Методические указания по английскому языку для студентов 3-5 курсов исторического факультета. Часть 1. Коныгина Г.И. - 18 стр.

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                                           Part 4
You will hear part of a radio phone-in programme in which teenagers give advice on
relationships between parents and children. For questions 24-30, write Y (YES) next to
those views that are expressed by any of the speakers and N (NO) next to those views
that are not expressed.
Presenter: ... I hope that’s been of some use. Moving along, we’ve got Jane on the line.
Good evening Jane ...
Jane: Good evening.
Presenter: Hi. Who would you like to speak to, Jane?
Jane: Well, anybody who might have been through the fourteen to eighteen year old
age range, which I’m sure they all have, er, with regard to erm that awful subject of
helping in the house. (laughs all round) I’ve got a fourteen ... Oh yeah, I can hear
everybody laughing ... I’ve got a fourteen year old boy and an eighteen year old boy,
er... I have given up with the eighteen year old about his bedroom. (giggles) I decided
that he needed his space and if he wished to live in a rubbish tip then so be it, so I’ve
simply closed the door on it. But it is the fact that I work, well, practically full-time,
erm, and I could do with a bit of help around the house. But the usual response when I
ask them is, er, well either they’re doing something else or, whichever son it is erm ...
erm, or you know, it’s a case of ‘Why can’t he do it?’, meaning his brother. Or if they
do actually get round to doing it then it’s not very well done - if it’s washing up they
have water all over the floor. Erm, any tips?
Presenter: Nick, have you got something to say about this?
Nick: Well this sounds like more or less the same relationship that I had with my mum
until she discussed it with me. I’m sixteen and if my mother, erm, if she needs help
around the house, we have a sort of agreement that, uh, I clean up behind myself, I do
any other jobs which look like they should be done, and I often repair things around the
house and things like that. So if you maybe tell your children that this is what you want
them to do, that they should at the very minimum clean up behind themselves and then
do any other jobs that they feel they should do. That sounds to me like a fair agreement
and if you try that it might work.
Presenter: Amelia?
Amelia: Well the fact is your children really aren’t children any more and you shouldn’t
really let them get away with it. They’re old enough, you know, to realize - and it’s not
fair, you know, you’re their mother and they really should be doing what... I mean, they
live under your roof. I think that all parents have a standard set of rules and that should
be one of the rules, that they should do their share around the house. I think your view
on, you know, letting your son leave his room, you know, a mess is a very satisfactory
one and one that all parents should adopt but really, you know, you’re treating them like
children if you don’t really insist that they help you in the house. Because your sons,
especially your older son, they’re going to be leaving soon, to be leaving home to go to
university or something, and they’re not going to have mummy there to do the washing
up. They should start learning now, that, you know, chores should be shared in a family.
Presenter: Well Jane, it seems that the answer to all this is that you’re letting them off
the hook. You tell them - they can’t get away with it any longer! (laughter all round)