ABITURPRÜFUNG 2000 Arbeitszeit: 180 Minuten
ENGLISCH
als Grundkursfach
Textaufgabe I
DO PARENTS KNOW THEIR KIDS?
Jocks1, preps2, punks, Goths3, geeks4. They may sit at separate
tables in the cafeteria, but they all belong to the same gener-
ation. There are now 31 million kids in the 12-to-19 age group,
and demographers predict that there will be 35 million teens by
5 2010. In many ways, these teens are uniquely privileged. They’ve
grown up in a period of sustained prosperity and haven’t had to
worry about the draft5 (as their fathers did) or global conflicts
(as their grandparents did). Cable and the Internet have given
them access to an almost infinite amount of information. Most
10 expect to go to college, and girls, in particular, have unpreced-
ented opportunities; they can dream of careers in everything from
professional sports to politics, with plenty of female role models
to follow.
But this positive image of American adolescence in 1999 is a
15 little like yearbook photos that depict every kid as happy and
blamishfree. After the Littleton, Colo., tragedy6, it’s clear
there’s another dimension to this picture, and it’s far more
troubled. In survey after survey, many kids say they feel increas-
ingly alone and alienated, unable to connect with their parents,
20 teachers and sometimes even classmates. They’re desperate for
guidance, and when they don’t get what they need at home or in
school they cling to cliques or immerse themselves in a universe
out of their parents’ reach, a world defined by computer games, TV
and movies, where brutality is so common it has become mundane.
25 Many teens say they feel overwhelmed by pressure and responsi-
bilities. They are juggling part-time jobs and hours of homework
every night; sometimes they’re so exhausted that they are nearly
asleep in early-morning classes. Half have lived through their
parents’ divorce. Sixty-three percent are in households where both
30 parents work outside the home, and many look after younger sib-
lings in the afternoon. Still others are home by themselves after
school. That unwelcome solitude can extend well into the evening;
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mealtime for this generation too often begins with a forlorn touch
of the microwave.
35 In fact, of all the issues that trouble adolescents, loneliness
ranks at the top of the list. Teenagers may claim they want priv-
acy, but they also crave and need attention – and they’re not
getting it.
Loneliness creates an emotional vacuum that is filled by an
40 intense peer culture, a critical buffer against kids’ fear of
isolation. Some of this bonding is normal and appropriate; in
fact, studies have shown that the human need for acceptance is al-
most a biological drive, like hunger. It’s especially intense in
early adolescence, from about 12 to 14, a time of "hyper self-
45 consciousness," says David Elkind, a professor of child develop-
ment at Tufts University. "They become very self-centered and
spend a lot of time thinking about what others think of them,"
Elkind says. "And when they think about what others are thinking,
they make the error of thinking that everyone is thinking about
50 them." Dressing alike is a refuge, a way of hiding in the group.
When they’re 3 and scared, they cling to a security blanket7; at
16, they want body piercings or Abercrombie8 shirts.
If parents and other adults abdicate power, teenagers come up
with their own rules. Bullying has become so extreme and so common
55 that many teens just accept it as part of high school life in the
‘90s. Emory University psychologist Marshall Duke, an expert on
children’s friendships, recently asked 110 students in one of his
classes if any of them had ever been threatened in high school. To
his surprise, "they all raised their hand."
60 Even the best, most caring parents can’t protect their teenagers
from all problems, but involved parents can make an enormous dif-
ference. Kids do listen. Seize any opportunity to talk – in the
car, over the breakfast table, watching TV. Parents have to work
harder to get their points across. Ellen Galinsky, president of
65 the Families and Work Institute, has studied teenagers’ views of
parents. "One 16-year-old told us, ‘I am proud of the fact that my
mother deals with me even though I try to push her away. She’s
still there`." So pay attention now. The kids can’t wait.
From: NEWSWEEK, 10 May 1999
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Annotations:
1 jocks (AmE infml): athletes, especially ones with few other inter-
ests
2 preps (AmE infml): here: rich young people, noticeable for their
expensive clothes
3 Goths: young people who like Gothic music (dark metal music about
death and evil) and cultivate a certain style: body piercing,
black clothes and lipstick, white make-up
4 geeks (AmE infml): boring people, dressed unfashionably
5 draft (AmE): obligatory military service; in the 60s/70s, this
meant being sent to fight in the Vietnam war
6 the Littleton, Colo., tragedy: massacre at a Colorado high school,
where on April 20, 1999, two boys killed twelve fellow pupils and
a teacher, injured many more, then killed themselves
7 security blanket: soft blanket or toy that little children like to
hold to comfort themselves
8 Abercrombie: an expensive, trendy brand of clothes
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ENGLISCH als GRUNDKURSFACH - Textaufgabe I
WORKSHEET: Do Parents Know Their Kids?
maximum number of
points attainable
I. Questions on the text
Read all the questions first, then answer them
in the given order.
Use your own words as far as is appropriate.
1. In what way are today’s teenagers a "uniquely privileged" 10
(l. 5) generation?
2. Outline the various problems young people are confronted with. 20
3. How do adolescents react to their sense of isolation? 20
What psychological explanations are given in the text?
4. What does the text say about the extent and the causes of 10
bullying at American high schools?
5. What is the writer’s message to parents? 10
6. Show that the writer uses a variety of means to make his text 10
interesting and convincing.
II. Composition 40
Choose o n e of the following topics.
Write about 120 to 150 words.
1. The "infinite amount of information" provided by cable TV
and the Internet - a blessing or a curse?
2. Raising and teaching teens - not an easy job these days?
III. Translation 40
Translate the following text into German:
_____
160
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What is most bizarre about America’s spate of school shootings
is not that they have occurred, but America’s reaction to them:
plenty of public hand-wringing about moral decay and media vio-
lence. Inevitably, there have been further calls to beef up secur-
ity at schools.
But these are all side issues, which have nothing to do with
what really distinguishes America from other countries. Young
people everywhere, like many of their elders, have violent fan-
tasies. If America is in moral decline, then so is most of the
rest of the world, which just as avidly consumes violent films and
rock videos. Mentally disturbed people anywhere can sometimes pose
a threat to others. And all schools, not just those in America,
remain vulnerable to someone looking for innocent victims. But, of
all rich countries, only America makes it possible for teenage
misfits, the insane or anyone else determined to cause mayhem to
get their hands so easily on such a terrifying array of weapons.
From: The Economist, 24 April 1999
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