Male couch potato international phenomenon

Contents

I. Men and women. Family matters.

1. The Plain People.

2. Why I Want a Wife. A Woman’s View.

3. Men’s Life.

4. Turning off a TV/ A Quiet Hour.

Brats.

Childless and Free.

7. Why do People Emigrate?

II. Healthy lifestyle.

How to Eat Right and Live Longer.

Run Your Way to Health.

Compulsive Shopping Viewed as Addiction.

Prohibition.

III. Education and Career.

Career Education.

Adult Students.

14. Why English?

15. Homework: Is It Good for You?

The Job Interview.

17. The Happiest Days of Your Life?

18. We should Cherish our Children’s Freedom to Think.

IV. Our World

Superstitions.

Life in Space.

The Titanic Disaster.

Energy Crisis.

The Mary Celeste.

The Rare and the Wild.

Message to the Stars.

26.

V. Entertainment

27. Tricks of the trade.

Special Effects.

29. American Dream.

Loneliness.

31.

THE PLAIN PEOPLE

Pre-reading task

1. If you lived on a desert island what would you need most? Name 5-10 things you would take with you.

2. How is the lifestyle of modern people different from that of people living in the last century?

It is still dark when Elizabeth wakes up. She gets out of bed and shivers when her feet touch the cold, bare floor. The bedroom is not heated, and it is so cold that she can see her breath. She quickly puts on her long dress, black apron, and black shoes. Then she hurries downstairs to the kitchen. The only light in the kitchen comes from kerosene lamps; Elizabeth's husband lit the lamps earlier, before he went out to milk the cows. Elizabeth puts a few pieces of wood into the stove and starts the fire. Then she begins to prepare a big breakfast for herself, her husband, and their six children. It is the beginning of a typical day for Elizabeth. Although Elizabeth's day will be typical, her life is certainly not typical of life in the United States in the 1990s. Elizabeth belongs to a religious group known as the Amish. The Amish are often called the "Plain People" because they live and dress very simply. Their homes have no carpets on the floors, no pictures on the walls, and no soft, comfortable furniture. The men wear dark pants with white or blue shirts, and the women wear long dresses in dark colors. The women never wear makeup or jewelry.

The Amish have a saying: "The old way is the best way." Although the Amish accept some new ideas— they use new medicines, for example—their way of life has not changed much in 300 years. They do not use electricity, so Amish homes have no electric lights, no TVs, and no kitchen appliances like refrigerators. The Amish don't own telephones, either. They ride in buggies pulled by horses, and they speak German, the language that the first Amish people spoke. The first Amish people lived in Germany and Switzerland. They were called Amish because their leader was Jacob Amman. The Amish were persecuted in Europe, so around 1700 they came to the New World. They settled in what is now the state of Pennsylvania.

Most of the Amish still live in Pennsylvania, although there are large communities in other states, too. All Amish, no matter where they live, have similar beliefs. The Amish believe that life in the countryside is best. Almost all Amish live on farms. Amish farmers do not use modern machinery, yet their farms are successful because the Amish work hard and take good care of their land and animals. Their farms are always small. The Amish think it is wrong to have more land or more money than they need to live. A few years ago some Amish farmers discovered oil on their land. Was there a lot of oil under the ground, or just a little? The Amish farmers didn't want to know. They immediately sold their land and moved away, without telling anyone about the oil. They didn't want to be rich. The Amish, who are Christians, believe they should follow the peaceful example of Jesus. Amish men will not fight in wars or serve in the army. They will not even wear coats with buttons, because military uniforms often have large gold or silver buttons. The Amish will not buy insurance of any kind. When there is trouble, they help one another. If an Amish farmer gets sick, relatives and neighbors will milk his cows, plant his fields, and harvest his crops. If a barn burns down, as many as 200 men will come and build a new barn in one day. The Amish are not allowed to marry people who are not Amish. That has caused a peculiar problem. The 500 or so Amish who came to the New World in the 1700s had about 40 last names. The 100,000 Amish who live in the United States today are the descendants of those people—and have the same 40 last names. In one school in Pennsylvania, 95 percent of the students—and their teacher—have the last name "Stoizfus." The Amish custom of choosing first names from the Bible adds to the problem. In one small Amish community there are 11 men named Daniel Miller! To avoid confusion, the Amish give nicknames to people who have the same name. Some nicknames have an obvious explanation: "Chicken Dan" sells chickens, for example; "Curly Dan" has curly hair. But what about "Gravy Dan”? How did he get his nickname? At dinner one evening this Dan wanted to pour some cream into his coffee. He reached for the pitcher of cream but took the pitcher of gravy by mistake and poured gravy into his coffee. Ever since that evening, his nickname has been "Gravy Dan." People are curious about the lives of Amish like Elizabeth and Gravy Dan. Every year thousands of tourists visit the part of Pennsylvania where most Amish live. They take pictures of the black buggies and the plain white houses. They watch Amish children as they walk to school and Amish men as they work in their fields. Most Amish are not happy about the tourists, but they tolerate them. Perhaps the Amish understand that the tourists want to experience, at least for a few days, the quieter, simpler Amish way of life.

