Mainstream culture is also called the dominant culture which refers to the culture of the dominant majority people.

Child Abuse

Definition of Child Abuse

Child abuse is also called cruelty to children, which is the purposeful infliction (施加) of pain and suffering on children through physical, sexual, or emotional mistreatment. Prior to the 1970s, the term child abuse normally referred only to physical mistreatment. But since then its application has expanded to include physical violence; unjustifiable verbal abuse; the failure to supply proper shelter, nourishment, medical treatment, or emotional support; sexual misbehaviors; and the use of children in illegal fields.

Current Situation of Child Abuse

Surveys in North America and Europe indicate that between 10 and 30 percent of young girls are subjected to exploitation or abuse as widely defined above. Estimates of abuse or neglect by parents or guardians range from about 1 out of every 100 children to more than 1 in 7, and figures are far higher if emotional abuse and neglect are included. Although widely prevalent, child abuse is often overlooked by family, friends, and health professionals. Prejudice, anxiety, and shame—not lack of information—seem to be the major reasons for the failure to recognize the private acts of violence. Child abuse can have serious future consequences for its victims, including delays in physical growth, damaged language abilities, and problems in personality development, learning, and behavior.

Causes of Child Abuse

Cruelty to children has several major causes. Abusive behavior. of parents can be viewed as responses to stressful situations and feelings of powerlessness. As such, they show the abnormal efforts of adults to master situations that are out of their control and to regain a psychological balance through the force on defenseless children. Studies have shown that a large part of parents who abuse their children were themselves physically or emotionally mistreated during their childhood. Typically over disciplined and deprived of parental love in their childhood, these parents repeat the pattern with their own children, often in the belief that they are rightfully exercising their parental right to punish a child.

Legal Issues of Child Abuse

The legal definition of child abuse differs between societies and has changed greatly over time. For example, some European countries prohibit the use of physical violence to execute discipline, but others permit moderate forms of power infliction. Despite these differences, the abusive treatment of children, however it is defined, is widely forbidden by criminal laws. One of the earliest national laws to protect children from cruel treatment was adopted in Great Britain in 1884, when the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children was organized. Similar organizations subsequently were created in other countries. In the United States in 1875, New York became the first state to establish laws to protect children. Its laws served as a model for other states, all of which developed laws defining child abuse a criminal offense.

Social Efforts in Combating Child Abuse

Since the 1970s, conservative and feminists(女权主义) groups, for different reasons, have sought measures to combat child abuse. Although earlier campaigns against child abuse had emphasized the threat caused by strangers, feminists stressed the greater danger brought by male intimates, such as fathers, stepfathers, uncles, and brothers. Because abuse by male relatives is rarely reported, child- welfare supporters called for new laws that would allow greater intervention (干涉) by outside professionals. During the 1970s and 1980s; most states adopted some form. of reporting procedure, by which doctors, teachers, and social workers were required to report any cases that might show suspected child abuse. The courts also change their procedures to grant more protection to victims. For example, judges an

A．Y

B．N

C．NG

Warning mark is also called dangerous mark printed on the shipping packages of the dangerous commodities.

A、Yangtze River

B、The Zhu River

C、The Wu River

D、The Yellow River

Which of the following countries is also called "the worlds largest farm"?

A．Australia

B．New Zealand

C．Canada

D．Ireland

Visitors to Oxford will find that ______.

A．the university is also the town center

B．one of the crossroads is called Carfax

C．the university is on the edge of the town

D．most buildings are modern and interesting

Online learning is also called distance education. Many American colleges and universities have been offering it for years.

One example is New York University in Manhattan. The School of Continuing and Professional Studies began online classes in nineteen ninety-two. Its Virtual College has taught more than ten thousand students from across the United States and other countries.

Last year, the School of Continuing and Professional Studies launched NYU Online. It offers NYU's first online programs to earn a bachelor's degree. Programs are offered in three areas: leadership and management, information systems management and social sciences. University officials say classes are highly interactive, where students communicate with each other and their teachers. Some classes require students to all log in at the same time so they can attend live lectures by a professor. Students can also ask questions and work together on team projects. The university says classes are taught by NYU professors who have been trained in online teaching.

International students must take two admission tests before they can be accepted into the program. These are the SAT and the TOEFL. We will discuss these tests later in our series.

The cost to attend NYU Online depends on how many classes a student takes. It can cost as much as fifteen thousand dollars a year. NYU offers no financial aid for international students in this program. You can get more details at nyu.edu.

1. When did New York University start its online classes?

A. In 1990

B. In 1998.

C. In 1992.

D. In 1982.

2. Which of the following is NOT included in the online programs offering a BA degree?

A. Information Systems Management.

B. Finance and Economy.

C. Leadership and Management.

D. Social Sciences.

3. What can the students do in the online learning programs?

A. Communicate with each other and the teacher.

B. Attend classes and lectures together.

C. Ask questions and work together on team projects.

D. Students are taught by NYU professors in the classroom.

4. International students can be accepted into the program after ________ .

A. they take the SAT and the TOFEL

B. they go to New York University

C. they apply and log in

D. two years in the United States

5. How much does the online learning program cost per year?

A. $15,000.

B. $1,500.

C. It depends.

D. $5,000.