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Traditional fairytales (童话) are being given up by parents because they are too scary for their young
children, a study found.
Research uncovered that one in five parents has got rid of old literature such as Snow White and the
Seven Dwarves and Rapunzel in favor of more modern books.
One third of parents said their children have been left in tears after hearing the gruesome details of
Little Red Riding Hood.
And nearly half of mothers and fathers refuse to read Rumplesliltshin to their kids as the themes of the
story are kidnapping and killing.
Similarly, Goldilocks and the Three Bears was also a tale likely to be left on the book shelf as parents
felt it forgives stealing.
The survey of 2,000 adults was completed to mark the launch of the hit US drama GRIMM ( 格林
童话剧) , which starts tonight at 9pm on Watch, and sees six drama series based on traditional fairytales.
The survey found a quarter of parents questioned wouldn't consider reading fairytales to their kids.
And 52 percent of the parents said Cinderella didn't send a good message to their children as it
describes a young woman doing housework all day.
Steve Hornsey, General Manager of Watch, said: "Bedtime stories are supposed to calm children
down and send them off to sleep soundly.But as we see in GMMM, fairytales can be dark and dramatic
so it's understandable that parents worry about reading them to young children.As adults we can see the
innocence in fairytales, but a five - year - old child could take them too literally.Despite the dark nature of
classic fairytales as we see in GRIMM, good will defeat evil and there is always a moral to the story."
The study also found two thirds of mums and dads try to avoid stories which might give their children
nightmares.The most popular book read at bedtime is now 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' by Eric Carle.
However half of parents said traditional tales are "more likely to have a strong moral message than a
lot of modern kids' books, such as The Gruffato, The Hungary Caterpillar and the Mr. Men books.
1. Classical works for children are being avoided by parents they think .
A. they contain unmoral themes
B. they are terrifying
C. they encourage stealing, kidnapping and killing
D. they are tired of answering questions
2. What does the underlined word "gruesome" mean?
A. Very horrible
B. Very amusing
C. Very disappointing
D. Very amazing
3. Which stories are the popular bedtime stories that parents like to tell their children now?
A. Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and Cinderella
B. The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Little Red Riding Hood.
C. The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Mr. Men
D. Goldilocks and the Three Bears and Cinderella
4. According to Steve Hornsey , adults can see innocence in a fairy tale but a 5-year-old child
might ______.
A. think it is different from the reality
B. dislike it because it is scary
C. believe exactly what the tale says
D. feel there is a moral to the story
