READING COMPREHENSION: GAP FILL

Choose from phrases 1–10 the one that fits each gap! Number 0 is an example.

0 but it’s especially important for growing teenagers

1. healthier food choices on the menu

2. home-cooked food
3. grill, stir-fry, bake, boil or microwave
4. you are more likely to put on weight
5. drink water instead
6. expensive and tasteless
7. and even save money
8. such as vitamins and minerals
9. breakfast cereal served with low fat milk
10. A poor diet can cause

Teenagers and nutrition

adapted and taken from http://www.goforyourlife.vic.gov.au/hav/articles.nsf/pages/Eating_tips_for_teenagers?OpenDocument

Good nutrition is essential for everyone, (0) but it’s especially important for growing teenagers.
Unfortunately many Australian teenagers have an unbalanced diet. One in four adolescents buys
unhealthy takeaway food every day or even a few times a day. If you eat takeaway food regularly,
(1) __________________________ than if you eat fast food only occasionally.

Don’t despair! It doesn’t take a lot of effort to change your eating habits. A few simple changes will
make a huge difference. You’ll feel better, manage your weight, improve your skin (2)
_____________________!

Junk food is poor fuel for your body

About nine in ten teenagers eat junk food every day. This might be fizzy drinks and high-kilo joule
snacks like potato chips. However, your body can’t run properly on inferior fuel. Compared to (3)
________________, junk food (which includes fast food) is almost always:
 higher in fat, particularly saturated fat
 higher in salt
 higher in sugar
 lower in fibre
 lower in nutrients, (4) ________________________
 served in larger portions, which means more kilojoules.
While a mid-life heart attack might seem too far away to be real, it may surprise you to know that
you could have health problems already. (5)______________ weight gain, high blood pressure,
constipation, fatigue and concentration problems – even when you’re young.

How to improve your diet without even trying

Small changes can make a big impact. Try these tips:
 Cut back on fizzy sugary drinks. Go for sugar-free versions. Even better,
(6) _________________ – try adding a slice of lemon, lime or orange.
 Keep a fruit bowl stocked at home for fast and low-kilo joule snacks.
 Eat breakfast every day so you’re less likely to snack on junk food at morning tea. A fortified
(7) _____________________ can provide plenty of vitamins, mineral and fibre. Other fast and
healthy options include yoghurt or wholemeal toast.
 Don’t skip lunch or dinner either.
 Help with the cooking and think up new ways to create healthy meals. Make those old family
recipes lower in fat by changing the cooking method – for example,
(8) ______________________________ instead of deep frying.
 Reduce the size of your meals.
 Don’t add salt to your food.
 Don’t eat high fat foods every time you visit a fast food outlet with your friends. Many of the
popular fast food chains now have (9) ______________________.

Things to remember
 A teenager who eats fast food regularly is more likely to put on weight than a teenager who
eats fast food only occasionally.
 Many teenagers wrongly assume that healthy foods are (10) ____________________.
 Eating well doesn’t mean you must be a health food freak – a good diet allows for your
favourite junk foods occasionally.

KEY
1. you are more likely to put on weight
2. and even save money
3. home-cooked food
4. such as vitamins and minerals
5. A poor diet can cause
6. drink water instead
7. breakfast cereal served with low fat milk
8. grill, stir-fry, bake, boil or microwave
9. healthier food choices on the menu
10. expensive and tasteless
READING COMPREHENSION: SHORT ANSWERS

Answer in note form in the spaces below. Number 0 is an example.

0 Why are doctors alarmed?

Because of the physical shape of teens.

1. Why is being too fat problematic when you are a teenager?

___________________________________________________________________________
2. Which is better for your health – watching TV or doing nothing at all?
___________________________________________________________________________
3. Name three aerobic training options.
___________________________________________________________________________
4. How often should teenagers do exercise?
___________________________________________________________________________
5. When is it normal to feel some pain after working out?
___________________________________________________________________________
6. What should you spend the most money on when you consider running?
___________________________________________________________________________
7. What is the benefit of speaking while you run?
___________________________________________________________________________
8. What can happen when you spend time on your own?
___________________________________________________________________________
9. How will exercise influence your body shape?
___________________________________________________________________________
10. What are endorphins good for?
___________________________________________________________________________

Exercise and Teens

by Barbara Cooke, adapted and taken from http://life.familyeducation.com/teen/exercise/29461.html

Teens Need More Exercise

The medical community has been sounding the alarm: America's kids are in worse physical shape
than they were 20 years ago. This is particularly appalling since overweight teens often grow into
overweight adults, and overweight adults develop more heart disease, diabetes, gout, and arthritis.
The New England Journal of Medicine reported that obese teenagers in the top 25 percent of their
weight categories have twice the death rate in their 70s as men and women who were thin as
teens.
Researchers at Memphis State University and the University of Tennessee explored the link
several years ago and were startled to find that kids' metabolisms were lower while they were
watching television than when they were resting and doing nothing at all! The typical teen now
spends almost 30 hours a week in front of the tube, while eating high-fat snacks.

