Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C, or D on your answer sheet to indicate the correct answer to each of the questions from 44 to 50.
“The key to getting teenagers to respect you is to respect them first,” says Penny Palmano, who has written a best-selling book on teenagers. “You can't continue to treat them the same way that you have been treating them for the previous 12 years: they have opinions that count.”
Palmano, who has a daughter aged 19 and a 16-year-old stepdaughter, has even allowed the children to hold several teenage parties at her home. They passed without problems. She agrees that teenagers can be irritating: enjoying a world that is free of responsibility, yet desperate for independence.
She doesn't think, however, that they are trying to annoy you. Until recently, scientists assumed that the brain finished growing at about the age of 13 and that teenage problems were a result of rising hormones and a desire for independence. But it turns out that the region of the brain that controls common sense and emotions is not fully mature until the early twenties. “This would explain why many teenagers can't make good decisions, control their emotions, prioritise or concentrate on several different things at the same time.” says Palmano.
The key to happiness for all, Palmano believes, is calm negotiation and compromise. If you want your teenagers to be home by 11 pm, explain why, but listen to their counter-arguments. “It's vital to choose your battles carefully: don't criticise teenagers for having an untidy room, then suddenly criticise them for other things. On these occasions, parents tend to mention all the other things that they may or may not have done wrong. One minute, it's about an untidy room and the next, you're saying, 'And another thing
...' and criticising them for everything.”
(Adapted from Complete First)
