UNIT 1

The Status Quo of Children on the Global Scene

1.1 A World Fit for Children
LEAD-IN
1 Discuss the following questions.
1. How old are the children in the photos? What can children usually do by the
time they are two years old/ five years old/ten years old?
2. What stage of life do you think most people remember as the happiest?
3. What stage do most people remember as the most difficult?
4. Do you think that children are different today from the time when you were
child? Or from 50 years ago? 100 years ago?
5. Did your parents encourage you to take part in any activities outside school,
such as sport or music? Did you enjoy them?

2 Work with other students. Rank the following factors according to how much you think they
contribute to children’s happiness.
 Social network  Hobby  Health
 A secure relationship with parents   Pocket money  Siblings
 Relationship with peers  Academic success

3 Match the phrases in box A to those with a similar meaning in box B.

A B
1 gifted a) for the future
2 in the making b) difficult
3 prodigy c) completely abnormal
4 adulation d) extremely talented
5 high flyer e) someone who has achieved a lot and is determined to
6 demanding continue being successful
7 freak f) genius
8 wannabe g) someone who wants to be famous or successful
9 hustler h) contemporaries
10 peers i) someone who is very determined to get what they want
g) admiration
READING
1 Look at the words/ phrases in box A above. What do you think the article
“How to Make Your Child a Genius” is about? Make predictions in pairs.

2 Skim the text. Were any of your predictions correct? While reading look at
the italicized words/phrases and guess the meaning of the ones you don’t
know from the context.

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 How to Make Your Child a Genius?
When he was nearly three years old, Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son watched his
mother and father playing chess in the family's ramshackle home in the Mekong
Delta, and, like any toddler, pestered them to let him play, too. Eventually they
relented, assuming the pieces would end up strewn around the kitchen. Not for one
minute had they imagined that their son would be able to play. To their
astonishment, not only did Son know how to set up the chessboard, but he had also
learned many of the complex rules of the game. Within a month he was defeating
his parents with ease. By the age of four, Son was competing in national
tournaments against kids many years older. By age seven, he was winning them.
Now twelve, he is Vietnam's youngest champion and a grand master in the making.
Son's parents - teachers with a combined income of less than $100 a month -
are at a loss to explain their otherwise ordinary child's talents. 'It’s an inborn gift,’
says his father. You couldn't train an ordinary three-year-old to play like that.' The
young prodigy, for his part, doesn't think the question is worth pondering. To him,
the strategies and logic of chess comes as naturally as chewing bubble gum. 'I just
see things on the board and know what to do,' he says. 'It's just always made sense
to me.'
How a child prodigy like Son comes by his talent has never made much
sense to scientists. Throughout history, prodigies have been celebrated as objects
of envy and adulation. Rarely, however, have they been understood. Often taunted
by their peers, hounded by the press, prodded by demanding parents and haunted
by expectations of greatness, they are treated as wondrous curiosities. As Maria
McCann, a specialist in the education of gifted children, puts it, 'They are our
beautiful freaks.'
The question most people want to answer is whether prodigies are born or
made. Only recently has science begun to probe the cultural and biological roots of
child prodigies. And there are still no definite answers. Studies have shown that
raw intelligence, as measured through IQ tests, is very inheritable. But the
connection between high intelligence and the behaviour of prodigies is far from
absolute. Prodigies master very specific skills. Nowhere can this be more clearly
seen than in the case of Indian prodigy, Tathagat Avatar Tulsi. At the age of six, he
was able to take any date in history and immediately calculate which day of the
week it was. The newspapers nicknamed him 'computer brain'. This type of
intelligence cannot be inherited.
One thing the experts are beginning to agree on is that a child's upbringing
has a big impact on whether a gift is developed or not. According to Wu Wu-tien, a
Taiwanese educationalist, 'Prodigies are half born, half made.' The parents provide
stimulating environments: the home is full of books, they read to the child at an
early age, and take them to museums and concerts. They do not talk down to their
children and they allow them a high degree of independence.
The Best Schools, 2011-2018 [2]

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3 Read the text again and answer the questions.
1. Why were Son's parents surprised?
2. What does Son think of his gift?
3. According to the article, what problems do child prodigies face?
4. What is 'the big question' about child prodigies?
5. What answer does the article suggest?

4 Match the italicized words from the text to the definitions.

1. ……………….. (phr. v.) to talk to someone as if you think they are not as
clever or important as you are.
2. ………………… impressive and beautiful or exciting.
3. …………………. Stimulate or persuade (someone who is reluctant or slow)
to do something.
4. ……………… Harass, persecute, or pursue relentlessly.
5. ……………… Reproach (someone) with something in a contemptuous way.
6. ………………. (of something unpleasant) continue to affect or cause
problems for.
7. ……………… Abandon or mitigate a severe or harsh attitude, especially by
finally yielding to a request.
8. ………………. Trouble or annoy (someone) with frequent or persistent
requests or interruptions.
9. ………………. Excessive admiration or praise.

5 Discuss the following questions.

1. Have you heard any stories about other child geniuses?
2. How do you think society treats them?
3. What might be the benefits and drawbacks of having a child prodigy in the
family?
4. Do you know any children who have a special gift for something?
5. Do you think child prodigies are 'born' or 'made'?

LISTENING
1 You are going to listen to an expert on gifted children describing a strange
case. Before listening, read the notes below. What information do you need to
complete the notes?

People involved
 The case involved twins called (1) .
 Physically they were (2) and wore thick glasses.
 At school people (3) at them.

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 Their gifts
 They could tell you (4) in the past and future 40,000
years.
 They could remember long sequences of (5) .
 If you asked them about a day in their lives, they could remember
(6) .

Conclusions about them

 Their ability is mathematical and (7) .
 When asked how they do it, they reply, (8) ‘ ’.

BBC Learning English, 2018 [3]

2 Listen again and discuss the following questions.
In which jobs would the twins' abilities be useful?
How else could they use these abilities?
If you could have one special mental ability (e.g. memorising numbers or
words, having a photographic memory, being able to read super-fast, being
able to learn many foreign languages quickly, etc.), what would it be? Why?

FOCUS ON GRAMMAR
Gender Bias in the English Language

1 The pseudo-generic HE and HIS: creating gender balance.

a) The use of ‘he’ and ‘his’ when referring to both a female and a male
excludes the female. To be inclusive, it is advisable to use both he/she. the
constructions he/she; she/he provides authors with additional gender-free
alternatives.

b) Sometimes it is possible to drop the possessive form ‘his’ altogether or to

substitute an article.

Exclusionary forms Inclusionary alternatives

The average student is worried about his
grades
When the student hands in his paper,
grade it immediately

c) Often it makes sense to use plural instead the singular

Exclusionary forms Inclusionary alternatives
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Give the student his grade right away
Ask the student to hand in his work as
soon as he is finished
Each student will be better if he has a
voice in the decision

d) The first or second person pronoun can sometimes be substituted for the
third person
Exclusionary forms Inclusionary alternatives
As a teacher, he faces excessive paper
work daily.
When a teacher asks a question, he
seeks student response.

e) In some situations, the form one/one’s can be substituted for he/his, but this
construction should be used sparing to avoid changing the tone of the writing
or speaking.
E.g. He might wonder what his response should be VS One might wonder what
one’s response should be.

h) When subject is an indefinite pronoun a number of options exist.

