TOPICS: / 1. From childhood to adulthood.
2. Modern values.
3. Class division.
GRAMMAR: / Verbals: The Infinitive. Infinitive constructions.
Step I
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES (1)
Lead in1. a) Answer the questions:
· What can people be proud of?
· What do you take pride in?
· What things do you value most in life?
· What things could be called status symbols?
b) Look at the list of status symbols below and say which of them are more important to you. Explain what makes you think so.
fashionable clothesa fast and expensive car / a country house
a yacht / a good education
high-profile work
2. a) Skim through the text and say what the message of the text is.
6 (1.5 min.)
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People nowadays have more money, and some say this has made people more materialistic. It means they place too much importance on money, comfort and luxury goods. People have also become more acquisitive, which means they want to buy, own, possess more and more. We are not only money-oriented but also over-concerned with social and professional status. We care too much about our image, how other people see us. We like to own status-symbols like unnecessarily fast cars, the latest hi-fi equipment, fashionable clothes.
But is the picture so black? Are we really reduced to being mercenary creatures, motivated only by money? What can a mere individual do to improve the world? Perhaps it is time for us to examine our priorities and decide what is really important in life. Perhaps we should try to find self-fulfillment by exploring our capabilities and finding satisfaction in the spiritual aspects of life: an appreciation of art and nature, service to others, the improvement of our minds.
(The New York Times, 2005.)
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b) Sum up the text in three sentences.
c) Scan the text for details.
d) Answer the teacher’s questions.
3. a) Open the brackets using the correct forms of the verbs.
blustery – windy, stormy
Anna, Marleen and Sarah ______(1 – to come) from a small town in the east of Germany. In many ways, their lives are quite similar to those of middle-class young people from the United States. They ______(2 – to watch) American television shows like “Friends”, “Sex in the City” and “The Simpsons,” dubbed in German. They have cellphones, they Google, they ______(3 – to travel) – Anna as far as China, and Sarah several times to America.
They talk of their ambitions and expectations. For them coming of age means, above all, ______( 4 – to come) to terms with economic reality.
Asked about the things most important to her once she ______(5 – to finish) school, Anna had a ready reply: “A job which seems complicated ______(6 – to get).” She said she ______(7 – to want) ______(8 – to be) a journalist; her father ______(9 – to be) a regional editor for the local daily newspaper, Volksstimme. “______(10 – not/to be) alone,” Anna continued her list. “To have friends.”
What would she like her life ______(11 – to look) like when she ______(12 – to be) 25? “I hope I ______(13 – to graduate) from university,” Anna said. “I don’t want to be a lazy student,” one who spends years, as some German students do, hanging around the university, where tuition ______(14 – to cover) by the state.
That ______(15 – to be) nearly a year ago, when Anna, Marleen and Sarah ______(16 – first/to interview). They ______(17 – just/to have) a ceremony marking transition to adulthood. The ceremony came on a blustery Saturday in the auditorium of the Town Hall. While their parents and grandparents ______(18 – to watch), the girls ______(19 – to call) to the stage, ______(20 – to give) a yellow rose and a handshake, and a book. “I ______(21 – to move),” Anna said, “when they said that childhood ______(22 – to be over), and I ______(23 – modal/to take) more responsibility for my life.”
A year later, Anna said she ______(24 – to give) more shape to her interest in becoming a journalist, writing for the youth supplement of Volksstimme. Marleen, asked a year ago what ______(25 – to be) important to her, said she really ______(26 – not/ to know) . Now she ______(27 – to decide) to look for a job as a clerk or secretary. Why ______(28 – not/to go) to college and get a better job? “You go to university and you still ______(29 – modal/to find) a job,” she replied. “I know people who just ______(30 – to finish) school and ______(31 – to get) jobs, and others who got university diplomas and didn’t. There’s still a lot to learn,” Marleen said. “It’s quite exhausting.”
b) Answer the teacher’s questions.
