08/12 Reading 11-A

Read the text:

Digital habits across generations

Today's grandparents are joining their grandchildren on social media, but the different generations' online habits couldn't be more different. In the UK the over-55s are joining Facebook in increasing numbers, meaning that they will soon be the site's second biggest user group, with 3.5 million users aged 55–64 and 2.9 million over-65s.

Sheila, aged 59, says, 'I joined to see what my grandchildren are doing, as my daughter posts videos and photos of them. It's a much better way to see what they're doing than waiting for letters and photos in the post. That's how we did it when I was a child, but I think I'm lucky I get to see so much more of their lives than my grandparents did.'

Ironically, Sheila's grandchildren are less likely to use Facebook themselves. Children under 17 in the UK are leaving the site – only 2.2 million users are under 17 – but they're not going far from their smartphones. Chloe, aged 15, even sleeps with her phone. 'It's my alarm clock so I have to,' she says. 'I look at it before I go to sleep and as soon as I wake up.'

Unlike her grandmother's generation, Chloe's age group is spending so much time on their phones at home that they are missing out on spending time with their friends in real life. Sheila, on the other hand, has made contact with old friends from school she hasn't heard from in forty years. 'We use Facebook to arrange to meet all over the country,' she says. 'It's changed my social life completely.'

Teenagers might have their parents to thank for their smartphone and social media addiction as their parents were the early adopters of the smartphone. Peter, 38 and father of two teenagers, reports that he used to be on his phone or laptop constantly. 'I was always connected and I felt like I was always working,' he says. 'How could I tell my kids to get off their phones if I was always in front of a screen myself?' So, in the evenings and at weekends, he takes his SIM card out of his smartphone and puts it into an old-style mobile phone that can only make calls and send text messages. 'I'm not completely cut off from the world in case of emergencies, but the important thing is I'm setting a better example to my kids and spending more quality time with them.'

Is it only a matter of time until the generation above and below Peter catches up with the new trend for a less digital life?

Match the definitions (1–8) with the vocabulary (a–h).

a. websites and apps like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram

Match the definitions (1–8) with the vocabulary (a–h).

b. in a funny or strange way because it’s unexpected

Match the definitions (1–8) with the vocabulary (a–h).

c. different from

Match the definitions (1–8) with the vocabulary (a–h).

d. to not get the benefits of

Match the definitions (1–8) with the vocabulary (a–h).

e. needing something too much or in an unhealthy way

Match the definitions (1–8) with the vocabulary (a–h).

f. people who are the first to buy or use new technology

Match the definitions (1–8) with the vocabulary (a–h).

g. all the time without a break

Match the definitions (1–8) with the vocabulary (a–h).

h. to have no access to

Are the sentences true or false?

1. More people aged 55 or more use Facebook than people aged 65 or more.

Are the sentences true or false?

2. Grandparents typically use Facebook less than their grandchildren. 

Britain is often regarded as “the cradle of democracy” and the Palace of Westminster: the “Mother of all Parliaments”. The British state is described as a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary system. The correct constitutional definition of Parliament is the ‘Queen-inParliament‘. A constitutional monarchy is a form of government in which a king or queen is the Head of State (the official head of the country), but an elected government has most of the real power.

1. Great Britain is..

Government is a group of politicians from the party with a majority in the general election. Typically, just one party has the majority, but at the moment Britain has a coalition. The head of government is the prime minister. All political power rests with the prime minister and the Cabinet, the most important committee in the British government, whose members are selected by the prime minister, and the monarch must act on their advice. Government is responsible for amending laws, making new ones, and abolishing old ones; they set the rate of taxes, plan the budget, and pursue the policies they talked about during their election campaign.

2.Prime Minister ......

The branches of the British government include:

• the legislature is the supreme law-making body, which consists of the House of Commons the House of Lords, and formally the monarch;

• the executive comprises the sitting government, its Cabinet government ministries, or departments, headed by ministers, or secretaries of state, and formally the monarch;

• the judiciary consists of the judges of the higher courts, formally the monarch.

3.The British government include..

The British Parliament is the name given to the House of Lords and the House of Commons. Members of Parliament come from different political parties and their role is to represent the people and to inspect the work of the Government. Both houses must approve a new law before it can be passed. 

4.The British Parliment consists of...

The House of Lords consists of the non-elected Lords that are hereditary or life peers. There are1,200 members and they receive no salary for their parliamentary work. The House is presided over by the Lord Chancellor. He is a political appointee of the sitting government and a Speaker (Chairman) of the House, he controls the procedure and meetings of the House;

5.The House of Lords is presented by ...

The House of Commons consists of Members of Parliament (MPs), who are elected by the British people every 5 years. There are 650 MPs, whose great majority belongs to either the Conservative or the Labour Party, which are the main political parties. This division emphasizes the continuation of the traditional two-party system in British politics.

6.There are ....... members of the British Parliament

The British Constitution is only partly written and is flexible, it also has legal force. Its basic sources are parliamentary and European Union legislation, the European Convention on Human Rights, and decisions by courts of law.

7.Great Britain....

The British monarch holds a formal role. Succession to the throne is still hereditary, but only for Protestants in the direct line of descent. Queen Elizabeth II, who is the current monarch, has a number of roles, but serves formally as the head of state, head of the three governmental branches, the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and the supreme governor of the Church of England. She remains politically impartial and with limited powers, it means she cannot make laws, impose taxes, or spend public money. Time has reduced the power of the monarchy, and today it is broadly ceremonial, like appointing the government, opening and dissolving the Parliament, the Queen’s speech, and the Royal Assent.

8.Queen Elizabeth II is....