Great Exercises for Teens

Aerobic exercise is perfect for teens who are independent and like variety. Some possibilities
include running, in-line skating, cycling, swimming, kick-boxing, Tae Bo and trampolining. The
American Heart Association suggests that teens should raise their heart rates for 20 minutes
without stopping, three or more times a week. Exercise should never hurt, although a little muscle
soreness can be expected, especially in the initial weeks of a workout program.

Arguments for Exercising

Teens are great at coming up with reasons not to exercise. Here are some pro-exercise
arguments:
1. Running and walking are convenient. All you have to do is walk out of the door and put one foot
in front of the other. No need for pools, courts, or fields.
2. Running doesn't cost much. Splurge on good running shoes, but go the el-cheapo route for
shorts, t-shirts, and sweats.
3. It's an awesome time to chat with friends. (And talking slows your pace, so you'll exercise
longer.)
4. It's a perfect time to be alone and think. You'll be blown away by the creative thoughts − ideas
for research papers, ways to end that fight with your best friend, and what to say to that cute
kid in the neighbourhood.
5. It makes you feel great physically. The progress is truly dramatic! Every time you work out,
your muscles develop strength and power. Your lungs hold mega amounts of oxygen. You'll
find that you're staring at yourself in full-length mirrors because you look AWESOME! Forget
about dieting: your metabolism will burn extra fat for hours afterwards.
6. It makes you feel good mentally. Not everyone has the discipline and ability to set a goal and
reach it with slow, steady and hard work.
7. Aerobic exercise, especially running, can help make feelings of depression and frustration
disappear. After 20 or more minutes of continuous slow running, your body releases powerful
hormones, called endorphins, that start pumping through your bloodstream, producing a strong
"runner's high" that does wonders for your self-esteem.

KEY
0 Because when adult you can develop more diseases – diabetes, heart disease, gout or
arthritis. / you die earlier.
1 Doing nothing at all.
2 Any three of: running, in-line skating, cycling, swimming, kick-boxing, Tae Bo and trampolining
3 At least three times a week.
4 In the first/initial weeks of training.
5 Good running shoes
6 You slow your pace and can therefore exercise longer.
7 You become creative/you get ideas.
8 You will look better/awesome.
9 They make you feel better/not depressed/have a better self-esteem.
READING COMPREHENSION: MATCHING

Match the subtitles with the right paragraphs. The first one has been done for you.

A A new era
B Connecting and sharing
C Limitless variety
D Easy registration
E Finding your interests
F No limit
G Diary transforms from private to public
H There is no right or wrong
I Tips from a writer
J Teenage bloggers

Blogging Tips For Teens

by Viktoria Michaelis, taken from http://ezinearticles.com/?Blogging-Tips-For-Teens---What-to-Write-About&id=5806838

1 _A_
The days of the personal diary, of a journal kept with our most secret thoughts, fears and wishes,
were numbered from the very first moment someone discovered that the Internet could be an ideal
forum for personal writing, that it didn't just have to be a mass of universities with learned books on
offer, or websites offering discounts on this and that item which, to be honest, most people could
easily do without.

2 ___
The Internet, perhaps as it was originally designed, is a massive medium of communication
between anyone and everyone. The personal diary, with its fluffy cover, or an easily broken lock,
with the dangers that Mom or Dad might discover it, or that a jealous little sister might read out
innermost thoughts to all her friends in the clique at school, has been replaced by the Weblog or
Blog, replaced by software which allows anyone with Internet access to share their thoughts with
the world.

3 ___
It is estimated that there are currently upwards of one hundred million Blogs on the Internet,
admittedly not all of them active, but there nonetheless and available for anyone to read. Some are
filled with fascinating insights, some with niche writing, poetry, erotica, photographs, business tips
right down to the most obvious of scams and hoaxes.

4 ___
Within this vast array of possibilities are the Blogs written by teenagers from all walks of life. With
so many Blogs already written, being written each day, it may seem hard for a newcomer,
especially a teenager not used to putting words down on paper (so to speak) to find their place.
The main problem for many is what to write about: everything that they do, see, experience is
normal − to them − and hardly likely to be of interest to anyone else. The teenager's Weblog is
likely to disappear in the morass.

5 ___
The setting up of a Blog is perhaps the easiest part of the whole. The budding writer merely needs
to go to one of the many services, such as WordPress, sign up with a working email address, pick
and theme a template which suits their lifestyle and they are ready.

6 ___
But what to write about? An absolute classic of literature, but hardly a work many teenagers are
likely to have read or find interesting, is Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Robert M.
Pirsig offers advice that is ideal for the teenage Blogger: write about things around you, about your
daily life. Take the city or town that you live in, explore it, write about what you find. If that is too
much, write about a single street, a single building within that street. He goes a stage further and
says that, if writing about a building is too much, if writer's block is still there, a lack of ideas and
inspiration, then pick a single brick from that one building, and write about the brick. Of course, the
brick is a metaphor, merely used to illustrate his point, and can be replaced with anything else.

7 ___
Teenage years are a time of change. We are no longer children, but not quite adults. We are faced
with myriad problems but few viable solutions which suit us. Our generation is different to the
generation before; we are different to our parents not just in looks, but in outlook, interests, ideals.
It is a time of conflict, a time of exploration and, with a Blog, it is a time when we can find other
teenagers experiencing the same emotions and share with them. A Blog can be used to express
frustration as much as joy, to record the little things in life which give us pleasure as much as those
which annoy.

