Text I
Now Id like to tell you a few words about my family. There are five people in my immediate family, although my extended family is quite large. My parents are not old at all. My fathers name is AnatolijVladimirovich, he is a construction engineer. He is forty-five. My mothers name is Marina Viktorovna and she is an elementary school teacher. She is forty-three, but she looks muchyounger. My parents are kind and always help us solve our problems. I have two sisters, Svetlana and Tatiana, both younger, so Im the oldest child which always meant that I had extra responsibilities to keep an eye on the younger ones. Svetlana is sixteen and she is in the ninth form at school. She is fond of reading and her dream is to become a journalist. Tatjana is twelve. She likes cheerleading and she is very fond of animals and we keep many pets at home: a cat, a parrot, a goldfish and a hamster. But her dream is to have a dog.
My sister Tatiana looks like our father, shes got fair hair and blue eyes. And my sister Svetlana looks like our mother, shes got dark hair and brown eyes. Im very close to my family. We have lunch together every weekend at my grandmothers house. She always cooks something delicious. I try to spend as much time as possible with my relatives. We watch films or go to the park if the weathers nice. I have a lot of other relatives, but they live in the central part of Russia, so we see them only in summer.
So, we are a happy family and we get on well together. I am not married yet, but I would like to have similar relationships in the family of my own.
Text vocabulary:
construction engineer -;
immediate/ nuclear family (your parents and siblings (brothers and sisters) ; , , ;
extendedfamily (allyourrelatives uncles, aunts, cousins, etc.) ( , , , );
distant relative (a person who is related to you by a long series of connections)
to have a loving family or a close-knit family (family that has good relationships, where everyone loves each other and helps each other) , ;
carefree childhood (you had nothing to worry about when you were young) ;
to have responsibilities ;
to keep an eye on someone / something - / -;
to look like ;
as much time as possible ;
get on well with someone -.
Exercise 4. Answer the following questions about Yaroslav and his family.
1. How many people are there in Yaroslavs immediate family?
2. What do you know about his father?
3. What can you say about his mother?
4. Does Yaroslavhave any brothers or sisters?
5. Are they older or younger?
6. Is Svetlana fond of animals?
7. Is Tatjana dreaming about journalism?
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8. Does Yaroslav look like his father?
9. Is he patient?
10. Do his sisters look like their father?
11. Does his mother cook something delicious on weekends?
12. Does Yaroslav have other relatives?
13. How often does he see them?
14. Is he married?
15. Does Yaroslav have a happy family?
Exercise 5. Answer the following questions about you and your family.
1. What is your name?
2. When is your birthday?
3. Where were you born?
4. How old are you?
5. How do you spend your free time?
6. Do you have any hobby?
7. Do you like to read? Who is your favorite writer?
8. Do you go in for sport?
9. Do you come from a small or large family?
10. What are your parents?
11. What is your fathers hobby?
12. Can you describe your mother?
13. Who do you look like?
14. Are you the only child in the family?
15. Is your sister (brother) younger or older than you?
16. What is your sisters (brothers) occupation?
17. What kind of things do you and your family do together?
18. Do you prefer to spend time with your family or with your friends?
19. Do you spend your week-ends together with your parents?
20. Have you got grandparents?
21. When did you last visit relatives?
22. What dont you like about visiting your relatives?
23. Is your family united?
24. How would you describe the relationships in your family?
25. What are your ideas of your future family?
Exercise 6. hoose the correct arrangement of the dialogue and translate it into Russian.
1) Yes, several. They often come to see us at our place or we go to see them.
2) Do you all live together?
3) Thank you so much!
4) I'll come by all means. I'll be so glad to know the mall.
5) Besides your immediate relatives you must also have some uncles and aunts and some cousins.
6) Can you tell me about your family?
7) It's all in the hands of my mother. Of course, my sisters and I help her.
8) Come to us some time.
9) Oh, my family is a very large one. I have a mother, a father, grandparents, two sisters and a brother.
10) I wonder who does the cooking and looks after the house.
11) Yes, we do, and it's a remarkable thing that we practically never quarrel.
Exercise 7. Make up your own dialogue.
Exercise 8. Choose and fill in the appropriate words from vocabulary.
1. My mother has three sisters, so I have three
2. I have many uncles and aunts, so I have many
3. There are only three rooms in our apartment, so I have to . a room with my brother.
4. Sometimes I . with my brother about computer time.
5. My fathers father is my . Hes got married nearly 50 years ago. His . Is my .
6. My sister Charlotte is married, too. Peter is her.
7. Charlotte and Peter have a little girl, Elizabeth. She is my.
8. Grandparents, parents, children, uncles, aunts: people live together with a large number of relatives, big families, so-called .
