For a long time, researchers have tried to nail down just what shapes us--or what, at least,shapes us most. And over the years, they've had a lot of exclamation moments. First it was ourparents, particularly our mothers. Then it was our genes. Next it was our peers, who show up lastbut hold great sway. And all those ideas were good ones--but only as far as they went.
Somewhere, there was a sort of temperamental dark matter exerting an invisible gravitationalpull of its own. More and more, scientists are concluding that this unexplained force is our siblings.
From the time we are born, our brothers and sisters are our collaborators and co-conspirators, our role models and cautionary tales. They are our scolds, protectors, goads,tormentors, playmates, counselors, sources of envy, objects of pride. They teach us how toresolve conflicts and how not to; how to conduct friendships and when to walk away from them.Sisters teach brothers about the mysteries of girls; brothers teach sisters about the puzzle of boys.Our spouses arrive comparatively late in our lives; our parents eventually leave us. Our siblingsmay be the only people we'll ever know who truly qualify as partners for life. "Siblings," says familysociologist Katherine Conger, "are with us for the whole journey."
Within the scientific community, siblings have not been wholly ignored, but research has beenlimited mostly to discussions of birth order.Older sibs were said to be strivers;younger onesrebels;middle kids the lost souls.The stereotypes were broad，if not entirely untrue，and therethe discussion mostly ended.
But all that’s changin9.At research centers in the U.S.，Canada，Europe andelsewhere，investigators are launching a wealth of new studies into the sibling dynamic，lookingat ways brothers and sisters steer one another int0—or away from--risky behavior how they forma protective buffer(减震器)against family upheaval;how they educate one another about theopposite sex;how all siblings compete for family recognition and come to terms--or blows--oversuch impossibly charged issues as parental favoritism.
From that research，scientists are gaining intriguing insights into the people we become asadults.Does the manager who runs a harmonious office call on the peacemaking skills learned inthe family playroom? Does the student struggling with a professor who plays favorites summonup the coping skills acquired from dealing with a sister who was Daddy’s girl? Do husbands andwives benefit from the inter—gender negotiations they waged when their most important partnerswere their sisters and brothers? All that is under investigation.“Siblings have just been off theradar screen until now，”says Conger.But today serious work is revealing exactly how ourbrothers and sisters influence us.
1.The beginning of the passage indicates that
A.researchers have found out what shapes us.
B.our peer is the last factor influencing us.
C.what researchers found contributes in a limited way.
D.what researchers found is good and trustworthy.
2.In the third paragraph, the author tries to demonstrate that our siblings
A.offer us much useful information.
B.have great influences on us.
C.are the ones who love us completely.
D.accompany us throughout our life.
3.In scientific community, previous research on siblings
A.mostly focused on the sibling order.
B.studied the characteristics of the kids.
C.studied the matter in a broad sense.
D.wasn’t believable and the discussion ended.
4.Which of the following is NOT sibling dynamic?
A.A brother cautions his sister against getting into trouble.
B.Sisters have quarrels with each other.
C.Siblings compete for parental favoritism.
D.Older kids in a family try hard to achieve.
5.From the last paragraph，we can conclude that
A.managers learned management skills from the family playroom. B.spouses learnednegotiation skills from their siblings.
C.studies on siblings are under the way。
D.studies on siblings need thorough investigation.
【文章概要】
本文通过分析研究得出兄弟姐妹对我们影响最深刻。第1段指出研究人员发现父母、朋友和基因影响着我们的性格：第2段指出研究发现，兄弟姐妹对我们的影响最大;第3段具体分析了兄弟姐妹在我们生命中扮演的角色，再次证明兄弟姐妹对我们的影响力;第4-6段指出科学界对兄弟姐妹对性格的影响的研究存在局限性及近来研究方向的转变。
【答案解析】
1.[C]细节判断题。第1段指出了研究人员研究什么塑造我们，并取得了一些成果，最后一句“但这仅仅是就目前的研究而言”表明目前研究的局限性，C 表达了这个含义。由第1段可知，研究者还在探索到底是什么塑造了我们，故A错误;该段倒数第2句提到虽然我们的同龄人出现得最晚，但是影响却最深刻，故B 也错了;trustworthy在文中没有依据，故排除D。
2.[B]段落大意题。第3段讲到了兄弟姐妹在我们生活中扮演的各种角色对我们生命的影响，故选B;A“提供给我们有用的信息”属段落细节，不是作者在第3段想要说明的问题;C“完完全全爱我们的人”过于绝对且在文中找不到对应 信息点;D“伴随我们一生”只是影响我们的一个方面，故D也可排除。
3.[A]细节判断题。根据scientific community定位到第4段首句。由该句but转折处可知答案应为A。第2句提到年长的、年小的、中间的孩子共有的定式，并没有对他们的个性特征进行研究，故B排除;最后一句说这种定式很普遍，但并不意味着从广义上来研究兄弟姐妹对我们的影响，故C排除;D在文中没有依据。
4.[D] 细节判断题。根据sibling dynamic定位到第5段。本题可用排除法。A、B对应steeraway from risky behavior;C在该段提及，也属sibling dynamic。D在第4段有提到，但不属于sibling dynamic。
5.[C]细节推断题。末段倒数第3旬提到All that is under investigation，C与此同义，为正确答案。A、B只是该段中的个别例证;最后一句提到要进一步研究兄弟姐妹是如何影响我们的，D项的表述与原文有出入。下载本文
