Question

Phrases like “tiger mom” and ‘‘helicopter parent” have made their way into everyday language. Many of us find ourselves drawn to the idea that with just a bit more parental hard work and effort, we might turn out children with bright futures. But is there anything wrong with a kind of “overparenting style”?

Parental involvement has a long history of being studied. Many of the studies, conducted by Diana Baumrind, a famous psychologist at the University of California, Berkeley, have found that a good parent is the one who is involved and reacts to her child in a positive way, who sets high expectations but gives her child independence. These “authoritative parents” appear to hit the sweet spot of parental involvement and generally raise children who do better academically, psychologically and socially than children whose parents are not strict and less involved, or controlling and more involved. Why is this parenting style so successful?

Authoritative parents actually help improve motivation in their children. Carol Dweck, a social psychologist at Stanford University, has done research that indicates why authoritative parents raise more motivated children. In a typical experiment, Dr. Dweck takes young children into a room and asks them to solve a simple puzzle. Most do so with little difficulty. But then Dr. Dweck tells some, but not all, of the kids how clever they are. As it turns out, the children who are not told they’re smart are more motivated to solve increasingly difficult puzzles. They also show higher levels of confidence and show greater progress in puzzle-solving.

As the experiment suggests, praising children’s talents and abilities seems to shake their confidence. Dealing with more difficult puzzles carries the risk of losing one’s status as “smart”. Dr. Dweck’s work strongly supports that of Dr. Baumrind, who also found that reasonably supporting a child’s independence and limiting interference (干涉) causes better academic and emotional results.

The central task of growing up is to develop a sense of self that is independent and confident. If you treat your young child who is just learning to walk as if she can’t walk, you reduce her confidence. Allowing children to make mistakes is one of the greatest challenges of parenting. It is easier when they are young. The potential mistakes carry greater risks, and part of being a parent is reducing risk for our children.

1.According to the passage, a “tiger mom” ______.

A. helps her children realize their dreams

B. speaks her children’s everyday language

C. places reasonable expectations on her children

D. pays close attention to her children’s experiences

2.It is implied that controlling style of parenting may _____.

A. cause more problems in children

B. foster independence in children

C. face more challenges of children

D. lead to children’s academic success

3.The example of the children doing the puzzles suggests that ______.

A. a good game plays a big role in training young minds

B. overpraising makes children less motivated and confident

C. puzzle-solving can give children the motivation they need

D. bright children usually show less confidence in difficult games

4.The last paragraph tells us that ______.

A. children should not be given much freedom

B. parents should not increase the risk of challenging

C. parents should allow their children to learn from mistakes

D. children should correct mistakes with the help of their parents

Answer 1