II. Read the text and use the words in the box to fill in the blanks.
about can avoid have ways
form more many suffer because
Teenagers today live in a very competitive world. It is (1) important than ever to succeed at
school if you hope to (2) a chance in the job market afterwards. It’s no wonder that many young
people worry (3) letting down their parents, their peers and themselves. To try to please everyone,
they take on too (4) tasks until it becomes harder and harder to balance homework assignments,
parties, sports activities and
friends. The result is that young people (5) from stress.
There are different ways of dealing with stress. Everyone knows that caffeine, in the (6)
of coffee or soft drinks, keeps you awake and alert. But caffeine is a drug which (7)
become addictive. In the end, like other drugs, caffeine only leads to more stress. There are better (8)
to deal with stress: physical exercise is a good release for stress, (9) it increases certain
chemicals in the brain which calm you down. You have to get enough sleep to (10) stress
and to stay healthy and full of energy.
III. Read the passage and choose the correct answer to each of the questions.
If parents bring up a child with the sole aim of turning the child into a genius, they will cause a disaster.
According to several scientists, this is one of the biggest mistakes which ambitious parents make. Generally, the
child will be only too aware of what his parents expect, and will fail. Unrealistic parental expectations can cause
great damage to children.
However, if parents are not too unrealistic about what they expect their children to do, but are ambitious in a
sensible way, the child may succeed in doing very well – especially if the parents are very supportive of their
child.
Michael is very lucky. He is crazy about music, and his parents help him a lot by taking him to concerts and
arranging private piano and violin lessons for him. They even drive him 50 kilometers twice a week for violin
lessons. Michael’s mother knows very little about music, but his father plays the trumpet in a large orchestra.
However, he never makes Michael enter music competitions if he is unwilling.
Winston, Michael’s friend, however, is not so lucky. Both his parents are successful musicians, and they set
too high a standard for Winston. They want their son to be as successful as they are and so they enter him for
every piano competition held. They are very unhappy when he does not win. Winston is always afraid that he
will disappoint his parents and now he always seems quiet and unhappy.
1. Michael is fortunate in that .
A. his mother knows little about music
B. his parents help him in a sensibly way
C. his father is a musician
D. his parents are quite rich
2. Winston’s parents push their son so much and he .
A. has become a good musician
B. is afraid to disappoint them
C. has won a lot of piano competitions
D. cannot learn much music from them
3. One of the serious mistakes parents can make is to .
A. make their child become a musician
B. neglect their child’s education
C. push their child into trying too much
D. help their child to become a genius
4. The two examples given in the passage illustrate the principle that .
A. parents should let the child develop in the way he wants
B. parents should spend more money on the child’s education
C. successful parents always have intelligent children
D. successful parents often have unsuccessful children
5. Parents’ ambition for their children is not wrong if they .
A. understand and help their children sensibly
B. arrange private lessons for their children
C. force their children into achieving success
D. themselves have been very successful
