In the old days, children were familiar with birth and death as part of life

游客2024-03-06  23

问题     In the old days, children were familiar with birth and death as part of life. This is perhaps the first generation of American youngsters who had ever been close by during the birth of a baby and ever experienced the death of a family member.
    Nowadays when people grow old, we often send them to nursing homes. When they get sick, we transfer them to a hospital, where children are forbidden to visit terminally-ill patients—even when those patients are their parents. This deprives the dying patient of significant family members during the last few days of the life and it deprives the children of an experience of death, which is an important learning experience.
    Some of my colleagues and I once interviewed and followed approximately 500 terminally ill patients in order to find out what they could teach us and how we could be of more benefit, not just to them but to the members of their families as well. We were most impressed by the fact that even those patients who were not told of their serious illness were quite aware of its potential outcome.
    It is important for family members, and doctors and nurses to understand these patients’ communications in order to truly understand their needs, fears and fantasies. Most of our patients welcomed another human being with whom they could talk openly, honestly and frankly about their trouble. Many of them shared with us their tremendous need to be informed, to be kept up-to-date on their medical condition and to be told when the end was near. We found out that patients who had been dealt with openly and frankly were better able to cope with the approach of death and finally to reach a true stage of acceptance prior to death.

选项 A、were quite unfamiliar with birth and death
B、had often experienced the fear of death as part of life
C、usually witnessed the birth or death of a family member
D、were often absent when a family member was born or dying

答案 C

解析 第二段段首的Nowadays与题干中的contemporary“当代的”意思相同。而当代美国人的老一辈也曾经是孩子,那么题干中的the elders of contemporary Americans指的就是第一段第一句中的children in the old days。因此此题考查的是对第一段内容的理解。第一段指出“在过去的岁月里,孩子对生和死是十分熟悉的,youngsters能见到baby的出生,也能见到家庭成员的死亡”,故C正确。
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