Not long after the telephone was invented, I assume, a call was placed. The caller was a parent saying, “your child is bullying my child, and I want it stopped!” The bully’s parent replied, “you must have the wrong number. My child is a little angel.”

A trillion phone calls later, the conversation is the same. When children are teased or tyrannized, the parental impulse is to grab the phone and rant. But these days, as studies in the U.S. show bullying on the rise and parental supervision on the decline, researchers who study bullying say that calling moms and dads is more futile than ever. Such calls often lead to playground recriminations and don’t really teach our kids any lessons about how to navigate the world and resolve conflicts.

When you call parents, you want them to “extract the cruelty” from their bullying children, says Laura Kavesh, a child psychologist in Evanston, Illinois. “But many parents are blown away by the idea of their child being cruel. They wont believe it.” In a recent policedepartment survey in Oak Harbor, Washington, 89% of local high school students said they had engaged in bullying behavior. Yet only 18% of parents thought their children would act as bullies.

In a new U.S.PTA survey, 5% of parents support contacting other parents to deal with bullying. But many educators warn that those conversations can be misinterpreted, causing tempers to flare. Instead, they say, parents should get objective outsiders, like principals, to mediate.

Meanwhile, if you get a call from a parent who is angry about your child’s bullying, listen without getting defensive. That’s what Laura McHugh of Castro Valley, California, did when a caller told her that her then 13-year-old son had spit in another boy’s food.Her son had confessed, but the victim’s mom “wanted to make sure my son hadn’t given her son a nasty disease,” says McHugh, who apologized and promised to get her son tested for AIDS and other diseases. She knew the chance of contracting any disease this way was remote, but her promise calmed the mother and showed McHugh’s son that his bad behaviour was being taken seriously. McHugh, founder of Parents Coach Kids, a group that teaches parenting skills, sent the mom the test results. All were negative.

Remember: once you make a call, you might not like what you hear. If you have an itchy dialing finger, resist temptation. Put it in your pocket. ［419 words］

1.The word “bullying” probably means______.

［A］ frightening and hurting

［B］ teasing

［C］ behaving like a tyrant

［D］ laughing at

2. Calling to a bully’s parent.______.

［A］has long existed but changed its content

［B］is often done with careful thinking

［C］often leads to blaming and misunderstanding

［D］is used to warn the child not to do it again

3. According to the surveys in the U.S., _______.

［A］ bullying among adults is also rising

［B］ parents are not supervising their children well

［C］ parents seldom believe bullies

［D］ most parents resort to calling to deal with bullying

4. When bullying occurs, parents should_______.

［A］ help the bulling child get rid of cruelty

［B］ resort to the mediator

［C］ avoid getting too protective

［D］ resist the temptation of calling

5.Laura McHugh promised to get the bullied boy tested for diseases because________.

［A］ her son confessed to being wrong

［B］ she was afraid to annoy the boy’s parent

［C］he was likely to be affected by these diseases

［D］she wanted to teach her own son a lesson

1. 单词bullying可能的含义是________。

［A］ 恐吓和伤害 ［B］ 取笑 ［C］ 表现得像暴君一样 ［D］ 嘲笑

［精解］ 答案A本题考查根据上下文猜测词义。文章首段双方家长的对话中出现的“bullying my child”与“My child is a little angel”相互对照，说明 bullying是坏孩子的行为。第三段中提到打电话的目的是“想让对方改掉他们孩子的残忍行为”，cruelty一词说明了bullying的特点。此外第五段给出了bullying的具体事例：把痰吐到另外一个孩子的饭里。因此可推知［A］项“恐吓伤害”为正确答案。［B］项虽然出现在第二段中，［D］项与其近义，但却都只是其中一种形式，不足以概括所有的行为。［C］项含义不正确。

2. 打电话给恃强欺弱者的父母________。

［A］ （这种做法）长期存在但内容有了改变 ［B］ 经常是通过仔细考虑后才做

［C］ 常常导致责备和误解 ［D］ 被用来警告这个孩子不要再做

［精解］ 答案C本题考查事实细节。第一段提到，打电话给恃强欺弱者的父母的做法自有电话以来就长期存在了。第二段首句提到，这样的电话不计其数，但谈话内容却一样。由此排除［A］项。第二段第二句提到，冲动的父母抓起电话，大声抱怨。排除［B］项。第二段末句提到，这样的电话常常只导致责备；第四段第二句提到，专家指出它可能会被误解，使对方勃然大怒。由此可知［C］项正确。［D］项未提。

3. 根据美国的调查表明，______。

［A］ 成人中的恃强欺弱现象也在增加 ［B］ 父母没有很好地看管他们的孩子

［C］ 父母很少相信恃强欺弱者 ［D］ 大部分父母打电话解决恃强欺弱问题

［精解］ 答案B本题考查事实细节。第二段第三句提到，研究表明恃强欺弱现象增加，父母看管减少，因此［B］项正确，［A］项无从得知。第三段最后用数据说明，父母很少相信自己的孩子会恃强欺弱。［C］项换成了不相信恃强欺弱者本身，错误。第四段首句提到，研究表明5%的父母支持找家长解决恃强欺弱问题。［D］项错在most（大部分），与事实不符。

4. 当恃强欺弱问题发生时，父母应该_______。

［A］ 帮助恃强欺弱的孩子改掉残忍的行为 ［B］ 求助调停者的帮助

［C］ 避免变得太过自我保护 ［D］ 抵挡打电话的诱惑

［精解］ 答案B本题考查作者观点。第三段首句提到，受欺负的孩子的家长打电话是希望对方家长能改正其孩子恃强欺弱的毛病。可见，［A］项并不是作者的观点。第五段首句提到，接到电话的家长不要自我保护。第六段提到，如果你想拨电话，一定要忍住诱惑。显然［C］和［D］项是分别针对“接到电话”和“打电话”的家长而言的。只有［B］项在第四段提到，是教育者对双方家长给出的建议，因此也是作者同意的观点。

5. 劳拉?麦休许诺让受到欺负的孩子做疾病测试是因为_________。

［A］ 她儿子承认他错了 ［B］ 她害怕惹怒男孩的家长

［C］ 他可能会被这些疾病感染 ［D］ 她想给儿子一个教训

［精解］ 答案D本题考查第五段的细节。该段举例说明应如何正确对待一位愤怒的家长的电话。该段倒数第三句提到，麦休许诺让受欺负的孩子做疾病测试，不仅让其母亲平静下来，也让自己的儿子知道父母是非常严肃地对待他的恶劣行为。由此可知［D］项正确。