1) Recast the sentence to avoid using the indefinite pronoun:

Exclusionary forms Inclusionary alternatives
When everyone contributes his own
ideas, the discussion will be a success.
Does everybody have his book?

2) Use of the singular they/their form

Exclusionary forms Inclusionary alternatives
When everyone contributes his own
ideas, the discussion will be a success.
Does everybody have his book?

The Pseudo-generic man: Creating gender balance.

The following examples Illustrate how to make the language more inclusive:
Exclusionary forms Inclusionary alternatives
Mankind
Man’s achievements
The best man for the job
Man-made

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The common man
Manpower
Sportsmanship

 Wherever possible it is preferable to avoid using ‘man’ as a verb. An alternative verb is

proposed.
Exclusionary forms Inclusionary alternatives
To man the pumps To work the pumps
To man the desk
To man the phones
To man the stockroom

 Identify men and women in the same way. If the gender of a professional is
important to a person seeking professional assistance, exceptions may occur.
 Seek alternatives to language that omits, patronizes or trivializes women, as well as to language
that reinforces stereotyped images of both women and men.

Exclusionary forms Inclusionary alternatives

I’ll have my girl to do that job I’ll ask my assistant (or secretary) to do
that job.
Maria is a career woman.
You guys, go ahead
The ladies on the committee all
supported the bill.
Pam had lunch with girls at the office
This is a man-sized job
Old maid; spinster
 Do not represent certain jobs or roles as only appropriate for, or held by, women or men, i.e.,
farmers are ‘men’ and elementary teachers are ‘women’.

Exclusionary forms Inclusionary alternatives

Dear Mothers, please bake cookies for Dear families, please bake cookies for
our class party. our class party.
UNESCO convention attendees and
their wives are invites.
A principal must take attendance at his
faculty meetings.

Conclusion: Do not represent females and males as possessing stereotyped

gendered attributes.
E.g. do not always imply that:
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  girls are timid and boys are brave.
 males are admired for their accomplishment and women for their physical
attributes.
 females are passive and males are active.

Job titles and occupational terms

Some nouns have separate forms to denote males and females. What are the
distinctively feminine forms that correspond to these masculine nouns?
Gender-marked Gender-unmarked
1. Air steward/ air stewardess/air Flight attendant/cabin attendant
hostess
2. Fireman/firewoman
3. Housewife/househusband
4. Usher/usherette
5. Waiter/waitress
6. Sportsman/sportswoman
7. Janitor
8. Comedienne/ comedian
9. Headmaster/headmistress
10.barber/hairdresser

The gender of nouns is indicated by the pronouns that substitute for it. Write
the appropriate pronoun (who, which; he, she, it, they) for the italicized noun.
If more than one is possible, write all.
1. This is our hostess, ………….. wants to know whether …………… can help.
2. A monk, ……………. gets a tonsure when ……………. professes, wears a cap.
3. My only cousin, ………….. lives in Nova Scotia, visits us when …………. can.
4. This infant, …………. is an orphan, acts as though …………….. is hungry.
5. The senior class, ……………. had a meeting, decided …………….. would hold
a dance.

‘SILENT COMMUNICATION’
1 Choose one of the following essay prompts and write your essay in around
250 words. Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples
from your own knowledge or experience.

A) In some countries children have very strict rules of behavior, in other countries
they are allowed to do almost anything they like. To what extent should children
have to follow rules?

B) Children in some parts of the world have less responsibility compared to

children in the past. Some people think this as a positive change, however, others
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think of it as a negative change.
What do you think?

C) It is generally believed that some people are born with certain talents, for
instance for sport or music, and others are not. However, it is sometimes claimed
that any child can be taught to become a good sports person or musician. Discuss
both these views and give your own opinion.

2 Exchange essays with a partner.

Use the Checklist below as you read over your partner’s work
Writing Task Peer Review Checklist
1 Does the essay have these things?
 Paragraph indents
 Double spacing
 Proper margins
 An introduction, a body, and a conclusion
 An appropriate punctuation
2 Write the thesis statement here:
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

3 Underline the topic sentence in each paragraph. (If you can’t find topic
sentence in any paragraphs, write the numbers of those paragraphs here:
__________________________________________________________________
4 Is the author’s position on the issue /topic clear? _______________________
5 Write one question about the content/ideas of the essay for the author:
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

3 Discuss your writing and provide feedback to your partner. Consider your
partner’s comments and rewrite your essay.
COMMUNICATION
1 Read the following excerpts and decide whether they are giving an opinion,
making a claim or presenting a fact. Discuss what inferences you can make
from them.

A) At the tender age of just three months, little boys can detect a difference
between male and female babies – and it seems they like the boys better, say
researchers in Britain.

B) My grandmother had no redeeming features. She was huge and always directed

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all her hugeness at me when she came to stay with us. Her arms were strong
enough to strangle a bear, let alone a five-year-old boy. I knew if I were to live to
be a man, I would have to find some protection against my grandmother.

C) The relationship between dogs and their owners is very similar to the bond
between young kids and their parents, a new study revealed.

D) Permissive parenting tends to result in children who rank low in happiness and
self-regulation. They are more likely to experience problems with authority and
perform poorly in school.

2 You have seen the following extract in a newspaper article. Readers have
been asked to send their opinions. With your partner, address the points
raised and express your own view.

Government withdraws funding for gifted children

THE MINISTER of Education today announced that funding would no

longer be available for schools of exceptional intellectual ability. “We feel that
priority should be given to disadvantaged children, rather than those who
are likely to succeed in any case,” he said.

Jane harries, Head Teacher of one of the affected schools, said, “It is a
tragic decision. Gifted children cannot realize their full potential without the
challenge and support we provide; they are our country’s future and we can’t
afford to let them down.”
3 Decide what your opinion is. Do you agree with the point of the view of the
Minister of Education, or the Head Teacher?

4 Make notes on ideas to support your point of view. Prepare a 3-minute

speech expressing your attitude to the given issue.

5 What makes children – from babies up through the teen years – smarter?
Look through the following 10 steps backed by science that make kids smarter
and express your attitude. Give reasons for your answer and include any

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relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Barker E. How to Make Your Kids Smarter: 10 Steps backed by Science, 2014 [4]

SELF-STUDY
1 Project: Choose the topic from the list below and prepare a short
news item from a newspaper. Explain your reasons for choosing
the clippings.
o Building a better world for children
o Kids making a difference
o Child prodigies
o How to raise happy kids?

