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The Importance of Friendship in Teens

The document is a reading homework assignment that discusses the value of friendship. It includes a summary of research showing teenagers value friendship above all else. It then provides examples from three teenage boys - Ben, Roy, and Carlos - about the importance of their friendships. The assignment asks comprehension questions about the details and conclusions of the text.

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77 views6 pages

The Importance of Friendship in Teens

The document is a reading homework assignment that discusses the value of friendship. It includes a summary of research showing teenagers value friendship above all else. It then provides examples from three teenage boys - Ben, Roy, and Carlos - about the importance of their friendships. The assignment asks comprehension questions about the details and conclusions of the text.

Uploaded by

HẢI HOÀNG LÊ
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

LESSON 2 READING HOMEWORK

EXERCISE 1 Read the title, words in bold, italic and look at attached pictures, then
answer the questions
THE VALUE OF FRIENDSHIP
Recent research into the world of teenagers has suggested that they value
friendship above everything else. Children aged between 12 and 15 were asked what was
important to them. Their answers included possessions such as money and computer
gadgets but also relationships with people. The teenagers questioned said that friends
were the most important to them, more even than family, or boyfriends and girlfriends.
We wanted to find out more about the results of this research
so we asked our readers what they thought about the value of
friendship. Here are some examples of what they said about their
friends:
Ben, 15:
Every time I have a fight with my parents, I need some time on my
own. But after that, the first thing I do is meet up with my friends. After
playing football for a while, or skateboarding, I usually feel much happier again.

Roy, 13:
When I moved to a village in the countryside, I thought that it would be
the end of my friendships. But my old friends have kept in touch and they
come and visit in the holidays. There’s a lake nearby, so we often go
sailing, water – skiing or windsurfing. And I have made some new friends
here too, at school, and since I joined the rugby club.

Carlos, 11:
Last year, I broke my arm on a skiing holiday. Unfortunately, it was my
left arm and I am left- handed. My school friends all helped and copied
their notes for me.
It seems that our readers value their friendship very highly. From
what they told us, they spend a lot of time with their friends, just
hanging out, or sharing hobbies and interests. They seem to need their friends for advice,
help, chats, and for having fun. Clearly, friends make each other feel better. Looking at
what our readers told us, the results of the recent research are not really surprising.

1 | IELTS FOUNDATION Academy of British International Training




Ø What subject is the text about?

Ø Why was the text written?

Ø What kind of person would be interested in this article?

Ø What type of text is it?

1. Choose the correct answer A, B, C or D.


1 Why are Ben, Rory and Carlos mentioned in the article?
A They are at the same age
B They gave information about themselves
C They read magazines
D They are teenage boys
2 Which of the following best describes Ben?
A He often has fights
B He likes being alone
C He is happier than his friends
D He likes some sports
3 What do we know about the lake that Rory visits?
A It is near the school
B It is near his home
C It is used by a lot of people who do water sports
D It is very quiet
4 Carlos mentions that he is left – handed because …
A it makes skiing harder
B it makes it worse that he broke the arm he uses most
C he is right - handed
D It is very unfortunate when you break your left arm
5 The answers to recent researcher and the answers from the readers…
A were surprising
B were not the same
C were similar
D were both about sports

2 | IELTS FOUNDATION Academy of British International Training




EXERCISE 2 Read the following text and fill in the table. What events did happen
in the following years?
Year Event
1. 1891
2. 1377
3. The 500s
4. The 1600s

Food firsts
How much do you know about the history of some of
your favorite you know when people in England started cooking
curry dishes? Do know in which country pizzas or hamburgers
were first made? The facts might surprise you.
Many people think the English found out about curry
from people in India in the 1600s. In reality, wealthy English
people were eating dishes made with curry
spices hundreds of years before British ships traveled to India. Cooks of wealthy
English families during the time of King Richard I were making curry dishes, and in
fact, the word “curry” can be found in an English language cookbook as far back as
1377.
As for pizza, this dish was probably first made in Persia (what is now Iran).
The Persians were eating round, flat bread with cheese in the 500s. That was nearly
1,000 years before pizza caught on in Naples, Italy!
Finally, let’s look at the truth behind hamburgers. Many people think hamburgers
are an American food. However, according to some stories, hamburgers came from
Hamburg, Germany. A German named Otto Kuasw created the first hamburger in 1891.
Four years later, German sailors introduced hamburgers to Americans.
Where foods come from isn’t nearly as important as how they taste; as long as
they are delicious! So, go get some of your favorite food and dig in.

