Lesson 14 Does the Younger Generation Know Best？
　　Text The Younger Generation Knows Best 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 vividly¹ 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 far the simple reason that they have lieen around a bit longer. They don't like to feel that their values are being questioned or threatened. And this is precisely² what the young are doing. They are questioning the assumptions of their elders and disturbing their complacency. They take leave to doubt that the older generation has created the best of all possible worlds. What they reject more than anything is conformity³.
　　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 turn our minds to more serious matters, who said that human differences can best be solved through conventional polities 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 pexsonal lives, so obsessed⁴ with mean ambitions and the desire to amass⁵ more and more material possessions？ Can anything be right with the ratrace？ Haven⁶'t the old lost touch with all that is important in life？
　　These are not questions the older generation can shrug⁷ 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-coutd learn a thing or two from their children. One of the biggest lessons they could learn is that enjoyment⁸ 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 orr 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 sanity⁹ of t.he generaiion that bequeathed it？
　　II. Read Read the following passages. Underline the important viewpoints while reading. 1. Problems of the Young More than 20 Chinese and American experts discovered that young people of both countries are facing the same probiems of economic and social pressures and lack of confidence. Wayne Meisel, director of the Campus Outreach Opportunity League of Minnesota University, said that under economic pressure American young people have to work hard and most students have to take part-time work in order to support themselves.
　　“Young people today, ？he said, ”are stereotyped¹⁰ as apathetic¹¹, selfcentred, and concerned only with making money and getting ahead.“In these circumstances, he said, young people lack confidence,whicb was not the case in the 1960s when young Americans thought themselves capable of doing anything. In spite of the different conditions in China, Li Xuequan, director of the, higher education section of the All-China Youth Federation¹², said Chinese young people are alsc facing economic pressure and are worried about iriflation and corruption¹³. Trading has appeared in many Chinese universities as students with something to sell try to make money on campus.
　　Moreover, Li said, college students have begun to doubt whether what they are learning in class will help them find work,as many businesses totally ignore students of pure theory. So people describe students as “a lost generation tired of study”, regardless of the causes in society that are shaking their confidence.
　　In order to resolve these problems, the Chinese and American experts agreed that youth organizations should call on the whole of society to create favourable¹⁴ conditions for the healthy growth of young people, as well as to enconrage them to meet the urgent needs of society and to challenge the assumption that young people are apathetic and uncaring.
　　Meisel said that since last year he has sent letters of . “challenge to youth” to many young people, urging them to commit themselves to addressing such needs as feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, educating the illiterate¹⁵, consoling the lonely and sick, serving the elderly,and preserving the environment. The letter says： “Through service, we touch the lives of others and enrich our own. ”
　　2. Students' Mental Health According to a study conducted in Tianjin, out of 50, 000 college students, 16 per cent have suffered from anxiety, nervousness, depression or problems due to the early onset¹⁶ of sexual awareness¹⁷. Of students from elementary school to high school age in shanghai, 27 per cent have some kind of emotional disorder,are tired of study, have premature¹⁸ love affairs, smoke or run away from home. In addition, most of them are bothered by impulsiveness¹⁹, envy, worry or melancholy²⁰. Not a small number of students show a sense of inferiority, squeamishness, aggression²¹ or strong self-will.
　　Bad psychological health causes serious repercussions²² in a teenager's individual development. In tliree main high s.chools in the southwest of China, of students leaving school, 74 per cent left due to bad health and 42.2 per cent of those suffered from emotional problems and stress.
　　During puberty, teenagers go through a period of “changing times？ During this time, most teenagers' bodies and sexoal desires develop. They are beginning to mature both physically²³ and mentally. But most of them can not become mature in both these areas at the same time. Some teenagers' emotions remain childish, dependent and impetuous. hf we do not resolve the problems that face t.eenagers, they not only will suffer from them, but they will also probably go astray.
　　3. Worries Induce Emotional Problems More than 16 per cent of Chinese college and middle school students have emotional problems caused by concern over exams, poor relationships with their teachers and a lack. of enthusiasm for their studies. Some students feel depressed²⁴, fearing they fall short of their parents' expectations. An unhappy family Tife can also lead to depression. These conclusions are the result of research into emotional problems among college and middle school students.
　　According to a study of 2, 961 urban,and rural college and middle school students,. problems arise most frequently in two groups： students in their first and second year of junior middle schools and those in their last year at senior middle school . or the first year in higher-learning institutions.
　　The survey also revealed that emotional problems increase as students get older. The percentage of students with emotional problems in junior middle schools is around 13 per cent, while the figures for students in senior middle school and higher-learning institutions are 19 and 25 per cent respectively.
　　4. Eager to Be Off
　　Me：   Mummy. I've been thinking, I think I might go to London at the end of the week. Mama：   Oh yes？
　　Me：   Yes, a friend of mine wants someone to share a flat and I thought it would be a good.opportunity for me to……
　　Mama：   Well, that sounds a very good idea. Where exactly is.this flat？
　　Me：   Well, we haven't exactly got one, but I thought I might go and look - it's easier if you're on the spot. Mama：   Oh yes, I'm sure it is. I hear it's very difficult to find flats in London these days. ' Me：   （myheart sinking as 1 think of adverts²⁵, agencies, Evening Standards,  in etcetera ）Oh no, it's not at all difficult, people get themselves fixed²⁶ up no time. Mama：   Oh well, I suppose you know better than me. What will you live on while you're there？
　　Me：   I'll get a job. I'll have to sometime“ you know. I'll write to the Appointments Board. Mama：   Just any sort of job？
　　Me：   Whatever there is. Mama：   Don't you want a proper career, Sarah？ I mean to say, with a degree like yours……
　　Me：   No, not really, I don't know what I want to do. Mama：   I'm not sure I like the idea of your going off all the way to London without a proper job and with nowhere to live…… still, it's your own life, I suppose. That's what I say. No one can accuse me of trying to keep you at home, either of you…… Who is this friend of yours？
　　Me：   A girl cailed Gill Slater. She was at Oxford²⁷……
　　Mama：   And what does she do？
　　Me：   Oh, She's a -she's a sort of research student. Mama：   Oh yes？ Well, it sounds like a very nice idea. After all, you won't want to stay here all your life cooped up with your poor old mother, will you？
　　I shall lose all my little ones at one fell swoop²⁸, shall I？
　　Me：   Oh, don't be silly. Mama：   What do you mean, don't be silly？ It seems to me you're very eager to be off. Me：   You know that's not it at all. Mama：   Well, what is it then？
　　Me：   Well, it's just that I can't stay here all my life, can I？
　　Mama：   No, of course you can't, nobody ever suggested anything of the sort . When have I ever tried to keep you at home？ Haven' t I just said that you must lead your own life？ After all, that's why we sent you off to Oxford, it was always me who said you two must go - I don't know what I wouldn't have given for the opportunities you,ve been given. And your father wasn't any too keen, believe me. In my day education was kept for the boys, you know. Me：   Well, you hadn' t any boys to educate, had you？ You had to make do with us.

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