Question

【題目】 We often hear such statements: “I spilled (灑出) juice, but it wasn’t my fault.”, “I got in trouble at school, but it wasn’t my fault.” or “I was in a car accident, but it wasn’t my fault.” That “It’s not my fault.” is a go-to response for so many people and especially teenagers.

Parents complain they are tired of the “excuse”. The reason why variations of “It’s not my fault.” are so popular is that it lets us off the hook from guilt and blame. I’m a fan of not owning responsibility for things that I can’t control. Teens who often say “It’s my fault.” when something bad happens tend to be highly self-critical, perfectionistic and more easier to be troubled by anxiety and depression.

While it is important to recognize lack of reason to blame oneself, many teens over-rely on “It’s not my fault.” When trying to get them to take responsibility, parents usually attempt to convince their teens that something is their fault. The approach tends to be ineffective and turn into a power struggle. No one wins. A more effective approach can be to stress significant drawbacks to consistently focusing on removing our responsibility with this phrase.

Overuse of the phrase can result in feelings of lack of ability to control their own lives. This sense has been shown to cause low motivation. Besides creating feelings of lack of ability, overuse of “It’s not my fault.” focuses a teen’s attention on what is done as opposed to what needs to be done.

People may not have caused all their problems but they have to solve them anyway. The example I frequently share with teens is the question of what one will do if he is pushed into a deep lake. One can certainly stay in water, yelling, “It’s not my fault.” However, that won’t get him out of water. He needs to swim to the shore, regardless of the fault.

If you take a proper approach to communicating with your teens, you can help them avoid over-reliance on “It’s not my fault.”

【1】What phenomenon is described in Paragraph 1?

A.The teenagers’ dislike for school life.

B.The common trouble faced by teenagers.

C.The reasons for blaming others for accidents.

D.The tendency for people not to be responsible for mess in life.

【2】What type of teens tends to suffer great mental pressure according to the text?

A.Those lacking confidence and ambition.

B.Those allowing others to find excuses.

C.Those unable to get along well with others.

D.Those often blaming themselves for some incidents.

【3】What’s the author’s attitude to parents’ usual way of guiding children?

A.Supportive.B.Negative.

C.Ambiguous.D.Neutral.

【4】What lesson is conveyed in the example often shared by the author?

A.We should try to avoid troubling others.

B.We should focus on how to solve problems.

C.We should dare to point out others’ mistakes.

D.We should be self-critical as much as possible.

Answer 1

【答案】

【1】D

【2】D

【3】B

【4】B

【解析】

這是一篇議論文。青少年經(jīng)常說“不是我的錯”，作者分析了其原因、危害及父母應該如何引導孩子承擔責任。

【1】

推理判斷題。第一段提到：我們經(jīng)常在生活中聽到這樣的言論“橙汁灑了，但不是我的錯；我在學校陷入麻煩，但不是我的錯；我出車禍了，但不是我的錯”，最后一句總結(jié)上述言論That “It’s not my fault.” is a go-to response for so many people and especially teenagers.(“不是我的錯”是很多人尤其是青少年的應急反應)，由此可推知，第一段主要描述了人們不想為生活中的麻煩事負責的傾向，總是脫口而出“不是我的錯”。故選D項。

【2】

細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)第二段最后一句Teens who often say “It’s my fault.” when something bad happens tend to be highly self-critical, perfectionistic and more easier to be troubled by anxiety and depression.(當不好的事情發(fā)生時，經(jīng)常說“是我的錯”的青少年傾向于高度自我批評，完美主義，并且更容易被焦慮和沮喪困擾)可知，經(jīng)常因為事情責怪自己的人傾向于遭受極大的精神壓力。故選D項。

【3】

推理判斷題。根據(jù)第三段中“When trying to get them to take responsibility, parents usually attempt to convince their teens that something is their fault. The approach tends to be ineffective and turn into a power struggle.(當試圖讓孩子承擔責任時，父母通常說服孩子是他們的錯。這個方法傾向于無效，并且會變成權利斗爭)”可知，作者對父母引導孩子的方法持消極態(tài)度。故選B項。

【4】

細節(jié)理解題。第五段舉了一個例子，如果一個人被推進湖里，他可以大喊“不是我的錯”，但這無濟于事，雖然不是他的錯，他還是要想辦法游到岸上去，印證了本段第一句提到的“人們可能不是所有問題的原因，但是無論如何他們必須解決這些問題”，所以作者通過這個例子想分享的教訓是人們應該專注于如何解決問題。故選B項。