Task 2C: How old is “old enough” for specific activities and responsibilities

Introduction

The task requires you to create a text discussing how old is “old enough” for specific activities and responsibilities. The text must specify which activities you are writing about, focus on one or more English-speaking countries, discuss which age limit/s should apply and why, and use information from the preparation material. The task also informs you that all texts in the preparation material can be helpful in writing your text and asks you to give your text a suitable title.

It may be a good idea to pick one or more English-speaking countries to focus on from the table in text 8, since it tells you the legal age limits for a number of activities in various English-speaking countries.

You might be able to use all the texts in the preparation material as inspiration for your own composition. You can find summaries of all the texts in an earlier section of this study guide.

How old is “old enough” to run for office

Text 1 presents the opinion of a university professor, who suggests that a person’s maturity and experience should matter more than their age, and that a young President will represent the country’s youth better. However, one could also argue that, at 21, a young person will not often have gathered sufficient knowledge and experience to be President. This also seems to be the opinion of a majority of Irish people, as the text informs us that a referendum on lowering the age requirement to 21 failed and the minimum age remains 35. 

Text 1 also presents Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, who is 29 years old and the youngest woman ever elected to the US Congress. The text calls ...