Complete each sentence with a word from the box. Use each word once only.

· senior · diary · problems · friends · avoid · terrible · invite · support · grown-ups · listen

Sometimes … try to make friends with their children. They start asking you what you are up to, about your study, …, relations with them and problems. It is not bad when you need their help, …, understanding, but sometimes it is really …. One of them can go through all your stuff, looking for your secret … or pick up the phone extension and … to your talk with friends. They will be shocked if they learn that the person you are going out with is ten years your …. The best way to … such situations is to … your friends to your place and to create a dialogue between your parents and them. It is a good way to show that you have the same … as other young people.

Language Development

Make up dialogues according to the following situations.

1. When you read the newspapers and watch the news on television, it's easy to get the idea that young people are all unemployed, angry and in trouble. Your grandparents think so. Make them change their mind.

2. Life used to be fun for "teenagers". They used to have money to spend, and free time to spend it in. They used to wear teenage clothes, and meet in teenage coffee bars and discos. Some of them still do. But for many young people, life is harder now. Studies take much time and self-discipline. Jobs are difficult to find. There's not so much money around. Things are more expensive, and it's hard to find a place to live. Discuss it with a young man from another country.

Talking Points

Comment on the following expressing your personal view on the youth problems.

1. Situation of job starters on the labour market.

2. A problem of a generation gap.

3. Violence among the youth.

4. Problem of education.

5. The problem of professional adaptation of the youth.

6. Addiction to the Internet.

Reading Comprehension

TEXT 3A

5.31. a) Skim the text and put the following points in order to form a summary of the article.

1. Thousands live on the street.

2. The Big Issue is a financial success, and it generates huge amounts of money to be spent on good causes.

3. Cultural landmarks stand next to temporary shelters for people sleeping rough, in the 1980s, many people arrived in the capital in search of a home and a job.

4. The Big Issue is now an international initiative, the life of homeless people on the South Bank was immortalised in a theatre play.

5. People can offer support through special organisations and by buying The Big Issue.

b) Read the newspaper article about The Big Issue magazine. Five sentences have been removed from the text. Put the correct sentence from A–F below in each space to form a logical, coherent and correct text. There is one extra sentence you are not going to need.

From rags to riches

At the southern end of Waterloo Bridge in London, by the banks of the River Thames, stand the Royal National Theatre, the National Film Theatre and the Royal Festival Hall. They have become a mecca for the homeless. The place is littered with the cardboard boxes and old mattresses that they use as beds. It became so popular there in the 1980s that each person had their own, much-prized space that they would guard carefully. This was also the name of a theatre play directed by the now famous Oscar-winner (for American Beauty) Sam Mendes.

The 1980s saw an enormous increase in people sleeping rough in Britain, as many unemployed came to cities in the south, especially London, where jobs were easier to find. They ended up with no work and nowhere to live. Today the housing charity Shelter estimates there are around 100,000 homeless people in London alone, who are either in temporary accommodation or simply living on the streets. These people often hang around railway stations and other public places asking for money.

The British public are asked by their government not to give money to street beggars. Another way you can help is to buy a copy of The Big Issue weekly magazine.

Run for the homeless, The Big Issue is a success on many levels. Its first issue was published in 1991, it won the Magazine of the Year award in 1993, and sells 270,000 copies weekly, which means a readership of over one million. The magazine is actually sold by the homeless themselves, which gives them a chance to earn money and retain a sense of dignity. Encouraged by its success in Britain, The Big Issue has become international, and now seventeen titles throughout Europe are being published.

A. But it's virtually impossible to get a job in Britain without a permanent address, and it's very difficult to get somewhere to live if you don't have a job, so most of those people got trapped.

B. People sympathetic to the homeless are being told to donate money to charities who specialise in caring for the poor or to offer beggars gifts of food or clothes instead of money.

C. It gave them a sense of security and became so permanent that the locals gave the area a nickname – Cardboard City.

D. The Labour Party administration claims that many of these people are homeless by choice, and that there are many drug addicts among them.

E. All profits are reinvested into the magazine or diverted to The Big Issue Foundation, a charity that runs many social support programmes for the homeless.

F. In stark contrast to this centre of London's cultural activity, are the subways close by, which offer some relief from the cold at night.

TEXT 3B