Text for reading: "Young People’s Problems"

Young People’s Problems

Everybody says your youth is probably the best time of your life, that being young means romance, love, new discoveries and so on. But it is also the most difficult time because you have to make some very important decisions which will influence all your future life.
Things are not easy nowadays even for adults, but for teenagers who have to find their own place in society, it’s very difficult. It is necessary not only to adapt to your society, but also to feel confident about your position in five, ten or twenty years’ time.

Even friends cannot always stay friends. When young people begin to understand themselves a little bit better, old friends For your future it is essential to have a good job. And in order to get a really good one you have to be well educated. Every girl or boy leaving secondary school should choose an institution of higher education or, if he or she doesn’t want to study any more, choose a job straight away. Planning your future, you have to think about the possibility of finding a job after finishing your education.
But even if you are studying, you need some money of your own. Your parents probably will surely provide you with home, food and necessary clothes, but you will have your own tastes, and your parents are unlikely to pay for them. To pay for fashionable clothes, books, things necessary for your hobbies, you have to work, and in our country it is very difficult for a teenager to find a job without any qualification. You’re lucky if you can do something that others can’t; for example, if you’re good at Maths or English, you can give lessons.

Emotional problems for young people can be far more difficult than financial ones. The typical teenager problem is that “nobody understands him”. The parents often continue to treat their teenage children as if they were infants, when the children probably consider themselves to be grown – ups.
Youth is also the time to meet your first love. It is, of course, wonderful, but, as it is widely known that first love often has an unhappy end, this also increases young people’s problems.
sometimes just grow apart.

So, as you see, it is very difficult to be young nowadays, as, indeed, it has always been. But you can only be young once, and some wonderful things can happen only when you’re young, so it is better to enjoy youth while it lasts.

Vocabulary:

To adapt – адаптироваться
adult, grown-up – взрослый
essential – необходимый
to grow apart – начать расходиться (в интересах)
infant – младенец, ребенок
influence – влиять
to last – длиться
to make a decision – принимать решение
qualification – зд. диплом
to provide with – обеспечивать чем-либо
secondary school – средняя школа
to treat – обращаться с кем-либо
well-educated – хорошо образованный
youth – молодежь, молодость

Answer the questions
1. Would you like to get a good education? Why? Where?
2. Is it easy for a teenager to earn some money?
3. Have you ever tried to get a job?
4. Would you like to have more money? How could you earn it? What do you need money for?
5. Do you always understand your parents?
6. What are the possible reasons for misunderstanding between teenagers and their parents?
7. Are your friends the same as five years ago?
8. Do you spend much time with your friends? How do you spend your time together?
9. How do you choose your friends?
10. Are you thinking about planning your career?