Section A: Banked Cloze

Directions: In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read the passage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.

Parenting brings fathers more joy than it does mothers, according to a new study. The research examined three studies (26) ______ more than 18,000 participants. Across all three, parenthood was (27) ______ with more positive wellbeing outcomes for dads than for mums.

So why are fathers happier than mothers? “Fathers may fare better than mothers in part due to how they spend time with their children,” said lead author Katherine Nelson-Coffey. In one study, the authors (28) ______ that dads were more likely to take “playing” as an (29) ______ activity both when caring for their kids and spending time with their kids. “Playing with their children likely offers parents opportunities to experience positive feelings and (30) ______ closeness with their children,” they say.

Fathers also did better than men without kids, reporting greater happiness, life satisfaction, and fewer (31) ______ symptoms. They also reported greater connectedness and autonomy. For mums, (32) ______, compared to women without children, the results weren't quite as positive. Mums reported greater autonomy, but also “greater trouble” and fewer positive (33) ______.

Mums reported happier moods while interacting with their kids, compared to other experiences, but not while engaging (34) ______ in childcare. “This difference suggests that how mothers and fathers spend time with their children might have important (35) ______ for their wellbeing,” the authors write. They suspect that mums may be less happy than dads because they're more likely to have higher expectations about parenthood. As such, they're more likely to be “let down” by the experience.

Word Bank

A) additional

B) associated

C) composing

D) cultivate

E) depressive

F) directly

G) emotions

H) however

I) implications

J) interfered

K) involving

L) note

M) precisely

N) superficial

O) therefore

Answers & Explanations

26. K (involving)。解析：修饰前面的名词 three studies，需要填入现在分词作后置定语。句意为“包含/涉及 (involving)”了超过 18,000 名参与者的三项研究。

27. B (associated)。解析：位于 was 和 with 之间，固定搭配 be associated with 意为“与...相关联 (associated)”。句意为为人父母与更积极的健康结果相关联。

28. L (note)。解析：句子缺少谓语动词，主语 authors 是复数形式，因此需要填入动词原形。句意为作者们“指出/提到 (note)”。

29. A (additional)。解析：位于不定冠词 an 和名词 activity 之间，必须填入以元音音素开头的形容词。玩耍被看作是一种“额外的 (additional)”活动。

30. D (cultivate)。解析：与前面的动词 experience 构成并列结构，需要填入动词原形。固定搭配 cultivate closeness 意为“培养/建立 (cultivate)”亲密感。

31. E (depressive)。解析：修饰名词 symptoms，需要填入形容词。depressive symptoms 是心理学中的专有名词搭配，意为“抑郁 (depressive)”症状。

32. H (however)。解析：上文说父亲比没孩子的男人过得好，这里转折说母亲却没有这么积极的结果。空格前后有逗号，作为插入语，填入副词“然而 (however)”。

33. G (emotions)。解析：修饰形容词 positive，且受 fewer（更少的）限定，必须填入可数名词复数。句意为有更多的麻烦和更少的积极“情绪 (emotions)”。

34. F (directly)。解析：修饰动名词 engaging，需要填入副词。句意为当母亲“直接 (directly)”参与到日常照料（childcare）中时，情绪并不高。

35. I (implications)。解析：位于形容词 important 之后，且搭配介词 for。固定用法 have important implications for 意为对...有重要的“影响/意义 (implications)”。

核心搭配与高分句型

【核心搭配与高频短语】

• be associated with：与...相关联，与...有关（parenthood was associated with more positive wellbeing outcomes）
• fare better：表现更好，进展得更好（Fathers may fare better than mothers）
• in part due to：部分由于...（in part due to how they spend time）
• take... as...：把...看作，把...当作（take "playing" as an additional activity）
• cultivate closeness：培养亲密感，建立亲密关系（cultivate closeness with their children）
• compared to：与...相比（compared to women without children）
• engage in：参与，从事（engaging directly in childcare）
• have important implications for：对...有重要的意义/影响
• let down：使失望，辜负（more likely to be "let down" by the experience）

【亮点句型解析】

• While + doing (时间状语从句的省略)：
  "Mums reported happier moods while interacting with their kids... but not while engaging directly in childcare."
  （母亲在与孩子互动时报告了更愉快的情绪...但直接参与育儿照料时却没有。）当状语从句的主语与主句主语一致时，可以省略主语和 be 动词，直接使用 `while + doing`，使句子极其紧凑、干练，是高分作文中的常见高级语法。
• As such (总结性连接词)：
  "As such, they're more likely to be 'let down' by the experience."
  （因此，她们更有可能对这段经历感到“失望”。）`As such` 用于承接上文的逻辑（上文提到母亲有更高的期望），表示“正因如此”，比普通的 `So` 或 `Therefore` 更显学术和正式。