126. Is there anything that young people can teach older people?
It has been a common conception that young people have nothing of value to teach their elders. I firmly disagree with this statement, and posit that in fact, the opposite is true. Young people have a plethora of information to teach old people. One of the advantages of being young is having a different perspective on life than one's seniors. Young people have not been influenced by nearly as many people as an old person, and therefore, their thoughts and ideas are more their own. An older person can learn from these new ideas, and once again, see the world with the freshness and fascination of a young person.
Also, young people tend to embark on all of their projects with a kind of intensity and perseverance. This quality can sometimes be lost as one gets older. After spending time with a young person, an old person tends to gain back some of this vitality. For example, I have seen many older people who did not live their lives to the fullest. However, with the addition of a granddaughter or a grandson, they regained much of their youthfulness. In my opinion, this was fully due to their seeing the vitality in the young, and learning from it.
Finally, young people tend to enjoy experimenting when they are working on a project. Older people are usually set in their ways, and will continue doing a chore one way, even if it is not the best way. Young people can offer insight into new methods of doing even the simplest tasks and often will think up new systems that do not occur to the elderly.
In conclusion, I think older people can learn much from the future generations. Of course, this is not to say that young people cannot learn from their elders. The educational process does not only work one way through generation gaps.
译文
126. 年轻人有没有什么可以教给老年人的？
一直以来人们普遍认为，年轻人没有任何有价值的东西可以教他们的长者。我坚决不同意这种说法，而且我认为，事实上情况恰好相反。年轻人有一大堆的信息可以传授给老年人。
年轻的其中一个优势就是，对生活有着与年长者不同的看法。年轻人并未像老年人那样受到多方面的影响，因此，他们的想法和观点更多地是来自于他们自己。而一位年长者就能从这些新观点中受益，同时再一次地用年轻人的生气和入迷来领略这个世界。
此外，年轻人倾向于用一种热情和执着去开展所有计划。当一个人年纪大些的时候，有时可能会失去这种品质。与年轻人相处之后，老年人往往会重新获得一些这样的活力。比如，我见过许多曾经没有尽情享受生活的年长者。然而，当他们有了一个孙女或是孙子，他们就重新获得了许多年轻时的朝气。在我看来，这完全是由于他们看到了年轻人身上的活力而从中受益的。
最后，年轻人在做事的时候往往喜欢进行试验。年长者则通常会固守自己的方式，会持续用一种方式做一件事情，即便这并非最佳方法。即便是在进行最简单的任务，年轻人也可以提供关于新方式的见解，而且通常会设计出年长者从未想到过的新的方法。
总而言之，我认为年长者能够从未来的几代人身上获益良多。当然，这并不是说年轻人就不能从他们的长者身上学到东西。教育过程并不仅仅是通过一种方式来穿越代沟的。
Word List
- conception ［kənˈsepʃən］ n. 观念
- a plethora of 一大堆
- freshness ［freʃnəs］ n. 生气
- embark on 从事，着手
- intensity ［inˈtensiti］ n. 热情
- perseverance ［ˌpə:səˈviərəns］ n. 执着，毅力
- vitality ［vaiˈtæliti］ n. 活力
- regain ［riˈgein］ v. 重新获得
- youthfulness ［ˈju:θfəlnəs］ n. 朝气
- think up 想出，设计出