WATCHING A VIDEO
1 Study the following.
Julie Lythcott-Haims the former Dean of Freshmen at Stanford with passion
and wry humor, makes the case for parents to stop defining their children's success
via grades and test scores. Instead, she says, they should focus on providing the
oldest idea of all: unconditional love.
How to raise successful kids -- without over-parenting | Julie Lythcott-
Haims at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyElHdaqkjo&t=250s [5]

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2 Before you watch the video, answer the following questions.
1. Have you ever heard the term ‘over-parenting’?
2. Should parents expect their children to be successful? Can this be a bad thing?
3. Do you think that some parents might be impeding children’s chances to
develop by over-parenting?
4. Does being a successful kid mean the same as being a happy kid?
5. How do you understand the term ‘check-listed childhood’?
6. What comes to your mind when you hear the following phrases:
 Safe and sound
 Fed and watered
 Trial and error
 Clip and prune
 Get the right grades in the right classes and at the right school
 Accolades and awards
 Hoped-for degree of perfection
 Cajoling, helping, haggling, nagging
 Offer clucking praise

2 Complete the summary of the video.

Parents deprive kids of the chance to build (1) …............... , which is a really
fundamental (2) ……………… of the human (3) ……………… far more
important than the self-esteem they get every time parents applaud.
Parents have to be far more concerned that children have habits, (4)
……………, the skill sets, (5) ………………. to be successful wherever they go.
Professional success in life comes from having done (6) ………………. as a
kid. Happiness in life comes from (7) ………………… of humans.

3 Discuss the following questions.

1. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement “Children
are withering now under high rates of anxiety and depression”
2. According to the speaker, what might be considered as a too narrow definition
of success for children?
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3. Why are household chores important in children’s development? In what cases
parents should absolve children of helping out around the house?
4. Do you agree with the statement that “Nowadays most parents are hovering over
every happening and micro-managing every moment and steering their kids
towards some small subset of colleges and careers?”

CASE STUDY: ‘Unique Personality’

1 Study the case below.
A unique personality is the originality of the character, worldview and
appearance of the human being. From the first sight people look the same, because
everyone belongs to the same human nature, thoughts, emotions and behaviour.
But the peculiarities of all these qualities are completely original, because
everyone is unique and there are no two completely similar people. Everyone has
his own appearance, the colour of hair, skin, eyes, type of figure and physical
condition of the body.
All these outer features make the human being at look unique, because even the
identical twins are same only from the first sight, as everyone possesses some
inborn signs on the skin, scars and other things which make the human being
unique. The psychological and emotional side of the human is even more varied,
because the inner world, feelings, emotions and worldview of the separate people
are completely original.
It is impossible to predict the human behaviour or reaction on the events which
occur in the surrounding world. The intellectual abilities can be also called the
personal quality, because some people are not quite good at studying and their
progress in some disciplines is poor but in some manual work or sports they are
undefeated. Some people are good at sciences and they influence the development
of the human knowledge and they are called geniuses. On the other hand it is quite
difficult to find their own personal identity, because of the influence of various
trends in fashion, art, philosophic views, etc. People are becoming more and more
similar in their worldview as the mind is influenced by the growing effect of
globalization and its negative results.

2 Consider the following information while preparing your presentation. You

should be able to
 choose an outstanding or just a ordinary person who has done something
interesting and special;
 should collect information about the personality, define the peculiarities of
the human originality, evaluate her deeds, etc. The more facts you collect –
the more accurate the analysis of the issue will be.
 define the problem of the research paying attention to the cause and effect of
the matter on unique personality and the adequate and original solution to
the case. Case Study on Unique Personality. Case Study Hub/
Samples, Examples and Writing Tips, 2018 [6]
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 3 Present your case outcomes (power point presentation, video,
etc.) to the class.
4 VIT Polyglots
 Search for information about VIT (Very Important Teenager) Polyglots
across the globe. Carry out a survey using different sources of
information.
 Create a spider diagram of the words related to the concept of ‘VIT’.

 Present a VIT polyglot personality profile;

 Find out the methods they used to acquire a FL.

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 1.2 A World Unfit for Children
LEAD-IN
1 Discuss.
1. Look at these photographs of children around the world. What kind of
problems do they face?
2. How do you imagine the child is feeling? Use the words below to describe
his/her emotions.
 bewildered  circumspect  disorientated  distraught
 overwhelmed  preoccupied  uneasy  unnerved
 disconcerted  perplexed  on tenterhooks  on edge
 anxious  withdrawn  overawed

3. What are similarities or differences between the situations in photographs and

the situation in your country?
4. What is being done to solve the problems in your country? What would you
do?

2 Sort the phrases in the box below into ones that probably relate to life in the
1980s (A) and ones that probably relate to life today (B).
 Many stay-at-home  Young people wear  It is cool to smoke
mothers ridiculous clothes
 Families play board  Most school-leavers  Young people are
games at night go straight very confident and
 Into the workplace loud
 Young children text  The number of  Discipline at schools
each other college graduates is is good
very high
 The TV listings give  Youth are more tech-  Houses are affordable
400 different savvy than adults for first-time buyers
channels
 Cigarette advertising  Most people are  Youth value and
is banned married by age 25 attitudes toward
work, education, and
the military
 Most people go on  Distance learning  Youth live close to
foreign holidays courses are very parents and relatives
popular among youth

3 Match the words/phrases in box A to those with a similar meaning in box B.

A B
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 1. DINK a) The action or practice of illegally procuring and
relocating children, typically for the purposes of forced
labour or sexual exploitation.
2. Child b) Physical maltreatment or sexual molestation of a child.
abduction
3. Child c) The employment of children in an industry or business,
laundering especially when illegal or considered exploitative.
4. Dinky d) an acronym that stands for single income, no kids.
5. SINK e) a partner in a well-off working couple with no children.
6. Child abuse f) An acronym that stands for double income (dual
income), no kids.
7. Revolving g) The illegal removal of a child from its parents or
door guardians.
syndrome
8. Baby h) An act of stealing and selling a child to adopting parents
battering under false pretenses. 
9. Child i) Violence inflicted upon a young child, especially by a
trafficking parent.
10. The empty j) a situation in which adult children return to live with
nest their parents, often for financial reasons, after a period
of living away from home
11. Latchkey k) a child whose parents work and who returns from
child school to an empty house
12. Hothouse l) a person’s child or children
13. Progeny m) to put people, especially young children, under pressure
to learn as much as they can
14. Child benefit n) a situation in which parents feel unhappy because their
or child children have become adults and have stopped living
allowance with them
15. Child labour o) regular payment by the state to the parents of a child up
to a certain age.

LISTENING
1 Listen to the recording about children who have experience violence and
choose the correct letter. a, b, c or d: https://learningenglish.voanews. com/
a/health-lifestyle-friends-3out-of-4-children-experience-violence/4066066.html [8]

1) What is one finding from the report on childhood violence?

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 a) Children who experience abuse are more likely to commit violence against
their families in adulthood.
b) Children in poor countries experience more childhood violence than those in
rich countries.
c) Children who see their mothers abused are more likely to be abused or
abusers as they get older.
d) Children who are taught not to value girls are more likely to commit
violence against them.
2) What type of violence was considered in the study?
a) Bullying
b) Gun violence
c) War events
d) All of these
3) According to the researchers, what is the economic cost of childhood violence?
a) Governments spend too much money on creating policies against childhood
violence.
b) Violence at school may cause students to leave and look for low-paying
jobs.
c) Some of the world's GDP is spent on fixing damage caused by childhood
violence.
d) Wealthy adults may use their power to commit violence against children.
4) What does the report say about speaking out about violence against children?
a) It could lead to more violence against children.
b) It is not the most valuable tool against violence.
c) It is a good idea to let children tell their own stories.
d) It is the first step to ending this type of violence.

