4.Why is the father's reaction especially sharp?

5.Is it necessary for children and parents to part and if yes, what's the appropriate time for it?

6.Is it different for sons and daughters? How and why?

7.What are advantages and disadvantages of living with parents?

8.What problems do young adults have when they live with their parents?

9.Should young adults live with their parents until they get married? Why or why not?

A Time To Leave

It was one of those wet and windy days that you can so often get in the middle of an English summer. Clouds hung over the rough sea and the empty beach and over the shops and hotels of the small seaside town. From the large window of the Surfer's Shop Julie looked dreamily across the bay and the yellow sand of the surfer's beach. It seemed unbelievable, but there were actually surfers in the water. Protected in their rubber suits, they rode on the waves through the bad weather and the rain. Julie felt cold just watching. She turned away and looked at the long line of television screens on a shelf over the surfing equipment. That was more her world: California beaches, blue skies, young girls and boys enjoying the long, sunny days. She wondered whether people really lived like that or was the television video selling her and the customers just another dream? Reality was a cold day in Cornwall. Tim White, the owner of the shop, was working in his small office. There were no customers in the shop, so Julie decided to talk to him.

"When was the last time you went surfing, Tim?" she asked.

"So long ago I can't remember," he said. "That's the trouble with life. Either you have no work, lots of time and no money, or you have lots of work, money and no time."

"Were you a good surfer?" "One of the best," he said.

She looked at his large stomach and round well-fed face. "I can't imagine it," she said with a laugh.

"Don't be so cheeky," he said. "Assistants should show more respect for their employers." Just then the door opened and a couple of young people came in.

"I'd love to discuss that with you," she said, "but unfortunately we've got some customers."

Sometimes during her lunch hour, if she wanted to be alone, Julie walked down to the harbour and watched the boats. In Julie's town, people still lived from the sea. The rain had now stopped and blue sky appeared between the clouds. The harbour was popular with the tourists. They liked to look at the boats and feed the birds. Few came here early in the morning when the whole place stank of dead fish. A couple of boys from her class had become fishermen. They were now working with their fathers or training with a lo­ cal captain. It was a rough, uncomfortable life, with hard work and low wages. It wasn't something she could do. Julie sat on an empty box. She wondered what she could do. School had finished so suddenly. She had known it would happen one day, but she had never prepared for her new life properly. The summer holidays had started as usual, but she and her friends had not gone back when they were over. Now she was working in the Surfer's Shop. It was like one of the part-time jobs she had done on a Saturday, but now it lasted all week. She could hardly say she was happy. But her friends didn't seem to be happy either. She stood up to walk back to the town centre. Why couldn't Tim open a new shop in California, she thought, and ask her to be the manager? Or even an assistant? But Tim's plans weren't going in that direction.