Is the influence of American culture increasing in your country? Does this worry you?

2) Should parents have strict rules about where their teenage sons and daughters go?

3) Do you think that sons and daughters should be treated the same?

SECTION 3

DRESSING UP

Read the text Dressing up, which is about clothing in Kuwait, Sweden and India, and find out if it says anything about:

— clothes for work

— traditional dress

—young people's fashions

Dressing up

In Kuwait, men and women wear their traditional dress most of the time. For men, it is a long robe and a cloth covering the head. For women it's similar and they wear a veil. Foreign male visitors usually wear lightweight cotton trousers and white shirts with short or long sleeves. Men often wear sandals during the day but never in the office. They wear a jacket and a tie for social occasions, but when it's really hot, it's usual to take off the jacket. Foreign women visitors usually wear long, loose clothes which cover their neck and arms.

The Swedish are very interested in clothes and are less formal than they were. People usually dress well in public and wear bright colours. In Sweden the winters are very cold, so overcoats and ski jackets are very common. Men wear business suits for work, with a shirt and a tie and women often wear slacks. People often carry a spare pair of shoes because you need boots outside. Children and teenagers are more casual than their parents. For school, they wear blue jeans and T-shirts.

Traditional dress in India for women is the sari and for men the achkan suit. The sari has its own distinctive style depending on which part of India it comes from — every region has its own special colours, decoration and style. The men wear their heavy and expensive achkan suits on formal occasions but for less formal occasions they wear the kurtha suit, a long shirt and loose trousers, which is not as heavy as the achkan. Indian people wear lighter colours as they grow older, and at funerals white is the usual colour to wear.

Many people wear western-style clothes. For work they wear smart clothes, but not suits and ties. Women usually wear trousers and blouses but not dresses. Young people are as casual as

young people all over the world with their jeans and T-shirts.

Work in pairs. Ask and say what clothes people in your country wear. Talk about clothes for work, clothes at home, traditional dress, and young people's fashions.

Read these statements. Decide if they are true or false for your country.

1. The weather is usually rather cold in Britain.

2. It's difficult to buy good clothes.

3. Good clothes are very expensive.

4. People are quite formal.

5. Many people are quite small.

6. The quality of clothes design is good.

Work in pairs and answer the questions. In your country...

— is the weather hotter or colder than in Britain?

— is it easier or more difficult to buy good clothes?

— arc clothes cheaper or more expensive?

— are people more formal or more casual?

— are people smaller or taller than the British?

— is the quality of clothes design better or worse?

SECTION 4

BRITAIN

When people think of a foreign country they picture in their minds different things. What do you usually think of when you think of a country?

1) Make a list of things. Compare your list with your partner's.

2) Complete the Word Web.