Социокультуроведческий аспект в обучении английскому языку в старших классах школ с углубленным изучением английского языка (стр. 25 из 26)

Computer studies?

Experts believe that some boys are spending so much time playing computer games and watching violent films that they are living in a fantasy world. When girls talk about using home computers, they often discuss different types of software that they use for learning. Boys simply talk about computer games.

When 14-year old girls were asked what they would like to do in the future, they mentioned realistic jobs such as vet, teacher or doctor. The boys' answers were either very vague such as, ‘I just want to be happy and have lots of money' or unrealistic and they said things such as, 1 want to be a fighter pilot.' Their answers were considered worrying because they did not seem very sensible and did not show any concern about unemployment. However, some people might believe that 14 is too young to worry anyhow. Also, the truth is that the majority of 'top jobs' in England are still done by men so many might not see the need to worry. The good news is that after the age of 17, many boys become interested in school again and their exam results show that they have caught up. The problem is just keeping them interested until then...

Task 2. Keep on working in the same groups. Compare the activities presented in the text and decide either you differ from British teenagers or have much in common. Discuss the issue and report your points to the other group.

Text # 4

Sweet 16?

Billie was 16 on her last birthday. By that time she was a very successful pop star and had had a number one hit single in the British charts. It might seem like she has it all, but there are still a few things that she can’t do under British law.

Task 1. Here are some of the things she is and isn’t allowed to do as a 16-year-old and now they affect her personally. Write the age at which you are allowed to do the same things in your country in the boxes.

You are allowed to leave school at 16.

Billie doesn't go to school, instead she has a personal tutor. She says it is hard to discipline herself to do school work but she wants to continue studying and to complete her education.

You are only allowed to marry at 16 if your parents agree.

This doesn't affect Billie because she doesn't want to get married at the moment and is looking forward to being independent. She says she can't wait to have her own flat.

You are not allowed to have a driving licence until you are 17.

Billie thinks this is annoying because she doesn't like using public transport. She has said that one of the first things she'll do when she's 17 is take driving lessons and buy a car. So for now. she has to sit in the back of the car.

You are not allowed to buy or drink alcohol in a pub until you are 18.

Billie thinks that a lot of teenagers drink alcohol but says that she is too busy to go out and get drunk, so this law doesn't affect her.

You are allowed to smoke at 16.

Billie has tried smoking but she doesn't like it, and she says she would never smoke to look cool.

You are not allowed to have a credit card until you are 18.

Billie says she doesn't need a credit card at the moment. She thinks it's a good thing that she doesn't have one because she might spend too much money. She would prefer to wait until she is 18 before she goes mad on shopping!

You are allowed to play the National Lottery at 18.

Billie doesn't want to play the National Lottery because she thinks it's a waste of time. (Well, does she need to win the lottery?)

Task 2. Decide where it is best to be a teenager, in your country or in Britain? Discuss it in groups of 3-4. Let other groups know your points.

Text #5

Marriage

Between 1971 and 1975, a researcher called Mark Abrams, at the Social Science Research Centre, conducted a complicated series of studies designed to gauge people's satisfaction with various domains of their lives.

Throughout the series, marriage emerged as by far the greatest source of satisfaction -ahead of 'family life', health, standard of living, house, job and much more. The obvious inference, that marriage makes you happy, is widely accepted among those who specialise in marital studies. So is the view that marriage, like happiness, is good for your health, a view borne out by a number of studies.

Some of these studies present a confused picture because they compare the health and life expectancy of married people with the health and life expectancy of the divorced, separated and bereaved. (The latter group invariably come out worse, but should that be blamed on the termination of their marriages or on the fact that they married, perhaps unhappily, in the first place?)

But other studies have specifically compared the married with the single and reached similar conclusions. Even these are slightly ambiguous. Are single people more susceptible to serious illness because they are single? Or is their single status a result of their susceptibility?

None the less, the general message seems incontrovertible: marriage is not as bad as it seems. It is certainly not bad for you and almost certainly good for you. Few sociologists, doctors or statisticians would dispute the statement that married people live an average of five years longer than the unmarried and are significantly less susceptible to strokes, ulcers, cancer, heart attacks, depression, mental illness and high blood pressure, nor is the institution of marriage as beleaguered as it is sometimes made out to be. As well as having the second highest divorce rate in Europe (Denmark's is highest), Britain has the equal-highest marriage rate (along with Portugal). The divorce rate seems to have levelled out since 1985, and the huge long-term increase in the twentieth century probably owes as much to changing legislation as it does to worsening marital relations. The total numbers of marriages and of married people are much the same today as they were in 1961 (although both increased briefly in the early 1970s).

Since 1891 the proportion of the population who are married has increased significantly, while the proportion who are single has decreased. Today, around 85 per cent of men and 91 per cent of women will marry at some point in their lives. That said, marriage is clearly under threat, both from divorce and from the growing trend for unmarried cohabitation. The divorce rate is increasing, even since the last significant changes in the divorce laws: from 11.6 per thousand in 1978 (143,667) to 12.8 per thousand in 1988 (152,633). The marriage rate is declining, from 14.9 per thousand in 1978 (368.258) to 13.8 per thousand in 1988 (348,492).

