Words Definitions

1. milestones a. eager to learn or know more about something, often asking questions.

2. mature b. full of fun and high spirits, often engaging in games or lighthearted activities.

3. rebellious c. awkward in movement or handling things, often resulting in accidents or spills.

resisting authority or control, often by behaving in ways that are contrary to

4. authoritative d.
rules.
having the power to give orders or make decisions, often respected for
5. toddler e.
knowledge.
a young child who is just beginning to walk, typically between one and three
6. clumsy f.
years old.

7. playful g. a young person in the process of developing from a child into an adult.

8. toddler h. not fully developed or grown up, often acting like a younger person.

9. cognitive i. someone who is at the same age or level as you, often a friend or classmate.

10. lenient j. a rapid increase in physical size or height that occurs during development.

11. immature k. significant events or achievements that mark important stages in a person's life.

the period of development between childhood and adulthood, usually from

12. curious l.
ages 12 to 18.

13. dependent m. being forgiving or tolerant, allowing more freedom than usual.

a young child who has recently learned to walk, generally aged one to three
14. adolescence n.
years.

15. overprotective o. related to thinking, understanding, learning, and remembering information.

16. adolescent p. relying on others for support or help, especially financially or emotionally.

17. peer q. excessively concerned about someone's safety, often limiting their freedom.

having reached an advanced stage of development, showing emotional or

18. growth spurt r.
mental growth.

19. supportive s. providing encouragement or assistance to someone in need.

Reading exercise 1
During early childhood, a toddler learns to walk and talk. These are important milestones in development. As
children grow, they go through a transition from a playful and curious phase to a more structured learning
environment. In adolescence, many teenagers experience a growth spurt, growing quickly in a short period of
time. They often become more rebellious and want independence from their parents. This time of life is when a
person becomes an adolescent, which is a stage between childhood and adulthood. Some adolescents may feel
clumsy as they adjust to their growing bodies, but they are also becoming more mature and are able to handle
more responsibilities. During this time, they are starting to develop cognitive skills that help in problem-solving
and decision-making. Friends, or peers, become very important and often influence behavior significantly. It's
common for adolescents to feel dependent on their friends' approval. Parents might show different parenting
styles. Some are more authoritative, setting clear rules, while others may be overprotective or lenient. It's
important for adolescents to have a supportive environment to help them navigate this stage. Although they
might seem immature at times, adolescence is a crucial period for personal development and learning.

Question 1 – 7
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the Reading Passage?
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

1. Toddlers learn to walk and talk during early childhood.

2. Adolescents often feel completely independent from their parents.
3. Adolescents may feel awkward as they adjust to their changing bodies.
4. Friends have little influence on adolescent behavior.
5. Some parents are strict, while others are more relaxed in their parenting style.
6. Adolescence is not important for personal growth.
7. Adolescents develop skills that help them make decisions.
Question 8 – 14
8. What is the primary focus of the passage?
A. The different stages of human development from childhood to adulthood
B. The challenges faced by adolescents during their growth spurt
C. The importance of parental support for adolescents
D. The impact of peer influence on adolescent behavior

9. Which of the following best describes the transition that occurs during adolescence?
A. Adolescents become less curious and more playful.
B. Adolescents move from a structured learning environment to a more playful phase.
C. Adolescents go from a playful and curious phase to a more structured learning environment.
D. Adolescents experience a decrease in their desire for independence from their parents.

10. According to the passage, which of these is a key characteristic of adolescence?

A. Adolescents develop fewer cognitive skills.
B. Adolescents become more dependent on their parents.
C. Adolescents experience a decline in their growth spurt.
D. Adolescents start to develop problem-solving and decision-making abilities.

11. How do parents' parenting styles differ during the adolescent stage?
A. Parents become more lenient and less authoritative.
B. Parents become more overprotective and less authoritative.
C. Parents maintain a consistent authoritative parenting style.
D. Parents use a variety of parenting styles, from authoritative to lenient.

12. What is the significance of the adolescent stage, according to the passage?
A. It is a crucial period for personal development and learning.
B. It is a time of decreased importance for peer approval.
C. It is a stage marked by decreased rebelliousness and more dependence on parents.
D. It is a period of declining cognitive skills and problem-solving abilities.
13. Which of the following is described as an important milestone in early childhood development?
A. Learning to handle more responsibilities
B. Developing a growth spurt
C. Learning to walk and talk
D. Becoming more rebellious

14. How do adolescents typically feel about their changing bodies during the growth spurt?
A. They feel completely comfortable and confident.
B. They experience no clumsiness or adjustment issues.
C. They feel dependent on their parents' approval.
D. They feel clumsy as they adjust to their growing bodies.

