97 Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? There is nothing that young people can teach older people. Use specific reasons and details to support your opinion.

Many of us believe that young people have nothing valuable to teach older people. However that is not always the case. Young people can teach older people about technology, young culture, and young-related social issues.

Young people are usually better at using new forms of technology than older people can learn to use computers from young people. This is true of other technology too. For example ,I taught my grandparents how to use a  video cassette recorder when I was thirteen years old. They didn’t know what it could do? Showed them. Now they use it regularly.

Older people are usually not familiar with youth culture, and younger people can help here too. This is important because it can help older people live a more enjoyable life. For example, popular music is generally youth oriented, and older people don’t always listen to it. However, when young people teach them about it, they may come to enjoy it. My

Grandmother, for example never listened to popular music before I introduces her to it. Note she and I listen and dance all the time. I plan to teach her about another piece of youth culture ---rollerblading----very soon!

Of course, there are more serious issues about which younger people can teach older people. As with computer, today’s children have grown up knowing about AIDS and school violence. That is not true for older generations. Here, again, children can teach older people about things that are important to everyone.

I know there are people who would say “you can’t teach an older dog new tricks.” However, it’s plain to me that the young have plenty to teach the old if they take the time to try. When they do, I think both gain a new appreciation for each other.

98  Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Reading fiction (such as novels and short stories) is more enjoyable than watching movies. Use specific reasons and examples to explain your position.

Reading fiction, such as novels and short stories, is more enjoyable than watching a movie. Of course the images in a movie are much more vivid, because you’re seeing them on a large screen in a dark room. The images you “see” in a novel are only as strong as your own imagination. But the more you read, the stronger your imagination becomes. Reading exercise your imaginative powers. Watching a movie dulls them. Imagination like a muscle needs to be used. Otherwise it can disappear.

When you read, you’re an active participant in your own enjoyment. That’s one reason reading develops the imagination. You’re reading the words on the page and translating them into images in your mind. When you’re watching a movie, you’re a passive viewer. The movie is giving you everything. Nothing comes from you except your reaction to what you’re seeing, and even that can be given you by the movie. Some movie plots are so simple, you can predict what’s going to happen before it does.

Reading fiction also develops your storytelling skills. The more reading you do, the better you become at creating plots and characters. The plots and characters in movies are often very simple, because the emphasis is on action rather than on language or character development.

Still, going to the movies is a great community experience. Sitting in a large theater with a lot of other people is fun. You experience the same reactions to what you’re seeing together. Reading is a one-person experience. It’s a chance to go into an imaginary world by yourself. Both experiences can be fun and rewarding, but I think reading fiction is more enjoyable.