Α. Read the text below and respond to tasks A1 and A2.

Knowing the extent of our influence as parents can make our task all the more daunting. The endless rise of new parenting methods we hear about in the media can add to our sense of confusion and lack of confidence. Are parents sweating the “small stuff” and worrying over the less important aspects of what makes a successful child?

Does it really matter if a toddler throws food, eats quinoa or can recite poetry? I don’t believe it does. I call these things the “outside stuff”, whether it concerns appearances, manners, or anything that children can get a certificate for, it’s all relatively superficial.

For me the part you can’t afford to get wrong, that will make it all worthwhile, is the “inside stuff”. This is what you can’t see, but you can feel in your child: self-esteem, empathy, curiosity and affection.
As a child psychiatrist, I’m only too aware of the facts and figures on child mental health. These are stark: 75% of adult mental health problems begin before the age of 18, and 50% begin before the age of 14.

The evidence is clear: if we want to promote psychological wellbeing, we need to look at what is happening much earlier than adolescence. If we want happy, healthy adults, we need first to raise happy, healthy children.

Where do these “inside” qualities come from? Is it something innate within the child? Is it genetic? Is it nurture? From a neurological perspective, how a child’s brain develops connects all these elements.

A child’s brain also has amazing capabilities to adapt, picking up foreign languages and musical instruments with much greater ease than adults.

They are emotional sponges, too, able to absorb the adult feelings and behaviour around them, so if music and language can be hard-wired into the brain in these early years of a child’s life, shouldn’t this also be the case for the “inside stuff”? And if so, then the critical part of parenting happens very early on. The saying: “Give me a child until he is seven and I will show you the man” couldn’t be truer. It is in these first seven years that parental involvement can have the most significant impact.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/jun/04/vit al-but-invisible-early-lessons-that-last-a-lifetime

A1. Answer questions 1-3 based on the text above (max. 30 words each). (3 x 4 points = 12 points)
*****
ΠΡΟΣΟΧΗ: Ορισμένες ερωτήσεις δεν είναι πολλαπλής επιλογής καθώς πρέπει να (απαντήσετε) γράψετε την γνώμη σας με μικρές παραγράφους.
Σ'αυτές τις ερωτήσεις όπως εδώ, για να απαντήσετε, γράψτε την απάντησή σας σε ένα τετράδιο και μετά, για να δείτε πόσο σωστή είναι, να την συγκρίνετε με την σωστή απάντηση που έχουμε γράψει από κάτω. Έτσι εσείς θα κρίνετε την βαθμολογία σας.

Question 1
1. What would be a suitable title for this article?