Amy Chua may well be very _ . What kind of a mother will drag her then 7-year-old daughter's dollhouse out to the car and tell her that it is going to be donated if the poor kid doesn't master a difficult piano composition by the next day? What kind of a mother will inform her daughter that she is nothing but "garbage"? And what kind of mother will believe, as Chua tells readers, that "an A- is not always a good grade"? The only activities her children should be permitted to do are those in which they can eventually win a medal, which must be gold. What kind of a mother she is? Why, a mother who is raising her kids in the typical Chinese way, rather than the Western way. In her new book, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, Chua tells her adventures in Chinese parenting, and -- so _ as she may be -- she is also mesmerizing . Chua's voice is that of a happy, knowledgeable serial killer -- think Hannibal Lecter -- who's explaining how he's going to cut his next victim, as though it's the most self-evidently normal behavior. There is another attractive aspect of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. There are methods to Chua's madness, enough method to stir up self-doubt in those readers who support the more educating parenting styles. It is trusted that Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother is going to be a book club and parenting blog phenomenon; there will be fevered debate over Chua's tough love strategies, which include unchangeable bans on such Western indulgences as sleepovers, play dates, and any after class activities except practicing musical instruments, which must be limited between the violin or the piano. The back story to Chua's book is this -- she is the daughter of a couple of Chinese immigrants and is now a professor at Yale Law School and the author of two best-selling "big-think" books on "free-market democracy" and "the fall of empires". When Chua married her husband, her fellow Yale law professor and a novelist Jed Rubenfeld, they agreed that their children would be brought up in "the Chinese way," in... What's the writer's purpose of using the example of "weight problem"? A) To show Chinese parents can do unimaginable things. B) To make a comparison between Western and Chinese mothers. C) To make us believe the western way of parenting is much better. D) To show that Chinese mothers care more about their children.
B
My parents were in a huge argument, and I was really upset about it. I didn't know who I should talk with about how I was feeling. So I asked Mom to allow me to stay the night at my best friend's house. Though I knew I wouldn't tell her about my parents' situation, I was looking forward to getting out of the house. I was in the middle of packing up my things when suddenly the power went out in the neighborhood. Mom came to tell me that I should stay with my grandpa until the power came back on. I was really disappointed because I felt that we did not have much to talk about. But I knew he would be frightened alone in the dark. I went to his room and told him that I'd stay with him until the power was restored. He was quite happy and said, "Great opportunity " " What is ?" I asked. " To talk, you and I," he said. "To hold a private little meeting about what we're going to do with your mom and dad, and what we're going to do with ourselves now that we're in the situation we are in." "But we can't do anything about it, Grandpa," I said, surprised that here was someone with whom I could share my feelings and someone who was in the same "boat" as I was. And that's how the most unbelievable friendship between my grandfather and me started. Sitting there in the dark, we talked about our feelings and fears of life--from how fast things change, to how they sometimes don't change fast enough. That night, because the power went out, I found a new friend, with whom I could safely talk about all my fears and pains, whatever they may be. Suddenly, the lights all came back on. "Well," he said, " I guess that means you'll want to go now. I really like our talk. I hope the power will go out every few nights!" What can be inferred from the passage? A) The grandchild was eager to leave. B) They would have more chats. C) The lights would go out again. D) It would no longer be dark.
B
*Question*
In our culture, the sources of what we call a sense of "mastery" - feeling important and worthwhile - and the sources of what we call a sense of "pleasure" - finding life enjoyable - are not always the same. Women often are told "You can't have it all." Sometimes what the speaker really is saying is: "You chose a career, so you can't expect to have closer relationships or a happy family life." or "You have a wonderful husband and children--What's all this about wanting a career?" But women need to understand and develop both aspects of well-being, if they are to feel good about themselves. Our study shows that, for women, well-being has two dimensions. One is mastery, which includes self-esteem, a sense of control over your life, and low levels of anxiety and depression. Mastery is closely related to the "doing" side of life, to work and activity. Pleasure is the other dimensions, and it is composed of happiness, satisfaction and optimism. It is tied more closely to the "feeling" side of life. The two are independent of each other. A woman could be high in mastery and low in pleasure, and vice versa . For example, a woman who has a good job, but whose mother has just died, might be feeling very good about herself and in control of her work life, but the pleasure side could be damaged for a time. The concepts of mastery and pleasure can help us identify the sources of well-being for women, and remedy past mistakes. In the past, women were encouraged to look only at the feeling side of life as the source of all well-being. But we know that both mastery and pleasure are critical. And mastery seems to be achieved largely through work. In our study, all the groups of employed women rated significantly higher in mastery than did women who were not employed. A woman's well-being is enhanced when she takes on multiple roles. At least by middle adulthood, the women who were involved in a combination of roles-marriages, motherhood, and employment were the highest in well-being, despite warnings about stress and strain. The author's attitude towards women having a career is_. A) negative B) positive C) neutral D) realistic
**Answer**
B