4A
There is no doubt that millennials all over the world share a lot of common ground – they wear the same multinational brands, eat at the same chains of fast-food outlets and stream the same games and apps. They follow sports that aren’t played in their own countries and can discuss books or TV shows with counterparts in different continents thousands of kilometres away.
This homogenization of the visible aspects of culture is probably to be expected but, more interestingly, recent surveys have revealed that a shared set of values is emerging among millennials all around the globe. Although their immediate political concerns vary from region to region, millennials in all areas surveyed are interested in social justice, improving everyone’s access to education, and religious tolerance. Far fewer of them actively practise a religion than their parents’ generation did, and 80% say they would consider marrying a person whose religious faith was different from their own.
Perhaps the most astonishing convergence of beliefs among millennials worldwide is their scepticism about the ability of governments to solve the world’s problems. Instead, this generation is putting its trust in businesses to initiate improvements in society – 86% of respondents to one survey in Japan, China and India said that they felt corporations should lead the way when it came to societal change, while the majority of British millennials in one survey said they wanted multinational tech, media and fashion mega-brands to initiate campaigns for international change.
It is still early days for this new generation of tech- savvy, idealistic youngsters and it remains to be seen if their views will affect culture at its deeper level. Whatever happens, however, it looks as though the pace of change will be rapid, and may take us all in unexpected directions.
4 Read the article again quickly and complete the sentences below with statistics from it. 76
a b There are
c Millennials spend about d e
% of millennials own a smartphone. in the world, many of whom live in using their smartphones. % of millennials would marry someone of a different religious faith. of millennials in Asian countries believe businesses should create improvements in society. 5 In pairs. Do any of the statistics in 4 surprise you? If so, which, and why? 6 Read the article one more time, more slowly and in detail. Make notes on the points below.
a areas of similarity between millennials globally b areas of difference between millennials in different places c the author’s final conclusions
English for the 21st Century • Unit 4 59 .
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