Freshmen, eager to get home for the Chinese New Year, queue up at the railway station for hours.Days later, they squeeze into a crowded train and dream of the home-cooked meals and love they'll enjoy once they arrive home.This, they say, makes all the trouble of getting home worthwhile.
However, many freshmen come to find that home is not exactly how they remembered it.Living away from their parents has exposed them to a new life of freedom – one that within hours of arriving some begin to miss.Household chores(家务活)and complaining parents are just a few of the things that can ruin students' winter fantasies.“My parents still treat me like I was in senior high,” Song Ying, a 19-year-old freshman at Shandong University, complained.“I get an earful from them every day.”
During her first term away from her Hubei home, Song missed everything – from her parents cooking to the city bus.She cried and ached to sleep in her own bed.So, upon finishing her exams, she fled home, thinking everything would be just as it used to be.But she was wrong.Now, she spends entire days at a friend's home to “avoid all the restrictions”.She logs online to update friends' profile on SNS, skips meals and sleeps in – just like she did on campus.
Things have been even tenser at home for Luo Ruiqi, a 19-year-old freshman at Beijing Jiaotong University.Instead of moving to a friend's house, though, he has decided to challenge his parents' rules for his right to be an adult at home.When they complained about the amount of time he spent in the toilet, Luo said he decided “enough is enough” and lost his temper.He feels guilty about his attitude, but he still argues that he is grown up enough to live by his own rules.“I just want to live my own way of living, wherever I am,” said Luo.
Recent graduates like Wang Kai know what Song and Luo are going through.But Wang, who graduated in 2008 and now works in Beijing, says students should value the time spent with their family and “just try to be nicer.” Wang says he acted the same way when he first returned home from college, but now, living 1,500 km away from his hometown in Hunan, he regrets his behavior.He realizes that his parents meant well.And, looking back, he says that “the way of living that we got used to on campus is not that healthy anyway”.
Parents, meanwhile, are more understanding than you might think.“Living on their own in a strange place can be hard –we've been there before,” said Luo's father.“We want to make sure that they are healthy and happy.Sometimes maybe we just worry too much.” As for the tension that's arisen between father and son, Luo senior laughed and said, “It's not a problem at all – he's my son; we work things out, always.”
1.Having read the passage, we can infer that home is now a(n) ___________for most freshmen.
A.birdcage B.paradise
C.temporary station in life D.open house
2.Why are things even tenser at home for Luo Ruiqi during the Chinese New Year?
A.He has to spend entire days at a friend's home to “avoid all the restrictions”.
B.He has decided to go against his parents for his right to be an adult at home.
C.He feels guilty about his attitude towards his parents.
D.He has wasted much money his parents gave to him.
3.According to the text, there exists a main problem between parents and children that_______.
A.parents want to bring their children under control as before.
B.children look down upon what their parents always do.
C.their way of life is apparently different now.
D.they are always misunderstanding each other.
4.Who the text implies is mainly responsible for the bad parent-child relationship?
A.parents B.social changes C.professors D.freshmen
5.What does the underlined part in the 2nd paragraph probably mean?
A.learn a lot B.receive much punishment
C.get a scolding D.have a narrow escape