Additional texts for self study Translation

Translate into Ukrainian:

THE STRESSES OF MILITARY SPOUSES

Being a soldier can be tough - the risk to life, the arduous living conditions, the tours of duty away from family. But being married to a soldier is not that easy going either, according to a Ministry of Defence survey.

Just under 4,000 spouses of serving Army, air force and navy personnel responded to a survey between February and September last year.

The survey included questions on how their lives compared with those of their non-service friends, whether married life was how they expected and their attitude to welfare services and children's education.

With British troops stationed in Iraq since 2003 and Afghanistan for longer, as well as commitments around the world such as peacekeeping, families are feeling the strain, according to the survey.

"It's getting a lot harder now," says Alison, the wife of a lieutenant colonel for 16 years.

With her husband about to take up another posting, her family will be making their fifth house move in four years, which included moving from Canada to Germany and back to the UK.

Their 12-year-old son is starting his second year at boarding school - a decision he made himself - but Alison will have to find a new school for their seven-year-old daughter.

She acknowledges that the Army has always involved moving about and inconvenience - "serving soldiers' spouses don't mind that at all. I think it's the uncertainty now which comes from the housing situation."

In the Army survey, 46% thought their housing met their needs well or very well, as against 22% who did not.

However, 13% complained that their accommodation had "liveability" problems such as damp or vermin.

Alison explains the family had no military housing available when they moved back to the UK, and had to find a private rental property - which the government then pays rent for. Their next posting, still in the UK, will also involve searching for private rental.

But Alison is not complaining about the quality of housing - private rentals are usually better than the much-maligned military housing, but she stresses it is the uncertainty.

"I have seven weeks to plan a move from one end of the country to the other which is involving removal companies, a new school for my daughter and find a house that is suitable for us to live in which is close enough for where my husband is going to work.

"It's a stressful time."

But has this stress ever driven her to persuade her husband to leave the Army?

In the Army survey, 45% of officers' spouses and 39% of soldiers' spouses said they had "very often" or "often" discussed leaving the Army with their spouse.

And 20% of officers' spouses and 15% of soldiers' spouses had often or occasionally put pressure on their partners to leave.

While Alison has not explicitly said to her husband to leave the Army, she is aware that the skills he has gained in his 21-year career could be useful in the civilian world.

Дата добавления: 2015-07-10