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These arguments are unjust to good single-sex schools. Changes have been made, especially in the last couple of decades, to face up it weaknesses in the system. Girls schools, for example, have made great strides in ensuring that a broad choice of subjects is available, including a wider range of sciences, design and technology, information technology and sports.

It seems to me unreasonable to suggest that young people these days will never learn to socialize if, for a few hours a day during term-time, they are taught in single-sex schools. With co-operation between such schools already well established through debates, dances, clubs, community service and other activities, it is perfectly possible to combine the best of both worlds.

Co-education is far too widely established for it to be displaced in the majority of schools. To suggest that single-sex education does not deserve to be equally valued is to base one's cease on arguments that are no longer relevant.

I. Study the meanings of the following words and word combinations and define their contextual meaning:

1. to gain ground

2. to gather pace

3. to be assertive

4. to be seen as

5. to show off

6. to achieve maturity

7. to be deprived of smth.

8. to make great strides

9. to be equally valued

10. to be widely established

11. to be relevant

II. Explain the meaning of the following word combinations:

1. single-sex schools

2. to educate smb. Academically

3. to gain ground

4. co-education

5. have difficulty in being assertive in mixed company

6. socially awkward people

7. to be deprived of smth.

8. to be unjust

9. to make great strides

10. to be available

11. to seem unreasonable

12. to be equally valued

13. to be relevant

III. Give synonyms of the following words:

To be unjust, to be deprived, awkward, up-to-date, co-education, equal, gradually, desire, to show off, to suggest.

IV. Give antonyms of the following words: Shy, negative, unjust, single-sex, successful, majority, be at the top, separately, suitable, be relevant.

V. Fill in the blanks with the words given below that go with the meaning of the sentences:

1. The idea of women's education started … in the century.

2. Teenagers have difficulty being … in mixed company.

3. Concentration can lapse because of the desire … in front of the opposite sex.

4. The trend towards co-education … in the last century.

5. Certain subjects … as male or female preserves.

6. Boy and girls achieve … at different rates.

7. Girl's schools have … in introducing modern methods of teaching.

8. Girls shouldn't … of the best academic teaching.

9. Single-sex education deserves …

10. Co-education nowadays … in the majority of schools.

11. It … to mention that single-sex schools are often at the top in academic league-tables.

to be equally valued, to be seen as, to show off, to make great strides, to be widely established, to gain ground, to be assertive, to be relevant, to achieve maturity, to gather pace, to be deprived of smth.

VI. Give facts from the text to confirm or disprove the following statements:

1. In the past no one thought of educating girls academically at all.

2. The trend towards co-education gathered pace as women fought for equal rights.

3. Single-sex school are the norm nowadays.

4. Boys in mixed classes frequently take more of the teacher's time and attention.

5. Mixed schools produce shy, socially awkward people.

VII. Answer the following questions:

1. What is the issue being discussed in this article?

2. Where does the writer stand in relation to this article?

3. What evidence does she offer in support of the position she takes?

4. Do you think that is a balanced, unbiased treatment of the issue? Give reasons for your answer.

VIII. Discuss: co-education versus single-sex education.

WE ARE NOT A SUB-SPECIES by Lois McNay

The worst thing about being a teenager is the word "teenager". Being a teenager doesn't feel any different from being a normal person. I don'l seem to be undergoing any emotional traumas, or identity crises- I must be letting somebody down. The word teenager prevents some people from treating adolescents as young adults; in their eyes we become a kind of sub-species.

My sixth form used to be regularly visited by various speakers. One week the local insurance man came. In an unfortunate effort to obtain group participation and yet remain in control of the talk, he treated 200 intelligent 18-year-olds like a load of morons. Smiling benignly, he said: "Now what do we find under roads?" The answers he received - worms, moles, and dead insurance men - were not what he was looking for. Actually it was pipelines. Ask a stupid question! The point is, that man would not have spoken to adults in the same way, so why to teenagers? If you treat people like idiots, they act like idiots.

There might not be that much difference between a 34-year-old and a 38-year-old, but there's a hell of a lot of difference between a 14-year-old and an 18-year-old. When I was 13, I thought being in post primary school was the ultimate in maturity. Now at the worldly age of 18, 16 seems a mere nothing.

The word teenager is misleading because it leads to generalizations and it is so derogatory. For many adults there is no such thing as a teenager who doesn't like discos - if you happen not to, as many teenagers don't - they label you as an awkward, antisocial adolescent.

For a short time I was a waitress in a diners' club. The average age of the staff was 19, that of the clientele about 40. We, the staff, used to watch amused and slightly disgusted as overweight middle-aged swingers, who in the light of day would claim that discos were a load of teenage nonsense, jerked violently around to the latest hits - asthey say. (They were either dancing or having heart attacks -1 couldn't quite tell.) If, in the eyes of adults, "teenage culture" is such a contemptible thing, why, given the opportunity, do they throw themselves into it with so much enthusiasm and a lot less style?_r

I may be cynical, but I think it is partly due to jealousy. Some adults patronize teenagers because they are envious of their youth and because the respect they don't get from their peers they demand from their juniors. Even on the lofty level of our local tennis club, this type of jealousy rears its head, or rather, swings its racket. If we were to put forward our strongest women's team, it would consist entirely of teenage girls. Of course, this never happens. The elder women play by virtue of their age, not skill. After all, teenage girls don't count as women.

If there is such a thing as a teenager, it refers to a state of mind and not a particular age range. At 20, you don't automatically become an adult because you've dropped the "teen" in your age. Unfortunately, "teenager" has come to connote things like selfishness, irresponsibility, and arrogance. This means there are a lot of adults around who are still teenage. Equally, if maturity is measured by attributes, such as compassion and tolerance, and not merely the number of years you've totted up, then there are a lot of adult teenagers around.

I would like the word "teenager" to be banned, but I suppose that will never happen, as a lot of people would stop making a lot of money.

I. Find in the text the English equivalents to the following Russian words and phrases:

Ровня, сверстники; в силу своего возраста; возрастная группа; полностью состоять; предел зрелости, возмужания; группа глупцов; в действительности; разочаровать; относиться к кому-либо; обманчивый; выдвигать; пустяк.

To remain in control of the talk; in an unfortunate effort; to undergo some feelings; to patronize smb.; to tot up the number of years; to label smb.; to throw oneself into; to jerk violently around.

IV. Define the adjectives the following nouns are derived from:

1. What prevents some people from treating adolescents as young adults?

2. Does the author approve of the way the insurance man spoke to the pupils?

3. Do adults tend to generalize teenagers?

4. How did middle - aged people behave in a diner's club? In what way does the author characterize them?

5. Why do some adults patronize teenagers?

II. Based on the text mark the following statements true or false. Correct them in accordance with the text.

1. Adults always treat teenagers equally.

2. There isn't any difference between a 14-year-old and a 18-year-old.

3. Adults don't speak in favor of “teenage culture”.

4. Adults have privileges by virtue of their age rather than skill.

5. “Teenager” connotes maturity, compassion, tolerance.

Speaking activities

Discuss the following points:

- Why does the preceding generation always say that the next is not as they were?

- Is it difficult to be a teenager?

- Have your parents managed to treat you like an adult?

- What are teenagers like in your country?

- Compare your priorities in life with those of an average teenager. What's your goal in life?

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