Category Life in society

Here are some words and phrases from the interview with Victor and Samira printed in bold and given in the context in which you will hear them. They are followed by definitions.

Do you ever change your mind: change your opinion Site said it’s a waste of money: not worth the money I am jusL jealous: unhappy and slightly angiy because you want what someone else has loads of people: a lot of

the people you hang out with: spend time with You can’t conform all the time: do what everyone else is doing You’re in the same boat: in the same situation

LISTENING FOR SPECIFIC INFORMATION

1 Read the following questions before you listen to the interview with Victor and Samira.

1 How old is Victor?

2 Does Victor think he is influenced by his friends? Explain your answer.

3 What does Victor want to get and why?

4 How does Victor’s mom feel about what he wants?

5 What is Victor going to do about the situation?

6 What grade is Samira in?

7 Does Samira agree that her peers influence her a lot? Explain your answer.

8 Who influences Samira more – her friends or her parents? Why?

2 Now listen to the interview. Write short answers for the questions in step 1.

З I Compare your answers with a partner and then with the class.

AFTER THE INTERVIEWS

PERSONALIZING THE TOPIC

Discuss the following questions with a partner and then share your ideas with the class.

When you were an adolescent. . .

1 Did your family try to influence the clothes you wore?

2 Did you ever have friends lhal your family did not like?

3 What time did you have to be back home in the evening?

4 Were you allowed to date?

5 Did you spend a lot of time alone?

6 Did your family have strict rules about what you couldn’t do?

EXAMINING GRAPHIC MATERIAL

A lot of information that you find on a topic is presented in graphic form, so it is important to practice reading and analyzing graphs and charts.

One of the reasons that parents worry about adolescent peer pressure is that teenagers may start to experiment with alcohol, tobacco, and drugs. Look at the following chart and then discuss the questions below with the class.

1 Describe the information in the chart. Does any of the data surprise you?

2 What do you think would be different in a chart about teenage drug abuse in your community?

n this unit you will hear people talk about gender roles. Chapter 3 deals with the issues that boys and girls face as they grow up. You will hear an interview with a mother about how she is trying to raise her son, and an interview with a young man who discusses how he, his brother, and his sister were raised. You will also hear a lecture on single-sex education and the benefits it can offer girls, in Chapter 4, you will hear interviews with a woman and a man about gender equality at home and at work. The lecture in Chapter 4 is about issues of gender and language.

THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT THE TOPIC

1 Belinda and Farnsworth talk about the increase in the number of women who work and the increase in the number of men who want to be active parents. One result of these social changes is that new types of arrangements have to be worked out for child care. Read the following problem situations. Discuss a possible solution to each problem with a partner, preferably someone of the opposite sex. Make notes about your solutions.

1 A divorced father has custody of three young children. When they get sick and cannot go to school, he has to use his own sick days – days that employees are allowed to take off if they are sick – so that he can stay home from work and take care of them.

Possible solution: oojd allow e-mwith cb’ildron a ocrfa’m mmb&r

of ЧісЛс child plan’d’ pe-r near in addHion fo fhe-ir own pc-rSonaf Qck. days._________________________________________________

2 A company often asks its employees to do overtime, that is work longer than the normal workday. One employee doesn’t want to do overtime because she wants to spend evenings with her children.

Possible solution:__________________________________________________

3 A young father would like to spend lime with his newborn baby. He requests a six- month leave of absence without pay. The company tells him that they cannot guarantee that he will get his job back after the leave.

Possible solution:__________________________ _______________________

4 An employee has a new baby. She needs to make more money so that she can afford child care because she and her husband both work.

Possible solution:_______________________________________________

Share your solutions with the class. Are other students’ solutions similar to or different from yours and your partners?

EXAMINING GRAPHIC MATERIAL

1 Look at the graph below. It shows Lhe “gender gap” in pay that is one of the most important issues for working women today.

Work with a partner. Take turns describing what the graph in step 1 shows about:

1 the difference between men’s and women’s salaries

2 how this difference is changing over time

З I What do you think are some factors that cause women to earn less than men?