Passage 5
体裁：议论文 话题：儿童教育 时间：7分钟
(2014·西北工业大学附中模拟)Gay marriage，and especially gay parenting，has been in_the_cross_hairs in recent days.
On Jan.6，Rick Santorum told a New Hampshire audience that children are better off with a father in prison than being raised in a home with lesbian parents and no father at all.And last Monday(Jan.9)，Pope Benedict called gay marriage a threat “to the future of humanity itself”.citing the need for children to have heterosexual homes.
But research on families headed by gays and lesbians doesn't back up these views.In fact，in some ways，gay parents may bring talents to the table that straight parents don't.
Gay parents “tend to be more motivated，more committed than heterosexual parents on average，because they chose to be parents，” said Abbie Goldberg，a psychologist at Clark University who researches gay and lesbian parenting.Gays and lesbians rarely become parents by accident，compared with an almost 50 percent accidental pregnancy rate among heterosexuals，Goldberg said.“That translates to greater commitment on average and more involvement.”
And while research indicates that kids of gay parents show few differences in achievement，mental health，social functioning and other measures，these kids may have the advantage of openmindedness，tolerance and role models for equal relationships，according to some research.Not only that，but gays and lesbians are likely to provide homes for difficulttoplace children in the foster system，studies show.
Children of gay parents also show less care about gender difference.That's likely because gays and lesbians tend to have more equal relationships than straight couples，Goldberg said.
“Men and women felt like they were free to pursue a wide range of interests，” Goldberg said.“Nobody was telling them，‘Oh，you can't do that，that's a boy thing，' or ‘That's a girl thing.'”
【语篇导读】 本文是一篇议论文，论述了同性婚姻家庭中成长的孩子对其性格的形成不利，而异性婚姻家庭中成长的孩子健全。
1.The underlined phrase “in the cross hairs”(in Paragraph 1) probably means________.
A.a great concern B.a big threat
C.a political ban D.a role model
解析 词义猜测题。由文章内容可知，这篇文章探讨的是同性婚姻和同性恋养育孩子的问题。这个问题引起人们的极大关注。
答案 A
2.It can be learned from the passage that Rick Santorum________.
A.opposes the need for children to have heterosexual homes
B.thinks children are better off with a father in prison
C.believes children are better off in heterosexual homes
D.is in favor of children being raised by lesbian parents
解析 推理判断题。由第二段可知Rick Santorum认为在同性婚姻家庭中成长对孩子不利，所以他认为在异性婚姻家庭中成长对孩子比较好。
答案 C
3.From Abbie Goldberg's words，we can learn that________.
A.most heterosexual parents have children by accident
B.gays and lesbians consider carefully before becoming parents
C.heterosexual parents are not committed in the marriage
D.there's no gender difference in gay and lesbian parenting
解析 细节理解题。由第四段可知答案。
答案 B
4.From the passage，we can infer that________.
A.children of gay parents are more talented
B.gay parents like adopting poor children
C.children of gay parents may enjoy more freedom
D.gay parents show no difference in social functioning
解析 推理判断题。由最后一段可知答案。
答案 C
5.Which of the following is the advantage of kids of gay parents?
A.Tolerance. B.More talents.
C.Achievement. D.Mental health.
解析 细节理解题。由第五段第一句可知答案。
答案 A
