第12题:
问答题
In the past few decades,“generation gap” has become a quite popular phrase, signifying the barrier between parents and children. But what has caused the barrier, why do people living together disagree with each other? Write a composition of about 400 words on the following topic:Who Has Dug The Generation Gap? In the first part of your writing you should present your thesis statement, and in the second part you should support the thesis statement with appropriate details. In the last part you should bring what you have written to a natural conclusion or a summary. Marks will be awarded for content, organization, grammar and appropriateness. Failure to follow the above instructions may result in a loss of marks.
正确答案:
Who Has Dug the Generation Gap? Since its invention, the phrase generation gap has spread all over the world in almost an instant. In the past few decades, although human beings are striving toward more common goals, the gap between parents and children seems to be widening. It is high time that we thought about the causes of this prevailing trouble.
The most important reason is that parents and children hold different values. With the constant development of technology, social values are also undergoing continuous changes. Because parents and children belong to quite different times, they naturally belong to different value groups, and this in turn leads to the barrier between different generations. For example, our parents living in the 1960s think that people should cherish their membership in their groups, and should adapt themselves to their groups, but we emphasize individual values and are ready to leave our groups at any moment in search of a better one. It is unlikely for people holding different values to agree on everything in life, and the barrier is, therefore, also unavoidable.
Another important reason for the generation barrier is lack of communication. A good talk can sometimes dissolve the disagreement between people with different values, but the trouble is that there is not enough communication. With the ever increasing pressure in work and life, parents are spending less effort and time with children; the children, faced with heavy study load or various distractions such as IV plays and computer games, are also spending less time with their parents. This results in a lack, or an inability, of communication when it is necessary.
Besides these two general reasons, there may be some special cases. According to a recent report, about 5 per cent of generation gap results from irresponsible parents. Some parents, especially those without good education, tend to evade the duty of raising and caring their children. The same report also reveals that about 3 percent of the problem results from problematic children who consistently refuse parents~ help. This type of cases represents only a small portion, but the problem is often more serious.
In a word, except for some special cases, barriers come into being either because the two parties involved embrace too different values or because they are not talking to each other often enough. After finding out the reasons, we may know that it is wrong to blame parents or children for the barriers, and we should mainly encourage communication, for if parents and children can talk to each other more, barriers will have less opportunity to stay.
解析:
本文要求分析父母与子女之间产生隔阂的原因,属于因果关系的说明文。文章引言段采用了开门见山的方式,直接以代沟开始。Thesis statement用的是It is high time that we thought…,婉转但仍然达到了目的。正文段的衔接词很好地体现了各要点间的主次关系,用得非常恰当。结论段虽然提到三个要点,其实质是在强调前面两个,更强化了文章的衔接。因为是谈问题的原因,所以结尾处的最终评论就采用解决方法,非常自然协调。