Parentsshapetheirchildrenfromthe beginning oftheirchildren'slives.Theyteach
theirchildren values.Theysharetheirinterestswiththem.They developclose
emotionaltieswiththem.Parentscan beveryimportantteachersintheirchildren's
lives;however,theyarenotalwaysthebestteachers.
Parentsmay betooclosetotheirchildrenemotionally.Forexample,theymaylimita
child'sfreedominthenameofsafety. Ateachermay organizeaneducationaltrip
toabigcity, butaparentmaythinkthistripistoo dangerous.Aschoolmaywantto
takethechildrencamping, butaparentmay beafraid ofthechild getting hurt.Another
problemisthatparents
sometimesexpecttheirchildren'sintereststo besimilartotheirown.Iftheparentslove
science,theymaytrytoforcetheirchildtolovesciencetoo.Butwhatifthechild prefers
art?Iftheparentsenjoysports,theymayexpecttheirchildto participateon different
teams.Butwhatifthechild preferstoread?
Parentswantto passontheirvaluestotheirchildren.However,thingschange.The
children oftodayaregrowing upin aworld differentfromtheirparents'world.
Sometimesparents,especially olderones,can'tkeep upwithrapidsocialor
technologicalchanges.Astudentwho has
friendsofdifferentracesatschoolmayfindthathisparentshavenarrowerviews.A
studentwholovescomputersmayfindthatherparentsdon'tunderstand orvaluethe
digitalrevolution.
Parentsareimportantteachersin ourlives, buttheyaren'talwaysthebestteachers.
Fortunately,wehavemanyteachersin ourlives.Ourparentsteach us, ourteachers
teach us,andwelearnfromourpeers.Booksand newspapersalsoteach us.All
ofthemarevaluable.
Sample 147
Peopleattendcollegeoruniversityformanydefferentreasons(forexample,
newexperiences,careerpreparation,increasedknowledge).
Whydo youthinkpeopleattendcollege oruniversity?
Youshouldwriteatleast 250 words.Youshouldspendabout 40 minutes onthistask.Youshouldgivereasonsforyour answerusing yourownideasand
experience.modelanswer:
Peopleattendcollegeforalotofdifferentreasons.Ibelievethatthethreemost
commonreasonsareto prepareforacareer,to havenewexperiences,andto