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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 EXTENSION |
4. 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.