Alice: Hello! I’m Alice and this is 6 Minute English…and thanks to Rob forjoining me today! Hello Rob.
Rob: Hello Alice.
Alice: Now, Rob we’re talking about something that most people have to doat some point in their lives – leave home…Rob: Some people can’t wait to leave home and become independent, butplenty more would be happy to stay living with their parents andfamily at home.
Alice: Many countries have legal limits for the age somebody can leavehome. In the UK you can drive a car at 17, buy alcohol and vote at theage of 18. But what age can you leave home with your parentspermission?
Is it:
a. 18b. 17c. 16Rob: I think you can get married at 16 can’t you? So is it 16?
Alice: I’m not telling you yet. We’ll find out the correct answer at the end ofthe programme. What’s interesting is how more and more people arestaying at home longer in the UK. There’s even a word for it – it’scalled the boomerang generation.
Rob: A boomerang as in the Australian tool that comes back to you whenyou throw it?
Alice: Exactly! You should be able to see a photo of one on our website. Theboomerang generation are young people who leave home to go toUniversity but then return to live with their parents when they’vefinished their studies.
Rob: So they leave home but come back to their parents again after studying.
And how long do they stay with their parents after they’ve finishedUniversity?
Alice: It varies – but the latest official figures show that the number ofgraduates returning home after University has increased by a third inthe last 20 years. Here’s the BBC’s Tim Muffett:
Extract 1The boomerang generation is booming. According to the Office for National Statistics,around 15% of female graduates move back home. For male graduates the figure is22%, that’s an increase of almost a third in twenty years, and with a lack of jobs for theclass of 2010 the numbers are expected to rise.
Alice: The boomerang generation is booming!
Rob: Do we know why so many more students are returning to live at home?
Alice: Most of the reasons are economic – students are finding it difficult toget jobs after they finish their studies so they can’t afford to pay fortheir own place to live.
Rob: I imagine it depends on where you choose to live – some students do ahouse or flat-share where they can split the rent with other youngpeople.
Alice: But some students have such big debts after paying for University theycan’t afford to do a house or flat-share with other people. It’s easier togo home to their parents and try and save some money! The BBC’sTim Muffett went to meet recent graduate Kate and her mother Janice.
Kate’s had to move back in with her parents after leaving University.
Extract 2KATE: I lost my independence because at University you get to do what you want to do– and not be regimented by what you watch on the television.
MUM: we lost our privacy, because suddenly there is somebody else in the house. Wewouldn’t sling her out, much as we’d like to sometimes.
TIM: Are your relieved to hear that?
KATE: yeah!
Alice: Kate’s complaining that she’s lost her independence. At Universityshe got to do what she wanted.
Rob: She says she could watch what she wanted on TV – it wasn’tregimentedAlice: regimented – that’s a military term meaning there are strict rulesthat have to be followed – like a regiment.
Rob: What about her parents?
Alice: Let’s listen again to what Kate’s mum Janice said:
MUM: we lost our privacy, because suddenly there is somebody else in the house. Wewouldn’t sling her out, much as we’d like to sometimes.
Alice: Kate’s mum Janice says she has lost her privacy because suddenlythere’s someone else in the house.
Rob: I hope she’s joking when she says ‘we wouldn’t sling her out’!
Alice: I hope she is joking – she wouldn’t really ask her daughter Kate toleave the family home! Let’s hear from one more person today. This isProfessor of Sociology, Gill Jones, who’s been speaking to lots ofyoung people about returning home after University. She thinks life forthe boomerang generation is very difficult:
Extract 3If young people can’t become independent when they are technically adult then itcreates all sorts of problems, about what does it mean to be adult – are young peoplewilling to defer adulthood and what are parents taking on when they have children?
How long are they going to be responsible for them?
Alice: Young people are technically adult – they’re officially adultsbecause they can vote, get married and live on their own butbecause they’re having to return home there can be problems.
Rob: Professor Gill Jones says they have to defer adulthoodAlice: That means they have to wait til they leave home again before they canreally feel like adults.
Rob: And parents are having to be responsible for children for many moreyears than they expected.
Alice: Which brings me to the question I asked earlier. What is the legal age for children to be allowed to leave home in the UK? Was it:
a 18b. 17c. 16Rob: I’m guessing 16?
Alice: You’re right. You can also get married at age 16 if you have yourparents’ permission in the UK. Shall we have a quick re-cap of thevocabulary we’ve come across today:
Rob: leave home independent legal limit boomerang booming house or flat-share debts regimented technically adulthood Well that’s all we’ve got time for today. Thanks for joining us and seeyou next time. Bye!（本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑） |