Psychiatrists(精神病专家)who work with older parents say that maturity(成熟) can be an advantage in child raising—older parents are more thoughtful, use less physical discipline and spend more time with their children. But raising kids takes money and energy. Many older parents find themselves balancing their limited financial resources, decreasing energy and failing health against the growing demands of an active child. Dying and leaving young children is probably the older parents’ biggest, and often unspoken fear. “Having late-life children often means parents, particularly fathers, end up retiring much later. For many, retirement becomes an unobtainable dream.” says Brandy Gabrielle, an economics professor.
Henry Metcalf, a 54-year-old journalist, knows it takes money to raise kids. But he’s also worried that his energy will give out first. Sure, he can still ride bikes with his athletic fifth grader, but he's learned that young at heart doesn't mean young. Lately he’s been taking afternoon naps to keep up his energy. “My body is aging,” says Metcalf. “You can't get away from that.”
Often, older parents hear the ticking of another kind of biological clock. Therapists (治疗专家)who work with middle-aged and older parents say fears about aging are nothing to laugh at. “They worry they’ll be mistaken for grandparents, or that they’ll need help getting up out of those little chairs in nursery school,” says Joann Gals, a New York psychologist. But at the core(核心)of those little fears there is often a much bigger one: “that they won't be alive long enough to support and protect their children,” she says.
Many late-life parents, though, say their children came at just the right time. After marrying late and undergoing years of pregnancy treatment, Marilyn Nolen and her husband, Randy, had twins. “We both wanted children,” says Marilyn, who was 55 when she gave birth. The twins have given the couple what they desired for years — a sense of family. Kids of older dads are often smarter, happier and more sociable because their fathers are more involved in their lives. “The dads are older, more mature,” says Dr. Silber, “and more ready to focus on parenting.”
The reason why psychiatrists regard maturity as an advantage in child raising is that _____.

A．older parents are usually more experienced in bringing up their children.

B．older parents can better balance their resources against children's demands.

C．older parents are often better prepared financially.

D．older parents tend to devote more love and patience to their children.

According to Brandy Gabrielle, what can we know about old parents?

A．They support and protect their children at the cost of their lives.

B．They can get retired earlier to educate their children.

C．They have to go on working beyond their retirement age.

D．They attach more importance to work rather than child raising.

What’s the author’s attitude toward the older parents?

A．Encouraging

B．Doubtful.

C．Objective.

D．Worried.

What do we learn about Marilyn and Randy Nolen? 

A．They thought it was too late to have children in their fifties.

B．When they reached middle age, they thought of having children.

C．They believed that children born of older parents would be smarter.

D．Not until they had the twins did they feel they had formed a family.