阅读理解
For many parents, raising a teenager is like fighting a long war, but years go by without any clear
winner.Like a border conflict between neighboring countries, the parentteen war is about boundaries:
Where is the line between what I control and what you do?
Both sides want peace, but neither feels it has any power to stop the conflict.In part, this is because
neither is willing to admit any responsibility for starting it.From the parents' point of view, the only cause
of their fight is their adolescents' complete unreasonableness.And of course, the_teens_see_it_in_exactly_
the_same_way, _except_oppositely.Both feel trapped.
In this article, I'll describe three nowin situations that commonly arise between teens and parents and
then suggest some ways out of the trap.The first nowin situation is quarrels over unimportant things.
Examples include the color of the teen's hair, the cleanliness of the bedroom, the preferred style of
clothing, the child's failure to eat a good breakfast before school, or his tendency to sleep until noon on
the weekends.Second, blaming.The goal of a blaming battle is to make the other admit that his bad
attitude is the reason why everything goes wrong.Third, needing to be right.It doesn't matter what the
topic is-politics, the laws of physics, or the proper way to break an egg-the point of these arguments is
to prove that you are right and the other person is wrong, for both wish to be considered an
authority-someone who actually knows something-and therefore to command respect.Unfortunately, as
long as parents and teens continue to assume that they know more than the other, they'll continue to fight
these battles forever and never make any real progress.
1. Why does the author compare the parentteen war to a border conflict?
A. Both can continue for generations.
B. Both are about where to draw the line.
C. Neither has any clear winner.
D. Neither can be put to an end.
2. What does the underlined part in Paragraph 2 mean?
A. The teens blame their parents for starting the conflict.
B. The teens agree with their parents on the cause of the conflict.
C. The teens accuse their parents of misleading them.
D. The teens tend to have a full understanding of their parents.
3. Parents and teens want to be right because they want to ________.
A. give orders to the other
B. know more than the other
C. gain respect from the other
D. get the other to behave properly
4. What will the author most probably discuss in the paragraph that follows?
A. Causes for the parentteen conflicts.
B. Examples of the parentteen war.
C. Solutions for the parentteen problems.
D. Future of the parentteen relationship.