VOCABULARY EXTENSION4. a) Read the text filling in the gaps with the proper words.
a peer [pIR] – someone who is of the same age as another person or belongs to the
same social or professional group as another person
an adolescent [LWdR'lesnt] – young teenager of about 13-16
One of the ______(1 – strongest/hardest) influences on teenagers today is that of their peers. What their friends think, how they dress and how they act in class and out of it ______(2 – affect/ effect) the behaviour of nearly every teenager. In their ______(3 – actions/efforts) not to be different, some children go so ______(4 – far/farther) as to hide their intelligence and ability in case they are made ______of (5 – laugh/fun). Generally, teenagers do not want to stand out from the ______(6 – group/crowd). They want to ______in (7 – fit/fall), to be accepted. In psychological ______(8 – terms/expressions) the importance of peer pressure can not be overemphasized. There is a lot of evidence that it has great ______(9 – meaning/bearing) on all aspects of their lives, from the clothes they wear, the music they listen to and their (10 – attitude/relation) to studies, to their ambitions in life, their relationships and their (11 – sense/impression) of self-worth. However, as adolescents grow up into young adults, individuality becomes more acceptable and in their ______(12 – look/search) for their personal style, the teenager and young adult will begin to experiment and be more willing to ______(13 – face/carry) the risk of rejection by the group. Concern about intellectual ability and ______(14 – reaching/achieving) good exam results can dominate as the atmosphere of competition develops and worries about the future ______(15 – override/overthrow) any fears of appearing too brainy.
b) Answer the teacher’s questions.
HOME ACTIVITIES (1)
5. a) Go through the texts in exercises 2– 4 and find the English for
придавать слишком большое значение чему-либо; предметы роскоши; жадный, склонный к стяжательству; все больше и больше; чересчур озабоченный чем-то; корыстный; приоритет; самовыражение; духовная сторона жизни; служение людям; во многом; быть похожим на...; дублировать; совершеннолетие; более всего; примириться с чем-либо; “болтаться” по университету; ратуша; молодежное приложение к журналу “Фольксштимме”; почему бы не сделать что-то?; это очень изматывает; сверстники; в попытке не выделяться (не отличаться); выделяться из толпы; с точки зрения (психологии); вписываться (в какую-либо среду, круг); иметь сильное влияние на / иметь отношение к; чувство собственной значимости (достоинства); подростки; неприятие группы; беспокойство об интеллектуальных способностях; перевешивать страх чего-либо.
b) Illustrate the word combinations with sentences from the texts.
6. Retell any of the three texts (see exercises 2-4).
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES (2)
7. Paraphrase and add a sentence logically connected.
1. Some teenagers give too much attention to clothes. 2. Today people are becoming more and more money-oriented. 3. As a rule, young adults are much preoccupied with their social status. 4. All over the world school leavers and university graduates have to learn to accept the economic realities. 5. Becoming legally an adult implies more responsibility. 6. University graduates in Russia have the same problems as young people of the same age in other countries. 7. It’s quite tiring to search for a job. 8. For younger teenagers it is very important to look and act the same way as their peers. 9. Most young adults prefer to be different from others. 10. Isn’t it better to find satisfaction in the spiritual aspect of life? 11. More than anything some people like to own status-symbols like fast cars and fashionable clothes. 12. Being fashionable was low on her list of important things. 13. The girl is said to have married the old man’s money. No doubt it was a marriage of convenience.
8. a) Read the article and say in one sentence what it deals with.
Новое поколение выбирает прагматизм
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(1) Сейчас на нашей планете живет миллиард юношей и девушек. Нью-йоркским агентством “Ди-Эм-Би-Би” в 26 странах мира были опрошены более 6,5 тысяч молодых людей в возрасте от 15 до 18 лет – тинейджеров.
(2) Одно из открытий этого исследования: для тинейджеров всего мира характерна зрелость нового типа. Они во многом более умны и осведомлены, чем их сверстники 20 лет назад. Сегодняшние юноши и девушки озабочены суровой реальностью и невзгодами человеческой жизни в значительно большей степени, чем прежде.
