Passage One
Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage:
It is natural for young people to be critical of their parents at times and to blame them for
most of the misunderstandings between them. They have always complained, more or less justly,
that their parents are out of touch with modern ways; that they are possessive and dominant
that they do not trust their children to deal with crises; that they talk too much about certain
problems - and that they have no sense of humour, at least in parent - child relationships.
I think it is true that parents often underestimate their teenage children and also forget
how they themselves felt when young,
Young people often irritate their parents with their choices in clothes and hairstyles, in
entertainers and music. This is not their motive. They feel cut off from the adult world into which
they have not yet been accepted. So they create a culture and society of their own. Then, if it
turns out that their music or entertainers or vocabulary or clothes or hairstyles irritate their parents,
this gives them additional enjoyment. They feel they are superior, at least in a small way,
and that they are leaders in style and taste.
Sometimes you are resistant, and proud because you do not want your parents to approve of
what you do, If they did approve, it looks as if you are betraying your own age group. But in
that case, you are assuming that you are the underdog: you can't win but at least you can keep
your honour. This is a passive way of looking at things. It is natural enough after long years of