to shiver – [ S i v q ] - тремтіти

to persecute - переслідувати

pants (AmE) – штани

buggy – [ b A g i ] –- легка одномісна коляска

insurance – [ i n S u q r q n s] - страховка

to harvest the crops – збирати врожай

pitcher – глечик

nickname - прізвисько

Discussion.

1. The Amish have rules for living and dressing. Are there any religious groups in Ukraine that have special rules for living and dressing?

2. Could you live the way Amish live? Why or why not?

3. Think of the advantages and disadvantages of their life.

WHY I WANT A WIFE. A WOMAN’S VIEW.

Pre-reading task

1. Name all house chores you know.

2. Do you have any ideas about why a woman might want a wife?

Ms. Syfers points out that it is most convenient to have a wife. A wife will take care of your children, cook your food, clean and mend your clothes, entertain your friends, and so on. Certainly, anyone would want to have a wife. The only trouble is, who would want to be a wife?

I belong to the group of people known as wives. I am a wife. And partly as a result of that, I am a mother. Not too long ago, a male friend of mine, who had just gotten divorced, visited me from the Midwest. He had one child, who is, of course, with his ex-wife. He was clearly looking for another wife. As I thought about him while I was ironing one evening, I suddenly realized that I, too, would like to have a wife. Why do I want a wife? I would like to go back to school so that I can become economically independent, support myself, and, if necessary, support those who are dependent upon me. I want a wife who will work and send me to school, and, while I am going to school, take care of my children. I want a wife to remember the children's doctor's and dentist's appointments—and mine too. She must make sure my children eat properly and are kept clean, and wash and mend the children's clothes. I want a wife who cares about my children, arranges for their schooling, makes sure they have a good social life, and takes them to the park, the zoo, etc. I want a wife who takes care of the children when they are sick, and who manages to be around when the children need special care, because, of course, I cannot miss classes at school. She must arrange to stay home from work without losing her job, even though it may mean a small decrease in her salary from time to time. Of course, my wife will arrange and pay for the care of the children while she is working. I want a wife who will take care of my needs and keep my house clean, who will pick up after my children, and after me. I want a wife who will keep my clothes clean, ironed, mended, replaced when necessary, and will make sure that my things are kept in their proper place so that I can find what I need when I need it. She must be a good cook, plan the menus, do the necessary grocery shopping, prepare the meals, serve them well, and then clean up while I do my studying. I want a wife who will take care of me when I am sick and sympathize with my pain and loss of time from school. She must go along when our family takes a vacation so that someone can continue to take care of me and my children when I need a rest and a change of scene. I want a wife who will take care of the details of my social life. When we are invited out by my friends, she will take care of the babysitting arrangements. When I meet people at school that I like and want to entertain, she will have the house clean, prepare a special meal, serve it to me and my friends, and not interrupt when I talk about the things that interest me and my friends. My wife will have arranged for the children to be fed and ready for bed before my guests arrive so that the children do not bother us. She will take care of the needs of my guests, making sure that they feel comfortable, that they have an ashtray, that they are passed the hors d'oeuvres, that they are offered a second helping of the food, that their wine glasses are filled when necessary, that their coffee is served to them as they like it. And I want a wife who knows that sometimes I need a night out by myself. If, by chance, I find another person more satisfactory as a wife than the wife I already have, I want the freedom to replace my present wife with another one. Naturally, I will expect a fresh, new life; my wife will take the children and be responsible for them so that I am left free.

