Unit 4: Gifts of Youth

Reading Comprehension

It is said that youth is the nicest time of one's life. As a young person you are fit, strong and have enough energy to face problems. In fact you do not think about any problems, but look forward to every day in which you may try something new and challenging, and people around you tend to tolerate your faults because of your lack of experience. When speaking about young people we should be aware of the fact that there are two different groups of young people: teenagers (between ! to " years old# and those between twenty and thirty. $oth groups have something in common, but there are also differences between them. Teenagers are a special group. %hey are not children anymore, yet neither are they adults. %hey are strongly influenced by their friends as well as mass media, reasonably by their parents and partly by their teachers, but there are also youth culture influences that may be important. As teenagers grow up, they interact with people outside their homes, each becoming an individual person with his&her own ideas. %eenagers want to live independently and oppose the older generation' so they often have conflicts with their parents and teachers. (ost of them attend secondary schools and prepare themselves for their future profession. %hey spend most of their time at school or studying for the following school day. In their leisure time they like getting together with friends, listening to music, playing computer games and going to parties. (ost of them live with their parents, have to help around the house and are given some pocket money to spend on cassettes, cosmetics and small luxuries. %hose teenagers who want their own money try to find a part)time *ob, especially during school holidays. +orking in the afternoons or at weekends could be very useful since it may help them to prepare for their future (adulthood# and get much more life experience. Some teenagers, especially in the ,-A but also in other .uropean countries, leave their family at the age of eighteen and live with their friends in rented flats. %heir parents usually do not ob*ect because they see that living on one's own may help young people become responsible and mature, and enable them to get a strong personality. -ome people say it is better than any parental advice. COMPRHENSION QUESTIONS: ( / marks# A. Are these statements True or Fa se! "usti#$ $our ans%er: (0 pts# . %he two groups of young people have similarities and differences. 0. All American teenagers live with their parents. &. Ans%er the #o o%in' (uestions a)out the te*t: (! pts# . +hy are teenagers a special group1 0. +hat do young people need money for1 !. 2o parents approve of their young children's living on their own1 3ustify C. Com+ ete the #o o%in' senten,es #rom the te*t: (0 pts# . Adults are tolerant towards teenagers because 444444444444444444444444 0. %eenagers are affected more by 4444444444444444 than by their parents or teachers. -. What .o these %or.s re#er to in the te*t: / pt# . %hose (paragraph 0#: 44444444. 5 0. It (paragraph 4#: 444444444.. E. Fin. in the te*t %or. or e*+ressions that mean the same as: (0 pts# . (istakes (paragraph 1#: 666666666666666 0. 7onscious (paragraph 0#: 666666666666666 O+en .is,ussion: (%o call it a dayA # !. 8reely (paragraph 4#: 666666666666666 9. :ppose (paragraph 2#: 666666666666666 13 -ome adults and parents blame to.a$4s 'eneration, saying that the$ want the fruits of life (*ob, marriage4# the easy way and without effort, and that the$ are reluctant, rebels, disrespectful, disobedient, terrible and good for nothing4%he <uestion is: =ow would you react to this claim1 Is it really true1 ($e honest and speak the truth # 03 2o you feel there is some kind of 'eneration 'a+ between you (as teenagers# and your parents1 If yes, can you give any examples for that1 4 =ow can both parents and their children, who are no longer kids, bridge that gap1 03 %o what extent should you, as teenagers, be open to, interact with and get influenced by the different world cultures > whose main window is mass media1 4. 53 2on?t you think that your parents as well as people who are older than you are wiser and much more aware of life secrets, traps and fruits thanks to the so many experiences in life that they went through with time and social relationships1 If you think so, to what extent1 43 +hich is better: to be sociable, open)minded and out)going 4 or to *ust keep enclosed to oneself, avoid making new friends in order to be safe from the evil people who can betray you and also in order to depending on oneself only. -ay why. (@ 6usti#$ your choiceA# www.facebook.com&english9bac ; www.facebook.com&sites9bac ; www.facebook.com&groups&way0bac