(3) Исследование показало, что молодежь надеется на успешную карьеру (81%), вступление в брак (69%), жизнь в условиях мира (66%).
(4) Большим сюрпризом стало то, что лишь 38% юношей и девушек намереваются жить в той стране, где они родились. Сегодняшние заботы зачастую сильно отличаются от проблем вчерашних тинейджеров, когда молодых людей волновали юношеские прыщи и нежелательная беремен-ность. 55 % молодых людей боятся, что у них будет недостаточно денег. 73% современных юношей и девушек озабочены тем, как бы устроиться на хорошую работу, 64% – опасностью потерять то, что они любят, и – несмотря на вечную проблему “отцов и детей”, – 63% подростков беспокоятся о здоровье своих родителей.
(5) Несмотря на подобные проблемы, нынешние тинейджеры во всем мире являются массовыми потребителями, которым широко доступны Интернет, телевидение, кинематограф, журналы и музыка.
(6) Именно из-за любви молодежи к средствам массовой информации и развлечениям последние служат источником приобретения тин-ейджерами повседневного опыта. Четыре наиболее увлекательных вида деятельности, упомянутых тинейджерами, связаны с индустрией развлечений. Среди любимых занятий вместо ожидавшегося ответа “время-препровождение с друзьями” верхнюю строчку занимает просмотр телепередач (93%).
(7) Естественно, многие при-страстия меняются, а многие остаются прежними. В ходе исследования было установлено, что любимыми занятиями являются также участие в вечеринках, проведение времени в семье, занятия спортом, разговоры по телефону и походы в магазин.
(8) Новое поколение молодежи – это потребители не только сегод- няшнего дня, но и будущего. Обладая зрелостью 35-летних людей и чувствами подростков, сегодняшние тинейджеры хотят всего и сразу.
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(По материалам журнала Итоги, 2002 г.)
b) Choose the most appropriate English words/phrases corresponding to the highlighted Russian ones. (More than one word/phrase may be right.)
(1) миллиард (billion / milliard); опрашивать (to ask / to interview / to poll);
(2) открытие (opening / discovery / revelation); зрелость (maturity / ripeness);
(4) проблема отцов и детей (the problem of fathers and children / generation gap problem / generation problem); беспокоиться (to worry / to trouble / to be concerned about);
(5) потребители (consumers / users / buyers);
(6) опыт (experiment / test / experience); времяпрепровождение (pastime / spending time);
(8) чувства (feelings / senses)
Key – 8:b) (1) – billion; to interview / to poll; (2) – discovery / revelation; maturity; (4) – generation gap problem; to be concerned about; (5) – consumers; (6) – experience; pastime; (8) – feelings.
c) Paraphrase using a large / small / significant number (of); a large proportion; the majority of; a (slim) minority; a substantial number / proportion / majority / minority.
1. Today, most teenagers are more intelligent and well-informed than young adults were twenty years ago. 2. Research shows that 81% of young people hope for a successful career. 3. According to the poll, 69 % of teenagers value a happy marriage. 4. The article points out that 66% of adolescents stress the importance of peace for a happy future. 5. Strange as it may seem, only 38% of young adults intend to live in their mother country. 6. On average 19% of teenagers leave school at 16 to get a job. 7. No wonder that 73% of young men and women are greatly concerned about their career prospects. 8. Figures suggest that 3 out of 4 people interviewed don’t enjoy their job. 9. Psychologists claim that 64% of teenagers are afraid of losing what is dear to them. 10. The recent survey proves that despite the eternal generation gap problem 63% of adolescents worry about their parents’ health. 11. Despite their young age, 55% of teenagers are afraid that they will not be able to earn enough money. 12. Watching television rates as the most popular form of entertainment with 93% of adolescents.
d) Answer the teacher’s questions.
HOME ACTIVITIES (2)
9. Render the article (see exercise 8) in English using the suggested key words and phrases:
1. Introduction:
· The article deals with... / the article covers the subject (the problems) of...
to carry out research; to poll / to interview
2. Main body of the report:
The research suggests / indicates / implies that...