1. VITAL STATISTIC-Form 9

Read to the text and put a tick (v, x) into the correct column.

Steve, Scotland: «When I was in the sixth form, I was a real computer geek. At that

time, the first thing that I did after school was to turn on the computer. I spent a lot of time checking my e-mail even though I didn’t get so many e-mail messages.

I spent hours and hours in front of the computer screen and surfed the Internet for a long time. Of course I knew that I had to stop to do my homework, but I just couldn’t help trying to spend more time at the computer.

This situation lasted for about a year, and then I understood that I was spending too

much time online. It was not easy to break a habit which I really enjoyed, but I still tried hard to do so. Now I am no longer addicted to the computer, I spend no more than two hours in front of the computer screen each day».

Lilly, France: «When I was a child, I learnt to play the violin. Although it was my mother who pushed me to learn, I really enjoyed the music while I was playing.

Since I finished elementary school, I have been buying music records which I like. At the moment I have about 300 CDs which are stored in my bookcase.

I think I should stop buying music records because whenever I hear something really fabm and cool, I try to find out what the music is and then I go out and buy that record as soon as I can. Sometimes I don’t even care about how much the record costs, and I spend a lot of money on it.

I’ve now decided to give up this habit. I need to be more serious about money and

correct my behaviour».

Read the text below. Match the questions (A—F) with the passages (1—4). There are two questions you do not need to use.

A Is there anything I can do to keep from losing my friends?

B How do I begin a friendship with someone I like?

C Can I always trust my friends?

D I don’t feel the same about my friends, but I don’t want to end up alone and bored. What can I do?

E What if my parents don’t like my friends?

F What if I like my friends but I don’t like what they are doing?

FRIENDSHIPS

Friends are very important in the life of everybody. Here are the answers to the most commonly asked questions about teen friendships.

  1) All people are different. Some are rather sociable and don’t have any problem making friends. Others are shyer and find it harder to meet new people. When you want to get to know someone better, start being interested in his/her personality. Find out more about his/her interests, say something good about him/her or ask about school or an activity he/she is good at. It may also help if you have an interest or activity in common.

  2) You might not have to end old friendships, but the relationships may need to change. It’s important to pay attention to your feelings. If your friends seem to be spending more time in activities that you don’t enjoy, you may be happier finding some new friends who share your interests.

  3) Sometimes parents think that a friend may have a bad influence on you. You should pay attention to their words. Maybe your parents will change their mind about your friend or maybe you will.

  4) Sometimes friends may begin to do things that you are uncomfortable with, like smoking, drinking, or stealing. They may or may not pressure you to join them. It may be hard, but you will need to make your own decision about how much time to spend with these friends.

Guess the word

He loves to talk about life of other people.