Reading

A   British teenagers spend most of their time at school. Students in Britain can leave school at 16 (year 11). This is also the age when most students take their first important exams, GCSEs. They take between five and ten subjects and that means a lot of studying. They are spending more time on homework than teenagers have done before.

B  Visit almost any school in Britain and the first thing you’ll notice is the school uniform. Although school uniform has its advantages, by the time most teenagers are 15 or 16 they are tired of wearing it. When there is more than one school in a town, a school uniform can make differences and rivalries between schools worse.

C  Music is the number one interest for British teens. But they certainly don’t all like the same music! UK garage, hip-hop and new metal are all popular. Teenagers love going out too. However, finding somewhere to go isn’t always easy. Pubs and clubs have strict rules for under 18-year-olds in Britain. It’s no surprise that British teenagers spend more time online than European or American teens and use chatrooms to make a new friend.

D  In Britain, teenagers judge you by the shirt or trainers you are wearing. Forty per cent of British teenagers love Nike 110s (trainers that cost $110), but not for sport – for posing!

E  Fifty per cent of teenagers in Britain say they have been bullied because of their race, looks, accent, intelligence or for no reason at all. Sixteen teenagers in Britain kill themselves every year because of bullying, a problem now called “bullycide”.

F  Teenagers in Britain worry about their looks and their weight, like in many other western countries. Two-thirds of girls in Britain are on a diet, although only one in eight of them is overweight!

G  Like teenagers all over the world, British teenagers love to chat. The mobile phone is an essential thing for most British teenagers. More than 90 per cent of 12 to 16-year-olds have one. Many experts believe that mobiles stop teenagers spending money on cigarettes and sweets.