generation gap
a few years ago it was fashionable to speak of a generation gap. parents complained that children didn't show them proper respect and obedience, while children complained that their parents didn't understand them at all. many critics argue that it is built into the fabric of our society.
one cause of the generation gap is the opportunity that young people have to choose their own life. in traditional socieries, children live in the same area as their parents, marry people their parents know and approve of, and often continue the family occupation. in our society, people often move out of the home at an early age, marry or live with people their parents have never met, and choose occupations that are rather different.
in our upwardly mobile society, parents often expect their children to be better than them. however, these ambitions for their children are another cause of the division between them. often they discover that they have very little in common.
finally, the speed of change in our society is another cause of it. in a traditional culture, people are valued for their wisdom, but in our society the knowledge of a lifetime may become out of date. the young and the old seem to live in two very different worlds, separated by different skills and abilities.
no doubt, the generation gap will continue to be a feature of our life for some time to come. its causes are rooted in the freedoms and opportunities of our society, and in the rapid pace at which society changes.
代溝
幾年前，代溝是一個非常流行的詞。父母抱怨孩子對他們沒有應有的尊重和服從；而孩子們卻抱怨父母根本不理解他們。很多批評家指出，這成為了我們社會結構的組
成部分。
造成代溝的原因之一，是現在年輕人對自己的生活有了更多的機會進行選擇。傳統的社會裡，孩子和他們的父母生活在同一個地方，與父母認識並認可的人結婚，常常幾代人做著同樣的工作。而在現代的社會中，人們年輕時就離開家，他們的結婚對象可能父母從來沒見過，他們選擇的職業也與祖輩大相逕庭。
在這個人往高處發展的社會，父母總是盼望著孩子能比自己過得好。然而這種對孩子的期望也是造成他們之間分歧的另一個原因。其結果常常是發現父母和孩子之間共
同之處很少。
最後，現代社會的飛速變化也是形成代溝的一個原因。傳統社會裡，人們往往以智慧來衡量一個人。而現在，一種知識用一生的觀點已經過時了。不同的技術，不同的能力，將年輕人和年長的人劃入兩個完全不同的世界。
毫無疑問，在今後相當一段時間裡，代溝將會繼續成為我們生活的一個特徵。它產生的原因源於社會的自由和選擇，源於社會日新月異的快速發展。