Today only one person in five in the United States lives within 50 miles of his birthplace. Since the country was first settled, Americans have moved around a great deal, and are often far away from their parents. Because they have broken ties with their past at a young age, chosen their own occupations, established their own homes and developed their own lifestyles, few American children grow up closely surrounded by grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins as they do in Italy, Nigeria, or India, for example. This along with the fact that modern American families do not have servants has made the “baby-sitter” a vital part of the American scene. A “sitter” is someone who is hired to care for children for a specific length of time—usually relatively short—while the parents are out for an evening, going to a party or a course of study for example. Sometimes the baby-sitter is also hired for longer period, perhaps when the parents are away for a weekend. In such cases the “sitter” is likely to be a mature and motherly woman. For short periods, teen-agers, college students, nursing students, and others are commonly employed on an hourly basis.

　　From the point of view of convenience, the best sitters are often young people who live in your apartment building or close by in the neighborhood. This gives you a chance to meet the parents and see what they are like. If an emergency occurs, young sitters can call upon their parents quickly for help; you do not have to take them far to see them home at night or pay expensive taxi fares. Another advantage is that young people living close by can usually fill in quite readily on short notice or for short periods of time.

　　In an apartment house you can ask the superintendent for permission to post a notice for a baby-sitter by the mailboxes. This is often the best way to find out if there is anyone in the building who is interested in baby-sitting. Retired people as well as students are often glad to earn a little money in this way and can be found by such a note.

　　1. We can infer from the first paragraph that ______.

　　A. the American is a movable and independent nation

　　B. the Americans are often far away from their parents

　　C. the Children in Italy, Nigeria, or India doesn’t feel like living with their parents

　　D. the Americans broke ties with their past at a young age

　　2. A baby-sitter is a person who ______.

　　A. helps to do housework

　　B. is a cleaning woman

　　C. looks after children while their parents are out

　　D. takes care of babies and cooks for the family

　　3. Who can be a baby-sitter?

　　A. Women   B. Man    C. College student  D. All the above

　　4. It is advised that when you are out for short periods, you may hire ______ to be baby-sitters.

　　A. motherly women      B. retired people

　　C. young people       D. mature women

　　5. The best title for the passage is ______.

　　A. American Families

　　B. Baby-Sitters

　　C. A Way of Earning Money for Young Students

　　D. A Best Way to Find Baby-Sitters

參考答案：

　　1. A。根據題干中的“infer”可以排除B項和D項，因為這兩項在文中有直接體現，而非讀 者通過閱讀之后“推斷”出來的內容，C項表述錯誤。故答案為A。

　　2. C。根據理解以及短文第一段的說明“A ‘sitter’ is someone who is hired to care for children  for a specific length of time—usually relatively short—while the parents are out … ”可以知 道，故答案為C。

　　3. D。短文中并沒有提及對這一職業的性別限制，所以應該是全部都可以，故答案為D。

　　4. C。由第一段“For short periods, teen-agers, colleges students, nursing students, and others are  commonly employed on an hourly basis.”可以知道，短期的保姆就雇傭青年人比較合適。

　　5. B。本題比較簡單，B選項概括了短文的內容，而且比較簡練。