male – чоловік

gotten (AmE) – p.p. get

sick (AmE) - хворий

change of scene – зміна обстановки

hors d’oeuvres – [ L d W v r ] - закуска

second helping – ще одна порція

Discussion

1. What’s the worst thing about being a wife?

2. Why do most women get married? Why do most men get married?

3. What kind of life do wives in Ukraine have?

4. How do you feel about women’s liberation?

5. In your family how do you usually share responsibilities about the house?

6. Which of the sexes do you think has more rights and fewer responsibilities nowadays?

Roleplay

1. A wife is telling a husband why she is unhappy about what she has to do in their marriage.

2. A married woman is telling an unmarried female friend why she should not get married.

3. A liberated woman is telling an unliberated woman what she should do to make her life better.

Read the text and suggest another headline for it.

MALE COUCH POTATO INTERNATIONAL PHENOMENON

From Havana to Oslo to Warsaw to Tokyo to your hometown, the complaint is the same: Men aren't doing enough house­work.

The problem of women having to dress the kids, wash the clothes, cook the meals, make the beds and take out the garbage – all before they go to work to earn less than men – is a worldwide inequity, accord­ing to an International Labor Organization report. Even in Cuba, where a law requires men to help around the hacienda, 82 percent of all Havana women do all the domestic chores, says the report. In Nordic countries, when men's working hours were reduced, they used the extra time for leisure activities rather than for housework or child care. In Poland, even the youngest of married men do not help with the housework, while Japanese men spent only 15 minutes a day on chores around the house. Nearly everywhere in the world, women work harder and earn less than men, and the gap in many countries is widening, the report says. " Couch potato " husbands, who sit like vegetables and watch television while wives do the chores, have been a longtime butt of jokes and feminine anger in the United States. Nearly everywhere in the world, women work harder and earn less than men, and the gap in many countries is widening, the report says. "Family responsibilities are at the heart of much discrimi­nation against women," said Michel Hansenne, ILO direc­tor-general in Geneva, Switzerland. "Women are expected to stay at home to look after children and are then treated as second-class work­ers because of this." The differences between pay for men and women is widening in both developing and industrialized countries, despite decades of efforts to push female equality on the job, the report says. Women work more hours a week, including housework, than men in every part of the world except North America and Australia, the ILO report estimates. They work the hardest in Africa. The report estimates that African women work 67 hours a week, compared to 53 for men. In Asia, women work 62 hours while men average 48 hours a week. In North America and Australia, men work 49 hours a week, while women work so 47.5, the report says. In Western Europe, women aver­age 48 hours, men 43; Japan's women work 56 hours and men 54; in Latin America, as women work 60 hours to 54 for men.

MEN’S LIFE.

Pre-reading task

1. Before you read can you think of any disadvantages of being a man?

2. What are the weakest points in the nature of men?

3. What in your opinion a real man should be like?

I agree with Ms. Syfers (see the article “Why I want a wife. A woman’s view”) that there are many things about the traditional role of a wife that are both unpleasant and unfair. She seems to suggest, however, that men's lives are very pleasant. With this, I disagree. In fact, I think that women's lives are probably, on the whole, more pleasant and satisfying than those of men. For their own good, men in American society should try to change their way of life. We need not only women's liberation, but also men's liberation.

