The generation gap

　　代沟

　　Every new generation is different from the one that preceded it. Today the difference is very marked indeed.

　　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 quickly and are not so dependent on their parents. They think more of themselves and do not blindly accept the idea of their elders. Events which the older generation remembers vividly are nothing more than past history.

　　Just look at the teenage girls who scream hysterically over the pop stars and the teenage boys who copy the stars and grow their hair long and are no longer ashamed of wearing "pretty" clothes, are simply breaking through the Chinese traditional reserve and fear of showing their feelings. What is more, nowadays most boys and girls are good companions and some of them even fall in "puppy love." A lot of older people sigh and say, "we did not use to do like this."

　　Do you think the older people's criticism stems from jealousy just because they could not or did not behave in the same way when they were young?

　　作文结构分析：

　　·paragraph 1 — thematic sentences

　　·paragraph 2 — comments on the young from the old generation

　　·paragraph 3 — how the young conduct themselves in the eyes of the old people

　　·paragraph 4 — a question for readers to think about

　　作文内容分析：

　　本文是一篇议论文。“ 代沟”是人们谈论得很多的话题, 本文就这一话题发表一些议论。第一段引言即是全文的主题, 第二段写出了老一代对年轻一代的看法, 第三段主要议论年轻人的种种“反传统”的表现, 结尾段提出了一个悬念性的问题, 这样的结尾使人有别开生面之感, 也是一种很好的写作手法。

　　单词词组：

　　precede v. 在……之前，先于

　　marked a. 明显的

　　the young are not what they were. 年轻人变了

　　It has never been truer than it is today. 从未如今天这么正确

　　dependent on 依赖

　　vividly ad. 活生生地, 生动地

　　nothing more than past history 不过是过去的历史

　　scream v. 尖叫

　　hysterically ad. 神经质地

　　copy v. 模仿

　　grow their hair long 留长发

　　be ashamed of 感到难为情

　　the Chinese traditional reserve and fear of showing their feelings 中国人传统的含蓄和羞于流露感情

　　puppy love 早恋

　　sigh v. 叹气

　　did not use to do like that 过去不是这样做的

　　criticism n. 批评

　　stem from 根源于

　　jealousy n. 忌妒