You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.
Old generations often hold some traditional ideas on the correct way of life, thinking and behaviour. However, some people think that it is not helpful for the young generations to prepare for modern life in the future. What’s your opinion?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Write at least 250 words.
Sample Answer:
As the world is rapidly developing in this era of ever evolving technology, mindsets of old generations struggle to adapt to the current changes. People from these generations hold firmly to long-established lifestyle and expect the youth to follow it without considering thoroughly how it might trouble them. Personally, I am convinced that although the youngsters should preserve the traditional values, most of the conventional ideas are inappropriate to apply in the modern time.
To begin with, some traditional ways of thinking can go as far as to negate recent revolutionary conceptions. The most obvious example to look at is the violation of gender equity. In some countries, especially the Asian ones, women are normally considered to be inferior to men in several aspects. Not only are sons preferably given the educational opportunity, but daughters are also considered as the misfortune in some rural areas. Such norm has but great negative impacts on young generations since they are brought up with wrong ideas how life works.
Another, equally important, aspect is that prejudice might intervene in one’s individual private life. The choice of educational field, career and life partner are quite different than the past centuries and the old generation will have contradicting ideas about those important issues. Thus new generations should be allowed to choose those important aspects of their life as long as they are capable of taking decisions. The older generations have many false prejudices and superstitions which should not be passed to the new generations.
To sum up, it is undeniable that some traditional ideas have timeless validity, as they come from long-life practice and experiences and these should be embraced and followed. Nevertheless, from my perspective, many conventional concepts are out-of-date and they should be discarded to keep our society cohesive.
[Written by – Quinn]