5．How is it that siblings （兄弟姐妹） can turn out so differently？One answer is that in fact each sibling grows upin a different family．The firstborn is，for a while，an only child，and therefore has a completely different experience of the parents than those born later．The next child is，for a while，the youngest，until the situation is changed by a new arrival．The mother and father themselves are changing and growing up too．One sibling might live in a stable and close family in the first few years； another might be raised in a family crisis，with a disappointed mother or an angry father．
Sibling competition was identified as an important shaping force as early as in 1918．But more recently，researchers have found many ways in which brothers and sisters are a lasting force in each others'lives．Dr．Annette Henderson says firstborn children pick up vocabulary more quickly than their siblings．The reason for this might be that the later children aren't getting the same one-on-one time with parents．But that doesn't mean that the younger children have problems with language development．Later-borns don't enjoy that much talking time with parents，but instead they harvest lessons from bigger brothers and sisters，learning entire phrases and getting an understanding of social concepts such as the difference between"I"and"me"．
A Cambridge University study of 140children found that siblings created a rich world of play that helped them grow socially．Love-hate relationships were common among the children．Even those siblings who fought the most had just as much positive communication as the other sibling pairs．
One way children seek more attention from parents is by making themselves different from their siblings，particularly if they are close in age．Researchers have found that the first two children in a family are typically more different from each other than the second and third．Girls with brothers show their differences to a maximum degree by being more feminine than girls with sisters．A 2003research paper studied adolescents from 185families over two years，finding that those who changed to make themselves different from their siblings were successful in increasing the amount of warmth they gained from their parents．
63．The underlined part"in a different family"（in Para.1）means"A"．
A．in a different family environment B．in a different family tradition
C．in different family crises D．in different families
64．In terms of language development，later-bornsB．
A．get their parents'individual guidance
B．learn a lot from their elder siblings
C．experience a lot of difficulties
D．pick up words more quickly
65．What was found about fights among siblings？D
A．Siblings hated fighting and loved playing．
B．Siblings in some families fought frequently．
C．Sibling fights led to bad sibling relationships．
D．Siblings learned to get on together from fights．
66．The word"feminine"（in Para.4）means"B"．
A．having qualities of parents B．having qualities of women
C．having defensive qualities D．having extraordinary qualities．
分析 同一家庭出身的兄弟姐妹性格為何不同？那是因?yàn)樗麄兩钣诓煌募彝キh(huán)境：對(duì)于父母的體驗(yàn)，第一個(gè)出生的孩子與以后出生的孩子會(huì)迥然不同；在語言發(fā)展上，后出生的孩子更喜歡向哥哥姐姐學(xué)習(xí)而不是向父母學(xué)習(xí)．
解答 63．答案：A．詞義猜測題．根據(jù)第一段第二句中的"…different experience…"以及第一段最后一句中"…might live in a stable and close family in the first few years； another might be raised in a family crisis，with a disappointed mother and angry father．"可知，該短語意為"生活在不同的家庭環(huán)境中"，故選A．
64．答案：B．細(xì)節(jié)理解題．根據(jù)第二段最后一句話中"Later-borns don't enjoy that much talking time with parents，but instead they harvest lessons from bigger brothers and sister…"可知后出生者更傾向于向兄弟姐妹學(xué)習(xí)，故選B．
65．答案：D．細(xì)節(jié)理解題．根據(jù)第三段最后一句"Even those siblings who fought the most had just as much posistive communication as the other sibling pairs．"可知，即使兄弟姐妹間爭吵不斷，他們也在此中學(xué)習(xí)相處之道，故選D．
66．答案：B．詞義猜測題．根據(jù)本句語境"Girls with brothers show their differences to a maximum degree by being more feminine than girls with sisters．"可知，有兄弟的女孩比有姐妹的女孩更具有女性品質(zhì)特征，故選B．
點(diǎn)評(píng) 做這類題時(shí)，不僅要掌握文章的主旨大意，而且要根據(jù)題干在文章中找出關(guān)鍵信息進(jìn)行細(xì)節(jié)理解，并根據(jù)上下文猜測詞義．
