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  3. Compared with elderly parents and adult children in five other industrialized nations, Americans are twice as likely to have "di

Compared with elderly parents and adult children in five other industrialized nations, Americans are twice as likely to have "di

admin2012-05-28  68
问题     Compared with elderly parents and adult children in five other industrialized nations, Americans are twice as likely to have "disharmonious" relationships, a new multinational study has found. And we’re correspondingly less likely to have "friendly" relationships marked by strong affection and relatively free of conflict. The study of nearly 2,700 parents over age 65, published recently in The Journal of Marriage and Family, turned up significant national differences. German and Spanish parents described relationships with their adult children as more detached. The English reported the most friendly families. Israelis operated with a high degree of ambivalence, meaning they indicated strong positive and negative emotions. Norwegians placed somewhere in the middle. And Americans took the prize for conflict — defined as a higher incidence of arguing and criticism. "American families can be characterized by greater strain," said Merril Silverstein, a social gerontologist (老年学专家) at the University of Southern California and the study’s lead author.
    Let’s not overstate our conflict. Most American parents — 51 percent of the United States sample — still managed to maintain positive connections with their children, and so did a plurality of(多数) those surveyed in other countries. Though the survey didn’t attempt to point reasons for discord, the researchers have some theories. They chose countries with very different social policies and with a variety of cultural values relating to families, and they believe these play a role.
    "Though it might be invisible, our choices and our emotions are shaped by the options that are available or not available to us," said Dr. Silverstein. "And that’s influenced by where we live." In countries without strong governmental support for the elderly, for example, "families are compelled to care for each other, and it forces them into situations they might not want to be in." Norwegians, for instance, enjoy virtually lifetime state assistance. They don’t have to be as deeply involved in their parents’ care as, say, Spaniards or Americans. "The idea that families should care for their own is deep-rooted in U.S. ideology," Dr. Silverstein said. But government support is weaker, with more gaps, so we frequently feel we have to face the not-always-harmonious consequences.
    Cultural variations also enter the equation. In Spain, a far higher proportion of the elderly participants — 22.5 percent — lived with their children than was the case in the other nations, a situation that might ease feelings of detachment. As for the English, they have strong social supports, but they also have a cultural tendency to inhibit the expression of strong negative emotion. Israelis, on the other hand, let it all hang out.
What is the passage mainly about?
选项 A、Social customs in developed countries.
B、Governmental support in the United Sates.
C、Population condition in remote regions.
D、Family relationships in different countries.
答案D
解析 本文首段对比了老年父母与成年子女之间的关系在不同国家的表现，然后论述了造成不同表现的两个原因，由此可知，本文主要讨论了不同国家的家庭关系问题，故答案为[D]。[A]“发达国家的社会习俗”是针对末段设的干扰项，故排除；[B]“美国的政府支持”只是在第三段中讨论过，以偏概全，故排除；[C]“偏远地区的人口状况”在文中未提到，故排除。
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