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It’s no secret that many children would be healthier and happier with adoptive parents than with the parents that nature dealt them. That’s especially true of children who remain in abusive homes because the law blindly favors biological parents. It’s also true of children who suffer for years in foster homes (收养孩子的家庭) because of parents who can’t or won’t care for them but refuse to give up custody (监护)rights.

Fourteen-year-old Kimberly Mays fits neither description, but her recent court victory could eventually help children who do. Kimberly has been the object of an angry custody baffle between the man who raised herand her biological parents, with whom she has never lived. A Florida judge ruled that the teenager can remain with the only father she’s ever known and that her biological parents have no legal claim on her.The ruling, though it may yet be reversed, sets aside the principle that biology is the primary determinant of parentage. That’s an important development, one that’s long overdue.

Shortly after birth in December 1978, Kimberly Mays and another infant were mistakenly switched and sent home with the wrong parents. Kimberly’s biological parents, Ernest and Regina Twigg, received a child who died of a heart disease in 1988. Medical tests showed that the child wasn’t the Twiggs’ own daughter, but Kimt only was, thus sparking a custody battle with Robert Mays. In 1989, the two families agreed that Mr.Mays would maintain custody with the Twiggs getting visiting fights. Those rights were ended when Mr. Mays decided that Kimberly was being harmed.

The decision to leave Kimberly with Mr. Mays rendered her suit debated. But the judge made clear that Kimberly did have standing to sue ( 起诉) on her own behalf. Thus he made clear that she was more than just property to be handled as adults saw fit.

Certainly, the biological link between parent and child is fundamental. But biological parents aren’t always preferable to adoptive ones, and biological parentage does not convey an absolute ownership that cancels all the rights of children.

练习题：

Choose correct answers to the question:

1. What was the primary consideration in the Florida judge’s ruling?

A. The biological link.

B. The child’s benefits.

C.The traditional practice.

D. The parents’ feelings.

2. We can learn from the Kimberly case that

A. children are more than just personal possessions of their parents

B. the biological link between parent and child should be emphasized

C. foster homes bring children more pain and suffering than care

D. biological parents shouldn’t claim custody rights after their child is adopted

3. The Twiggs claimed custody rights to Kimberly because

A. they found her unhappy in Mr. Mays’ custody

B. they regarded her as their property

C. they were her biological parents

D. they felt guilty about their past mistake

4. Kimberly had been given to Mr. Mays

A. by sheer accident

B. out of charity

C. at his request

D. for better care

5. The author’s attitude towards the judge’s ruling could be described as

A. doubtful

B. Critical

C. cautious

D. supportive

1.[B] 推理判断题。根据第2段最后一句女孩被判给她认识的父亲，即养父，而非生父以及全文的最后一句中all the rights of children,可以推断,该判决是从孩子本身的利益出发的，故选B而排除A。

2.[A] 事实细节题。根据倒数第2段最后一句金伯莉不仅仅是大人们觉得合适就可以随意处置的财产可知a与该句相符，其中的personal possessions为原文中property的同义表达。

3.[C] 事实细节题。第4段第2、3句指出金伯莉的亲生父母，欧内斯特和里贾纳·特维格，......医学测试显示……金伯莉才是他们的孩子，从而引发了特维格夫妇与罗伯特·梅斯之间的监护权争讼案，由此可知，C与之相符。

4.[A] 事实细节题。第4段第1句提到，金伯莉·梅斯与另一名婴儿被阴差阳错地调换了，她们跟着不是自己亲生父母的人一起回了家，由此可知A正确。

5.[D] 观点态度题。在最后一段作者用But转折句说明自己的观点，即但生身父母并不总是比养父母更合适,可见作者是支持法官将金伯莉判给其养父的。

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