EXERCISE 3

3 | IELTS FOUNDATION Academy of British International Training




It is said that most people have no more than 30 friends at any given time, and 400 over the
whole of their lives. However, on social networking sites, most users have about 150
friends. If these numbers are correct, then friendship means different things in
different situations.
One of the reasons for having more online friends than real friends at a certain point in
time is that online friendships do not require much time and energy: it is easy to accept
friendships and keep them forever. Another possibility is that it is difficult to say 'no' when
somebody asks us to be their friend online, even if we feel we don't really know them. The
fact that they ask us suggests that they do consider us a friend, which is a nice
feeling. Alternatively, they may be 'collectors' of online friends and just want to use us to get
a higher number of friends and appear to be popular.
Online friendships are quite easy, but in the real world decisions about friendships are
harder to make. There are no rules about friendship. There are no guidelines about how to
make friends, how to keep friendships going, and how to finish friendships if we want to
move on. People have very different opinions about this: some people would die for their
friends and they value them more than family. Others say that friends are temporary, only
there to help each other until they are no longer needed. If people with such
different views become friends, this can lead to problems.
Because of these different definitions of friendship, it is easy to be unhappy about our
friendships. We may want them to be deeper or closer, or we may want to have more friends
in our lives. Sometimes we simply do not have the time to develop our friendships, or we
fear we have left it too late in life to start. If we move to another country or city, we have to
find ways to make new friends again.
This dissatisfaction shows us how important friendships are for most of us. We should not
think that it could be too late to build friendships. We also need to understand that the need
to be around other people is one that is shared by many. Therefore, we should not be too
frightened about starting to talk to people who in the future may become our friends: it is
likely that they too would like to get closer to us. Remember what people say: strangers are
friends we have not met yet.
1. How many friends do the majority of people probably have?
A. 30 real friends or fewer
B. a minimum of 30 real friends
C. 150 internet friends
D. 400 internet friends over the course of their lives

2. It is difficult ...
A. to believe the numbers about friendship.
B. to keep your friends happy.
C. to trust what you read on social networking sites.
D. to give a definition of 'friendship'.

3. Friendship means ...


A. different things to different people.
B. dying for your friends if you need to.
C. helping each other until it is no longer necessary.
D. accepting people with different views

4 | IELTS FOUNDATION Academy of British International Training




4. Sometimes people worry because ...


A. they think that they have too many friends.
B. they spend too much time with friends
C. they think they are too old to make friends.
D. there are no guidelines about friendship

5. Most of us …
A. are dissatisfied with our friends.
B. build friendships late in life.
C. are frightened to talk to strangers.
D. need to be with others.

6. What does 'Strangers are friends we have not met yet' mean?
A. We have not met strangers before.
B. We should not talk to strangers.
C. Strangers are also our friends.
D. Strangers may become our friends.

EXERCISE 4
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF FAME
Until the beginning of the 1990s western psychologists had not systematically studied the
human desire to be famous. However, in the few years up to this time the amount of
celebrity news in the media had been increasing dramatically. Scientists at various US
universities then started to investigate the reasons why some humans seem to be driven to
become famous, while others have no interest in attracting the limelight. Extensive research
with people from different cultures led to the conclusion that people who desire fame are not
the same people who want to be rich. The former group may have some desire for social
acceptance based on previous experiences in their lives, it seems that many of these people
used to find it difficult to make friends when they were younger or they didn’t use to receive
praise or recognition from their parents. The psychologists believe that it is likely that these
people would often demand attention from others as teenagers and this desire has remained
in adulthood and is now expressed as a longing to be famous. Conversely, those who want
to be rich are much more focused on the future than the past; in contrast to the former
group, the study found that many of this group had learned from their parents that success is
generated by hard work and that their friends and family had always encouraged them to
strive for the best in life. These conclusions suggest that there is a link between our
upbringing and how we measure our success.

5 | IELTS FOUNDATION Academy of British International Training




For question 1, choose TWO letters A-E.

1 What reasons do scientists give to explain why some people may want to be
famous?
A Because they didn’t have many friends when they were children.
B They want to copy celebrities they see in the media.
C They did not receive enough attention from their parents in their youth.
D So that they can be rich in the future.
E They had a desire to please their parents.