2 Listen again and complete the summary.

A new report confirms that finding and another (1) : Childhood violence is
linked with violence against women. Experts say the first step is (2) : about
violence against children. Keeping silent only (3) that violence will
continue. The experts also say that is important to (4) and
(5) children to be strong and resilient. The report says that (6) needs to be
included in school systems, community programs and in health services.

READING
1 Skim the title of the reading passage. What can you predict about the topic
of the reading passage from the title?

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 Less Television, Less Violence and Aggression
Cutting back on television, videos, and video games reduce acts of
aggression among schoolchildren, according to a study by Dr. Thomas Robinson
and others from the Stanford University School of Medicine. The study, published
in the January 2001 issue of the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine,
found that third- and fourth-grade students who took part in a curriculum to reduce
their TV, video, and video game use engaged in fewer acts of verbal and physical
aggression than their peers. The study took place in two similar San Jose,
California, elementary schools. Students in one school underwent an 18-lesson, 6-
month program designed to limit their media usage, while the others did not. Both
groups of students had similar reports of aggressive behavior at the beginning of
the study. After the six-month program, however, the two groups had very real
differences. The students who cut back on their TV time engaged in six fewer acts
of verbal aggression per hour and rated 2.4 percent fewer of their classmates as
aggressive after the program.
Physical acts of violence, parental reports of aggressive behavior, and
perceptions of a mean and scary world also decreased, but the authors suggest
further study to solidify these results.
Although many studies have shown that children who watch a lot of TV are more
likely to act violently, this report further verifies that television, videos, and video
games actually cause the violent behavior, and it is among the first to evaluate a
solution to the problem. Teachers at the intervention school included the program
in their existing curriculum. Early lessons encouraged students to keep track of and
report on the time they spent watching TV or videos, or playing Video games, to
motivate them to limit those activities on their own. The initial lessons were
followed by TV-Turnoff, an organization that encourages less TV viewing. For ten
days, students were challenged to go without television, videos, or video games.
After that, teachers encouraged the students to stay within a media allowance of
seven hours per week. Almost all students participated in the Turnoff, and most
stayed under their budget for the following weeks. Additional lessons encouraged
children to use their time more selectively, and many of the final lessons had
students themselves advocate reducing screen activities.
This study is by no means the first to find a link between television and
violence. Virtually all of 3,500 research studies on the subject in the past 40 years
have shown the same relationship, according to the American Academy of
Pediatrics. Among the most noteworthy studies is Dr. Leonard D. Eron’s, which
found that exposure to television violence in childhood is the strongest predictor of
aggressive behavior later in life—stronger even than violent behavior as children.
The more violent television the subjects watched at age eight, the more serious was
their aggressive behavior even 22 years later. Another study by Dr. Brandon S.
Centerwall found that murder rates climb after the introduction of television. In the
United States and Canada, murder rates doubled 10 to 15 years after the
introduction of television, after the first TV generation grew up.
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 Centerwall tested this pattern in South Africa, where television broadcasts
were banned until 1975. Murder rates in South Africa remained relatively steady
from the mid-1940s through the mid- 1970s. By 1987, however, the murder rate
had increased 130 percent from its 1974 level. The murder rates in the United
States and Canada had leveled 1 off in the meantime. Centerwall's study implies
that the medium of television, not just the content, promotes violence and the
current study by Dr. Robinson supports that conclusion. The Turnoff did not
specifically target violent television, nor did the following allowance period.
Reducing television, in general, reduces aggressive behavior. Even television that
is not “violent” is more violent than real life and may lead viewers to believe that
violence is funny, inconsequential, and a viable solution to problems. Also,
watching television of any content robs us of the time to interact with
real people. Watching too much TV may inhibit the skills and patience
we need to get along with others without resorting to aggression. TV,
as a medium, promotes aggression and violence. The best solution is to
turn it off. [9]

2 Complete the summary using words from the box below.

A study that was published in January 2001 found that when children
(1) ....................  less, they behaved less (2) .................... Students in a California
elementary school participated in the study, which lasted (3) ................... . By the
end of the study, the children’s behavior had changed. For example, the children’s
(4) .................... reported that the children were acting less violently than before.
During the study, the children kept a record of the (5) ....................  they watched
TV. Then, for ten days, they (6) .................... Near the end of the study, the
students began to suggest watching (7) .................... .
parent eighteen days
Teachers classmates
six months nonviolent programs
Violently time of day
watched TV number of hours
Scared Avoided TV
less TV favourite programs
3 Do the following statements agree with the information in text?
TRUE   if the statement is true according to the passage.
FALSE   if the statement contradicts the passage.
NOT GIVEN   if there is no information about this in the passage.

1. Only one study has found a connection between TV and violent behavior.
2. There were more murders in Canada after people began watching TV.
3. The United States has more violence on TV than other countries.
4. TV was introduced in South Africa in the 1940s.

18
For each question, choose the correct letter A-D.
1. According to the passage,
   A) only children are affected by violence on TV.
   B) only violent TV programs cause violent behavior.
   C) children who watch too much TV get poor grades in school.
   D) watching a lot of TV may beep us from learning important social skills.

2. The authors of this passage believe that

   A) some violent TV programs are funny.
   B) the best plan is to stop watching TV completely.
   C) it’s better to watch TV with other people than on your own.
   D) seven hours a week of TV watching is acceptable.

‘SILENT COMMUNICATION’
Choose one of the following essay prompts and write your essay in around 250
words. Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples
from your own knowledge or experience.

A. Child labour is a major concern all over the world.

What are the causes of it?
How can the problem be solved?

B. Many parents give children a weekly or monthly allowance regardless of

their behavior because they believe an allowance teaches children to be
financially responsible. Other parents only give children an allowance as a
reward for completing chores or when they have behaved properly.
Explain what you think parents should do and why.

C. Many junior high and high schools around the country now require students
to spend a certain number of hours each term doing volunteer work or
community service. Some people believe this is an excellent idea that promotes
good citizenship and cultivates compassion. Others feel that forced
volunteerism is not volunteerism at all.
How do you feel about this issue?
Use specific reasons and examples to support your position.