8 ___
A Blog is something which doesn't judge us, which we control completely and alone, and over
which we have complete freedom to do as we wish. If a teenage Blogger writes about a spot in the
middle of his or her forehead, their first period, a misplaced kick which ruined a football match, a
good looking man or woman there is no one to say that they are wrong, no one to say that they
can't write about such things, or that they could write better. The Blog is an open book which
welcomes any and all posts.

9 ___
As a teenage Blogger, many will not yet have formed a set idea of what they wish to do or to be in
their lives, and the Blog is an ideal forum to test out ideas, to write from the heart, to explore. There
is no set answer to the question 'what should a teenage Blogger write about' but many variables:
write about what interests you; about what is interesting in your friends, school, neighbourhood;
about music, concerts, shows, dancing, pets, little sisters. Initially any theme can be addressed,
and as much variety as possible included in the Blog, with time an over-riding theme may well
form, a niche, an area of real interest. Write about themes covered in other Blogs, give your own
opinion, make your own comments.

10 ___
The world of Blogging is practically unlimited, as are the number of subjects which can be written
about, and the Blog is one person's own private world just waiting to be built up, to be populated by
posts. Write about what interests you, even those fleeting interests which last barely a moment, but
don't set any limits.

KEY
1. A (example)
2. G
3. C
4. J
5. D
6. I
7. B
8. H
9. E
10. F
READING COMPREHENSION: TRUE/FALSE/NOT GIVEN

Tick the correct option T (true), F (false) or NG (not given). Number 0 is an example.

STATEMENT T F NG
0 You can always earn money with a hobby. 
1 A hobby connected with technology is only for people who are able to
understand complex things.
2 People who make electronic products must have at least some academic
education.
3 Hobbies including electronics often bring new inventions.
4 Making cars is a favourite pastime in the field of mechanical engineering.
5 People with a keen interest often don't care about the costs.
6 People who modify vehicles are most interested in improving the sound
system.
7 Interest in car making and remodelling usually starts early in people's lives.
8 People who make cars also make radio controlled instruments.
9 To make a plane you usually recreate a machine you have seen before.
10 Robotics is a hobby that takes a lot of time.
11 Modern robots can only do things they are programmed for.
12 Even in hobby robotics, academic knowledge is important.

Technology As a Hobby
by Christopher John Bennett, taken from http://ezinearticles.com/?Technology-As-a-Hobby&id=3436581

A hobby is a non profitable human choice of act for passing leisure time. Practising technological
facts are very popular and common choice as a hobby. This kind of hobbyist already has a
preference and basic knowledge in science and they like to learn more and apply it in making
technical things. Technology dependent pastimes are not for everybody for their relative
complexity.

Electronics is a hobby for many people and they like to make electronics products by following
circuit design. They have an interest in electronics and gain enough knowledge in this field. It is not
always mandatory to have an academic education to make electronics products.

Someone can start with some basic knowledge and by practising he may gain lots of practical
experiences. Amateur electronics hobbyist likes to make things for their own pleasure but in this
process, they may make some good products and make some money out of it. Sometimes this
kind of practice may lead to a new invention.

A favourite recreation from the field of mechanical engineering is making vehicles. Due to the
production cost, plane or water vessels are not very popular, but auto mobile is a very accepted
form of this recreation. Someone with a keen interest in cars normally wants to make his own car
or at least modify it. The ultimate goal is to make it faster but other modifications like new body
designs, lighting, engine performance and sound system are important for the hobbyist as well. An
amateur enthusiast’s interest in cars usually stems from childhood and at some point he wants to
modify his own car with his own hands, but it requires technical knowledge. Sometimes an amateur
with enough practical knowledge may get a job at a professional car manufacturing company,
where he can earn a lot of money in the field of his interest.

Almost the same as making a car, making radio controlled instruments is a popular hobby for many
people. It not only requires mechanical knowledge but also electrical and electronics knowledge.
The mechanical part includes the body structure and making it workable. The electronics part for
controlling it by wireless instructions and its circuit design. A common example of this kind of hobby
is a radio controlled model aeroplane. Most of the time, the hobbyist designs the plane by copying
the style of one of his favourite original models.

Another new hobby, totally based on modern technology, is robotics. This pastime needs a lot of
expertise in mechanical and electronics science. But another thing is very important for robotics,
and that is artificial intelligence. Modern robots don't just complete the pre-determined task, now
they are able to make contact with a human. This kind of recreation needs a lot of education and
skill.

Programming is a new but fast growing hobby among the young people. Programming and other
computer related topics are totally dependent on modern technology. A lot of knowledge is
required about the working process of a computer to write a program, and some academic
knowledge as well. Someone may be a genius and understand the basic techniques of
programming with ease, but to make it perfect for practical use, he must have some education in
the related field.

KEY
1. T
2. F
3. F
4. T
5. NG
6. F
7. T
8. F
9. T
10. NG
11. F
12. T