way2go! 6. Practice Pack, Arbeitsheft

48 Unit 09 | Make a change! Read the text about reducing the voting age. Some words are missing. Choose the correct answer (A, B, C or D) for each gap (1–8). Put a cross (  ) in the correct box. The first one (0) has been done for you. LANGUAGE IN USE 3 The surprising consequences of lowering the voting age In 2013, Takoma Park, Maryland, became the first place in the US to grant 16- and 17-year-olds the right to vote in local elections. Surprisingly, the number of registered voters under 18 who went to (0) their vote was four times higher than the number of registered voters over 18. Since then, some (1) communities have also allowed 16- and 17-year-olds to vote and activists have been campaigning for communities across the country to follow their lead. There are good reasons to reduce the voting age. Firstly, it gets young people (2) in politics and helps them establish the habit of voting their whole lives long. But there’s another reason: when young people vote, their parents are more likely to vote too. Researchers have found a ‘trickle up’ effect in which parents vote because of their children – both to set an example and to do their civic duty. However, this was only found to be (3) for parents who live with their children. Many children start leaving home around age 18 – meaning that many young people will leave home before the first election in which they (4) vote. If the voting age was 16 or 17, there would be more children who still lived with their parents in their first election – and both groups would be a little more likely to vote. In 2008, Austria became the (5) country in the European Union to give 16-year-olds the right to vote in a general election. The main concern with lowering the voting age is whether 16- year-olds are old enough to vote responsibly. However, research from Austria suggests that these young people are as engaged in politics and make voting decisions as (6) as older voters. There are those who say that 16 is (7) young to be having a say in the running of a country, but young people are capable of incredible intelligence and accomplishment. People under the age of 18 have won a Nobel Prize (Malala Yousafzai), reached the summit of Mount Everest, conducted cancer research, become published authors, taught a graduate-level course in nuclear physics, run their (8) schools, worked for NASA, and risked their lives to save others. If young people are capable of such a variety of amazing feats, they certainly have the capacity to vote for the candidate that best represents their interests. 0 A cast B casting C create D creating 1 A differently B other C added D another 2 A keen B liking C interested D excited 3 A truly B truth C true D truthful 4 A can B have C can’t D cast 5 A necessary B firstly C first D average 6 A good B well C important D far 7 A terrible B nearly C much D too 8 A pupil B own C teacher D only Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv