CPE writing first practice

Proficiency – Page 88 – August 21, 2016

writing Test 3 / Paper 2 / Part 1

According to “Views on adolescence”, experts’ extreme positioning related to this phase of life can be not only unrealistic, but also pretty annoying. The same way, “Parents and adolescence”, raises the issue of overestimating the drawbacks that may come within this period, in spite of a healthier way of experiencing it as a natural process kids and parents have unavoidably to face in life.

Bearing that in mind, what seems to be at stake in both texts is the deceptive concept that adolescence would be a much more negative phase than it really is. Firstly, according to the first text, focusing one’s attention only on the bad aspects of undergoing changes can be quite unfair to those who happen to experience them more happily or naturally. Secondly, now according to the second text, it is possible that parents may be failing to understand that ‘difficulties’ are an intrinsic part of a broader process – achieving maturity.

Because of that, it may be important to consider that each family has their own ways of raising their kids, of dealing with conflicts and of coping with ‘bad times’, which means that not all teenagers would go through the same problems or react to them similarly. The same way, together with the problems, adolescence can bring a range of pleasant aspects, such as freedom of choice and the lack of great responsibilities.

Besides, the willingness to face the negative aspects of any situation calmly and positively would surely influence the teenagers’ development, by certainly assuring them the room for making mistakes and learning from them more naturally and confidently.

This way, framing adolescence as a particularly negative phase can be a huge mistake, not only because it fails to acknowledge differences and the pleasures of it, but also (and mainly) because it would certainly make the situation significantly worse.