Only Children reading

How do you think only children differ from children who have brothers and sisters?
What do you think is behind the differences?
V Match the words on the left to their definitions on the right.
1 consequence ___ a disadvantage or negative aspect of something
2 rise ___ characteristic
3 downside ___ practise something in order to prepare for the real thing
4 sibling ___ a result or effect of something
5 rehearse ___ a brother or sister
6 trait ___ increase
B Read the article, complete the gaps with the appropriate form of the words above and
find out what the benefits and downsides of being an only child are.

The Times May 2017

disincentives to have larger said they were not surprised

Only children are
creative but more
annoying
A study comparing the
personalities of those who
grew up with and without
____________________ has
found benefits to having the
undivided attention of parents
and grandparents, but that
being an only child also had
its _____________________
in particular making them
less pleasant to be around.
Family environment can
have a big influence on
the way children think and
approach the world. This is a
particularly relevant question
in China, where the one-child
policy introduced strong
families.
To see the possible
unintended ______________
of this, scientists from
Southwest University in
Chongqing looked at college
students, scanning their
brains and giving them
personality tests. Half of
them had siblings, the other
half did not.
One of the tests measured
students creativity, using a
standardised survey. Another
measured agreeableness,
asking them how much they
agreed with statements such
as I am the life of the party
and I feel little concern for
others.
The scientists said there
was a clear _________ in
creativity, and a clear fall in
agreeableness, among those
who grew up alone. They
also found that there were
corresponding changes in
brain structure.
Writing in the journal Brain
Imaging and Behaviour, they
by the results. While extra
parental attention can be a
good thing for cognition, it
may also cause undesirable
personality ______________
in the children, such as
dependency, selfishness and
social ineptitude.
Additionally, due to the
absence of siblings, only
children usually miss out on
important opportunities to
_________________ some of
the more complicated aspects
of relationships within a
safe environment and also
miss many opportunities to
develop emotional support
and psychosocial and learning
skills compared with non-
only-children.

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Only Children reading

f Summarise the facts presented in the article in your own words.

b Do the facts presented in the article reflect your experiences with only children?
E Look at these extracts from the article:

The Times May 2017

benefits to having the undivided attention of parents and grandparents

To see the possible unintended consequences of this
it may also cause undesirable personality traits in the children...

= Here you can see that you add the prefix un- to negate the meaning of certain
adjectives

V Use the correct prefixes with the following adjectives to make the negative form of
these words (un-, im-, in-, ab-, il-, ir-):
comfortable ___comfortable convenient ___convenient
responsible ___responsible expensive ___expensive
friendly ___friendly possible ___possible
happy ___happy important ___important
polite ___polite logical ___logical
normal ___normal patient ___patient

g React to the statements read to you using the negative form of the words above. Write
your reactions below.
e.g. I cant wait any more. > Dont be impatient. impatient

V Complete these sentences with the correct form of the words you studied at the
beginning of the class:
1 Your best _____________ is that you are very generous.
2 The _________________ in interest rates means it is more expensive to borrow money
now.
3 I have two _____________________; a brother and a sister.
4 There are no ____________________ to winning the lottery. At least in my opinion.
5 I _____________________ the presentation three times before giving it.
6 The value of the pound has fallen as a _____________________ of Brexit.
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Only Children reading
week of 15.05.17
Teachers notes 1 student pages 2 low-intermediate+ (A2+)

V Match the words on the left to their definitions on the right.

1 consequence 3 a disadvantage or negative aspect of something
2 rise 6 characteristic
3 downside 5 practise something in order to prepare for the real thing
4 sibling 1 a result or effect of something
5 rehearse 4 a brother or sister
6 trait 2 increase

B Read the article, complete the gaps with the appropriate form of the words above and
find out what the benefits and downsides of being an only child are.
siblings downsides consequences rise traits rehearse

V Use the correct prefixes with the following adjectives to make the negative form of
these words (un-, im-, in-, ab-, il-, ir-):
comfortable uncomfortable convenient inconvenient
expensive inexpensive friendly unfriendly
happy unhappy important unimportant
logical illogical normal abnormal
patient impatient polite impolite
possible impossible responsible irresponsible

g React to the statements read to you using the negative form of the words above.
Read these statements to the students and get them to react using the prefixes studied:
1 The telephone operator was rude to me.
Suggested answer: So, the telephone operator was impolite.
2 Shes a bit sad today.
Suggested answer: She must be unhappy about something.
3 The hotel bed was very hard.
Suggested answer: That sounds uncomfortable.
4 He told me there were no more tickets.
Suggested answer: So it was impossible to buy tickets.
5 12 oclock is not a very good time for me.
Suggested answer: So, midday is inconvenient.
6 Thats really cheap.
Suggested answer: You mean it's inexpensive.
7 The doctor said the scan didn't show anything strange.
Suggested answer: So the scan didn't show anything abnormal.

V Complete these sentences with the correct form of the words you studied at the beginning
of the class:
1 trait 2 rise 3 siblings 4 downsides 5 rehearsed 6 consequence