Russian family.

Exercise 1. Listen to the text and choose if the statement is true or false. Pay attention to the notes which will be helpful to you.

Notes:

descendants - потомки

end in divorce-заканчиваться разводом

to remarry-жениться еще раз

to rely on the assistance- полагаться на помощь

experience - опыт

revival - возрождение

restoration -восстановление

existence - существование

1 A lot of Russian families have traditions?

2. A group of people who have the same name is not yet a family.

3. More than 30 out of every 100 marriages end in divorce.

4. All divorcees remarry.

5. Men remarry more often than women.

6. Young families don’t depend on their parents.

7. Because of living with parents young couples have no experience in family life.

8. There are 4 “hows” that young families don’t know.

9. The revival of the family should start with the observing of its traditions.

Text 10

FAMILY LIFE

Exercise 1. Read the text and get ready to answer the questions

NOTES: tolerant-терпимый

majority -большинство

to involve - впутывать

to bring up -воспитывать

leisure facilities-возможности, условия для отдыха

The English are a nation of stay-at-home. "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 Englishman's home is his castle," is a saying known all over the world. And it’s true.

A "typical" British family used to consist of mother, father and two children. But in recent years there have been many changes in family life. Some of these have been caused by new laws and others are the result of changes in the society. For example, since the law made it easier to get a divorce, the number of divorces has increased. In fact one marriage in every three now ends in divorce. This means that there are a lot of one-parent families. Society is now more tolerant than it used to be of unmarried people, unmarried couples and single parents.

Another change has been caused by the fact that people are living longer nowadays, and many old people live alone following the death of their partners. As a result of these changes in the pattern of people's lives, there are a lot of households which consist of only one person or one person and children.

You might think that marriage and the family are not as popular as they once were. However, the majority of divorced people marry again, and they sometimes take responsibility for a second family.

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 the family becomes scattered. Christmas is the traditional season for reunions. Although the family group is smaller nowadays than it used to be, relatives often travel a lot of miles in order to spend the holiday together.

In general, each generation is keen to become independent of parents in establishing its own family unit, and this fact can lead to social as well as geographical differences within a larger family group.

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. Increased leisure facilities and more money mean that there are greater opportunities outside the home. 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, often with a school party or other organized group.

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 the 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.

Exercise 2. Answer the questions.

1. How do you understand the saying “The Englishman’s home is his castle”?

2. What is a “typical” British family? How many persons does it usually contain? Do all of them live together?

3. Who usually takes care about old-age pensioners in Britain? And in your country?

Text 11

THE FAMILY IN AMERICA (1)

Exercise 1. Read the text, get ready to fulfill the task.

In America after the marriage the young couple is free to decide where to live and when to start a family. They plan the number of children they are going to have and when their children will be born. Birth-control information is easily available in most states, and the practice of limiting the size of families has had general approval. The birth rate has been declining steadily in recent years.

If the couple finds that their marriage was a mistake, they are free to get a divorce. The divorce rate has almost doubled in the past fifty years, and current statistics indicate that one of every three marriages will end in divorce. Many people view these figures with alarm. They fear that the institution of marriage is falling apart. A number of sociologists, on the other hand, say that this increase in divorces doesn't indicate more unhappy marriages. Instead, the point to changes in the laws that has made divorce easier and to changes in attitudes that have made divorce more acceptable than it had been years ago. They also claim that since more than two thirds of all divorced people marry again, divorce marks a temporary rather than a permanent,break in marital relations.

In the American family the husband and wife usually share important decision making. When the children are old enough, they participate as well.

Exercise 2. Do the tasks.

1. The word “available” from the first passage means:

A. полезныйB. действительныйC. доступныйD. надёжный

2. Choose the antonym to the word “divorce” from the first passage.

A. engagement B. loneliness C. dating D. marriage

3. Give the infinitive of the word “born” from the first passage.

A. to be B. to bear C. to bore D. to bound

4. Open the brackets choosing the correct variant

The planning of planning the number of children (to approve)

1. The planning of the number of children has been approved

2. The planning of the number of children is approved

3. The planning of the number of children approved

4. The planning of the number of children will be approved

5. What sentence corresponds to the contents of the 1 passage?

A. The young couple should live with their parents.

B. The number of children must not be planned

C. Parents should not limit the size of families.

D. The number of children is becoming less and less nowadays.

6. What sentence doesn’t correspond to the contents of the 2 passage?

A. One of every three marriages will end in divorce.

B. Many earlier divorced people marry again.

C. Now there are fewer divorced than fifty years ago.

D. Divorce is a temporary break in marital relations.

7. What sentence corresponds to the contents of the whole text?

A. The birth rate has been declining in recent years.

B. The young couple makes her own choice where to live.

C. The number of divorces is growing but the institution of marriage is not disintegrating.

D. The Americans do not limit the size of families.

8. What sentence doesn’t correspond to the whole text?

A. Everything connected with marriage is very important for the Americans.

B. The Americans often marry and often divorce.

C. Children don’t take part in family decision making.

D. The Americans don’t take care of their children.

9. Choose the correct answer: How does the young couple start family life?

A. They always follow their parents’ advice.

B. They live separately and decide everything themselves.

C. A great number of marriages end in divorce.

D. They don’t limit the size of families.

10. Choose the correct answer: Do the children in America take part in discussing family’s affairs?

1. Sometimes they take part in discussion.

2. They are never allowed to interfere in decision making.

3. Children always participate in decision making.

4. Parents let them discuss family affairs when they are old enough.

Text 12

THE FAMILY IN AMERICA (2)

Exercise 1. Look through the text and do the test.

Foreign observers are frequently amazed by the permissiveness of American parents. The old rule that "children should be seen and not heard" is rarely followed, and children are often allowed to do what they wish without strict parental control. The father seldom expects his children to obey him without questions, and children are encouraged to be independent at an early age. Some people believe that American parents carry this freedom too far. Young people are expected to break away from their parental families by the time they have reached their late teens or early twenties. Indeed, not to do so is often regarded as a failure, a kind of weak dependence.

This pattern of independence often results in serious problems for the aging parents. 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. Many communities and church groups arrange social centers for "senior citizens". At these centers older men and women can make friends and participate in a variety of planned activities, including games, trips, lectures and discussion groups. Their programs may help some old people, but they do not provide the complete solution to the problems of an old age.

Another subject that has been receiving considerable attention recently is the position of women in the USA. Supporters of the women's liberation movement want women to achieve equality with men. Their major concerns are economic and social. They are to improve job opportunities for women, and they believe that women and men should receive the same rate of pay for the same kind of work. Besides, they believe that men should perform some of the home-making duties that women have traditionally performed.

Exercise 2. Do the test.

1. Choose the synonym to the word "frequently" from the first passage.

a. enough b. carefully c often.

2. What sentence doesn't correspond to the contents of the 2 passage?

A. Social centres are of great help for lonely people.

B. Independence of married children is a serious social problem for their parents.

C. Aging parents mostly have to solve all their life problems themselves.

D.Taking part in some kind of social activities let people make friends

3. Choose the correct answer to the questions according to the text.

What strikes foreigners in American family relations?

A. The Americans are very careful parents.

B. The Americans control their children very strictly.

C. The Americans are very kind parents.

D. The Americans permit their children to do whatever they like.

4. What sentence corresponds to the contents of the text?

A. Foreigners are often surprised by the strictness of American parents.

B. Young people keep on living with their parents very long.

C. Many aging parents join social centres for "senior citizens".

D. Social centres completely solve all the problems of old age.

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