晨读英语美文100篇 Passage 58. Adolescence
 音频下载[点击右键另存为][00:00.44]Passage 58. Adolescence[00:05.47]Parents are often upset when their children praise the homes of their friends [00:09.63]and regard it as a slur on their own cooking,or cleaning, or furniture, [00:14.33]and often are foolish enough to let the adolescents see that they are annoyed. [00:18.93]They may even accuse them of disloyalty, [00:21.44]or make some spiteful remark about the friends’ parents. [00:25.38]Such a loss of dignity and descent into childish behavior on the part of the adults [00:30.75]deeply shocks the adolescents, [00:32.61]and makes them resolve that in future they will not talk to their parents [00:36.43]about the places or people they visit. [00:38.62]Before very long the parents will be complaining [00:41.02]that the child is so secretive and never tells them anything, [00:44.09]but they seldom realize that they have brought this on themselves. [00:47.81]Disillusionment with the parents, however good and adequate they may be [00:52.96]both as parent and as individuals, is to some degree inevitable. [00:56.78]Most children have such a high ideal of their parents, [01:00.17]unless the parents themselves have been unsatisfactory, [01:03.35]that it can hardly hope to stand up to a realistic evaluation. [01:06.63]Parents would be greatly surprised and deeply touched [01:11.12]if they realized how much belief their children usually have in their character and infallibility, [01:16.25]and how much this faith means to a child. [01:18.88]If parents were prepared for this adolescent reaction, [01:22.93]and realized that it was a sign that the child was growing up [01:26.11]and developing valuable powers of observation and independent judgment, [01:30.37]they would not be so hurt, [01:32.01]and therefore would not drive the child into opposition by resenting and resisting it. [01:36.94]The adolescent, with his passion for sincerity, [01:40.43]always respects a parent who admits that he is wrong, or ignorant, [01:44.59]or even that he has been unfair or unjust. [01:47.44]What the child cannot forgive is the parents' refusal to admit these charges [01:51.93]if the child knows them to be true. [01:53.89]Victorian parents believed that they kept their dignity [01:57.29]by retreating behind an unreasoning authoritarian attitude; [02:01.01]in fact they did nothing of the kind, [02:03.41]but children were then too cowed to let them know how they really felt. [02:07.25]Today we tend to go to the other extreme, [02:09.87]but on the whole this is a healthier attitude both for the child and the parent. [02:14.46]It is always wiser and safer to face up to reality, [02:18.18]however painful it may be at the moment. |