Many women in America feel that men have a better deal in our society than women do. When you look carefully at men's lives though, you may begin to wonder about that. The difference begins with babies. Male babies are picked up, hugged, and talked to less. Even at this age, they are beginning to learn to be independent and to not need to be comforted when something bothers them. The trouble is, it's nice to be hugged and talked to. Male babies are missing out on something important. Little boys continue to learn how to be "a real man." They are told that boys should not cry. Of course, it's natural to cry if you are hurt. So little boys try not to pay attention to how they feel. Later on, they will try to ignore other "feminine" feelings such as doubt or sadness. The boys will get so good at this that they may eventually not be aware of having any feelings at all. Another important lesson for little boys is learned in sports. They see that people admire boys who are good in sports, so they try to work hard to be better than everyone else. If a friend is very good in sports, a boy will feel threatened, since the friend will appear more "manly" and thus better than he is. This doesn't encourage very close, warm feelings of friendship. When boys become men, the competition that they experienced in sports is now found in their work. A man is usually respected if he earns a lot of money, so men do their best to continually get ahead, trying to be better than their "friends" at work. Then they will be the one to get that all important promotion. Many men have jobs that they dislike and that do not allow them to use any creativity or natural ability that they may have. But work is not to enjoy; it is a way to prove that you are really a man. A man may have gotten married and may have children, but he is often too busy working to spend much time with his family. His wife has to work hard at home, and perhaps outside the home as well, but at least raising children is rewarding work. The children will love their mother and the close relationship between them will last throughout their lives. All too often, the children don't even feel that they know their father very well. The father seems to be at work all the time. Even when he's at home, his years of repressing his feelings and distrusting others have not taught him how to communicate with people very well. He just seems to be the strong, silent type. So what exactly is there to envy about the life of a man? True men have more positions of power in this country, and women should be given equal opportunities to obtain such positions. But that is hardly a reason to envy men. If their personal lives are unhappy, they are more to be pitied than envied. Hopefully, the roles of women and men will change in our society. Just as women should learn to be more assertive, self-confident, and independent, men should learn to be more gentle, trusting, able to listen and to share. The happiest people will be those who have developed both the masculine and feminine sides of themselves.

to hug – обіймати

to comfort – [ k A m f q t ] -– втішати

feminine - [ f e m i n i n ] - жіночий

eventually – [ i v e n C u q l i ] - врешті решт

to raise children – виховувати, ростити дітей

to repress – пригнічувати, стримувати

Discussion

1. What do you think about the amount of time most men spend with their families?

2. What are the best qualities men have? What are the best qualities women have?

3. What do you feel about men and “feminine qualities”? Women and “masculine” qualities?

4. Do men in Ukraine have close friendships with other men?

5. Do you agree with the author of the article?

6. Is there much competition between men in Ukraine? Is it positive?

Roleplay:

1. A man is explaining to a woman why he sometimes thinks it would be nice to be a woman, and the woman is explaining to a man why she thinks it is nice to be a man.

2. A man who wants to get a promotion at work is arguing with a friend who doesn’t care about promotions.

3. One parent is telling another why boys should be allowed to play with dolls and girls should be allowed to play with cars.

Read the article. Draw a two-column table. In the left column put down the advantages of being a man, in the left column the advantages of being a woman.

WHY WOMEN LIVE LONGER THAN MEN

Throughout the modern world, cultures are different, diets are different, and ways of life and causes of death are dif­ferent. But one thing is the same — women outlive men.

Some of the reasons are related to lifestyle. Men smoke more than women, and they drink more. They take more life-threatening chances. Men are murdered more often than women (usually by other men). They commit suicide at a higher rate and have more fatal car accidents than women do. Men die more often in alcohol-related incidents.

Today, some scientists who study longevity believe that the data point to one conclusion: Mother Nature may be partial to women. The reason may be hormones. Before age 40, most women are still producing the female hormone estrogen. Heart disease kills only one woman in this age bracket for every three men in the U.S. After age 40, the odds in favor of women drop. But they have an extra decade before their death rate from heart disease approaches that of men.