Analyze the following SAMPLE ANSWER to the essay A and write your
feedback.
Child labor has been an international concern as it damages, destroys and
spoils the present and the future of not only the child but of a country. A child is
the hope of a nation and yet when millions of them are deprived of a carefree
childhood, it directly impacts the growth of the country. Although, child labor is

19
common in most of the parts of the world, it is more often faced in the developing
and underdeveloped sections.
There are several reasons for forcing a child into work. Firstly, it increases
the family income. A family which is finding it difficult to make its need meet, is
more likely to send their child to work then to school. Secondly, a child labour is
more likely to work at lower wages, which is exactly more factories are likely to
hire them. Even more, a child is less likely to indulge in dishonesty and is less
liable to misbehave or be violent, which is what makes them perfect for domestic
aid.
Although, it might seem that the issue of child labour can never be solved,
there are several way in which we can surely fight the issue. Firstly, the
government needs to make sure that the laws made are strictly adhered. Even more,
the general public should be made aware of the severe consequences of child labor.
Secondly, an increase in employment opportunity for adults would help in
overcoming the issue of poverty which is more likely to reduce the number of
children being forced into labor work.
Overall, it is not only the responsibility of government to ensure that number
of child labours are reduced. But every educated person of a country to ensure that
the children of the country get a bright future, a future that every child deserves to
have. (301 Words) [10]
3 The pie chart below gives information about child abuse and
neglect victims by age, 2010. Study the information and write a
report for a university lecturer describing the information shown.

WATCHING A VIDEO
1 Watch the following video.
https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v= bF3j5UV CSCA [11]

20
 This 6-minute video provides an overview of The Science of Neglect: The
Persistent Absence of Responsive Care Disrupts the Developing Brain, a Working
Paper from the National Scientific Council on the Developing Child

2 Discuss.
1. Who should be primarily responsible for taking care of children? Wife?
Husband? Grandparents? Relatives? Day-care center? Government?
2. What are the major types of child abuse and neglect?
3. Who is affected by neglect? Why some children face a greater risk of neglect
than others?
4. What are the impact of child abuse and neglect?
5. How can we help the victims of child abuse and neglect?
6. What should be done to prevent child abuse and neglect?

SELF-STUDY
1 Project: Look at the diagram below and analyze each issue.
1. Find statistics on the given issues from different resources.
2. Provide a list of instructions to solve a problem situation.
3. Write troubleshooting ideas and Frequently Asked Questions.
4. Create “How to” guides based on you findings.

CASE STUDY
1 Choose the best word/phrase to complete each gap.
Climate Outweigh Arise Involvement To be
Adapt Damage Bring Lack even though
21
 Homework at Root of Many Family Arguments
Homework can cause friction between parents and children, especially in
middle-class families where concerns about a child’s future can lead to dangerous
(1) ………………. of pressure to succeed, according to recent report by the
institute of Education, University of London. Homework can also create anxiety,
boredom, fatigue and emotional exhaustion in children, who resent the
encroachment on their free time, (2) ………………… they think homework helps
them do well at school. The resulting (3) ………………. to the parent child
relationship may (4) ……………….. any educational advantage homework may
(5) ………………. the Institute claimed. The report found that problems can (6)
……………… when parents try to help with homework, especially when they feel
they (7) ………………. the knowledge or the time. Parents may inhibit their
children’s effectiveness in doing homework by trying to control the homework
environment – telling children when and where to do homework or trying to
eliminate distraction instead of helping them (8) ………………. it to suit their
learning styles, the body said. On the plus side, the report said parental (9)
……………… in homework has been shown (10) ………………. the strongest
predictor of better grades. Report author Dr Susan Hallam said: “Parents have the
most positive influence when they offer moral support, make appropriate resources
available and discuss general issues. They should actually help with homework
when their children specifically ask them to”.
4NI.co.uk, 2018 [12]
2 Discuss the following questions.
1. Why are people arguing?
2. Can rows be beneficial? Why?/Why not?
3. What is the best way to avoid of avoiding family rows?

COLLABORATION PROJECT
1 Choose one of the following topics and develop your collaboration project.
1. The participants of the forum develop joint scientific and practical
recommendations on improving the activities of educational, social,
medical-psychological, rehabilitation and other institutions in working with
the younger generation.
2. The participants of the inter-confessional meeting discuss the formation of
good-neighborly ethno-confessional relations as one of the most important
tasks of the modern civilization.
3. The participants of the conference "Children and Society: Social Reality
and Innovations ...”, with the international participation of Kazakhstan, the
United States, Great Britain, and Russia discuss the place of children in
society, the difficulties and methods of overcoming the modern assessment
and expertise of state policy and civil society efforts to improve the situation
of children in these countries, the protection of their rights, the analysis of
22
the possibilities of children as independent subjects of social life in each
country.

23
 1.3 A Healthy Relationship of Children in Society
LEAD-IN
1 Read the quotes about children.

 Raising children is an incredibly hard and risky business in which no

cumulative wisdom is gained: each generation repeats the mistakes the
previous one made.
Bill Cosby
 Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have
never failed to imitate them.
James A. Baldwin

 Intelligence isn’t everything. Without ethics and empathy really smart people
can be scary.
Eric Barker
 Your children need your presence more than your presents.
Jackson Jesse
2 Analyse the above-given quotes about children using the 5-step approach.

1. Context: Find out the context behind the quote (Where does the quote
come from? Who wrote it? In what circumstance was the quote
utilised? What story lies behind the quote? etc.)
2. Terms: Scrutinise key words (look up the meaning of the words,
define whether there is an ambiguous word)
3. Techniques: Analyse a technique of delivering the message
(symbolism, sentence structure, imagery, repetition etc.)
4. Significance: Define the significance of the given quote.
5. Message: Interpret the meaning of the quote from your personal point
of view to find out the author’s message (try to apply your ability to
read between lines to determine the hidden meaning).

Compare your interpretation of the quotes with the class and comment on
them.

24
4 Discuss.
1. What are your own memories of your childhood?
2. What were some important experiences that you had when you were child
which shaped you as a person?
3. What is the most important thing that we need to teach children?
4. As a teenager, what do you think you can contribute to society?

LISTENING
1 Listen to three teenagers talking about how their lives have changed since
childhood. Match two sentences with each speaker. (1-3)
a) He/ She claims to be less childish than most teenagers
b) He/ She sees family members far less and friends far more
c) He/ She has become slightly more independent by working
d) He/ She thinks parents are generally to blame for arguments as before
e) He/ She believes that having more money would mean fewer family rows

2 Listen to three people talking about family arguments. Write M (Mandy), S

(Simon) or T (Tina).
Who:
1. Feels that experiencing arguments has brought
benefits?
2. Doesn’t think it’s surprising that families argue a
lot?
3. Has a theory about why boys and men are quite
likely to argue with one another?
4. Feels that being similar to another family member
gives rise to arguments?
5. Had a competitive relationship with a sibling?
6. Used to try to stop family members arguing?

READING
1 Skim the title of the reading passage. What can you predict about the topic
of the reading passage from the title?
2 What were some important experiences that you had when you were child
which shaped you as a person?