9. I get along well with my brother. We never .
10. My. (mother and father) are my best friends.
Exercise 9. Choose the best alternative to fill in the gaps in each of the following sentences.
1. We need a family for ---- and protection.
a) comfort b) extended c) annoying
2. ----- is important in extended family
a) happiness b) privacy c) discussions
3. ------ respect can substitute for love in a family.
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a) interdependent b) mutual c) general
4. He is always going on his working class -----.
a) past b) roots c) background
5. The children are being well ----- for.
a) look b) cared c) take care
6) I ----- your worries about this.
a) share b) trust c) believe
7. Living with my -----, is just like living with my own parents.
a) relatives b) friends c) in-lows
8. One of the most important problem s in families is a problem of generation ---.
a) gap b) clap c) problem
9) My ----- parents are really kind people.
a) foster b) adoptive c) receiving
10. Caring and sharing are the main ---- in my family.
a) custom b) tradition c) values
Exercise 12. Read text II and say what facts are new for you. Translate the text and name this Text.
There are many different views on family life. Some people cannot do without the support and love of their families. Others say it is the source of most of our problems and anxieties. Whatever the truth is, the family is definitely a powerful symbol. Turn on the television or open a magazine and you will see advertisements featuring happy, balanced families.
The family is the most basic and ancient of all institutions, and it remains the fundamental social unit in every society. Sociologists divide families into two general types: the nuclear family and the extended family, which may include three or more generations living together.
A typical British family used to consist of a mother, a father and two children, but in recent years there have been many changes in family life. By the year 2020 there will be fewer married people than single people. In the past, people got married and stayed married. Divorce was very difficult and took a long time. The only reason for a short marriage was usually the death of the husband or wife. But today people's views on marriage are changing. Many couples, mostly in their twenties or thirties, live together without getting married. About 60% of these couples do get married in the end. People get married at a later age now and many women do not want to have children immediately. They prefer to do well at their jobs first. So they often decide not to have a baby until they are in their thirties, or even forties.
In the past, people married before they had children, but now about 40% of children in Britain are born to unmarried parents. The number of single-parent families in Britain is increasing. Single parents are usually divorced women or women who have never been married. The government gives help to single parents, but money can still be a problem. And different studies show that, in general, children are happier and more successful in traditional two-parent families. Society is now more tolerant than it used to be of unmarried people, unmarried couples and single parents.
Members of a family grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins keep in touch, but they see less of each other than they used to. This is because people often move away from their home town to work, and so their family becomes scattered.
Relationships within the family are different now. Parents treat their children more as equals than they used to, and children have more freedom to make their own decisions. The father is more involved with bringing up children, often because the mother goes out to work.
Some families are very child-centered (=put the childrens interests first). The closest families eat meals at the same time and spend their free time together. Some families, however, only see each other for a short time in the evening, and though the children are still considered important, they have to fit in with the lives of their parents. Increased leisure facilities and more money mean that there are greater opportunities outside the home.
At the weekend families may go to sports games together, go shopping or go on trips to museums, parks, etc. In school holiday/vacation they may visit other family members or go to the beach. Although the family holiday is still an important part of family life (usually taken in August, and often abroad) many children have holidays away from their parents.
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Who looks after the older generation? There are about 10 million old-age pensioners in Britain, of whom about 750,000 cannot live entirely independently. The government gives financial help in the form of a pension but in the future, it will be more and more difficult for the nation economy to support the increasing number of elderly. At present time, more than half of all old people are looked after at home. Many others live in Old Peoples Homes, which may be private, or state owned.
But still, the English are a nation of stay-at-homes. There is no place like home, they say. And when the man is not working he is at home in the company of his wife and children and busies himself with the affairs of the home. The Englishmans home is his castle, is a saying known all over the world. And it is true.
Exercise 13. Read text II carefully for details. Look in the text for the answers.
1) Are there many different views on family life? What are they?
2) The family is definitely a powerful symbol, isnt it?
3) What types do sociologists divide families into?
4) What do you know about the traditional family life in Britain?
5) Describe a typical British family.
6) Have there been many changes in British family life in recent years? What
are the causes?
7) Marriage and the family are not so popular now, are they?
8) Why do members of a family grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins see
less of each other than they used to?
9) Is each generation keen to become independent of parents in establishing its own family unit? Where does it lead to?
