B) Complete the sentences with the words from a).

TEXT I

I. Read the text.

Family Life

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 them have been caused by new laws and others are the result of changes in 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 of unmarried people, unmarried couples and single parents.

You might think that marriage and the family are not so 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 many 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 the larger family group.

Relations 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 the children, often because the mother goes out to work. Increased leisure facilities and more money mean that there are greater opportunities for an individual to take part in activities outside the home. Although the family holiday (usually taken in August, and often abroad) is still animportant part of family life many children have holidays away from their parents, often with a school party or other organized group.

II. a) Find in the text English equivalents for the expressions:

1) количество разводов увеличилось

2) закончиться разводом

3) быть более терпимым к

4) поддерживать отношения

5) реже видеться

6) семья становится разрозненной

7) сбор всей семьи

8) стремиться

9) быть вовлеченным в

10) возможности проведения досуга

b) Complete the sentences with the words from a).

a) Members of a family......................, but they.................... than they used to.

b) Each generation........................... to become independent of parents.

c) Since the law made it easier to get a divorce, the number of divorces has........................

d) Christmas is the traditional time for......................................

e) The father is......................... bringing up the children than he used to be.

f) One marriage in every three now......................................

g) People often move away from their home town to work, so the family becomes.............................................

h) Society is now more........................... unmarried people and single parents.

III. Work with the group. Ask you groupmates to work in pairs and say whether the statements are true or false and to find sentences in the text to support their opinion (for Classroom English see APPENDIX).

1. There are fewer divorces in Britain nowadays than it used to be.

2. Marriage is not as popular as it once was.

3. Children want to be independent of their parents.

4. The father's role in the family hasn't undergone any changes.

5. British families do not always spend their holidays together.

IV. Answer the questions:

1. What are changes in family life caused by?

2. What do statistics say about the number of divorces in Britain?

3. Why do families in Britain often become scattered?

4. How often do reunions take place? How important are they for relatives?

5. In what way have relationships within the family changed?

6. In your opinion, do Russian families and relationships within families differ much from those in Britain?

Growing up. a) Consider the ages and stages of people’s lives.

Age Stage

0-1 approximately a baby

1-2 a toddler

2-12 approximately a child - this period is your childhood

13-17 approximately a teenager (14 = early teens)

18+ an adult

20-30 in your twenties (24-26 = mid twenties)

30-40 in your thirties (38 = late thirties)

40+ people are middle-aged; in middle age

60 or 65 retirement (= when people stop work; they are retired)

75+ old age (you can also use elderly)

Note: For boys, the period between 14-17 approximately (slightly younger for girls) is called adolescence, i.e. you are an adolescent. In law you are an adult at the age of 18, but many people think of you as an adult when you leave school.

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