Young People – Coping with an Unpredicted Future

Young people here in Asia and indeed in every continent are facing new
challenges at an unparalleled pace as they enter the global economy seeking work.
But are the young in all parts of the globe fully equipped to deal with the
unforeseen hazards of the twenty-first century? With the globalization not just of
commerce, but all knowledge itself, young graduates in India, Pakistan, or China
25
are just as prepared for the future as their counterparts in any other nation. Except
for one thing, that is. Young people wherever they are still lack something of
paramount importance. There was a time when those companies or nations with
the most knowledge had the edge on their competitors. That is now almost gone.
In future, the success of all nations and companies, and indeed the success of
young workers, will depend not on analytical thinking as has been the case until
now, but on creativity and flexible thinking. This will have huge implications on
the way companies and people function.
Knowledge has now become like the light from the light bulb. It is now
available to all of us, East and West, North and South. We can now 'switch it on' in
India, China, or Korea as easily as in, say, France or Australia. Knowledge is also
packaged into systems that allow professionals of any kind and level to move
around the world in the employ of multinational companies much more easily than
in the past. So it matters less and less where people are from, where they are
working, or where they move to. The same rules and systems apply to all.
With this knowledge-based industry now firmly established, mainly as a result of
the Internet, economies and people have to move on to another level of
competition. What will make or break the economies of the future in Asia and the
West is not workforces equipped with narrow life skills, but the more creative
thinkers who can deal with the unknown. But the world is still churning out young
workers to cater for knowledge rather than creativity-based economies. Edward de
Bono has long championed lateral thinking and his work has found its way into
many companies and conservative institutions.
More recently, Daniel Pink in A Whole New Mind (2005), a book about the
mindset needed for the coming century, has predicted that success in the future will
depend on creative thinking, not analytical thinking - more use of the right side of
the brain as opposed to the left.
Knowledge-based professions which control the world like banking, management,
etc. Pink argues, will wane as more and more jobs are replaced by computers, a
prospect governments must wake up to or they will have hordes of young people
trained for a redundant world system. The analytical brain types that have
dominated job interviews in recent years have had their day. Those who see the
bigger picture at the same time, i.e. those who use the right side of their brain as
well or more than the left or can switch between the two at will, are about to come
into their own.
The most prized individuals will be those who think outside the analytical
boxes. If governments are sleep-walking into this situation, young people need not
do so, but can prepare themselves for this dramatic evolution. Broadly speaking,
young people are much more flexible and prepared to adapt to new situations than
their older counterparts. Their very familiarity with ever-changing technology and
the processes that go with it equips them to be proactive, and to develop their skills
beyond the purely analytical. Take the gigantic leaps that have been made in the
economies of South-East Asia in recent years. Advanced transport infrastructures
26
and systems for knowledge transfer are more evolved than in many so-called
advanced western countries which are lagging behind their eastern counterparts.
Businesses, rather than universities, can provide opportunities that introduce
elements of unpredictability and creativity into aspects of training or work
experience to teach employees to cope with the shifting sands of the future. The
young will be encouraged to do what they do best, breaking out of existing systems
and restructuring the way things are done. Older people will need to side with them
in their readiness to remould the world if they are to survive in the future
workplace. We may be in for a bumpy ride, but whatever else it may be, the future
does not look dull.
Lingualeo.com, 2018 [13]
3 Complete the summary below using the list of words, (A-K) from
the box below.
Young people everywhere are having to overcome new (1) ………………. as
they look for work. The ubiquity of knowledge means that companies and young
workers need something else to stay ahead of their (2) ………………. .Workers,
no matter where they are from, can plug into systems. This has huge (3)
……………… . With the end of knowledge-based industries, Daniel Pink has
forecast that success in the future will depend on (4) ……………… not analytical.
The power professions like banking, management, etc. will, it is argued, take on a
(5) …………….. as more jobs are carried out by computers. Young people who
use the right side of their brain as well as their left are about to assume a (6)
………………. so more work-based training involving the (7) …………….. of
uncertainty is in order.

A Spread G goals
B greater role H creative minds
C Obstacles I results
D Consequences J value
E lesser role K rivals
F Management

4 Which THREE of the following predictions are made by the writer of the text?
Choose three letters, A-F.
A The role of creative thinkers will become more important.
B South-East Asia will develop more advanced systems for knowledge
transfer.
C The use of technology will reduce people's creative abilities.
D Older people will find it hard to adapt to future workplace needs
E Businesses will spend increasing amounts of money on training.
F Fewer people will enter knowledge-based professions.

27
5 Choose the correct letter. A, B, C or D.
1) According to the writer, some systems are more advanced in South-East
Asia than in the West because
A managers are more highly qualified.
B the business environment is more developed.
C the workforce is more prepared to adapt.
D the government has more resources.

2) According to the writer, training for the developments that he describes

will be provided by
A governments.
B universities.
C schools.
D businesses.

3) The writer concludes that

A older people will have to be more ready to change.
B businesses will have to pay young people more.
C young people will not need work-based training.
D university lecturers will not have to adapt their courses.

Match statements 1 and 2 with descriptions a and b.

Governments could do more to help vulnerable people in society.
Governments help vulnerable people in society.
a The statement is reporting a fact;
b The statement is giving an opinion.

6 Read the pairs of sentences below. Decide which is a fact and which states an
opinion.
1 a The government spent less money last year on vulnerable people in
society.
b Governments should do more to help vulnerable people in society.
2 a The encroachment of digital control in all people's lives is inevitable
b The survey revealed that sales of digital technology are increasing.
3 a Practical skills in many traditional societies are under threat because
technology is making them redundant
b The research showed a range of practical skills were practised in ancient
Greek society.
4 a Foolishly, some employees choose not to be a member of a trade union
b Some employees choose not to be a member of a trade union.

28
7 Read statements A-G and decide whether they are opinions or not.
A. A minimum of two players are required to play tennis.
B. The results of the social survey are clearly mistaken.
C. Unfortunately, the tendency to seek fame for its own sake seems to be
growing in our society
D. Sports like football, netball, rugby, etc. are taught in schools
E. It would, I feel, be a good idea to make citizenship classes compulsory in
schools.
F. If young people engaged in different activities after school, unsociable
behaviour would certainly decline
G. Formal education fails miserably to meet the needs of the business world
and society in general.

WATCHING A VIDEO
1 Watch the video and compare and contrast Dutch children and Kazakhstani
children.
‘Dutch Children Deemed the Happiest in the World by UNICEF | TODAY’ at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUzxzf2UDfE [14],
According to a recent UNICEF study on well-being, children from
the Netherlands are the happiest kids out of 29 of the world’s richest
industrialized nations. Reporting for Sunday TODAY, NBC’s Keir
Simmons takes a look at what’s behind the statistics.

2 Answer the questions.

1. What makes children happy?
2. What should people do to bring up a better generation Y?
3. Do you agree that children nowadays are smarter than the children from
some decades ago used to be?
4. Why do you think so many millennials all over the world are opting for pets,
not parenthood?

