Gateway B1 Units 7-8

When I was young,          [boredom, circle, close, creative, fear, sad, social]wasn't a problem. I had a small          [boredom, circle, close, creative, fear, sad, social]of friends, but we spent a lot of time playing outside together. We used to be very          [boredom, circle, close, creative, fear, sad, social]and we often invented new and imaginative games. Nowadays, children complain that there is not enough to do. They have lots of friends on          [boredom, circle, close, creative, fear, sad, social]networking sites and they have their games consoles but they're still bored. I find that really          [boredom, circle, close, creative, fear, sad, social].

Choosing a career is a decision that is very difficult            [making, make, to make, for making]. Some students don't really know a lot about different jobs that they can do or what work is really like.          [Getting, Get, Do get, Have got]some work experience before you        [should, must, have, going]to make a decision is often a good idea. Before Mark Owen decided to become a teacher he     [had, has, did, was]already spent a short time helping in a local primary school as part of the work experience programme at his school. He thinks he learned a lot from       [to do, do, done, doing]this and he believes that everyone should have the chance. If all schools arranged some work experience for their students, it        [will, would, should, can]benefit them a great deal. "I               [used to think, was thinking, have thought, think]that teaching was an easy job," says Mark. "But after my work experience I realised that it definitely isn't! You               [wouldn't, don't have to, shouldn't, won't] follow a career if you don't know exactly what it means".

The family you choose yourself

Recently, I heard my sister say, ‘Friends are the family you choose yourself.’
(1)   [A, B, C, D, E, F, G]... Since she said it, I’ve seen it written on T-shirts, notebooks and pencil cases. Why is this saying so popular? I think it’s because for many people, friends are as important as family. We often prefer to spend our time with our friends. (2)   [A, B, C, D, E, F, G] …

Friendship hasn’t changed a lot over time. Thousands of years ago, the Ancient Greeks thought that there were different types of friends. One was friends that are reliable and who will always help us. Another type was the friends who we have fun with – they might not be very reliable but we have a good time with them.
(3)   [A, B, C, D, E, F, G]… This is a special friend who we have a lot in common with and feel close to and who will probably be a friend for life.

(4)   [A, B, C, D, E, F, G]… We have friends who can help us with our homework. We have other friends who share the same interests as us and we have a good time with them. And we also have ‘soul mates’, who are often people we’ve grown up with. The difference is that our friendships change much faster.

In the past our families were the most important people in our lives but that changed when people began to move away from their home towns to find work. (5)   [A, B, C, D, E, F, G]… We might also have to move away from our close friends. Then we have to find new ones and lots of younger people are starting to use the Internet for that. There are websites where you can find someone who likes doing the same things as you. For example, if you like running, you can find a friend who will go running with you.
(6)   [A, B, C, D, E, F, G]…

Changes in the way we live and the invention of modern technologies really do mean that friends are the family we choose ourselves.