C

How often one hears children wishing they were grown-ups and old people wishing they were young again! Each age has its pleasures and its pains, and the happiest person is the one who enjoys what each age gives him without wasting his time in their useless regrets.

Children live at a time when there are few responsibilities (职责) for them to make a living. If a child has good parents, he is well fed, looked after and loved no matter how he behaves. It is impossible that he will be ev er again in his return. What’s more, life is always giving new things to the child—things that have lost their interest for older people because they are too common for them. But a child has his pains: he is not so free to do what he wishes to do; he is repeatedly being told not to do something, or being punished for what he has wrongly done.

When a young man starts to earn his own living, he can no longer expect others to pay for his food, his clothes, and his room, but has to work if he wants to live comfortably. If he spends most of his time playing about in the way that he used to as a child, he will go hungry. And if he breaks the laws of society just as he used to break the rules of his parents, he may go to prison. If, however, he works hard, keeps out of trouble and has good health, he can have the great happiness of building up for himself his own position (位置) in society.

37. According to Paragraph 2, the writer thinks that       .

A. life for a child is fairly easy

B. only children are interested in life

C. a child is always loved no matter how he behaves

D. if much is given to a child, he must do something to pay back

38. A young man        for breaking the social laws.

A. will be put into prison

B. will be punished by his parents

C. will wish they were young again

D. will build up  for himself his own position in society

39. In the third paragraph, the underlined phrase “playing about” means “      ”.

A. wasting time       B. enjoying oneself

C. keeping out of trouble     D. worrying about himself

40. The main idea of the passage is that       .

A. children’s time is the most enjoyable in one’s life

B. life is not enjoyable since each age has some pains

C. young men can have the greatest happiness if they work hard

D. one can enjoy what each age gives him though there are some pains