CASE STUDY: ‘Juvenile Justice’

1 Study the case below.
Juvenile justice is the complex of norms which are aimed at the punishment
of the young people who have committed a crime. The world of crime is quite
varied and there is no any surprise that young people, teenagers commit crimes as
well as the grownups. Of course, due to the belief that children and young people
have specific rights and duties, they are punished in quite a different way. There
are many reasons of juvenile crimes. First of all teenagers have poor bringing up,
problems in their families, problems at school and misunderstandings with friends.
Sometimes the reason is the unfavourable financial background of the family of the
young criminal and the he just wanted to help, but in the wrong way. It does not
29
worth mentioning, that juvenile justice is not aimed to punish the criminal strictly,
its main duty is to teach, inform and prevent the young person from the further
break of the law.
The system of juvenile justice has different types of punishments and actions
aimed at the bringing up of the problematic children. If the young person commits
a crime, she is not jailed, but there is work with parents, teachers, psychologists
and social services. These means are aimed to understand the motives of the crime,
the cause and effect of the crime and very often the problem is in the attitude of the
parents and negative influence of the family or friends. If the young person has not
reached the age of 18, parents pay the fine and have to bring up and control the
teenager strictly. If the young criminal continues his activity, the stricter means are
applied.
Juvenile justice is the serious problem which is aimed to defeat the youth
crimes. It does not worth mentioning that juvenile justice is aimed to prevent the
person form crimes but not to ruin her life in a jail.

2 Consider the following information while preparing your presentation.

If you are going to research the case about juvenile justice, you should
study the problem in detail, collect the necessary information in the
reliable sources, understand the cause and effect of the issue on
juvenile justice and solve the case in the appropriate way.
Case Study Hub/Samples, Examples and Writing Tips, 2018 [15]
3 Present your case outcomes to the class.

READING
1 Discuss.
 Give the definition to the term “Juvenile Delinquency”
 Are people born bad?
 Is it possible for people to change their character? How?

2 You are going to read a text about five people who got into serious trouble
with the police when they were young but went on to become respectable
members of society. Read the text quickly and answer these questions.
a What crimes did each of them commit?
b What event or person caused each of diem to change?
c What jobs did they go on to do?
Juvenile Delinquency
A. Michael Madsen
Hollywood actor Michael Madsen had a long history of delinquency before he
decided to leave his life of crime behind. When he was twenty-one. Madsen and
his friend, Mark, were caught robbing a sports goods store in Arizona. Madsen
recalls seeing a police officer pointing a gun at his head, ready to shoot. 'I think at
that moment it could have been over for me,' he says. As a juvenile, he had been
30
arrested for various things including car theft, drink-driving and burglary, but it
wasn't until this arrest that he realised that the criminal life wasn't for him. After
his release, he went to see a theatre production of Of Mice and Men, which inspired
him to become an actor, and, as his acting career took off, Madsen's life began to
straighten out. 'I am a good role model to my kids,' says the father of five, who
often plays a criminal on screen.

B. Alan Simpson
Former US Senator, Alan Simpson, served two years probation when he was
seventeen for vandalising property. Simpson, whose father had also been a US
senator, grew up in a loving, stable home. His mother once told Time magazine
that Alan did have a temper', and she recalls punishing him for throwing rocks at
other children. Simpson remembers the look his parents gave each other when the
judge passed sentence. 'They must have thought: "Where have we failed?"'
Simpson thanked his probation officer publicly during his first election campaign,
saying he had been a great influence on his life and had helped him make it to that
moment. He strongly believes in giving kids a second chance and believes that
most children will and do turn out all right in the end.

C. Terry K Ray
Terry K Ray got into trouble from an early age. When he was ten, he threw a bottle
top at his best friend during a fight. Unknown to him, the bottle top had a piece of
glass in it, cutting his friend above the eye. The friend's father called the police and
filed a complaint, and Ray was put in a juvenile detention centre for six months.
During the next few years Ray constantly got into fights. His mother punished him
by beating him, but when, aged fourteen, he refused to let his mother hit him any
longer, she kicked him out. Reflecting on this period of his life, Ray remarked, 'I
had so much anger, so little respect for authority and such a short fuse that I could
easily have killed someone.' Today Ray is a successful criminal defence lawyer
and family man. He says he owes this to several individuals - teachers and
counsellors - who helped him.

D. Lawrence Wu
Son of Chinese immigrants who both had university degrees, Lawrence Wu was an
extremely bright child. Wu's problems didn't start until his early teens when his
father left home, leaving his mother to raise him and his brothers. When the family
was forced to move to a poorer neighbourhood, Wu joined a local gang. It was an
instant jump to 'coolness'. But, when he started coming home with low grades, his
mother kicked him out. Wu gradually dropped out of school. He was constantly in
trouble for fighting rival gangs, but when he was arrested along with a friend for
attempted murder he decided he had to leave the gang. Wu moved back in with his
mother, who helped him make the transition from gang life back to school. He
eventually made up his lost years of education, and graduated in law. Wu now
31
works as a corporate tax lawyer, but still thinks about the damage and pain he
caused his family.

E. Bob Beamon
Former long-jump Olympic athlete. Bob Beamon, was already getting into trouble
by the time he was nine. Beamon's mother had died when he was an infant and his
step-father had done little in the way of parenting, ending up in prison himself. At
fourteen, Beamon ran away from home, joined a gang and regularly got into fights.
He vividly recalls the day when he stood in front of the judge accused of assaulting
a teacher. The judge was obviously interested in helping kids. He must have seen
something in me,' Beamon reflects. 'He said he was going to take a chance. Instead
of sending me to jail, he sent me to an alternative school along with other juvenile
delinquents.' It was a place where he had time to learn that there was more to life
than trouble. [16]

3 Complete the graphic organizer below for the text about juvenile
delinquents .
- Identify “WH” categories of content.
- Compare and contrast characters, settings, events, or ideas and solutions to
the problems in the text.
- Based on your analysis and evaluation, write a summary in 70-80 words.

Text analysis

Character (Who?)

Setting

Where? When? Why?

Problem/Conflict

32
 Event #1 Event #2 Event # 3

Solution/ Future vision

Summary/Your reaction

4 Read the text again. For questions 1—15, choose from the people A-E. The
people may be chosen more than once. When more than one answer is
required, these may be given in any order.
Which of the people
1. went back to school?
2. were forced to leave home?
3. did the same job as his father?
4. have children?
5. belonged to a gang?
6. are grateful to somebody?
7. was good at sport?
8. had a supportive parent or parents?
9. injured a friend?
10.was arrested for stealing?

5 Discuss the following questions.

1. At what age do you think children should be held legally responsible for
their actions?
2. Should parents be held responsible for their children’s actions?
3. Should society punish criminals or try to re-educate them?

‘SILENT COMMUNICATION’
1 Choose one of the following essay prompts and write your essay in around
250 words. Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples
33
from your own knowledge or experience.

The graph below gives information about the preferred leisure activities of
Australian children. Write a report in 150 -170 words for a university lecturer
describing the information shown.

4 Analyze the following MODEL ANSWER and write your feedback.

The graph shows the preferred leisure activities of Australian children aged
5-14. As might be expected, it is clear from the data that sedentary pursuits are far
more popular nowadays than active ones.

34
 Of the 10,000 children that were interviewed, all the boys and girls stated
that they enjoyed watching TV or videos in their spare time. In addition, the
second most popular activity, attracting 80% of boys and 60% of girls, was playing
electronic or computer games. While girls rated activities such as art and craft
highly – just under 60% stated that they enjoyed these in their spare time – only
35% of boys opted for creative pastimes. Bike riding, on the other hand, was
almost as popular as electronic games amongst boys and, perhaps surprisingly,
almost 60% of girls said that they enjoyed this too. Skateboarding was relatively
less popular amongst both boys and girls, although it still attracted 35% of boys
and 25% of girls. (157 words) [17]

READING
1 Make a list of problems that concern the youth of our country
nowadays. Give some possible ways of solving them.

