Meet the Metrolescents - PAU 2006

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Did you know there were tracking devices you could put on your teenager's mobile? I could put one on the phone of my daughter. Then, instead of worrying and imagining, you can sit in front of your computer and watch the little dot that is your teenager moving around on the street diagrams. I call this "love", a different kind of love that parents have for teenagers nowadays. Since we have a different kind of teenager, we need a different kind of control. Nowadays anything seems fair game in the campaign against teens. It's no surprise, then, that the modern parents are either terrified of teenagers or terrified for them.

What we have to accept is that we might be seeing a new breed of adolescent, a totally different kind of teenage tribe. A tribe so different they probably should not even be called teenagers any more – a better term might be Metrolescents, whose defining characteristic would be, in the age of the internet and the all-powerful teen media, that they are united, bonded, on the same web page like never before.

In the past, kids used to feel left out and they had to make an effort to be part of the action. In the era of the Metrolescent, it is possible to live far away and still feel part of everything. Fashions take seconds to spread, the latest gossip is only a click away. Suddenly, the youth scene is everywhere, for everybody. That might be the problem.

Barbara Ellen

The Observer, 6 November 2005

RESPUESTAS

READING COMPREHENSION

I. Answer the following questions using your own words but taking into account theinformation in the text

a. What is a tracking device used for?

• (paragraph 1) To track people down; to control teenagers; to know where the teenager is.

b. Why should today’s teenagers be called Metrolescents?

• (paragraph 2) a better term might be Metrolescents, whose defining characteristic would be, in the age of the internet and the all-powerful teen media, that they are united, bonded, on the same web page like never before.

II. Are the following statements true (T) or false (F)? Identify the part of the text that supports your answer by copying the exact words on the answer sheet

a. New technologies prevent parents from being worried.

• True (Then, instead of worrying and imagining, you can sit in front of your computer and watch the little dot that is your teenager moving around on the street diagrams.)

b. Today many adolescents share the characteristic of being Metrolescents.

• True (we might be seeing a new breed of adolescent, a totally different kind of teenage tribe. A tribe so different they probably should not even be called teenagers any more – a better term might be Metrolescents)

c. Adolescents feel more isolated than ever before because they live in suburbs.

• False (In the era of the Metrolescent, it is possible to live far away and still feel part of everything.)

III. Find a synonym for each of the four words below from these six options:

devices diagrams powerful fashions spread youth

• a. trends: fashions
• b. potent: powerful
• c. mechanisms: devices
• d. disseminate: spread

IV. Choose a, b, or c, in each question below. Only one choice is correct

1. If you put a tracking device inside the mobile…

• a) you worry a lot because you can see where your son or daughter is going.
• b) you feel less worried because you can see where your son or daughter is going.
• c) you worry a lot because your son or daughter might discover it.

2. Teenagers…

• a) can terrify their parents.
• b) can be terrified by their parents.
• c) can be terrified for their parents.

3. Metrolescents are united because…

• a) they can send e-mails to their friends.
• b) transport is very fast nowadays.
• c) they can use all sorts of media.

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