ACTIVITY 280:
After reading this magazine article, you will have to do
three activities. Firstly, quickly read it and
choose the most appropriate title from the menu. Then check the correct answer
and read the article carefully.
1
Kotoen in the Edogawa district of Tokyo is a home for the elderly, so you might
expect it to be a gloomy place.
2
However, the people who live there are always
bright and cheerful. The reason for this is the happy voices of the children who attend the Edogawa Nursery School located in the same building.
The nursery school on the ground floor accommodates 80 pre-school children aged
one and a half to five or six. Kotoen, on the first and second floors, is the
home for about 100 senior citizens.
3
Although many of the elderly residents live in the home by choice, they still
long for family life. Being in the same building allows them to visit the nursery school whenever they wish, while the
children often go upstairs to play. In the morning, both old and young gather
outside for exercises. Special times such as Christmas and sports days are
always
celebrated together.
4
"We find the children learn how to care for others by
talking and being with their older co-residents," explained Maeda Takumi, the
director of Kotoen. "As for the elderly, through their association with the
children they become more alive and their health improves. Seeing these old
people, many of whom we thought had forgotten how to laugh or even express
their thoughts, holding the children and happily talking with them, brings home
just how important an affectionate relationship between the very old and the
very young can be."
5
The success of Kotoen has created a sensation in Japan and brought responses
from all over the country. The declining number of children now being born each
year has left unused space at many nursery schools. It has therefore been
suggested that these surplus areas are utilised by the elderly. In this way, in
spite of living in small nuclear households, children can experience the advantages of close contact with people of a much older generation.
ACTIVITY 281:
Now, try to find the
words which express the explanations below. Then
check your answers.
1.
depressingly dark in appearance (PARAGRAPH 1):
2.
showing good spirits,
optimistic (PARAGRAPH 2):
3.
provides housing for, has room for (PARAGRAPH 2):
4.
advanced in years, senior (PARAGRAPH 3):
5.
collect in one place (PARAGRAPH 3):
6.
be fond of, be attached to
(PARAGRAPH 4:
7.
becomes better
(PARAGRAPH 4):
8.
going down in quantity, falling
(PARAGRAPH 5):
9.
benefits resulting from some event or action (PARAGRAPH 5):
ACTIVITY 282:
Finally, after reading the article again, choose
the best answer (A, B, C, or D) for questions 1-to-3. Then
check your answers.
1.
What is unusual about Kotoen home for the elderly?
A. Old people choose to go there. B. The residents look happy. C. The residents live in family groups.
D. It is next door to a nursery school.
2.
According to the home's director, the old people's health improves because
they ...
A. do a lot of exercise. B. are looked after by young people. C. have close contact with children.
D. learn how to express themselves.
3.
According to the text, children in Japan ...
A. live in large families. B. go to school at one and a half. C. go to crowded nursery schools.
D. celebrate Christmas.
Muy positivas las relaciones que
han logrado establecer con esta experiencia japonesa !!! En la última página de esta lección retomarás la ejercitación de
vocabulario para First Certificate ...