BEN HECHT, Snowfall in childhood

We looked nervously at our teachers who stood in the classroom doorways
stiff and far removed from our secret whispers about the snow.
I felt sorry for these teachers, particularly for the one who had taught me several
years ago when I was in the Fifth Grade. I saw her as I walked by the opened door
of her room. She was younger than the other teachers, with two dark braids coiled
around her head, a white starched shirtwaist and soft dark eyes that had always
looked kindly at me when I was younger. I saw her now sitting behind her large
desk looking over the heads of her class out of the window and paying no attention
to the whispers and giggles of her pupils.
[18]
JESSE STUART, Split Cherry Tree
It was six o’clock when I left the schoolhouse. I had six miles to walk home.
It would be after seven when I got home. I had all my work to do when I got home.
It took Pa and I both to do the work. Seven cows to milk. Nineteen head of cattle to
feed, four mules, twenty-five hogs, firewood and stovewood to cut, and water to
draw from the well. He would be doing it when I got home. He would be mad and
wondering what was keeping me!
I hurried home. I would run under the dark, leafless trees. I would walk fast
uphill. I would run down the hill. The ground was freezing. I had to hurry. I had to
run. I reached the long ridge that led to our cow pasture. I ran along this ridge. The
wind dried the sweat on my face. I ran across the pasture to the house.
I threw down my books in the chipyard. I ran to the barn to spread fodder on
the ground for the cattle. I didn’t take time to change my clean school clothes for
my old work clothes. I ran out to the barn. I saw Pa spreading fodder on the ground
to the cattle. That was my job. I ran up to the fence. I says, “Leave that for me, Pa.
I’ll do it. I’m just a little late.”

35
 “I see you are,” says Pa. He turned and looked at me. His eyes danced fire.
“What in th’ world has kept you so? Why ain’t you been here to help me with this
work? Make a gentleman out’n one boy in th’ family and this is what you get!
Send you to high school and you get too onery fer th’ buzzards to smell!”
I never said anything. I didn’t want to tell why I was late from school. Pa
stopped scattering the bundles of fodder. He looked at me. He says, “Why are you
I’ in here this time o’ night? You tell me or I’ll take a hickory I to you right here on
th’ spot!”
I says, “I had to stay after school.” I couldn’t lie to Pa. He’d go to school and
find out why I had to stay. If I lied to him it would be too bad for me.
“Why did you haf to stay atter school?” says Pa.
I says, “0ur biology class went on a field trip today. Six of us boys broke
down a cherry tree. We had to give a dollar apiece to pay for the tree. I didn’t have
the dolIar. Professor Herbert is making me work out my dollar. He gives me
twenty-five cents an hour. I had to stay in this afternoon. I’ll have to stay in
tomorrow afternoon!”
“Are you telling me th’ truth?” says Pa.
“I’m telling you the truth,” I says. “Go and see for yourself.”
[19]
WILLIAM SAROYAN, Seventeen
And his fight with other boys; they had always refreshed him. the least little
thing would make him fight, and he didn’t care how large a boy might be. all he
wanted was to function with strength, violently, to let himself out. they had broken
his nose twice, but he hadn’t felt sorry. he was only a Polak. Physically, he was
small. His features were hardly masculine. He knew all about these things. but
inside; nobody could say that he wasn’t a man. He had taken pains to prove it. All
his life he had taken pains to be stronger, braver than his fellows. He had been one
of the first boys to begin smoking cigarettes at Longfellow School. He had been
thirteen at the time. All the same, there was this old tenderness in him, and it was
inexplicable.
It was Sunday afternoon, September, and he was walking down Ventura
Avenue, on his way to town. It was thick in him, the old lust, only in a new way:
something besides fighting, striking things, a maddening feeling, a desire for the
universe, a desire to attack and violate it, to make it his specific, to establish his
presence on earth. He felt no need to apologize for the bawdy feeling that was with
him. it was not his fault. he hadn’t established the basis of the universe, the manner
of life, the method of remaining sane.
[20]
2 Analyse each extract using the scheme below.
I. OVERVIEW
1. The title of the story under analysis is ______________
2. Give short information about the author and background knowledge

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II. INTRODUCTION
1. Identify the work
2. Give a brief summary in 4-5 sentences
3. Provide background information that relates to the thesis
4. State the thesis (theme)
5. State the setting of the story

III. BODY: Provide an interpretation according to such elements as

1. Character development
2. Reflect on your personal experiences, develop personal opinion
3. Let your cultural background prompt you
4. preserve the tone of the original text, confirm by citing
5. Critical thinking tip: discover how you feel about the character
6. Compare and contrast issues/ literary character to show the two sides –
positive and negative

IV. CONCLUSION
1. Keep a fundamental focus on the author of the work, not just the
elements of analysis
2. Use cause and effect strategy
3. Develop the reasons circumstances and consequences
4. Suggest closing with an effective quote, a proverb or a saying.
NB! Avoid full-blown retelling of the whole story/play/extract.

COLLABORATION PROJECT
1 Choose one of the following topics and develop your collaboration project.
1. The conference participants discuss the current problems of the social status
and development of children, adolescents and youth in the modern society.
2. The participants of the conference discuss the issue that the key values of
civilization development should not be material values, but man and his
world.
3. The participants of the round table discuss the potential and prospects for
the development of the creative potential of the individual and society.
4. The structure of the family has changed: families with one or two children
now predominate, the upbringing of children takes place outside the family:
in the courtyard, in the kindergarten, the impact on children of the media has
sharply increased, the free space for games in nature is significantly
decreasing, for children the commercialization of life is increasingly
affected.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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UNIT 1: POFL EXAM OVERVIEW
COMMUNICATION
Part 1: Monologue
Speak on one of the given situations.
Candidate A:
Some people say that parents should be responsible for bringing up children others
say that schools and society also have a significant role in the process of moral
education, To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement?
Give reasons and examples to support your opinion.
Candidate B:
In some countries parents are dominant and lay down the law with their children.
However, in others parents are too permissive. What are your views on relations
between parents and children? Give reasons and examples to support your opinion,

Part 2: Dialogue
Make up a dialogue on the given problem.
Problem:
Candidate A:
You would like to work as a volunteer in the ‘World Fit for Children
Organisation’. Talk to the member of the organization about the mission, problems
they solve and activities. Propose your ideas.

Candidate B:
You are a member of the ‘World Fit for Children Organisation’. Talk to the person
who would like to work as a volunteer for your organization. Discuss the mission,
problems, activities and ideas on the issue of position of children in the world.

REFLECTION, SELF-ASSESSMENT AND PORTFOLIO

CREATION
1 Use the ‘Self-assessment Grid’ and reflect on the information you have acquired
while studying Unit 1 materials, highlight the competences you have developed.
2 Collect the best papers (essays, mind-maps, etc.) in your ‘Portfolio File 1’.

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