Reading exercise 2
Developmental tasks of normal adolescence
A. Some years ago, Professor Robert Havighurst of the University of Chicago, USA, proposed that stages in human
development can best be thought of in terms of the developmental ‘tasks’ that are part of the normal transition.
He identified ten developmental tasks associated with the adolescent transition. Each of the Havighurst tasks
can also be seen as elements of the overall sense of self that adolescents carry with them as they move towards
and into young adulthood. Adolescents do not progress through these multiple developmental tasks separately;
at any given time they may be dealing with several.
B. The adolescent must adjust to a new physical sense of self. At no other time since birth does an individual
undergo such profound physical changes as during early adolescence. Puberty is marked by sudden rapid growth
in height and weight. Also, the young person experiences the emergence and accentuation of those physical
traits that make the person a boy or a girl. The young person looks less like a child and more like a physically
mature adult. The effect of this rapid change is that mid-adolescents are body-conscious, and their concerns are
directed towards their opposite-sexed peers.
C. The adolescent must adjust to new intellectual abilities. In addition to a sudden spurt in physical growth,
adolescents experience a sudden increase in their ability to think about their world. As a normal part of maturity,
they are able to think more things. However, they are also able to conceive of their world with awareness. Before
adolescence, children’s thinking is dominated by a concrete example for any problem that they solve; their
thinking is constrained to what is real and physical. During adolescence, young people begin to recognise and
understand abstractions. The growth in ability to deal with abstractions accelerates during the middle stages of
adolescence.
D. The adolescent must adjust to increased cognitive demands at school. Adults see high school in part as a place
where adolescents prepare for adult roles and responsibilities and in part as preparatory for further education.
School curricula are frequently dominated by the inclusion of more abstract, demanding material, regardless of
whether the adolescents have achieved formal thought. Since not all adolescents make the intellectual transition
at the same rate, demands for abstract thinking prior to the achievement of that ability may be frustrating.
E. The adolescent must adopt a personal value system. During adolescence, as teens develop increasingly
complex knowledge systems, they also adopt an integrated set of values and morals. During the early stages of
moral development, parents provide their child with a structured set of rules of what is right and wrong, what
is acceptable and unacceptable. Eventually the adolescent must assess the parent’s values as they come into
conflict with values expressed by peers and other segments of society. To reconcile differences, the adolescent
restructures those beliefs into a personal ideology.
F. The adolescent must develop expanded verbal skills to accommodate more complex concepts and tasks. Their
limited language of childhood is no longer adequate. As their conceptual development may outstrip their verbal
development, adolescents may appear less competent than they really are.
G. The adolescent must establish adult vocational goals. As part of the process of establishing a personal identity,
the adolescent must also begin the process of focusing on the question, ‘What do you plan to be when you grow
up? Mid-adolescents must identify, at least at a preliminary level, what their adult vocational goals are and how
they intend to achieve them.
H. The adolescent must develop a personal sense of identity. Prior to adolescence, one’s identity is an extension
of one’s parents’ identity. During the early adolescent years a young person begins to recognise their uniqueness
and to establish themselves as separate individuals, independent of their parents. As such, one must reconsider
the answer to the question, ‘what does it mean to be me?’ or “who am l?”
I. The adolescent must establish emotional and psychological independence from his or her parents, childhood
is marked by strong dependence on one’s parents. Adolescents may yearn to keep that safe, secure, supportive,
dependent relationship. Yet, to be an adult implies a sense of independence, of autonomy, of being one’s own
person. In an attempt to assert their need for independence and individuality, adolescents may respond with
what appears to be hostility and lack of cooperation.
K. The adolescent must develop stable and productive peer relationships. Although peer interaction is not
unique to adolescence, it seems to hit a peak of importance during early adolescence. Certainly, by late
adolescence or early adulthood the need for peer approval has diminished. This degree to which an adolescent
is able to make friends and have an accepting peer group, though, is a major indicator of how well the adolescent
will adjust in other areas of social and psychological development. Early adolescence is also a period of intense
conformity to peers.” Fitting in’ not being different, and being accepted seem somehow pressing to this age
group. The worst possibility, from the view of the young teen, is to be seen by peers as different.
L. The adolescent must develop increased impulse control and behavioural maturity. In their shift to adulthood,
most young people engage in one or more behaviours that place them at physical, social, or educational risk.
Risky behaviours are sufficiently pervasive among adolescents to suggest that risk-taking may be a normal
developmental process of middle adolescence. Gradually adolescents develop a set of behavioural self-controls
through which they assess which behaviours are acceptable and adult-like.

Question 1-3
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the Reading Passage?

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE if the statement contradicts the information

NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

1 Most preadolescent children are capable of abstract thought.

2 Adolescents ‘limited skills’ with words may give a false impression of their ability.

3 Whether or not an adolescent is accepted by their age-group is an important clue to other aspects of their

social adjustment.

Question 4-10
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.

4. Which of the following is NOT a key developmental task for adolescents according to the passage?

A. Adjusting to increased cognitive demands at school

B. Developing a personal sense of identity

C. Establishing adult vocational goals

D. Improving their physical appearance

5. What is the primary reason adolescents may appear less competent than they really are?

A. They struggle to keep up with their younger peers academically.

B. Their limited language skills do not match their conceptual development.

C. They lack the impulse control and behavioral maturity of adults.

D. They are too focused on conforming to their peer group.

6. What is a key factor that helps determine how well an adolescent will adjust in other areas of development?

A. The level of emotional independence they establish from their parents

B. Their ability to develop stable and productive peer relationships

C. The speed at which they achieve physical maturity

D. The clarity of their adult vocational goals

7. What does the passage suggest is a normal part of the adolescent shift to adulthood?

A. Completely rejecting their parents' values

B. Engaging in risky behaviors that put them at physical or social risk

C. Maintaining strong emotional dependence on their parents

D. Easily achieving impulse control and behavioral maturity

8. According to the passage, how do adolescents typically respond to their need for independence and

individuality?

A. By enthusiastically embracing increased responsibilities

B. By openly communicating their desires for autonomy to their parents

C. By appearing hostile and uncooperative towards their parents

D. By completely disregarding their parents' rules and expectations

9. What is a key aspect of how adolescents develop a personal value system?

A. Accepting their parents' values without question

B. Relying solely on input from their peers

C. Reconciling differences between parental and societal values

 D. Developing a set of values that is entirely distinct from their upbringing

10. What does the passage suggest is a key purpose of high school education for adolescents?

Preparing them for further education

Helping them develop a clear sense of identity

Fostering their emotional independence from parents

Improving their impulse control and behavioral maturity