TEACHERS' NOTES AND ANSWER KEY

Pre-Reading Activities
A: Talking About Ourselves - Notes
1. Students read the interview answers and write suitable questions for the answers. They could also do it in pairs. Circulate and
help them with their vocabulary and grammar. (Check their questions for coherence and grammatical accuracy. If you wish to
make this part of the activity easier, give students the sample questions below (in random order (see A: Talking About Ourselves Sample Answers) and ask them to match each question with the right answer.)
3. Students interview each other using the questions they wrote (and you have checked). Students change their questions if they
are no longer teenagers: e.g. a. How often did you and your mother argue? You may have some students who do not wish to talk
about themselves because their teenage years or relationships with their mothers were unhappy. Be sensitive to this. The questions
look at mother and daughter relationships but could be changed to one of these combinations: father and daughter / father and
son / mother and son.
In a one-to-one situation the student could interview you and then change roles.
A: Talking About Ourselves - Sample Answers
1a. How often do you and your father argue?
b. What do you usually argue about?
c. What do you do when you argue with your father?
d. Why do you argue?
e. Do you think that arguments with your father are helpful?
f. Describe one of your arguments with your father.
B: Quick Class Survey - Notes
1. Get answers by asking for a show of hands. Students should note down how many of the class answered 'yes' and how many
answered 'no'. In a one to one situation you might like to ask the student to ask some of their friends the question for homework.
2. Students write a sentence or two recording the class's answers. Get one or two volunteers to read their answers out.
Reading Activities
A: Understanding The Main Idea - Notes
Discourage students from using their dictionaries for Reading Activities A - C so they will be able to do the vocabulary in context
activity in Reading Activity D.
A: Understanding The Main Idea - Answer
Yes.
B: Reading For Specific Information - Answers
1. Psychologist Dr Terri Apter from Cambridge University believes that arguments are good for father-teenage-son relationships.
2. Fathers and sons may begin by arguing about nothing important.
3. Apter spoke at the British Psychological Society's annual conference.
4. Fathers and their teenage sons usually argue for about 15 minutes every two and a half days.
5. Fathers and sons usually argue for about six minutes every four days.
6. Fathers and sons often argue about homework, and untidy bedrooms.
7. Sons don't usually argue with their mothers but instead just ignore them.
C: Understanding New Vocabulary - Notes
You may wish to talk about how to deal with new words (for example, using your understanding of a sentence and of the article's
ideas to help work out its meaning and thinking about what word form the word is and whether it has a prefix or suffix that you
are already familiar with).

C: Understanding New Vocabulary - Answers

1. a, 2. c, 3. b, 4.c, 5.b, 6.a.
D: Finding Key Information - Answers
3, 4, 6.
Post-Reading Activities
A: Information Exchange Game - Notes
Students work individually and fill in half of their tables using the information from their worksheets by transferring the answers
of the men onto their table. (Each worksheet has the answers of three females interviewed by English-To-Go.com about their
relationships with their mothers (or daughters). They then work in pairs and find out information from their partner about the other
three women. You might like to help them with their questions:
e.g. What is her name?
How old is she?
Did she argue with her mother or her daughter?
How often did she / does she argue with her mother?
How often did she / does she argue with her daughter?
Does she feel these arguments helped / help their relationship in any way?
You may like to finish the activity by 1. discussing students' reactions to some of the answers given in the game and 2. focussing
on some of the language used in the answers.

