Descripción de la tarea


THE IF GENERATION
Nowadays, many people have issues with appreciating what they have; it is always the matter of ‘If I were richer…’, ‘If I were younger…’, ‘If I were him…’ etc. I don’t have a problem with the fact that we want more from our lives; what annoys me is the fact that we keep saying what we would do ‘IF’ …
When I was younger, I thought that if my parents had been richer I could have been more fortunate with my life. I was losing my time on thinking that if I had been born in the family of my cousin, I would have enjoyed private tennis lessons, skiing holidays in Austria or expensive, fashionable clothes. What I didn’t take into consideration back then was the fact that I didn’t really like sport, I absolutely hated skiing and expensive clothes often covered the lack of personality. In other words, I was jealous of the things that I didn’t want in reality.
Nowadays I keep finding myself the new ‘ifs’ that can successfully keep me away from being happy. I think that if I had more time, I would start going to the gym; if I had more money, I would eat healthy etc. Result? An overweight 30-year-old woman, always complaining about how difficult life is.
But the problem of ‘ifs’ doesn’t finish here. We tend to overuse the 1st conditional in quite straightforward situations. ‘I’ll visit you if I have time’ usually means ‘I won’t visit you, I’m busy’ or ‘I will lend you the money if I can’ equals: ‘ I will not lend you the money, don’t put me in an uncomfortable situation’. Why do we choose to send confusing messages when we can simply say what we think? We have to be not only politically correct anymore, we must be socially correct too.
ANSWER THE QUESTIONS CONNECTED WITH THE TEXT
1 Answer Yes or No:
1. Is the author annoyed with the fact that nowadays people don’t appreciate their lives? Yes/No
2. Does the author regret not being able to train tennis? Yes/No
3. Does the author think that expensive clothes may compensate for an uninteresting character? Yes/No
4. Is the author physically fit? Yes/No
5. Is the author happy with her life? Yes/No
6. Does the author think that people often say things which they don’t mean? Yes/No
2 Answer the questions in your own words:
1. What is the author’s opinion about the way we live today?
2. What does the author criticize in people’s characters?
3. What does the author mean when she says that we must be socially correct?
3 What do you think? Give reasons in your own words.
1. Do you agree with the author’s opinion that we are the ‘IF’ generation?
2. Do you find any similarities between your and the author’s way of thinking?
3. Are you socially correct in the way it is described in the text?

| What if, video de Top Tenz en Youtube |
4 What if …?
Think of a hypothetical situation and write what would happened in that case, e.g. if you found a famous person in the street (don’t use this example). Write a composition of no less than 150 words. Be original.
Remember that it’s a hypothetical situation and use the 2nd conditional. Use paragraphs and linking words.

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