Discussion :
1. How did you feel about your parents when you were achild? Did your attitude towards them change when you grew into a teenager?Explain the change, if any.
2. What is thegreatest difficulty you have encountered in the process of growing up?
3. “Onlyadolescents will like adolescents.” What do you think this statement means? Doyou agree? Why do you think people say this?
You have to do your own growing no matter how tall your grandfather was.
— Abraham Lincoln
Interpretation:
By this quote, Abraham Lincoln means that no matter how great or famous orrich your grandfather is, you have to grow up on your own.
⊙When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant Icould hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one,I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.
— Mark Twain
Interpretation:
When Mark Twain was a teenager, he felt that his fatherknew nothing and he hated to see his father around at home with him. However,when he turned 21, he came to realize that his father really knew a lot. MarkTwain puts it humorously here by saying that his father had learned a lot inthose seven years. Actually it was him who had gradually changed his attitudetowards his father.
⊙The day thechild realizes that all adults are imperfect, he becomes an adolescent; the dayhe forgives them, he becomes an adult; the day he forgives himself, he becomeswise.
— Alden Nowlan
Interpretation:
Thequote means that when a child grows into a teenager, he is likely to find faultwith adults and see more of their flaws. When he learns to forgive the flawsand errors of adults, he himself has grown up. When he learns to forgive hisown errors and flaws, he is considered wise.
Listen and Respond
Word Bank
| teenager n. （13-19岁的）青少年 adult n. a fully grown person or animal, esp. a person over an age stated by law, usu. 18 or 21 成（年）人 conflict n. a state of disagreement and argument between people冲突;抵触;争论 generation gap the difference in ideas, feelings, and interests between older and younger people, esp. considered as causing lack of understanding代沟，两代人之间的隔阂 implied a. not stated explicitly or clearly隐含的 statement n. sth. that is stated; a written or spoken declaration, esp. of a formal kind (尤指正式的)陈述；声明 teenage a. of, for, or being a teenager青少年的，少男少女的 trash n. rubbish垃圾 solve vt. 解释，解决，解答 issue n. 问题，议题；争论点 overcome v. (overcame, overcome) fight successfully (against); defeat 征服，战胜 |
Answers for reference:
Teenagers andtheir parents may often have difficulties communicating with each other.Teenagers often think adults don’t understand them (1).However, adults often think teenagers just don’t listen to anything (2)they say. Some people may feel that the conflict between parents and teenagersis caused by the generation gap (3).The speaker believes that it lies mostly in implied statements that are not fullycommunicated (4) between a teenage child and a parent. Inthe “taking out the trash” example, the mother feels that the teenager shouldknow what she means (5), but the teenager just doesn’t.Conversations like this take place around our home every day. They cause someunhappiness (6) but are totally normal, and can usuallybe solved quite soon. When this type of “lack of communication” getsinvolved with (7) the bigger issues of teenagers, largerproblems can be caused. It is more difficult to solve these larger problems(8) and it takes the efforts from both parents and teenagers toovercome such problems (9).
