Text 1
THE TEENAGE DREAM
Task 1. Make up the fact file of the key points of the text. Discuss them with your classmates.
Almost every 16-year old has thought about leaving home, but the reality can often be much harder than they imagine. Many have been thinking about it, off and on, for years; some have been dreaming of independence since they were twelve, or even younger.Leaving home is part of the teenage dream.
Recently, a survey of "Young People's Social Attitudes" has asked British teenagers for their opinions about leaving home. Forty-nine per cent of 12-15 year olds thought that teenagers should be allowed to leave home at the age of 16; another 12% said 17, and 8% said "when they want". Only 23% of young teenagers thought that they should be obliged to live at home until they were 18! Yet the teenage dream seems to conflict with the experience of real life; when the same question was put to 18 and 19-year olds, almost half replied that teenagers should not leave home before the age of 18.
Nevertheless, leaving home is
part of the process of growing up. Many teenagers leave to go and study or
train or look for a job in a different town or city, returning home when the
money runs out. Others leave because they just want to get out. Most, specially
younger ones, are happy to go home again later; for a small number, leaving
home is a definitive break.
Text 2
HOME OR HOMELESS?
Task 1. Read the text and retell it as if you were a journalist.
Task 2. Make up 5 questions of different types based on the content of the text.
Every year, thousands of young people in Britain leave home in search of a better or more exciting life; many of them go to London, attracted by the bright lights, the night life, the youth scene and the hope of finding work. 16-year olds who leave school with few or no qualifications find it very hard to get jobs; indeed, in some British cities, particularly in the North, finding work is almost impossible for unqualified people, specially young people. London, however, has less unemployment and more jobs; and though no one imagines that the streets of the capital are "paved with gold" (as in the legend), many teenagers make their way to the capital, hoping to set up a new home of their own. Though there are indeed more jobs in London than in most other cities, they are not always good jobs, and the the dream of leaving home and finding a job often turns out to be just that; a dream. Many return home; some become homeless.
Homelessness is not a new
problem, and there are many associations that help homeless people to find
somewhere to live. And although, overall, less people keep coming to London in
search of a new life, the number of young people doing so has gone up sharply;
their reasons for coming have changed too.
London's biggest homeless charity, Centrepoint, reported that causes of homelessness among teenagers have changed ; instead of leaving home because of "pull factors" (the attraction of London, the hope of a job) more and more young people now leave home because of "push factors", victims of broken homes, poverty or physical aggression. It's all part of our changing society. In 1961, only about 5% of children (about half a million children) in Britain lived in single-parent families; in 2013, 22% of children, that is three million children, lived in single-parent families. Single-parent families are generally poorer than traditional families. Even teenagers with caring parents and lovely homes dream of leaving home. Kids in poor or aggressive homes dream too; in their situation, it's not surprising that they may want to make their dreams come true.
Text 3
Task 4. Retell the text summarizing the main facts of it. Express your opinion on the plot of the text.
Task 5. Create a mind map of an ideal boarding school.
Often in Britain, it is parents who send their children to make a new home, away from home. For hundreds of years, "boarding schools" have played an important part in British life. Not for everyone, of course; far from it. But boarding schools are part of middle class culture, especially in the south of England, where almost 30% of all 17-year olds in secondary schools are in fee-paying independent schools. In 2017, over 70,000 pupils in Britain were boarders. Many parents (and grand parents) save money for years, in order to be able to send their children to boarding school. "My dad worked as a flying instructor in Saudi Arabia for ten years," explains Nikki. "He saved as much as he could, to send me and my sister to a good school. He could have spent it on other things; for instance he could have bought a big BMW, but we've had the same car for five years, a VW, and it was second-hand when we bought it."
According to classic images, boarding schools are Spartan places, with cold dormitories and strict rules; but the image is no longer true. "I started boarding when I was 14," says William; "The worst thing about it was the first few weeks, when it was all new and strange. But now I feel much more independent. I like coming home for holidays, but I like it at school too. It's not like it used to be, with big cold dorms and corporal punishment! You've got to obey the rules, of course; but that's part of life!"
For young people who cannot "go away" to school, university offers the chance of breaking free. While in many parts of Europe students tend to study at universities and colleges close to home, the British tradition is very different. "I certainly wouldn't have wanted to go to college in my home town," says Tom. "One of the great things about going to university is that you get away from home! Universities recruit nationally, and when you apply, you usually apply to several different universities. You choose your universities for the courses they offer, not because they're near your home. I go home to see my parents in the holidays, but that's all. As far as I'm concerned, I've left home now. I certainly wouldn't want to go back home at weekends! That's when everything happens!"
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