Passage 9
In Britain one third of all marriages end in divorce and one in four families with children is headed by a lone parent.A recent study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development found such children are 40%more likely to be poor academic performers.Another report—Divorce and Separation：the Outcomes for Children—surveys 200 research studies.The authors Bryan Rogers and Jan Pryor draw the bleak conclusion that children of separated families tend to gain fewer academic qualifications as well as being more likely to leave school and home early.They are also at a much higher risk of behaving antisocially or criminally and are more likely to resort to smoking，drinking and illegal drug use.
So，given these gloomy facts，is there anything that schools can do？Tiverton high school in Devon thinks there is.Now Tiverton has won a£20，000 Barclays New Futures Challenge Award to finance a project called Changing Families.The aim is to help the children within the school，and then to move the work out into the community and primary schools.Nina Wroe，a former deputy head teacher in Exeter，is the school’s community partner.She worked with a group of 12-and-13-year-olds.They are telling and developing a story over several weeks and they plan to take it out to primary schools as a piece of drama.Some students are committed and keen.Others are very fidgety and clearly disturbed.
“Mark and Sarah don’t want to do things together any more.They argue.And he’s spending too much time with his secretary，”one of the girls helpfully recalls.Gradually the others flesh out the complete picture.Then they role-play the fictitious children’s sad return to Mum after a weekend with Dad.But the fiction is just a means of facing the issues.Unobtrusively the Tiverton children slip into their own real-life anecdotes.“They might think they can live together but I bet they can’t，”says one 12-year-old boy with the studied wisdom of a 50-year-old.“My parents have tried it three times.They’re together again now but I wouldn’t give it long.”
However the research on this issue is routinely ignored that the trouble seems to be to persuade parents，teachers，ministers，the media and the public that divorce and its results do affect children’s welfare and education.People weighed down with the guilt of divorce“baggage”，are unlikely to be able to face the truth even when it’s staring them in the face.
1.The bleak outcomes of the children in divorced families demonstrate in____.
A.their few but high academic qualifications
B.their becoming more independent
C.their finding partners and getting married early
D.their more likely committing crimes
2.The phrase“resort to”（Line 8，Para.1）most probably means____.
A.abandon B.repair C.adopt D.sort
