专八阅读训练：The Young Generation

The Young Generation

Old people are always saying that the young are not whatthey were. The same comment is made from generation togeneration and it is always true. It has never been truer than it istoday. The young are better educated. They have a lot moremoney to spend and enjoy more freedom. They grow up morequickly and are not so dependent on their parents. They thinkmore for themselves and do not blindly accept the ideals of theirelders. Events which the older generation remembers vividly arenothing more than past history. This is as it should be. Every new generation is different from theone 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 abit longer. They don’t like to feel that their values are being questioned or threatened. And this isprecisely what the young are doing. They are question the assumptions of their elders anddisturbing 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 whatabout clothing? Who said that all the men in the world should wear drab grey suits and convicthaircuts? If we ruin our minds to more serious matters, who said that human differences can bestbe solved through conventional politics or by violent means, who said that human difference canbest be solved through conventional politics or by violent means? Why have the older generationso often used violence to solve their problems? Why are they so unhappy and guilt-ridden in theirpersonal lives, so obsessed with mean ambitions and the desire to amass more and more materialpossessions? Can anything be right with the rat-race? Haven’t the old lost touch with all that isimportant in life?

These are not questions the older generation can shrug off lightly. Their record over the pastforty years or so hasn’t been exactly spotless. Traditionally, the young have turned to their eldersfor guidance. Today, the situation might be reversed. The old—if they are prepared to admitit—could learn a thing or two from their children. One of the biggest lessons they could learn is thatenjoyment is not ‘sinful’. Enjoyment is a principle one could apply to all aspects of life. It is surelynot wrong to enjoy your work and enjoy your leisure; to shed restricting inhibitions. It is surely notwrong to live in the present rather than in the past or future. This emphasis on the present is onlyto be expected because the young have grown up under the shadow of the bomb: the constantthreat of complete annihilation. This is their glorious heritage. Can we be surprised that they shouldso 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.