公共英语三级口语练习，家和家庭话题

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Unit 2 Home and Family

Monologue

One important cause of the generation gap is the opportunity that young people have to choose their own life-styles. In traditional societies, when children grow up, they are expected to live in the same area as their parents, to marry people that their parents know and approve of, and often to continue the family occupation. In our society, however, young people often travel great distances for their education, move out of the family home at an early age, marry or live with people whom their parents have never met, and choose occupations different from those of their parents. In our upwardly mobile society, parents often expect their children to do better than they did: to find better jobs, to make more money, and to do all the things that they were unable to do. Often, however, the ambitions that parents have for their children are another cause of the division between them. Often, they discover that they have very little in common with each other. Finally, the speed at which changes take place in our society is another cause of the generation gap. In a traditional culture, elderly people are valued for their wisdom, but in our society the knowledge of a lifetime may become obsolete overnight. 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 American life for some time to come.

Passage

Enjoy the Round

My old man was the original Silver Lining Guy. As a teenager I called him Opti the Mystic because of his crazy optimism and his imperturbable ability for seeing any crisis as “an opportunity for growth”.

For 30 years my father had been a senior representative for one of the world’s largest firms. To Opti, hard work was a form of play because work involved solving problems. This life view fit the philosophy of his favorite game-golf.

He first put a club in my hand when I was ten. I was in such a rush to be good that he would urge me to “relax and enjoy the round. The game ends far too soon.” I didn’t have a clue what he meant.

Eventually when I grew up, golf became much more than a game between Dad and me. It acted as a means of seeing who this funny, oddball philosopher really was, and who I needed to become.

Dad was pushing 80. But he always laughed off my concerns. Now the cancer came back. He had a month, two at most, he said, and merely asked me to save my strength for the golf course.

We played a course near the English village of Freckleton. During World War Ⅱ my father had served in an army on the outskirts of the village.

A local told us, “There was quite a memorial service because of the bomber.”

I glanced at Dad. “Do you know the bomber?”

His complexion had turned pale. “Yes. Come with me.”

I followed him to a burying ground at the rear of a church.

“How did these folks die?” I asked.

“They weren’t folks. They were children. Four and five-year-olds. Thirty-eight in all. One of our bombers crashed into the school.” He shut his eyes. “God, what a sight ! I remember pulling away pieces of the plane, bricks and all these precious kids inside…”

I saw tears gathering in my father’s eyes, “There was one girl who was always laughing. I called her Lady Sunshine. A week after the crash, I found a note on the base of bulletin board from her parents. They wondered if anybody had taken a photograph of her. I took them all the photos I had. We sat in their front parlor and cried. I’ve never experienced anything so sad.”

“I’m surprised you never told me this story,” I said.

“The war ended for me right here,” he said. “I promised myself I would never speak about it again.”

The night before, he had told me that when he’d joined the Army he was a cocky guy. Then “Something happened” and he realized “the only thing life really promises us is pain. It’s up to us to create the joy”.

Opti the Mystic had been born in that bomber’s wreckage.

That night, my prayer was simple: I hoped that my own children would never know the pain my Dad had known, but if they must, I hoped the pain would make them little Optis.

Dad died the following March. I was on the course near Freckleton again. My partners, who had been warned what was coming, watched solemnly. I told them my old man had said golf was a game that made you smile. “So please smile.” As they smiled, I scattered my father’s cremated ashes into the bunker.

After the round, a boy passed me.

“Did you shoot a good one?” I asked.

“Not so good, sir.”

“That’s okay,” I said. “Enjoy it. The game ends too soon.”

“Right. Thanks.”

He walked on and I walked on-and then I stopped. I’d heard it-my father’s voice.

Supplementary Reading

Working Women

Today more and more married women are working outside the home. For most of them, the reason is obvious: they must work if their families are to survive. But what about those who don’t really have to work? Do the rewards justify their efforts? The answer is pretty clear “yes”.

The most obvious benefit of women working outside the home is financial. The rising costs of living have forced many women to work simply to keep their families going. And even in those families in which the wife has a choice, the extra income may reduce the financial burden on her husband in paying for college for the children, remodeling their house, or taking a long-delayed vacation. For young couples the benefit is not being able to remodel a house, it’s the possibility of buying one in the first place. If the wife does not work, buying a house is simply out of the question. Two other points need to be considered, too. Even when the children have left the house, the drop in family costs is often replaced by the cost of supporting aging parents. And second, a job provides a wife additional security, psychological as well as financial, in case of the illness or death of her husband.

A second benefit, particularly for women in their late thirties or forties, is the relief from the boredom of housework. They want a change from the deadly routine of washing clothes, making beds, cleaning the furniture, and the like. Not all jobs are exciting, of course; but they provide a change and a challenge, particularly for those who feel their abilities and skills have been wasted at home. In addition, women who work often have more to contribute to conversations with their husbands and friends. And as their conversation becomes more lively, more interesting, they become more likely and interesting themselves.

But perhaps the most significant benefit of working is psychological. Women have spent their early married lives looking after their homes, their children and husbands. When their children are gone and the housework is reduced, they often find themselves unable to cope with the extra time on their hands. Working gives them something constructive to do outside the home. Meeting new people on the job, putting long-neglected skills to use, competing successfully in the marketplace-all of these experiences help to build their self-confidence; they give a woman a sense of her own importance. As she proves to herself that she can bring home the bacon as well as cook it, she will open herself to new experience and broaden her interests.

But some people may ask, “Won’t all this make a wife less dependent on her husband?” Yes, quite likely. Some husbands want their wives dependent upon them for all their needs. But a truly happy, successful marriage means freedom for each partner to grow within the bonds of a loving relationship. For some husbands the change will be painful, but all growth involves pain. And, in the long run, it’s an acceptable price to pay for the personal growth and sense of achievement his wife will gain.

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