Section A

Directions: In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read the passage through carefully before making your choices, Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.

Parenting brings fathers more joy than it does mothers, according to a new study. The research examined three studies    26    more than 18,000 participants. Across all three, parenthood was    27    with more positive wellbeing outcomes for dads than for mums.

So why are fathers happier than mothers? "Fathers may fare better than mothers in part due to how they spend time with their children," said lead author Katherine Nelson-Coffey. In one study, the authors    28    that dads were more likely to take "playing" as an    29    activity both when caring for their kids and spending time with their kids. "Playing with their children likely offers parents opportunities to experience positive feelings and    30    closeness with their children," they say.

Fathers also did better than men without kids, reporting greater happiness, life satisfaction, and fewer    31    symptoms. They also reported greater connectedness and autonomy (自主). For mums,    32   , compared to women without children, the results weren't quite as positive. Mums reported greater autonomy, but also "greater trouble" and fewer positive    33    .

Mums reported happier moods while interacting with their kids, compared to other experiences, but not while engaging    34    in childcare. "This difference suggests that how mothers and fathers spend time with their children might have important    35    for their wellbeing," the authors write. They suspect that mums may be less happy than dads because they're more likely to have higher expectations about parenthood. As such, they're more likely to be "let down" by the experience.

A) additional   B) associated   C) composing   D) cultivated   E) depressive   F) directly   G) emotions   H) however   I) implications   J) interfered   K) involving   L) note   M) precisely   N) superficial   O) therefore