Read the dialogue

My Family

Family is extremely important in our life. In a way, our family is our life. A family is not just a group of relatives living in one apartment or house. A family consists of the closest and dearest people in the world, always ready to listen to you, always ready to share your joy and to provide help in need.

Our family is not very large: my parents, my brother, my grandparents and I. sometimes my uncle and aunt visit with their daughter and son, who are my cousins. Our family is very friendly. Any time, we have a chance we try to do something together, go to the country, play some kind of game for all or just sit at a table and tell each other funny stories.

I will start with my parents. My mother and father met at the university. They got married one year after graduation. They have been wife and husband for 19 years already.

My mother's name is Elena Ivanova. She is forty-three years old, although she doesn’t look her age because she likes sports and goes swimming to a local pool three times a week. She is an interior designer. This is a very creative profession. Her job is to plan the decoration and furnishing of the interior of a house, an office, a shop, or an apartment. As you can imagine, she took professional care of our own apartment as well. Now, you can see immediately that every room, and every corner is a result of her loving efforts. My mother is very tolerant to my mistakes and sometimes mischievous behaviour.

My father’s name is Pavel Ivanov. He is forty-five years old. My father is a journalist. He works for a local newspaper which covers mainly economics and politics of our native city. His job requires a lot of unexpected trips so he doesn’t have any particular working schedule. He may go out early in the morning and come back well into the night. Especially in situations when he has to write a story for next morning’s issue of the paper. Still, I think that my father’s job is very interesting because you can meet lots of interesting people, you always have to find ways to organize your time better to manage to do all the things you have to. My father has a wonderful sense of humour and he is the best friend I can ever hope to have.

My brother’s name is Alexey and he is a sixth-form pupil at the same school I used to go to. All my teachers say that Alexey is as clever as I was. I do believe he is so because I see how much is reading and doing all the home assignment with great interest. However, that doesn’t mean that Alexey is always staying at home getting ready for classes. He is also interested in photography. Every day he tries to find some time to go out and take pictures of something interesting. His favourite ones are views of some natural landscapes. He has made quite a lot of interesting photos and hopes to organize an exhibition one day soon. I think his works will be welcomed by specialists and advise him to get ready for a professional career in photography. He has no objections.

My granddaddy is sixty-seven. He is retired now, but before retirement, he was in the military so his family had to move from one place to another rather often. My grandma is sixty-five. She had always worked as a teacher before retirement. This made easy for her to find jobs at any new place they would move to. My grandparents have been together for more than forty years and they still love each other. They are very wise and always helpful. I know for sure that they will be glad to help me whenever I need their assistance.

Ours is a very good family. When we come together for some family celebration it’s like you are among your best friends. The English have a proverb: “There’s no place like home”. That’s quite true, but it’s the people who make a home comfortable and happy.

1. Complete the following table

Word	Transcription	Meaning
extremely	[Iks´tri:mlI]	чрезвычайно, крайне
apartment
share
provide
uncle
aunt
daughter
son
cousin
graduation
wife
husband
interior designer
creative
furnish
imagine
care
immediately
effort
mischievous behaviour
require
unexpected
particular
schedule
issue
manage
humour
assignment
however
try
view
landscape
exhibition
specialist
career
objection
retired
retirement
move
would
wise
sure
whenever
assistance
celebration
among
comfortable

Read the dialogue

Dialogue

Helen: Andrew, tell me about your family.

Andrew: OK.

Helen: What’s your father? What’s his job?

Andrew: He is an architect.

Helen: And your mother? Is she a house wife?

Andrew: No, she isn’t. She is a journalist.

Helen: Do they live in Moscow?

Andrew: No they live in St. Petersburg now.

Helen: Oh! And you say you have an elder brother. What’s his name?

Andrew: His name is Peter.

Helen: Is he a student?

Andrew: Yes, he is at St. Petersburg University.

Helen: Really? Is he a third-year student?

Andrew: He is.

Helen: What’s his speciality?

Andrew: Law. He’s a future lawyer.

Helen: Married?

Andrew: No, he isn’t married. But he has a girl friend.

Helen: Who is she?

Andrew: I don’t know. It’s a secret.

3. Answer the following questions:

1. What’s your name?

2. What’s your surname?

3. How old are you?

4. When and where were you born?

5. Are you a student?

6. Are you a first-year student?

7. What do you want to be?

8. What were your favourite subjects at school?

9. Are you tall or short?

10. What hair have you got?

11. What colour are your eyes?

12. What is your favorite sport?

13. Have you ever taken part in competitions?

14. Do you live with your parents or do you have a family of your own?

15. Is your family large?

16. How many are you in the family?

17. Have you got any sisters or brothers?

18. What are your parents? Where do they work? Do they like their jobs?

19. How long have your parents been married?

20. What is your father’s name? How old is he?

21. Can you tell some words about your father? Is he tall? What is his hair like? What eyes has he got? Has he got a hobby? What is it?

22. What is your mother’s name? How old is she?

23. Can you describe your mother?

24. Does your mother like to cook?

25. Who helps your mother about the house?

26. What are your brothers and sisters? How old are they?

27. Do you like to spend your free time with them? What do you usually do together?

28. What are your grandparents? Do they live with your family?

29. You love your family, don’t you?

30. Do you help each other? Are you good friends?

Дата добавления: 2015-11-16