Directions: In each of the following statements there is an underlined part that is indicated as an error. Choose the word or phrase that can replace the underlined part so that the error is corrected.
Reruns of situation comedies from the fifties and early sixties dramatize the kinds of problems that parents used to having 6 with their children. The Cleavers scold Beaver for not washing his hands before dinner; the Andersons punish Bud for not doing his homework; the Nelsons dock little Ricky"s allowance because he keeps forgetting to clean his room. But times have changed dramatically. Being a parent today is much more difficult than it was a generation ago.
Today"s parents must try, first of all, to control all the new distractions as 7 tempt children away off 8 schoolwork. At home, a child may have a room furnished with a stereo and television. Not many young people can resist the urge to listen to an album—especially if it is time to do schoolwork. Outside the home, the distractions are even more allured 9 . Children no longer "hang out" on a neighborhood corner with 10 earshot of Mom or Dad"s reminder to come in and do homework. Instead, they congregate in vast shopping malls, buzzing video arcades, and gleaming fast-food restaurants. Parents and school assignments have obvious difficulty compete 11 with such enticing alternatives.
Besides dealing with these distractions, parents also have to shield their children from a flood of sexually explicit material 12 . Today, children can find sex magazines and pornographic paperbacks in the same comer store that once offer 13 only comics and candy. Moreover, the movies young people attend often focus on high 14 sexual situations. It is difficult to teach children traditional values when films show teachers seducing students and young people tread 15 sex as a causal sport. An even more difficult matter for parents is the heavily sexual content of programs on television.
Most disturbing to parents today, however, is the increase in life-threating 16 dangers that facing 17 young people. When children are small, parents fear that their youngers 18 may be victims of violence. Every news program seems to carry a report about a mass murderer who preys for 19 young girls, a deviant who has buried six boys in his cellar, or an organized child pornography ring that molests preschoolers. Though 20 children are old 21 , parents begin to worry about their kids" use of drugs. Peer pressure to experiment can be fatal if the drags have been mixed with dangerous chemicals.
Within one generation, the world like 22 a place to raise children has changed dramatically. One wonders how yesterday"s parents would have dealt 23 today"s problems. Could the Andersons have kept but away from MTV Could the Nelsons have shield 24 little Ricky form sexually explicit material Could the Cleavers have protected Beavers from drugs Parents must be aware 25 all these distractions and dangers, yet be willing to give their children the freedom they need to become responsible adults.