Exercise 1.2. Study the Family Tree. Say whether the following statements are true ( T ) or false ( F ).

Pete + Jane

Teresa Tom + Ann Dick + Mary Dorothy

Louis Charlie Beatrice

1. Jane is Dorothy’s mother.

2. Pete is Ann’s father.

3. Tom is Mary’s husband.

4. Teresa is Tom’s wife.

5. Louis is Charlie’s brother.

6. Beatrice is Louis’s cousin.

7. Dorothy is Beatrice’s aunt.

8. Tom is Louis’s uncle.

9. Charlie is Mary’s nephew.

10. Beatrice is Teresa’s niece.

11. Ann is Teresa’s sister-in-law.

12. Tom is Dorothy’s brother.

13. Dorothy is Pete’s daughter.

14. Ann is Mary’s sister.

15. Pete is Charlie’s grandfather.

16. Beatrice is an only child.

17. Dorothy has two children.

18. Jane is Beatrice’s grandmother.

19. Louis is Jane’s grandson.

20. Dorothy is single.

Task 1. 3. Work in pairs.

One student makes a sketch of his (her) family tree trying to remember all his (her) relatives, the other asks questions and draws the family tree. Then they

compare the sketches.

Task 1. 4. Read the text and compare the information from the text situation in our country.

THE FAMILY

Part 1

The American family has changed greatly in the last 20 or 30 years. Many of these changes are similar to the changes taking place in other countries.

Young people are waiting longer before getting married. Women are also waiting longer to have children. It’s not usual today for a woman to have the first child in her mid-thirties. And families are having fewer children. The typical families have one or two children.

In the traditional family, the wife stayed at home with the children while the husband earned money. Now 60 per cent of all married women work outside the home. So a majority of couples have two wage-earners.

One reason for this change is that want and expected to have careers. Another reason is economics. With rising prices, many families cannot survive on one person’s salary.

The United States has a high divorce rate: approximately 1 in every 2 marriages ends in divorce. One result of this high divorce rate is the many American children live in single-parent families. Although some women wait until their thirties to have their first child, other women become mothers while they are still teenagers. Many of these teenaged mothers are not married. Many are also poor. Poverty among children in homes headed by single mothers has become a serious problem in the United States. Often people who are divorced get married again. This has led to a new kid of family ― the “reconstituted family”, in which there are children from previous marriages as well as from the present marriage.

Part II

The newest category of family, called domestic partnership, has been sanctioned by more than 25 cities in the USA. Unmarried couples over 18 years of age receive a paper similar to a marriage license. To divorce from the partnership couples simply have to advise the city that they no longer live together.

In the past, it was common for three generations ― grandparents, parents, and children ― to live together. Now older people live in their own. They generally stay in contact with their children but might live in a different part of the country. People are also living together ― often for 20 years after they’ve retired from their job. Modern American culture tends to value youth rather than age. All of this create an interesting challenge for older people ― and for the country, since by the year 2020, one in every 6 Americans will be over the age of 65.

Is the American family in trouble? People point to the divorce rate, to the fact that working mothers might have less time with their children, and to the “generation gap”, or the problems that parents and children sometimes have no understanding each other. Experts say, however, that the family is as strong as ever. Family is still at the center of most people’s lives.

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