10) Relationships within the family are different now, arent they? Prove it.
11) Who looks after the older generation?
12) Are the English a nation of stay-at-homes?
Exercise 14. Are these statements true or false?
1) There are many different views on family life.
2) The family unit in Britain is in crisis and the traditional family life is in the
past.
3) A typical British family used to consist of a mother, a father and three
children.
4) There have been no changes in British family life recently.
5) Marriage and the family are not so popular as they used to be.
6) Members of a family grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins dont keep in touch with each other.
7) Each generation is keen to become independent of parents in establishing its own family unit.
8) Relationships within the British family are different now.
9) More than half of all old people are looked after at home.
10) Many others live in Old Peoples Homes, which are private.
11) The English are a nation of stay-at-homes.
Exercise 15. Translate the sentences into English using the vocabulary of the text. Doitinwriting.
1. . , .
2. , , , nuclearfamily.
, 2-3 , , extendedfamily.
3. . , .
4. , , , .. , , . , . scatteredfamily.
5. , . , .
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Exercise 16. Make up dialogues for these situations:
1) You and your friend are discussing your brothers and sisters.
Do not forget to speak about
-Advantages of having brothers and sisters;
- Disadvantages of having them;
- About your relation with brothers and sisters.
2) You and your friend are discussing the problem of generation gap.
Discus the relations in your family. Do you have a problem of generation gap? Find out the solution of the problem.
Exercise 17. Read and translate Text III. Think about the title of the Text.
And what is the American family like? Most American families consist of a mother, a father and three or four children living at home. There may be relatives grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and in-laws in the same community, but American families usually maintain separate households. This familial structure is known as the nuclear family. It is unusual for members of the family other than the husband, wife and children to live together. Occasionally an aging grandparent may live with the family, but this arrangement is usually not considered desirable. Although the nuclear family unit is economically independent of the rest of the family, members of the whole family maintain close kinship ties.
In the American family the husband and wife usually share important decision making. When the children are old enough, they participate as well. American families are often criticized for the way they do things separately, though many people believe that it is good for children to learn to be independent. From an early age children are encouraged to decide what they want to do, eat or wear, and their parents try to respect their opinions. This pattern of independence often results in serious problems for the aging parents of a nuclear family. The job-retirement age is usually 65. The children have left home, married and set up their own households. Elderly couples feel useless and lonely with neither an occupation nor a close family group. Many communities and church groups sponsor social centers for senior citizens. At these centers older men and women can make friends and participate in a variety of planned activities.
So, what exactly is a family? Our ideas on the subject may tend to be ethnocentric, for they are often based on the middle-class ideal family, one that consists of a husband, a wife, and their dependent children. This particular family pattern, however, is far from typical. A more accurate conception of the family must take account of the many different family forms that have existed or still exist both in America and in other countries.
Exercise 18. Read the text carefully for details. Look in the text for the answers.
1) And what is the American family like?
2) Do American families usually maintain separate households?
3) Is the nuclear family unit economically independent of the rest of the
family?
4) Who usually shares important decision making in the American family?
5) Foreign observers are frequently amazed by the permissiveness of
American parents, arent they?
6) Is independence highly valued in the United States?
7) At what age are young people expected to break from their families?
8) When do American aging people retire?
9) Why do elderly couples feel useless and lonely?
10) Who sponsors social centers for senior citizens?
11) What is a family? Must we take account of the many different family forms that have existed or still exist both in America and in other countries?
Exercise 21. Write an informal letter to your pen pal from abroad describing a typical Russian family using the catchwords of the text:
to include, relatives, separate(ly), couples, traditional(ly), to be involved in, to make a decision, to spend money, manage the house, to look after the children, obey parents, to start a family, stay in contact with, get married (divorced), to be brought up, to take care of, single-parent families, remarry, be involved in childcare, have a duty, have full attention, to do activities, to learn to be independent, to respect an opinion, to fit into a family.
WHAT IS A FRIENDLY FAMILY?
Exercise 22. Discuss this point using the following words and expressions.
First of all, then, next, after that, finally
| When people are | They always share | Its easy | They do their best |
| Intelligent Loyal Respectful Supportive Tactful Thoughtful of Open Tolerant | Domestic chores Sorrow and joy What puzzles them Housework Views and opinions Difficulties | To deal with To have much in common To get along with To be confident of To enjoy each others company To release tension | To care of To come to smbs help To have the support of Not to blame each other To avoid conflicts To entertain To forgive willingly To live in harmony |
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