形成代沟的原因(The Causes of the Generation Gap)

parentssaythatchildrendonotshowthemproperrespectandobedience,whilechildrencomplainthattheirparentsdonotunderstandthem.thisphenomenonisoftenreferredtoasthegenerationgap.whatthenarethecausesofthegenerationgap?oneimportantcauseofthegenerationgapisthechancethatyoungpeoplehavetochoosetheirwayoflife.inmoretraditionalsocieties,whenchildrengrowup,theyareexpectedtoliveinthesameareaastheirparents,tomarrypeoplethattheirparentsknowandagreeto,andtocontinuethefamilyoccupation.inmodernsociety,youngpeopleoftentravelagreatdistancefortheireducation,moveoutofthefamilyatanearlyage,marryorlivewithpeoplewhomtheirparentshavenevermet,andchooseoccupationsdifferentfromthoseoftheirparents.intheeasilychangingsociety,parentsoftenexpecttheirchildrentodobetterthantheydid:tofindbetterjobs,tomakemoremoney;andtodoallthethingsthattheywereunabletodo.often,however,thestrongdesirethatparentshavefortheirchildrenareanothercauseofthedisagreementbetweenthem.often,theydiscoverthattheyhaveverylittleincommonwitheachother.

finally,thespeedatwhichchangestakeplaceinmodernsocietyisanothercauseofthegapbetweenthegenerations.inatraditionalculture,elderlypeoplearevaluedfortheirwisdom,butinmodernsociety,theknowledgeofalifetimemaybecomeoutofdateovernight.theyoungandtheoldseemtoliveintwoverydifferentworlds,separatedbydifferentskillsandabilities.

nodoubt,thegenerationgapwillcontinuetobeafutureofourlifeforsometimetocome.itscausesarerootedinthechangesofoursociety,andintherapidspeedatwhichsocietychanges.