In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since."Whenever you feel like criticizing any one," he told me, "just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had."He didn't say any more but we've always been unusually communicative in a reserved way, and I understood that he meant a great deal more than that. In consequence I'm inclined to reserve all judgments, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me and also made me the victim of not a few veteran bores. The abnormal mind is quick to detect and attach itself to this quality when it appears in a normal person, and so it came about that in college I was unjustly accused of being a politician, because I was privy to the secret griefs of wild, unknown men. Most of the confidences were unsought—frequently I have feigned sleep, preoccupation, or a hostile levity when I realized by some unmistakable sign that an intimate revelation was quivering on the horizon—for the intimate revelations of young men or at least the terms in which they express them are usually plagiaristic and marred by obvious suppressions. Reserving judgments is a matter of infinite hope. I am still a little afraid of missing something if I forget that, as my father snobbishly suggested, and I snobbishly repeat, a sense of the fundamental decencies is parcelled out unequally at birth.
Question
In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since."Whenever you feel like criticizing any one," he told me, "just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had."He didn't say any more but we've always been unusually communicative in a reserved way, and I understood that he meant a great deal more than that. In consequence I'm inclined to reserve all judgments, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me and also made me the victim of not a few veteran bores. The abnormal mind is quick to detect and attach itself to this quality when it appears in a normal person, and so it came about that in college I was unjustly accused of being a politician, because I was privy to the secret griefs of wild, unknown men. Most of the confidences were unsought—frequently I have feigned sleep, preoccupation, or a hostile levity when I realized by some unmistakable sign that an intimate revelation was quivering on the horizon—for the intimate revelations of young men or at least the terms in which they express them are usually plagiaristic and marred by obvious suppressions. Reserving judgments is a matter of infinite hope. I am still a little afraid of missing something if I forget that, as my father snobbishly suggested, and I snobbishly repeat, a sense of the fundamental decencies is parcelled out unequally at birth.
Solution
This passage is a reflection on the narrator's personal philosophy, shaped by advice from his father. The father's advice was to avoid criticizing others, as not everyone has had the same advantages in life. This advice has led the narrator to generally withhold judgment of others, a habit that has allowed him to understand many different types of people, but has also made him a target for those who are bored or seeking to exploit his open-mindedness.
The narrator mentions being accused of being a politician in college due to his understanding of people's hidden sorrows. He often found himself privy to intimate revelations, even when he didn't seek them out. He would sometimes pretend to be asleep or distracted to avoid these revelations, as he found them often to be unoriginal and incomplete.
The narrator concludes by expressing his fear of missing out on something important if he forgets his father's advice. He acknowledges that a sense of decency is not equally distributed at birth, suggesting that some people are naturally more moral or ethical than others. This passage is a reflection on the complexities of human nature and the importance of empathy and understanding.
Similar Questions
In the following passage, the narrator, Nick Carraway, is recounting his father's advice. Select the best evidence to support the statement "Being open-minded helps Carraway become acquainted with many different personality types." There may be more than one correct choice.In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since."Whenever you feel like criticizing any one," he told me, "just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had."He didn't say any more, but we've always been unusually communicative in a reserved way, and I understood that he meant a great deal more than that. In consequence, I'm inclined to reserve all judgments, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me and also made me the victim of not a few veteran bores.
StrangersGrowing up, I never had what was considered to be a good relationship with my father. He was never mean or violent; he just seemed indifferent to my existence. Shell-shocked from the war, he had become a fiercely private man who rarely spoke to anyone. Most of the time he failed to notice that I was around. This led, throughout my teenage years, to me avoiding him. To say we were not close is an understatement. We were strangers bound by blood.Of course I tried in the early days, like every young boy does, to get his attention, but it was to no avail. I attempted to be the good son, doing housework and running errands, and when that didn’t work I tried my hand at being the bad son, being insolent and untidy even though it was not in my nature. My behaviour made no difference. His response was always the same – a quizzical look cast over the rim of his glasses, first at me and then at my mother, urging her to administer praise or reprimand me as she herself saw appropriate. Then his eyes went back to his book as if they somehow felt uncomfortable being out in the real world.By the time I was thirteen I had given up hope of him ever connecting with me. I won a prize at school for science and I wanted him to tell me that he was proud of me. The congratulations never came. That was when I stopped speaking to him. I made a decision on that day to ask him no more questions, to make no more comments, and to only speak to him if and when I was spoken to. He never instigated exchanges, and so my stubbornness led us into silence.I skirted around the house steering clear of him, making an effort to not be in the same room as him. Mealtimes led me to become more and more creative with my excuses. Whether my father knew of my strategy, I don't know. Perhaps he was oblivious. But it was a peace that I eventually grew accustomed to, and I actually started to prefer it that way. We were two individuals waiting on a train platform, aware that the other was there but choosing not to engage.I left home at sixteen without saying goodbye. My father was reading and I chose not to disturb him. I didn't see him again until my wedding day many years later. It was my mother who had invited him. I expected him to say nothing, and that's exactly what happened. But when he looked at me over the rim of his glasses I thought I saw the very beginnings of a tear. Question promptThe son adopted different strategies to deal with his father when they lived together.How did these strategies change?Question response areaSelect one optionfrom deliberate avoidance to false affectionfrom strained tolerance to outright defiance from peaceful understanding to spiteful antagonismfrom active engagement to self-imposed indifferenceNext
