Reading Comprehension Check

1. What types of families exist in the USA? What is the society’s attitude to all these types of families?

2. Are families important to Americans?

3. What functions do families serve?

4. What changes does a “traditional” family in America undergo?

5. What was the American family like 200 years ago?

6. How did the social processes of the 20th century influence family relations?

7. Is a working mother a benefit or a strain for the family?

8. Are American families child – centred?

9. What is a generation gap? Is it an eternal problem in families?

10. What are some of the problems that American families face?

Assignments

1. Study the following vocabulary list:

average family

blended family

extended family

nuclear family

immediate family

traditional family

single-parent family

family unit

family identity

family abuse / violence

household unit

stepparents

adapted children

foster children

widow/widower

marriage license

arranged marriage

marital difficulties

no-fault divorce

sibling rivalry

generation gap

in-law problems

the average household

a baby boom

the “me generation”

birth control

a day care center

a “buddy”

community roots

to head a family

to make good parents

to have the right to smth

to highlight smth

to predict smth

to poll smb

to provide a setting

toтteachтcommonтpracticesтand customs

to rear/raise children

to end in divorce

to be a strain to the family

to offer flexible work hours

to stay single

to obey smb. blindly

to strain a family

to lessen the strain for smb.

to show appreciation and affection

2. Ask and answer questions about the texts.

3. Speak on the changes in the American family.

4. Speak on the advantages and disadvantages of the traditional family.

5. Do you think these statements about family life are true or false. Decide in pairs, then compare your answers with other pairs.

1. Old people should live with their children.

2. Old people live in special places (nursing homes) with other old people.

3. Everyone can learn a lot from older people.

4. Young couples must live away from their parents.

5. Children should develop different values from those held by their parents.

6. The family as an institution should get renewed.

Text 3. Family life in Great Britain

Most young people eventually get married, buy or rent a house or flat of their own and start a family. However, a great many changes are taking place in this pattern of behaviour. As in many other Western European countries, more and more men and women are living together without being married. In the mid 1980-s more than a quarter of new brides had lived with their husbands before marriage, compared with 8 per cent in 1970. People are also getting married later than they used to.

However marriage is still popular even among those whose first marriage has failed. In fact, in 36 per cent of all marriages one of both partners have already been married and divorced. Britain now has the highest divorce rate in Europe and about 10 per cent of children live with only one parent.

Another trend is towards smaller households. Very few children now grow up in large families and more and more adults are living alone (25 per cent in 1987). Many of the people who live alone are elderly; it is unusual to find three generations living in one house as they used to do in the past. It is quite common for close relatives to live in different parts of the country and many people hardly ever meet their uncles, aunts and cousins. One reason for this is that British people move house every five years on average. They do this in order to change jobs or to buy a bigger or better house.