Information For Student A

Fred, 54
1. How often did you argue with your son when he was a teenager?
We usually argued once or twice a fortnight. Most of our arguments were
about his contribution to household chores, though he would sometimes
complain about things she didn't like, too.
2. Do you think these arguments helped your relationship in any way? If
you do, how?
The arguments often helped to raise issues. This meant that the problem
we were arguing about was usually resolved, at least temporarily, so yes,
definitely it was helpful. (Glossary: issue - a subject that people are arguing about or discussing;
resolve - find a solution to a problem)

David, 60
1. How often did you argue with your father when you were a teenager?
I did not argue with my Father, I accepted his judgments, or ignored
them.
2. Do you think these arguments helped your relationship in any way? If
you do, how?
I do not know if arguing helped our relationship: I was very wary of my
Mother because I felt she thought I wasn't a very good daughter. I always
tried not to argue with her. (Glossary: wary - you are cautious of someone because you do not know
much about them and believe they may cause problems)

Jim, 17
1. How often do you argue with your father?
I fight with my dad too much...probably about once every few days we
have a minor fight. We go through phases of maybe a week or so when
we fight a lot more and once every half a year to a year we have a really
big fight. (Glossary: fight - have an angry argument with someone)
2. Do you think these arguments help your relationship in any way? If
you do, how?
I guess it does help in some ways--afterwards we try harder not to fight
because we know how horrible it is. It can be very hard to cope with at
the time if the fight is really serious. I'd rather not fight so much with her
though.

Information For Student B

Chris, 19
1. How often do you argue with your father?
I have had maybe four fights with my dad in my entire life.We just don't
fight. (Glossary: fight - have an angry argument with someone)
2. Do you think these arguments help your relationship in any way? If
you do, how?
No. I don't think these fights were beneficial or harmful to our
relationship.
John 34
1. How often did you argue with your father when you were a teenager?
Two or three times a week, sometimes more, sometimes less. We usually
tried not to argue by talking things over.
2. Do you think these arguments helped your relationship in any way? If
you do, how?
Not really. It was better to talk about something calmly. But sometimes it
helped my mother to see what was important to me.
Noah 38
1. How often do you argue with your son?
When he was 14 or 15 years old we'd probably argue on average at least
twice a week, sometimes more. Hes 18 now. Now we argue less often.
2. Do you think these arguments help your relationship in any way? If
you do, how?
Not really. The best resolutions come when neither of us were angry.
However, finding a 'right time' to talk about things is hard. Often she
won't give and take (teenagers can be very determined), so little
disagreements can quickly become major ones. (Glossary: give and take - agree to give
up something that you wanted because you want something to be successful)

A: Information Exchange Game - Answers

Name and age: Louise, 54
1. How often she argued with her daughter: Once or twice a fortnight.
2. Whether or not the arguments help the relationship: Yes, it was helpful. The issue was usually resolved.
Name and age: Margie, 60
1. How often she argued with her mother: Never.
2. Whether or not the arguments helped the relationship: She doesn't know.
Name and age: Sue, 17
1. How often she argues with her mother: A minor fight once every few days.
2. Whether or not the arguments help the relationship: It does help them to avoid other arguments because they know how
horrible fights are.
Name and age: Crystal, 11
1. How often she argues with her mother: Every day.
2. Whether or not the arguments helped the relationship: No.
Name and age: Linda 19
1. How often she argues with her mother: She has only had four arguments with her mother in her whole life.
2. Whether or not the arguments helped the relationship: They weren't beneficial or harmful.
Name and age: Agnes, 34
1. How often she argued with her mother: Two or three times a week.
2. Whether or not the arguments helped the relationship: Usually no. It sometimes helped her mother to see what was
important to Agnes.
Name and age: Charlotte, 38
1. How often she argues with her daughter: When her daughter was 14 or 15 years old, on average at least twice a week. Now
they argue less.
2. Whether or not the arguments help the relationship: No.
B: Language - Notes
There are a number of Anna Grammar pages on modals in the Resources section of the English-To-Go Teachers' Room website.
Use the 'Search Resources' function and type 'modals' as the keyword. Select 'Anna Grammar' as the Lesson Type and click 'Go'.
B: Language - Answers
Part Two: 1. has to, 2. don't have to, 3. have to, 4. doesn't have to, 5. has to, 6. should, 7. doesn't have to 8. has to.