IELTS READING SESSION 1

Answer these questions. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.

The people they live with have a great influence on the way children grow up. Those who live with their extended family have many advantages. They usually get lots of love and attention. Grandparents often have more time to read to children and play with them. As they are often retired, they are not always busy and stressed as many parents are. They have learnt to be patient and they have already handled most of the problems children and young people face.

Why are grandparents often less busy and stressed than parents?

Answer these questions. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER from the passage for each answer.

The people they live with have a great influence on the way children grow up. Those who live with their extended family have many advantages. They usually get lots of love and attention. Grandparents often have more time to read to children and play with them. As they are often retired, they are not always busy and stressed as many parents are. They have learnt to be patient and they have already handled most of the problems children and young people face.

Why are grandparents often less busy and stressed than parents?

Answer these questions. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.

The people they live with have a great influence on the way children grow up. Those who live with their extended family have many advantages. They usually get lots of love and attention. Grandparents often have more time to read to children and play with them. As they are often retired, they are not always busy and stressed as many parents are. They have learnt to be patient and they have already handled most of the problems children and young people face.

What do young adults often think living alone will be like?

Answer these questions. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.

There have been a lot of scientific studies into what makes a friendship. It seems today that ideas of what friendship is are also changing. A study in 1993 at the University of Oxford showed that people could only maintain 150 relationships. However, with the explosion of social media since then, many people now have over 300 people who they think of as friends. Some people think that these friends are not real friends, but others believe that social media has helped us to expand and keep our friendships because we have more time and opportunities.

What has enabled people to have more friends than in the past, according to some people?

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Another change from the past is that people don't stay in the place where they were born. They go to different cities and countries for education and jobs. People are in general more geographically mobile nowadays. This means that we have more chances to meet and make friends with people from different cultures and different backgrounds. People still often make friends at college who remain friends for life, but making new friends at work is more difficult. People now have less security at work and this also means that they find it harder to build new relationships.

What phrase does the writer use to describe people who don't stay in the same place?

Answer these questions. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.

Another change from the past is that people don't stay in the place where they were born. They go to different cities and countries for education and jobs. People are in general more geographically mobile nowadays. This means that we have more chances to meet and make friends with people from different cultures and different backgrounds. People still often make friends at college who remain friends for life, but making new friends at work is more difficult. People now have less security at work and this also means that they find it harder to build new relationships.

What work-related problem do people have that makes them less likely to form friendships?

Answer these questions. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.

As people get older, they sometimes also have less free time. They become busier with their jobs and families and have less time to spend with friends. Friendships can be very different when we are at different ages. Young children often choose their friends because of convenience, for example, they go to the same school, they live near each other or their parents are friends. As we get older, friendships are more connected with having similar interests and opinions.

What work-related problem do people have that makes them less likely to form friendships?

Answer these questions. Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.

One thing is definitely true though, it doesn't matter how old we are or how many friends we have on social media, friendship is good for our health. People who spend time with friends have fewer mental health problems and are generally happier and in a better physical state of health than people who spend their free time alone.

What are people with friends less likely to suffer from?