Text l Generation Gap

First, let us dispel a myth. The idea that growing up is one long fight between teenagers and their parents is not accurate. Majority of teenagers say that they love their parents and get along well with them. However, it is true that arguing increases in the teen years.

The arguing arises out of clash of roles. Teenagers want to have greater independence, more freedom. Young people and their parents have different opinions on what children should be allowed to do things alone: go shopping, choose what to wear and to eat, what time to come home, with whom to go out, etc.

Researches showed that most disputes between parents and children are not very sharp and are typically about the questions:

• Fighting with brothers and sisters;

• Cleaning up bedrooms;

• Possessions

• Their own space;

• Time;

• Helping out around the house;

• Doing homework;

• Time to come home;

• Household chores;

• Friends and responsibilities;

• Talking back to parents

• Lying

• Getting poor results at school;

• Getting in trouble at school. Words and phrases to help you:

Dispel a myth - развеять миф

Accurate - точный

Fight - спорить, ссориться

Clash - столкновение, не совмещение

Arise out of - возникать из-за

Research - исследования

Sharp - острый

Exercise 4. Answer the questions and do the task· after reading the text.

1. How true are these issues for you?

2. Mark the ones that apply to you.

3. Say what you ague with your parents about

4. Make your own list, choose three of them and try to explain your reasons.

Text 2 Sibling conflicts

"Why can't our kids get along? Why must they always fight?" Parents get tired of bickering, teasing, competing. They can't understand why their children can't leave each other alone, and just be friends. "Who needs it?" parents ask.

The answer is "the children do". Fighting doesn't mean the children don't get along. It is how they get along - using conflicts to test their power, establish differences and let out the emotions. Children compete for dominance, parents' attention, parents' support, household resources. Who gets what? Who does what? Who goes first? Who gets most? Who is right? Who is best?

When we are children, our brothers and sisters are our first friends and first enemies. The effect of sibling relationships in childhood can last a lifetime. Many experts say that the relationship between brothers and sisters explain much about the family life, especially today when brothers and sisters often spend more time with one another than with their parents.

Sibling relationships between sister-sister and brother-brother are different. Sister pairs are the closest. Brothers are the most competitive. Sisters are usually more supportive to each other. They are more talkative, frank and expressing themselves and sharing their feelings. But twins have unusual intimacy. The more alike they are, the closer they feel. The closer they feel, the more alike they want to become. They can feel bad in absence from each other and they may even construct a secret language between them that no one else understands.

Experts agree that relationship among siblings is influenced by many factors. For example, studies show that both brothers and sisters become more competitive and aggressive when their parents treat them even a little different from one another. But parents' treatment is not the only factor. Genetics, gender, life events, people outside the family all shape the lives of siblings.

Notes:

Get tired of- уставать от

Power - сила, власть

Establish differences - утвердиться в различиях

Enemy - враг

Relationship - отношения

Support - поддерживать

Frank - откровенный

Intimacy - близость

Construct - строить, создавать

Treat - относиться

Shape - формировать

Exercise 5. Tick the statements that are mentioned in the text.

- parents get tired of sibling arguments; - parents quite understand their children; - parents want their children to leave them alone; - children fight for dominance and parents' attention; - sibling are our oldest friends in life;

- fighting means the children can't get along;

- some siblings have good relationships, but others have bad relationships;

- siblings relationships are among the most important relationships in life;

- sisters get along better with their sisters than with their brothers;

- females and males generally have different sibling relationships;

- siblings spend a lot of time together because they have to;

- there are many causes of good and bad sibling relationships;

- studies show that siblings hate to fight;

- when parents treat each child a little differently, the children get along better.

Exercise 6. Prove the facts, using the text.

1. Parents get tired of sibling conflicts.

2. The reason of these conflicts is in children themselves.

3. Sibling relationships between sister-sister and brother-brother are different.

4. The effect of sibling relationships in childhood can last a lifetime.

5. The relationships between siblings is influenced by many factors.