Answer the questions.

Choose the statement which is true about Ukrainian teenagers. Prove your point of view.

1. Many Ukrainian teenagers like/don’t like studying.

2. Ukrainian teenagers worry/don’t worry about getting a job when they finish school.

3. Most Ukrainian teenagers care more about music/education.

4. Money is important/unimportant for Ukrainian teenagers.

5. Ukrainian teenagers surf little/a lot of net.

6. Ukrainian teenagers are for/against taking drugs.

7. Most Ukrainian teenagers drink alcohol very often/occasionally.

8. Ukrainian teenagers have/don’t have a lot of respect for their parents.

Answer the questions.

1. What do Ukrainian teenagers worry about?

2. What are teenagers’ free time activities?

3. What music do teenagers prefer?

4. Do parents have good relationships with their children?

5. How much pocket money a week are teenagers given by their parents? What do they spend pocket money for?

6. Do many teenagers smoke?

3) What’s the main idea of the relationship between adults and young people?

a) Adults must respect young people’s aspirations and views.

b) Adults must give young people every opportunity to enjoy their lives.

c) Adults must protect young people who choose to work.

4) Study the text and name the main problems of today’s teens.

Young people face lots of problems which are very important for them. Many of them are common for all young people. But the problem number one of most teenagers is the problem of fathers and sons. When you are 16 or 17, you want to be treated like an adult, to be more independent in your action and your way of life. You want your parents to consider your opinion and not interfere in your private life. You want to develop interests and values different from those of your parents. That sets a conflict between the two generations, the generation gap. Young people disagree on different points: how late to stay up, how to deal with girl- and boy-friends, what to do after classes, even what clothes to wear and so on. Some parents neglect their children; they can’t find a common language with each other. It happens sometimes that children run away from home. But it’s not the way out. On the one hand parents should help their children though it is difficult to be tolerant and to find the right approach to them. On the other hand teens must trust their parents and try to find in their parents more positive than negative traits. You need to learn to talk your problems over in the family but to quarrel every time you have some disagreement. If you are able to do it everything will be all right.

Another problem that young people face today concerns their relationship with their friends. As far as friendship is concerned, a person can and should have a lot of friends. But at the same time there can be only two or three real friends, because real friends will never betray each other. They will always understand and help each other. Tolerance is the pledge of friendship. It is wonderful if a school or college friend will remain your friend for the rest of your life. But in this case everything depends on the person.

The problem of love is very important for young people. Today they fall in love when they reach the age of Romeo and Juliet. Romanticism and idealism very often accompany the love of the young. They can love deeply and passionately, they believe that their love will last forever. Unfortunately, often their hearts are broken. Young people are not always ready to have stable relations. In many cases they are too young and inexperienced to begin a family life. They have to continue their education, while family obligations will force them to make money. At the same time without good education it is not easy to find a good job.

There are other serious and worrisome problems of modern teenagers such as smoking, alcoholism, and drug-habit. People of almost every age are susceptible to pernicious habits but they hit the youth the hardest. Some young men use drugs because they think that they are cool guys. But in fact they don’t realize how wrong and dangerous it is. They can’t stop and become dependent on drugs - drug addicts. This involves the other serious problems: juvenile delinquency, AIDS.

Communication has always been an important part of young people's lives. Today they can choose between traditional and new ways of communication. Traditionally the young meet after classes with their friends, make parties, go to the movies or disco clubs to have fun, relax and acquire new friends. But if the young people do not like noisy clubs and other places of entertainment, they can find friends without leaving their homes - the Internet gives such an opportunity. Others use different computer programmes to chat with their friends from all over the globe. They can sit for twenty four hours staring at the monitors. Such young people do not eat, sleep, work or learn properly. Their parents think that they are doing nothing, but this is not absolutely correct. The only thing many young people are interested in is navigating through the net and attending their pages in different social networks. And it is a great problem of the present and future. In general all the problems of the youth are linked with the present rather then with the past or future.

To cope with the problems of teenagers the society in general and every family particularly should join their efforts and show respect, care to each other. The teenagers of today are the future of the country. And even if these young people do not trust much either their parents or the society and rely on their own resources in the first place; they urgently need adults’ support and help in solving their problems but not pressure and moral admonition. They are eager to get an education and well-paid jobs. They want to take a confident stand in life and show their self-realisation.

5) Translate into Ukrainian the following words and word-combinations from the text: common problems; an adult; generation gap; to stay (up); to deal (with); to wear clothes; to run away from home; the way out; to be tolerant; to concern; real friends; tolerance; to remain a friend for the rest of life; inexperienced; to make money; to find a good job; to realize; to become dependent; ways of communication; to stare; particularly; to show respect, care; well-paid jobs.

6) Give English equivalents of the following words and word-combinations: підліток; батьки; цінності; дружба; справжній товариш; терпіння; досягати віку; тривати вічно; розбиті серця; занадто молодий; наркотична залежність; неправильно та небезпечно; СНІД; влаштовувати вечірки; розважатися; розслаблятися; суспільство; демонструвати повагу, турботу; отримати освіту.

7) Match the synonyms: an adult, to strengthen, sensitive, patient, pernicious, disagreement, delinquency, frustration, tolerant, a conflict, to solve a problem, harmful, despair, to intensify, a grown-up, criminality, to cope with a problem, quarrel, susceptible.

8) Fill in the blanks with the necessary words: support, treats, in trouble, disagree, patience, scolded, rely on, trust, consider, wrong, influence.

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