Module 1A Mission Impossible Teenagers all over the world have many interests in common despite geographical distances They like hanging out, listening to music, chatting with friends and surfing the Net But their daily activities vary from place to place and depend on cultural practices For example, a typical day in Paul’s life may be rather different from yours, since he is a 14-year-old English adolescent During school days, he always gets up early and has a bowl of cereals and orange juice He then walks to the bus stop and takes the school bus School starts at 8:45 a.m and ends at 3:15 p.m Some of the subjects that he attends are Maths, Science, Drama, English and Humanities and each lesson lasts one hour After the first two periods, there is a break and Paul always has a snack and chats with his friends At lunchtime, he buys the school lunch in the canteen and sometimes brings a packed lunch It usually consists of a sandwich, a fruit and a drink After having his meal, Paul continues with his lessons, which take place in different classrooms That is why he carries his schoolbag whenever he changes places But he also has a locker to keep the materials he does not use During his free time, Paul plays his favourite sport, football, but he loves to play on his Wii with his friends He also has to help his mum He does housework and very often goes shopping to the local store Every afternoon, Paul does his homework and devotes time to study since he has to take the GCSE exams very soon At about 6.30 p.m., Paul has dinner with his dad and mum Sometimes, they buy Indian meal or his parents cook pasta or Paul’s favourite food, roast beef and Yorkshire pudding with beans After dinner, Paul always wants to watch TV but his mum makes him wash the dishes, which he hardly ever does without complaining! He then takes a shower and goes to bed Adapted from: www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/questions/teenagediary.htm Did you know that GCSE means General Certificate of Secondary Education? These tests are taken in a number of subjects to complete the first stage of Secondary Education English Toolkit - Language & Culture Photocopiable © Ediciones Santillana S.A / Richmond 2011 A day in the life of an English teenager Module 1A Activities 1 Read the text about Paul and complete his diary with the correct activity from the box finish school – have dinner – get up – go shopping – start school – have lunch Work in pairs Ask questions orally about Paul’s day using the Simple Present a.m a.m p.m p.m p.m p.m What time does he finish school? Does he have dinner at 4:30 p.m.? 2 Read the text and complete the diagrams have take a shower 3 Underline the adverbs of frequency that appear in the text 4 Complete the text about Paul’s day during holidays Use the Simple Present During holidays, Paul (get up) at midday He (not have) breakfast but he (have) lunch He then (watch) TV or (send) a text message to a friend to invite him to play on the Wii Sometimes, they (go) to play football At p.m., Paul (have) dinner with his family and (use) the computer for a while before he (go) to sleep 5 Write a paragraph describing a typical day in your life These questions are given as a guide: What time you get up? What you usually have for breakfast? How you go to school? What time does school start? What you at school? Where you have lunch? What time you arrive home? What you in the afternoon? Do you practise any sport or any other activity? What time you have dinner? When you go to bed? English Toolkit - Language & Culture Photocopiable © Ediciones Santillana S.A / Richmond 2011 6:30 8:45 1:00 3:15 4:30 6:30