Lokon St.

Nicholas Senior High School ___________________________________________________________ Name: _________________ Class: _____ Date: ______

THE BATTLE OF THE GENERATIONS

Read the text and put the paragraph in order. Listen to check.

a.__1__58-year-old Gerry enjoys a leisurely Friday morning breakfast as he sips his tea and browses the newspaper for
property prices overseas. He’s in no hurry to get to work. As a senior partner in the company he joined straight from
university nearly 40 years ago, no one’s going to mind if he arrives an hour or two late.

b.__5__Gerry never had to lose sleep over paying for further education. It was all free in his day. Furthermore, the
house that he bought for around 20,000 pounds back in the 1970s is worth over a million now. These days his only
concern is the news that a local politician has put forward a plan to build cheap accommodation in the fields outside the
village. He’ll certainly not be voting for that fellow in the coming elections. Mind you, he’ll have bought a villa in
Marbella by the time he retires. Yes, he’ll be all right. He’ll be living a life of luxury on the beaches of southern Spain
when he’s 65.

c.__3__Gerry has no such concerns as he climbs into his big four-wheel drive and does the half mile down to the local
station to catch the train to work. He’ll get a taxi at the other end too. He’s worked hard and won’t have some green
activist telling him how to lead his life.

d.__7__Gerry puts on his coat to leave office. His secretary reminds him that he’s seeing Josephine the next day.
Josephine, his 18-year-old daughter with all her wonderful ideas on how to save the world. He sighs to himself: when
will that girl start taking her future seriously?

e.__6__Josephine finds herself daydreaming at college about having children. She’s in no hurry but she knows she would
love to settle down and have children one day. She’d love a big family, but will she be able to afford one? Besides, with
the overpopulation of the world, maybe it would be better just to have one child. On the way home from college she
reads an article in the paper about the latest war over oil and starts feeling bad that her child, when it finally comes, will
be living in a world that’s probably on its last legs.

f.__8__She checks her diary: oh no, her parents are coming over the weekend. More lectures from her dad bout doing
something sensible at university, by which he means something that will get her a good job and make her money. Just
because he helps her with the rent, he thinks he has the right to interfere with her life. Welcome to the age wars!

g.__4__On the bus, Josephine starts worrying about her future. She’s starting a course in Conversation at university in
September. She loves nature and wants to work in that field, but she knows the jobs aren’t well-paid. How is she ever
going to pay back the university loan? And of course, one day far in the future, she’d like to own a house. She doesn’t
know much about the property market, but she does know that house prices are crazy. She’s probably be 60 before
she’ll have saved enough money to buy one! She’s sure she’s to young to have to worry about these things.

h.__2__50 miles away from Gerry in his leafy suburban house, Josephine grabs a pot of yogurt as she rushed out of her
one-bedroom rented flat in a grotty part of London and runs down the street to catch the bus to college. Not that she’d
take the car even if she could afford one. Besides the ridiculous cost of getting into and parking in Central London, she’s
concerned about global warming and doesn’t want her exhaust fumes contributing to the problem.
 Read the short profile of Gerry. Find and correct four factual mistakes.
Gerry’s in his early fifties. He has a good life. He’s a partner in the company he’s been working in for nearly
thirty years. He lives in a big house in a desirable suburb of London and drives a big car. He is looking forward
to his retirement, which he plans to spend living in a villa he wants to buy in Greece.

Gerry feels he’s entitled to his lifestyle. He has worked hard all his life and feels he deserves a little luxury. He’s
not really concerned about problems such as the environment or how young people are supposed to afford
houses. In fact, his only real worry in life is his daughter Josephine. He wishes she would start a family soon.

Write a short profile of Josephine. Use the passage about Gerry as a model.

Josephine’s 18 years old, she worrying about her future. She’s starting a course in Conversation at university in
September. She loves nature and wants to work in that field, but she knows the jobs aren’t well-paid. And of course, one
day far in the future, she’d like to own a house. She doesn’t know much about the property market, but she does know
that house prices are craz. She’s probably be 60 before she’ll have saved enough money to buy one! She’s sure she’s to
young to have worry about these things.

Josephine finds herself daydreaming at college about having children. She’s in no hurry but she knows she
would love to settle down and have children one day. She’d love a big family, with the overpopulation of the
world, maybe it would be better just to have one child.
 Circle or underline the best definition for each of the words from the text.

1. Browse (paragraph a) read quickly / read at leisure

2. Suburban (paragraph h) in the city center / outside the city center

3. Grotty (paragraph h) elegant / dirty and in bad condition

4. Exhaust fumes (paragraph h) the smoke that comes out of a car / transport habits

5. Lose sleep over (paragraph b) worry about / work hard for

6. Retire (paragraph b) stop working / change jobs

7. Daydream (paragraph e) sleep during the day / get lost in a world of thoughts

8. On its last legs (paragraph e) in a bad condition / recovering from an illness

Developing your speaking skill.

Answer the following questions with your own idea to improve your critical thinking skill.

1. How have Josephine and her father’s lives been different?

2. Do you agree that Josephine is too young to be thinking about things like house prices? What should she be
thinking about, in your opinion?
3. Which generation do you think is winning the ‘war’?
4. What are the biggest differences between you and your parents?