Short Leash CLOZE #1

Target Language or Knowledge:

Broad surveys show that childhood norms have shifted drastically over a generation (in 1971, for example, 80 percent of third-graders walked to school alone, but by 1990, only 9 percent did), and our survey of Slate readers confirms that trend. We asked, for example, when readers were allowed to walk 1 to 5 miles from home. For the cohort born in the 1940s, the majority answered second to third grade. By the time we get to the cohort born in the 1980s, the age shifts to fifth grade, and for the 1990s cohort, we are solidly in middle school. A similar trend shows up for a host of other issues, such as going to the playground alone and having to check in with parents when you are out for several hours. The shift in going out after dark is especially dramatic. Earlier cohorts were allowed out at night in middle school, but by the 1990s the norm is solidly high school.

childhood over for third-graders but percent of trend when walk from born majority grade get in shifts for are A for issues the to when several going especially allowed middle 1990s high

1. Based on the context in which it is used, what is the likely meaning of cohort? 2. What is the one sentence take away from this reading?