Not every difference between the sexes favors women. While women are less vulnerable than men to life-threatening diseases, they are more vulnerable to everyday sicknesses and pain. Women take more medicine and spend more days in bed than men do. They suffer from arthritis, bladder infections, menstrual pain, and migraine headaches. In the meantime, men get heart attacks and strokes. Women are sick, but men are dead. But behavior changes, so the health gap between men and women isn't a fixed feature of the landscape. Recently in the U.S., the gap has gotten smaller. Men are smoking less and eating better. "The gap isn't shrinking because women are acting like men," says scientist Deborah Wingard. "It's shrinking because men are acting more like women."

longevity – тривале життя

partial – [ p a: S q l ] - частково

odds – шанси

vulnerable - вразливий

TURNING OFF A TV. A QUIET HOUR.

Pre-reading task

1. How long do you watch TV every day?

2. Could television be dangerous? If so, in what way?

3. What are your favorite television programmes?

4. Do you think people used to be happier before television was invented?

Many people in the United States spend most of their free time watching television. Certainly, there are many worthwhile programs on television, including news, educational programs for children, programs on current social problems, plays, movies, concerts, and so on. Nevertheless, perhaps people should not be spending so much of their time in front of the T. V. Mr. Mayer imagines what we might do if we were forced to find other activities, it might not be such a bad idea!

I would like to propose that for sixty to ninety minutes each evening, right after the early evening news, all television broadcasting in the United States be prohibited by law. Let us take a serious, reasonable look at what the results might be if such a proposal were accepted. Families might use the time for a real family hour. Without the distraction of TV, they might sit around together after dinner and actually talk to one another. It is well known that many of our problems – everything, in fact, from the generation gap to the high divorce rate to some forms of mental illness – are caused at least in part by failure to communicate. We do not tell each other what is disturbing us. The result is emotional difficulty of one kind or another. By using the quiet family hour to discuss our problems, we might get to know each other better, and to like each other better. On evenings when such talk is unnecessary, families could rediscover more active pastimes. Freed from TV, forced to find their own activities, they might take a ride together to watch the sunset. Or they might take a walk together (remember feet?) and see the neighborhood with fresh, new eyes. With free time and no TV, children and adults might rediscover reading. There is more entertainment in a good book than in a month of typical TV programming. Educators report that the generation growing up with television can barely write an English sentence, even at the college level. Writing is often learned from reading. A more literate new generation could be a product of the quiet hour. A different form of reading might also be done, as it was in the past: reading aloud. Few pastimes bring a family closer together than gathering around and listening to mother or father read a good story. The quiet hour could become the story hour. When the quiet hour ends, the TV networks might even be forced to come up with better shows in order to get us back from our newly discovered activities. At first glance, the idea of an hour without TV seems radical. What will parents do without the electronic babysitter? How will we spend the time? But it is not radical at all. It has been only twenty-five years since television came to control American free time. Those of us thirty-five and older can remember childhoods without television, spent partly with radio—which at least involved the listener's imagination—but also with reading, learning, talking, playing games, inventing new activities. It wasn't that difficult. Honest. The truth is we had a ball.

to prohibit - забороняти

to distract - відволікати

generation gap – конфлікт поколінь, розходження

high divorce rate – високий рівень розлучень

to free - звільняти

adults - дорослі

barely - ледве

literate - [ l i t q r i t ] – грамотний

pastime – заняття у вільний час

to have a ball – гарно відпочивати (як на балу)

Discussion

1. Why shouldn’t children be allowed to watch TV for long hours?

2. What are the reasons why children spend long hours in front of a TV set?

3. Suppose you want to start a TV station. What kinds of programs would you like to include? Give reasons for your choice.

4. What do you think of the proposal to turn off TV for 60 to 90 minutes every night?

5. What’s the best thing about television?

6. What do you think about violence on TV?

7. Do you think that people do not communicate enough?

8. What are the negative effects of people failing to communicate with each other?

Roleplay

1. Two people are discussing if there should be violence on TV.

2. A person is telling a reporter why he or she never watches TV.

3. A person whose career involves helping people communicate is telling a reporter why it is important.

Дата добавления: 2015-10-02