Read the following sentences carefully.
When each_________________ generation grows up, it looks down on the next as if we all forget what it feels like to be______________. When most____________ think about their own youthful indiscretions they do so with a wink and a laugh. But when the same people think about those in today’s generation doing something similar, they _________________sound the alarm about a decline in morality in next generation.
From the options below, choose the one that meaningfully fills up the blanks.
Answer: C
The paragraph says each generation, once grown up, looks down on the young, forgets its own youth and judges the young by a double standard.
- Blank 1: "each ___ generation grows up" needs a word for generations that follow one another, so successive fits. "Young generation grows up" and "old generation grows up" make no sense.
- Blank 2: "forget what it feels like to be ___" needs young.
- Blank 3: the people recalling "their own youthful indiscretions" are grown-ups, so adults. "Youngsters" is illogical.
- Blank 4: they excuse their own past with "a wink and a laugh" but complain when the young do the same. That double standard is hypocritical. "Cautiously", "carefully", "naturally" and "sincerely" all miss the point.
Only option 3 fits all four blanks. Option 1 fails at "succeeding" and "cautiously", option 2 at "young generation grows up", option 4 at "be next", and option 5 at "youngsters" recalling their youth.
Answer: Option 3