PART A: Which of the following identifies the central idea of the text? A. Studies show that motherhood does not get easier as soon as many believe, due to stress and feelings of dissatisfaction mothers often experience during the middle school years.
B. Studies show that the satisfaction of mothers is at an all-time low in the years following the birth of their child due to feelings of exhaustion.
C. Studies support the belief that mothers’ feelings of exhaustion and dissatisfaction improve greatly when their child matures during puberty.
D. Studies show how the experience of motherhood greatly varies from mother to mother, and therefore the most difficult time of motherhood cannot be determined.

2. PART B: Which section from the text best supports the answer to Part A?
A. “In the early years, when motherhood is often portrayed as especially demanding, mothers reported high levels of parenting ‘overload.’” (Paragraph 6)
B. “By the time children reached adulthood, mothers reported significantly lower levels of parenting overload and guilt but maintained relatively high levels of parenting satisfaction.” (Paragraph 7)
C. “It was between these two periods that mothers reported the highest levels of dissatisfaction with parenting, with mothers of middle-school children representing the peak.” (Paragraph 8)
D. “Importantly, these trends reflected group averages; there was considerable variation in the experiences of individual mothers.” (Paragraph 9)

3. PART A: What is the meaning of “rosy” in paragraph 1?
A. knowledgeable
B. unrealistic
C. validating
D. optimistic

4. PART B: Which detail from the text best supports the answer to Part A?
A. “from more than one slightly more-seasoned mom” (Paragraph 1)
B. “It’s a message of hope and encouragement” (Paragraph 2)
C. “a recognition of how hard some aspects of early motherhood can be”
(Paragraph 2)
D. “But according to new research, it might also be wrong.” (Paragraph 2)