（Kung）的孩子由“许多成年人照料（cared for by many adults）”，连四岁的孩子也会帮忙。第二段明确指出这种做法被称为“alloparenting”。因此，alloparenting 是指在社区成员间分担儿童照护，选 A。
27. [B] an approach to integrating alloparenting into western society.
解析：第三段首句提出，Dr. Swanepoel 认为有办法将这种做法“引入西方生活（incorporate them into western life）”。接着举了德国将养老院和托儿所配对的例子，称其为“类似于 alloparenting 的安排”。所以该例子是为了说明将这种模式融入西方社会的方法，选 B。
28. [D] departs from the course of evolution.
解析：第四段指出西方核心家庭是“违背进化史（broke with evolutionary history）”的近代发明。而所谓的“intensive mothering narrative”就是这种近期发明的产物，它主张母亲应该独立照料孩子。因此，这种叙事方式背离了人类进化的历程（departs from the course of evolution），选 D。
29. [C] They ought to improve their carer-to-child ratio.
解析：第六段将狩猎采集社会（一个孩子有10多个照料者）与英国托儿所的情况进行对比。在英国，“规定要求一名照护者照看四名2至3岁的孩子（ratio of one carer to four children）”。作者认为引入更多照护者能减少压力和抑郁，暗示目前的师生比是不够理想的，应该改进，选 C。
30. [B] For a Happier Family, Learn from the Hunter-gatherers.
解析：全文都在论证西方现代育儿模式（核心家庭、独立照料、久坐教学）与人类进化史的脱节，并提出通过借鉴狩猎采集社会的“共同抚育（alloparenting）”和“混龄游戏”来减少焦虑、缓解母亲疲劳。标题 B 完美概括了“借鉴狩猎采集者以获得更幸福家庭”的主旨。
核心长难句精解 (Highlighted Sentences)
1. 过去分词短语作定语与宾语从句：
"Parenting tips obtained from hunter-gatherers in Africa may be the key to bringing up more contented children, researchers have suggested."
【解析】obtained from... 是过去分词短语作后置定语，修饰 parenting tips。bringing up 是动名词短语作介词 to 的宾语，表示“养育”。句末的 researchers have suggested 是主句的谓语，前面部分其实是宾语从句。
【翻译】研究人员建议，从非洲狩猎采集者那里获得的育儿秘诀，可能是养育出更快乐的孩子的关键。
"Parenting tips obtained from hunter-gatherers in Africa may be the key to bringing up more contented children, researchers have suggested."
【解析】obtained from... 是过去分词短语作后置定语，修饰 parenting tips。bringing up 是动名词短语作介词 to 的宾语，表示“养育”。句末的 researchers have suggested 是主句的谓语，前面部分其实是宾语从句。
【翻译】研究人员建议，从非洲狩猎采集者那里获得的育儿秘诀，可能是养育出更快乐的孩子的关键。
2. 同位语从句与定语从句嵌套：
"This abrupt shift to an “intensive mothering narrative”, which suggests that mothers should manage childcare alone, was likely to have been harmful."
【解析】which 引导非限制性定语从句修饰 narrative。在该定语从句内部，that 引导宾语从句说明这种叙事的具体内容（母亲应独自照料）。
【翻译】这种向“密集母职叙事”的突然转变——即认为母亲应该独自承担育儿工作的观点——很可能是有害的。
"This abrupt shift to an “intensive mothering narrative”, which suggests that mothers should manage childcare alone, was likely to have been harmful."
【解析】which 引导非限制性定语从句修饰 narrative。在该定语从句内部，that 引导宾语从句说明这种叙事的具体内容（母亲应独自照料）。
【翻译】这种向“密集母职叙事”的突然转变——即认为母亲应该独自承担育儿工作的观点——很可能是有害的。
3. 对比结构与定语从句：
"An infant born to a hunter-gatherer society could have more than ten caregivers—this contrasts starkly to nursery settings in the UK where regulations call for a ratio of one carer to four children aged two to three."
【解析】contrasts starkly to 意为“与...形成鲜明对比”。where 引导定语从句修饰 nursery settings。call for 意为“要求/呼吁”。
【翻译】出生在狩猎采集社会的婴儿可能有十个以上的照料者，这与英国托儿所的环境形成了鲜明对比，那里的规定要求一名照护者对应四名两到三岁的孩子。
"An infant born to a hunter-gatherer society could have more than ten caregivers—this contrasts starkly to nursery settings in the UK where regulations call for a ratio of one carer to four children aged two to three."
【解析】contrasts starkly to 意为“与...形成鲜明对比”。where 引导定语从句修饰 nursery settings。call for 意为“要求/呼吁”。
【翻译】出生在狩猎采集社会的婴儿可能有十个以上的照料者，这与英国托儿所的环境形成了鲜明对比，那里的规定要求一名照护者对应四名两到三岁的孩子。