Passage Thirty-two (The Young Generation)
Old people are always saying that the young are not what they were. The same comment is made from generation to generation and it is always true. It has never been truer than it is today. The young are better educated. They have a lot more money to spend and enjoy more freedom. They grow up more quickly and are not so dependent on their parents. They think more for themselves and do not blindly accept the ideals of their elders. Events which the older generation remembers vividly are nothing more than past history. This is as it should be. Every new generation is different from the one that preceded it. Today the difference is very marked indeed.
The old always assume that they know best for the simple reason that they have been around a bit longer. They don’t like to feel that their values are being questioned or threatened. And this is precisely what the young are doing. They are question the assumptions of their elders and disturbing their complacency. Office hours, for instance, are nothing more than enforced slavery. Wouldn’t people work best if they were given complete freedom and responsibility? And what about clothing? Who said that all the men in the world should wear drab grey suits and convict haircuts? If we ruin our minds to more serious matters, who said that human differences can best be solved through conventional politics or by violent means, who said that human difference can best be solved through conventional politics or by violent means? Why have the older generation so often used violence to solve their problems? Why are they so unhappy and guilt-ridden in their personal lives, so obsessed with mean ambitions and the desire to amass more and more material possessions? Can anything be right with the rat-race? Haven’t the old lost touch with all that is important in life?
These are not questions the older generation can shrug off lightly. Their record over the past forty years or so hasn’t been exactly spotless. Traditionally, the young have turned to their elders for guidance. Today, the situation might be reversed. The old—if they are prepared to admit it—could learn a thing or two from their children. One of the biggest lessons they could learn is that enjoyment is not ‘sinful’. Enjoyment is a principle one could apply to all aspects of life. It is surely not wrong to enjoy your work and enjoy your leisure; to shed restricting inhibitions. It is surely not wrong to live in the present rather than in the past or future. This emphasis on the present is only to be expected because the young have grown up under the shadow of the bomb: the constant threat of complete annihilation. This is their glorious heritage. Can we be surprised that they should so often question the sanity of the generation that bequeathed it?
1. Which of the following features in the young is NOT mentioned?
[A]. Better educated. [B]. More money and freedom.
[C]. Independence. [D]. Hard work.
2. What so the young reject most?
[A]. Values. [B]. The assumption of the elders.
[C]. Conformity. [C]. Conventional ideas.
3. Why do the young stress on the present?
[A]. They have grown up under the shadow of the bomb.
[B]. They dislike the past.
[C]. They think the present world is the best.
[D]. They are afraid of destruction.
4. What can the old learn from the young generation?
[A]. Enjoyment is not sinful. [B]. People should have more leisure time.
[C]. Men might enjoy life. [D]. One should enjoy one’s work.
Vocabulary
1. reminder 使共回想起某事的东西，提示者
2. complacency 自鸣得意，自满情结
3. take leave 擅自，任意，随意
I took leave to consider this matter settled. 请原谅我认为这事已经解决了。
4. conformity 与……一致，遵从
5. guilt 有罪，内疚
6. ridden （ride 的过去分词）受……支配的，受……压迫
7. guilt-ridden 负罪感
8. amass 积累，积聚
9. a rat-race 激烈的竞争
10. shrug off 对……耸肩表示不屑一理，轻视，摆脱
11. spotless 无污点的，纯洁的
12. shed 摆脱，抛弃
13. annihilate 歼灭
14. bequeath 赠送，把……传给后代
15. sanity 头脑清醒健全