And a growing proportion of marriages - about one in three -are remarriages (partly because the number of people in a position to marry again has increased so much). Unmarried cohabitation has never been more popular. The proportion of women aged 18 to 49 who are cohabiting almost tripled between 1979 and 1988, from 2.7 per cent to 7.7 per cent. The proportion of children born out of wedlock in the UK has increased from 5.8 per cent in 1961 to 26.9 per cent in 1989. And according to Gallup three adults in four no longer think that becoming pregnant is a reason for a single woman to marry.

One problem is that marriage is increasingly perceived, in popular culture, as lacking the spontaneity of unstructured love. Does reality bear this out? According to the Observer/Harris poll, people who cohabit are two-and-a-half times more likely to be 'madly in love' with their partners than married people (25 per cent to 10 per cent).

Yet most other indicators suggest that married couples derive more happiness from their relationships than non-married couples, and people's perception of their own marriages remains optimistic, The 1991 Observer/Harris poll showed that 91 per cent of married people expect their own marriages to last until death. Their negative feelings about marriage are reserved for other people - 66 per cent rate the average marriage's chance of succeeding as 50:50 or worse.

Last year the Family Policy Studies Centre caused a great stir by predicting that, based on existing trends, 37 per cent of new marriages would end in divorce - an all-time high. Another way of looking at this, as several advocates of marriage have pointed out, is to say that nearly two-thirds of marriages will succeed.

Text #6.

Проблема подростковой беременности в России

Маленькая Мама

ЛИЗА смотрела на свой живот с некоторым недоумением: "Беременна?! Да что вы!.. Я думала, просто задержка!" ОНИ часто так думают - 13-16-летние девочки, поэтому у врача появляются на пятом, а то и на восьмом месяце беременности, когда аборт делать уже поздно. Позже всех спохватываются самые юные - 12-13-летние, у которых пока вообще не начинались менструации: они свято верят, что, пока месячных не было, и беременность невозможна. Они боятся обратиться к врачу: их просто не примут без родителей. Вот и тянут до последнего в надежде, что "само рассосется".

Странное поколение - нынешние подростки. О сексе они знают "все", но ничего не знают о собственной физиологии - поэтому боятся противозачаточных таблеток и по 8 месяцев не догадываются о наступившей беременности. Считают "крутизной" раннее начало половой жизни, но стесняются спросить в аптеке презерватив...

15-летние имеют право самостоятельно принять решение об аборте. А "физиологическая незрелость" - основание для аборта на позднем сроке, но всему же есть пределы!.. И на свет появляются дети, которые пополняют статистику "социального сиротства".

Питер - пока что единственный город в России, где пытаются сохранить детско-детскую семью в ее исходном состоянии, придерживаясь принципа "лучшая мама - родная". С этой целью около 2 лет назад и была создана «Маленькая мама». "Мы здесь не за повышение рождаемости боремся и не занимаемся контрпропагандой абортов, - объясняют воспитатели. - К нам девочка попадает, если она уже родила или вот-вот родит и намерена отказаться от ребенка". Девочки живут в "Маленькой маме" по нескольку месяцев. За это время они успевают войти в роль и полюбить собственное чадо.

Между прочим, год назад Лиза уже родила. Перекантовалась в приюте "Маленькая мама" при Социально-реабилитационном центре для несовершеннолетних и юных матерей, закончила школу, помирилась с родителями... Она любит дочку и возится с ней с удовольствием, мама помогает, а отец ребенка регулярно присылает деньги. Иногда он даже приезжает посмотреть на девочку. В один из таких визитов Лиза и забеременела снова.

Коварные нимфетки

ЛИЗА не так наивна, как хочет казаться.

- Как тебя угораздило второй раз "залететь" ?

- Если я потребую презерватив, он пошлет меня на фиг.

- И нужен тебе такой мужик?

- Мне не нужен. Ребенку нужен. -Лиза даже четко представляет зачем:

- Он деньги присылает. - Лиза еще не профессиональная стерва и забывает вовремя соврать.

Из женской солидарности я готова признать, что девочка всегда жертва, а мужчина - коварный соблазнитель. Во, всяком случае, статистика показывает, что девочки до 19 лет в основном решаются на аборт из-за невозможности создать семью, то есть из-за того, что "он обещал жениться и бросил".

- Это не всегда так, - объясняет Павел Кротии, главный врач петербургского консультативного центра для подростков "Ювента". - Примерно 50% "залетают" сознательно. Беременеют чаще всего не от сверстников, а от старших, часто уже женатых мужчин. Бывает, что мужчина настаивает на контрацепции, а девочка уверяет, что принимает таблетки... Она верит, что вот родит - и он бросит семью, свою "старую" 25-летнюю жену, и уйдёт к ней - свежей и юной.

Все не так плохо

ЛИЗА утверждает, что первого ребенка она хотела.

- А второго почему не хочешь?

- А на второго он отказывается деньги присылать!

- Почему?

- Не верит, что ребенок его.