The Breakdown of Communication
It is commonly acknowledged that language problems make communication between people from different cultures difficult．Because of the language barriers，people cannot express their feelings clearly to each other．However, communication problems also exist between individuals from the same culture．Although they have the same cultural background，they sometimes cannot understand each other well．Communication between individuals breaks down because of many factors．The most significant ones include personality, age difference and competition between individuals．
Personality has a great influence on communication between people．First, the sharing of common interests is often essential for initiating communication． If two people hold completely different attitudes，it will not be easy for them to start communicating with each other．Second，the willingness to express their feelings and opinions freely is needed if meaningful communication is to be developed．Some people do not want to talk about controversial subjects, fearing that this will hurt their relationship with friends. Instead, they keep their discussion of topics at a very superficial level，which prevents them from knowing and understanding each other. The lack of understanding leads to unsuccessful communication. It is clear that personality, to some extent，affects the initiation and maintenance of communication.———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— Although age difference gives rise to communication problems between two generations，competition poses an even greater problem when people are about the same age．Intense competition in the modern world creates tremendous pressure on people．In order to get ahead in a career or in school, people tend to devote most of their time to working，studying，or other activities that enhance their prospects for the future．As a consequence，they have little inclination to communicate with others. They are anxious about their achievements because those are the measures of success in life. So, keen competition also discourages people from having a good understanding of each other.
Communicating with other people involves much effort because people’s personality, the generation gap and keen competition bring about potential problems. These problems are constantly with us, and any of them may lead to a breakdown in communication between individuals.【正确答案】：
         THE AGE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GENERATIONS ALSO HAS A SIGNIFICANT INFLUENCE ON COMMUNICATION. PEOPLE OF DIFFERENT GENERATIONS RECEIVE VERY DIFFERENT EDUCATION. SINCE SOCIETY IS ADVANCING AT A GREAT PACE, IT IS NOT SURPRISING THAT THEY HOLD VERY DIVIDED OPINIONS BECAUSE OF THE WIDE GAP IN AGE. DISAGREEMENT ON MANY TOPICS BETWEEN PEOPLE OF DIFFERENT GENERATIONS RESULTS IN DIFFICULTIES FOR EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION. FOR EXAMPLE, SOME PARENTS EXPECT THEIR CHILDREN TO SHARE THEIR VIEWS, YET THE VALUES THAT THE YOUNGER GENERATION HOLDS VARY GREATLY FROM THOSE ACCEPTED BY THE OLDER GENERATION. THEREFORE, COMMUNICATION BETWEEN GENERATIONS DECLINES BECAUSE OF THE LACK OF UNDERSTANDING.
【题目解析】：由文章的第一段可列出全文的提纲：Ⅰ. The breaksdown of communication is due to personality, age difference and competition between individuals．Ⅱ. Personality has a great influence on communication between people．Ⅲ.Ⅳ. Keen competition also discourages people from having a good understanding of each other.Ⅴ. Conclusion由提纲可知,缺失的段落是关于年龄差别是影响沟通的重要因素。 The age difference between generations also has a significant influence on communication. People of different generations receive very different education. Since society is advancing at a great pace, it is not surprising that they hold very divided opinions because of the wide gap in age. Disagreement on many topics between people of different generations results in difficulties for effective communication. For example, some parents expect their children to share their views, yet the values that the younger generation holds vary greatly from those accepted by the older generation. Therefore, communication between generations declines because of the lack of understanding. 代际间的年龄差是影响沟通的一个重要因素。因为不同年代的人接受不同的教育，再加上社会发展迅速，所以年龄差距悬殊而造成的意见分歧也就不足为奇了。不同时代的人在许多话题上的分歧导致了不能进行有效的沟通。举个例子，一些家长希望自家的孩子能说出他们的心里话，但是，年轻一代的价值观与老一辈人所接受的价值观大相径庭。因此，由于缺乏了解，几代人之间的交流就会减少。