For questions 2 and 3, choose ONE answer from the letters a-d.

2 What did the scientists do in order to reach their conclusions?


a They analysed the increase in celebrity news in the media.
b They surveyed culturally diverse sections of population.
c They investigated different universities.
d They interviewed psychologists.

3 In the study, how were the people who want to be rich different from those who want
to be famous?
a Their parents helped them to be successful.
b People close to them had urged them to do well.
c They measured their success by focusing on the future.
d Their parents taught them about business.

6 | IELTS FOUNDATION Academy of British International Training

Common questions

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Friendship in online contexts tends to be easier to manage and requires less personal investment than offline friendships. Online friendships can result in higher friend counts due to the minimal effort required to maintain them, as well as the ease of accepting friend requests . Conversely, offline friendships typically necessitate active effort, emotional bonding, and time investment, leading to fewer, albeit potentially deeper, connections . The virtual nature allows for more superficial, quantity-oriented relationships, whereas personal, in-person interactions often foster depth .

People perceive serious engagement in friendships as requiring significant emotional investment, active communication, and shared experiences—qualities often diluted in online interactions where engagement is perceived as superficial due to the ease of forming and maintaining connections. Online friendships don't typically demand emotional depth, leading to a larger but more casual network compared to the selectiveness and effort required by serious, offline friendships .

Findings on friendship dynamics indicate a dichotomy between the traditional, emotionally rich friendships and the superficial nature of online interactions. Modern social networking behaviors often emphasize quantity over depth, reflecting the ease and lack of time investment described for online friendships, a pattern that can lead to less meaningful connections compared to the intimacy of face-to-face friendships, thus exhibiting a potential contradiction to traditional views of friendship depth and engagement .

Researchers identified that individuals motivated by a desire for fame often experienced a lack of social acceptance in their past, such as difficulty making friends or insufficient parental praise. This past lack of attention or social connection may manifest in adulthood as a craving for the recognition and validation that fame might provide. Conversely, those aiming for wealth are more future-oriented, with family and social environments likely promoting hard work and success .

The historical exploration of food origins reveals cultural interconnectedness and the diffusion of culinary practices across regions. For instance, the early adoption of curry dishes by wealthy English families before exposure to Indian culture in the 1377 demonstrates pre-colonial global influences. Similarly, the evolution of pizza from Persian flatbreads in the 500s to its iconic status in Italy highlights how cultural exchange and innovation characterized the development of cuisine, often leading to unexpected gastronomic heritages .

The events timeline reveals that globalization of food predates modern transportation and communication systems, indicating that culinary exchanges were facilitated through ancient trade routes, migrations, and conquests. The early European exposure to curry spices, centuries before British colonialism in India, and the adaptation of Persian-flatbread-like pizzas underscore historical global interactions leading to hybrid foods. Such narratives illustrate that cultural and culinary exchanges were both accidental and intentional elements of human civilization’s progress .

The phrase suggests an optimistic view of human social interaction, emphasizing potential and openness in forming new relationships. It implies that with the right circumstances, conversations, and interactions, people who are currently strangers could develop into friends. This perspective encourages viewing all social interactions as opportunities for connection, reflecting an inherent human tendency towards socialization and community building .

Teenagers might prioritize friendships over family or other relationships due to their desire for independence and social belonging. The research indicated that teenagers aged 12 to 15 value friendships highly, often more than family or romantic relationships. This priority may stem from the developmental need for peer support and identity exploration characteristic of adolescence, as well as the emotional benefits provided by friends in terms of support, recreation, and sharing hobbies .

Researchers differentiated between those pursuing fame and wealth based on upbringing and motivational focus. Those seeking fame often had past experiences of social struggles, including inadequate attention from parents, indicating a retrospective motivation. In contrast, individuals targeting wealth were generally driven by forward-looking objectives, having been guided by their families to equate hard work with success; thus, their ambitions are shaped more by future goals than past deficiencies .

Research findings that teenagers value friendships above other relationships are strongly supported by personal accounts from the teenagers themselves. For example, Ben finds solace and happiness with friends after conflicts with parents, while Rory maintains connections with friends despite geographical separation, emphasizing the enduring and adaptable nature of teenage friendships. These narratives align with research outcomes, illustrating that friendships offer emotional support and are prioritized for their positive impact on well-being .

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