People from different generations often live and work together. Sometimes they’re happy being together, other times they’re not. One of the reasons for their unhappiness maybe a generation gap. A generation gap is the difference between two or more generations—not the differences between their years but the differences between the generations’ ideas, attitudes, and interests. Of course, people can have differences and still be happy together, but according to the experts, communication between the generations helps everyone get along.
Good communication between the generations starts in the family. These days many families are changing their communication style. They are moving from a “one-way” style to a “two-way” style of communication. To show this change, let’s compare two families:
The Smith family uses the “one-way” style of communication. Mr. and Mrs. Smith show interest in their children, but they don’t discuss problems of feelings. The parents make all the rules and decisions. They don’t ask for their children’s opinions. They explain their decisions to their children, but they don’t discuss them. The explanation is clear and the children understand. The communication goes one way: from the parents to the children.
The Jones family uses the “two-way” style of communication. Mr. and Mrs. Jones show interest in their children and ask for their opinions. They discuss problems and express their feelings. The family makes rules and decisions together after a discussion. The communication goes two ways: from parents to children and from children to parents.
Better communication between generations at home means better communication between generations at work and in the community. When people from different generations understand each other better, they learn from each other more. This helps them form stronger bonds, work together more easily. As a result, people of all ages can team up effectively and come up with new ideas in different parts of life.
1. What is a generation gap?2. Where does good communication between the generations begin?
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
If Jack’ parents discuss with him where to spend their summer vacation, they use the “one-way” style of communication.
4. To bridge the generation gaps, what other suggestions would you make besides better communication? (In about 40 words)
Most people have dictionaries in their homes. The Oxford English Dictionary reached even more people when it went online
To predict is to guess what comes next. Making predictions is a reading strategy, in which readers use information from a text and their own personal experiences
Doctors in Bristol can send patients on a free course from this month, which uses stand-up comedy to help patients overcome their trauma (创伤). The course was pioneered by Angie Belcher, a comedian at the University of Bristol.
Comedy is a natural human trait (特质). Every night we come back home from work and tell our family what our day was like, but on the way home we’ll make up details, and try to make our stories funnier to entertain family members. Professional comedy education is to give a tool to take this to a more polished and informed level. The content of the six-week course is described as a “combination of psychology, comedy and storytelling.”
Actually, past traumas are perfect for comedy. Comedy doesn’t come from the happy moments of our life, but from our everyday struggles. People, who’ve been through big life experiences, such as the loss of a close friend or ill health, often can’t wait to share their stories, mostly because there’s always something funny about the situation. We can accept and honor the comedy of a situation, as much as the sadness of it.
While the comedy course can’t take the place of traditional clinical approaches, talking about our trauma in a funny way is quite lovely, and more importantly, it has a chain reaction on our audience, and we help other people to deal with their sadness. When we bring our stories alive for others, it makes other people feel less alone. Having our experiences mirrored back to us is hugely comforting. Comedy builds community.
1. Who was the course pioneered by?2. What is the content of the course?
3. Please underline the false part in the following statement and explain why.
Comedy comes from our everyday struggles, and from the happy moments of our life as well.
4. If you meet a trauma, would you like to take the comedy course? Why?
(In about 40 words)
Last Friday Peta-Lynn, a 13-year-old girl from Darwin, saved a man from a huge crocodile. Mr. Graham was standing in shallow water near his boat
Some bullet trains don’t run on tracks at all. They fly over them. They