StrangersGrowing up, I never had what was considered to be a good relationship with my father. He was never mean or violent; he just seemed indifferent to my existence. Shell-shocked from the war, he had become a fiercely private man who rarely spoke to anyone. Most of the time he failed to notice that I was around. This led, throughout my teenage years, to me avoiding him. To say we were not close is an understatement. We were strangers bound by blood.Of course I tried in the early days, like every young boy does, to get his attention, but it was to no avail. I attempted to be the good son, doing housework and running errands, and when that didn’t work I tried my hand at being the bad son, being insolent and untidy even though it was not in my nature. My behaviour made no difference. His response was always the same – a quizzical look cast over the rim of his glasses, first at me and then at my mother, urging her to administer praise or reprimand me as she herself saw appropriate. Then his eyes went back to his book as if they somehow felt uncomfortable being out in the real world.By the time I was thirteen I had given up hope of him ever connecting with me. I won a prize at school for science and I wanted him to tell me that he was proud of me. The congratulations never came. That was when I stopped speaking to him. I made a decision on that day to ask him no more questions, to make no more comments, and to only speak to him if and when I was spoken to. He never instigated exchanges, and so my stubbornness led us into silence.I skirted around the house steering clear of him, making an effort to not be in the same room as him. Mealtimes led me to become more and more creative with my excuses. Whether my father knew of my strategy, I don't know. Perhaps he was oblivious. But it was a peace that I eventually grew accustomed to, and I actually started to prefer it that way. We were two individuals waiting on a train platform, aware that the other was there but choosing not to engage.I left home at sixteen without saying goodbye. My father was reading and I chose not to disturb him. I didn't see him again until my wedding day many years later. It was my mother who had invited him. I expected him to say nothing, and that's exactly what happened. But when he looked at me over the rim of his glasses I thought I saw the very beginnings of a tear. Question promptWhy did the author misbehave as a boy?Question response areaSelect one optionto force his father to acknowledge him as a personto show his parents that he had become independentto punish his mother for her lack of affection towards himto protest against the breakdown of his parents' marriageNextBack
StrangersGrowing up, I never had what was considered to be a good relationship with my father. He was never mean or violent; he just seemed indifferent to my existence. Shell-shocked from the war, he had become a fiercely private man who rarely spoke to anyone. Most of the time he failed to notice that I was around. This led, throughout my teenage years, to me avoiding him. To say we were not close is an understatement. We were strangers bound by blood.Of course I tried in the early days, like every young boy does, to get his attention, but it was to no avail. I attempted to be the good son, doing housework and running errands, and when that didn’t work I tried my hand at being the bad son, being insolent and untidy even though it was not in my nature. My behaviour made no difference. His response was always the same – a quizzical look cast over the rim of his glasses, first at me and then at my mother, urging her to administer praise or reprimand me as she herself saw appropriate. Then his eyes went back to his book as if they somehow felt uncomfortable being out in the real world.By the time I was thirteen I had given up hope of him ever connecting with me. I won a prize at school for science and I wanted him to tell me that he was proud of me. The congratulations never came. That was when I stopped speaking to him. I made a decision on that day to ask him no more questions, to make no more comments, and to only speak to him if and when I was spoken to. He never instigated exchanges, and so my stubbornness led us into silence.I skirted around the house steering clear of him, making an effort to not be in the same room as him. Mealtimes led me to become more and more creative with my excuses. Whether my father knew of my strategy, I don't know. Perhaps he was oblivious. But it was a peace that I eventually grew accustomed to, and I actually started to prefer it that way. We were two individuals waiting on a train platform, aware that the other was there but choosing not to engage.I left home at sixteen without saying goodbye. My father was reading and I chose not to disturb him. I didn't see him again until my wedding day many years later. It was my mother who had invited him. I expected him to say nothing, and that's exactly what happened. But when he looked at me over the rim of his glasses I thought I saw the very beginnings of a tear. Question promptAccording to the text, what was the reason for the father’s behaviour towards his son?Question response areaSelect one optionthe son’s insolent behaviourthe father’s experiences as a soldierthe son’s lack of interest in reading booksthe father’s desire to maintain a level of privacyNext
You finally take out the garbage in order to get your father to stop pestering you. Your behaviour is being influenced by:Group of answer choicesPresentation punishment.Positive reinforcement.Negative reinforcement.Removal punishment.
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