Warm-up
In this lesson, your tutor will help you go over this topic: Getting Older. First, go over the following vocabulary and expressions with your tutor. Read the word/expression and definition out loud, and your tutor will go over anything you do not understand. Practice creating a sentence or two to make sure you know how to use the word/expression properly.
Vocabulary/ Expressions
| Generation gap | the differences in opinions, values, etc., between younger people and older people | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior citizen | an old person e.g. programs/activities for senior citizens |
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| Alzheimer | a disease of the brain that causes people to slowly lose their memory and mental abilities as they grow old | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Life expectancy | the average number of years that a person or animal can expect to live e.g. improvements in diet that have resulted in greater life expectancy for many people |
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| Retire | to stop a job or career because you have reached the age when you are not allowed to work anymore or do not need or want to work anymore e.g. She plans to retire (from her job) in two years. |
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| Pension | an amount of money that a company or the government pays to a person who is old or sick and no longer works e.g. Her pension arrives in the mail every month. // retired people living on/off their pensions |
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| Boomerang generation | a term applied to the current generation of young adults in Western culture. They are so named for the frequency with which they choose to share a home with their parents after previously living on their own – thus boomeranging back to their place of origin | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In the prime of life | in the best and most productive and healthy period of life. e.g. The good health of one’s youth can carry over into the prime of life. He was struck down by a heart attack in the prime of life. |
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| From cradle to grave | from birth to death. e.g. The government promised to take care of us from the cradle to the grave. You can feel secure and well-protected from the cradle to the grave. |
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| Senior moment | a lapse of memory in an older person. e.g. I had a senior moment and forgot your name. |
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Conversation
Use the following questions as a guideline to form an interesting conversation with your tutor. Feel free to diverge from these suggestions if anything interesting comes up.
- Do you agree that age makes you more aware of, and caring towards, others?
- Should adults try to teach young people lessons, such as the dangers of drinking too much, taking drugs, etc.? Or should they leave them to find out about these things themselves?
- What age do you want to live to? Why?
- How do you feel about your parents growing older?
- If your parents could no longer care for themselves, would you let them live with you or put them in a nursing home?
- Are you afraid of getting old?
- Would you prefer to live in a retirement home or live with young people?
- Should parents continue to finance their children after the children turn 18?
- Describe the place where you wish to live when you are old.
- Some people say that youth is a state of mind, do you agree?
Wrap-up
Go over any new expressions or vocabulary that you learned today.
Cambly Content 