3.Besides helping the children within the school，Changing Families also aims to____.
A.expand the program to a larger scope
B.donate money to primary schools
C.let the community involved in divorce
D.help the divorced couples lead good lives
4.In the eyes of the 12-year-old boy，his parents’marriage____.
A.is full of romance B.cannot last long
C.still can be saved D.has studied wisdom
5.From the text，we can see，towards the research on this issue，the writer seems____.
A.convinced B.optimistic
C.ignored D.negative
Words&Expressions
bleak adj. 令人沮丧的；阴冷的；荒凉的，凄凉的；黯淡的
resort to 诉诸；采取
gloomy adj. 令人沮丧的，阴郁的；黑暗的，阴沉的(https://www.daowen.com)
deputy adj. 副的；代理的
fidgety adj. 不安的，不沉着的，烦躁的；难以取悦的
flesh out 充实，使有血有肉
unobtrusively adv. 不引人注目地；不知不觉地
weigh sb.down with sth. 使……负担
文章大意
英国有1/3的婚姻以离婚而告终，每四个家庭中就有一个是带孩子的单亲。经济合作与发展组织近期所做的一项研究发现，这些单亲家庭的孩子在学习方面表现不佳的概率要比正常家庭里的孩子高出40%。另一份名为《离婚与分居对孩子的影响》的报告对200个研究项目进行了普查，其作者布瑞恩·罗杰斯和简·普赖尔得出了一个令人沮丧的结论：离异家庭中的孩子取得学业资格的人数往往比较少，他们比正常家庭的孩子更有可能早早地离开学校和家庭，更有反社会和违法犯罪的危险，也更有可能涉足吸烟、酗酒，甚至染指吸毒。
面对这些阴暗的事实，学校能做些什么呢？德文郡的蒂弗顿中学认为办法是有的。目前蒂弗顿中学已获得了一笔2万英镑的“巴克莱挑战新未来奖金”，以支持一个名为“改变家庭”的项目。其目的在于帮助该校的孩子，然后将这项工作扩展到社区及其他小学的孩子们身上。尼娜·罗伊原是埃克塞特一所学校的副校长，现在担任该中学的社区辅导员。她与一群十二三岁的孩子们一起工作，讲述一个故事，并计划把它编成一出戏，到许多小学去演出。一些孩子表现得全神贯注，而其他孩子则非常躁动不安。
“马克和萨拉不再愿意一起做事，他们一见面就吵架。马克总与他的秘书在一起。”一个女孩子为我复述了她们正在讲的故事。孩子们逐渐编出了一个完整的故事。之后，他们扮演孩子们在与父亲共度周末之后，伤心地回到母亲身边。不过，虚构剧情正是面对现实问题的一种方式。在编故事过程中，蒂弗顿中学的孩子们不知不觉地触及他们现实生活中的一些事情。“我爸妈或许还认为他们俩能共同生活呢，可我敢打赌根本没戏。”一个12岁的男孩说，他倒像50岁那么老成。“他们已经试过三次了。现在他们虽然又在一起了，可我觉得肯定长不了。”
然而对这个问题的研究常常忽视：问题看起来是要说服家长、教师、政府要员、媒体和公众，要他们认识到离婚及其后果确实对孩子的幸福与教育有负面影响。人们会因为背着离婚这个“包袱”而深感内疚，即便事实就摆在他们眼前，他们也不大可能有能力去面对。
答案、考点及解析
1.【答案】D
【考点】局部理解
【解析】通过题干中的关键词bleak outcomes和children in divorced families，可以在第一段中部找到解答本题的信息。原文指出：离异家庭的孩子的惨淡主要表现在以下几方面：一、他们取得学业资格的人数往往比较少，A项错在他们取得高学历上；二、他们比正常家庭的孩子更有可能早早地离开学校和家庭，可见这是一种贬义的说法，而B项错在independent是褒义词；三、他们更有反社会和违法犯罪的危险性，这正是D项的内容。而C项的内容文章并未提及。
2.【答案】C
【考点】根据上下文猜测词义
【解析】本题可采用代入法，即把四个选项分别代入原文，看哪个最符合文意。上下文讲到离异家庭的孩子容易犯罪，由此可以推出，他们必然是会吸烟、酗酒，甚至染指吸毒。所以A项abandon（放弃），显然与文意不符。B项repair（修理）与吸烟、酗酒、吸毒显然在语义上并无多大的联系，D项sort（分类）也是如此，所以综合比较，还是C项adopt（采纳，采取）更为贴切。
3.【答案】A
【考点】目的类细节题
【解析】根据题干中的关键词helping the children within the school和Changing Families，可以定位出解答此题的信息出现在第二段。原文指出：该计划的目的除了帮助该校的孩子，然后将这项工作扩展到社区及其他小学的孩子们身上。其中move
into是“移入”的意思，也就是说，要扩展这个项目的范围，这正是A项的内容。而B、C、D三项的内容文章并没有提及。
4.【答案】B
【考点】局部理解
【解析】根据题干中的关键词12-year-old boy，可以在第三段结尾处找到解答本题的信息。原文的意思是：这个像50岁那么老成的12岁男孩认为尽管他的父母认为他们还能生活在一起，而且已经试过三次了，他还是觉得他们的婚姻不能维持多久。They might think中的They指代他的父母，give it long是长久的意思。这正是B项的内容。A项的内容没有提及；C项错在是他的父母认为他们的婚姻可以挽救，而不是孩子；D项错在原文是说这个小孩似乎拥有50岁的智慧，而不是他父母的婚姻拥有50岁的智慧，偷换了主语。
5.【答案】D
【考点】作者态度
【解析】文章最后一段作者指出：然而对这个问题的研究常常忽视问题是要说服家长、教师、政府要员、媒体和公众，要他们认识到离婚及其后果确实对孩子的幸福与教育有负面影响。这其实是在批评有关的研究，所以作者对此是持反面态度的。A项和B项与作者态度正好相反；而C项错在原文是说研究忽视了问题，而不是作者忽视了研究。