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FAMILY IN PICTURE

FAMILY ON TV

a. a town

b. a small city

с

a large city

b. My family has lived there for

a. less than

b. my whole life

с

many generations

five years

с Most of the people in my town/city know me

a. very well

b. a little

с

not well at all

a. yes

b. no

e. For entertainment, most people in my town/city

a. stay in town

b. go to another town or city

4. Complete these sentences about life in your country.

a. Divorce is

in my country.

a. common

b. fairly common

с uncommon

b. Young men and women

live together before they get married.

a. often

b.

sometimes

с never

cause people move so frequently, they do not have a chance to get

19

to know their neighbors. Perhaps this is also why Americans tend

20

to have a more casual attitude about friendships than people from

21

some other cultures; Americans are accustomed to leaving friends

22

and making new friends. In this impersonal society, they have lost

23

the habit of saying hello to people they pass on the streets or in the

24

hallways of their apartment buildings.

25

The American family has also gone through many changes in

26

the past fifty years. Primary among these changes is the current

27

attitude about divorce, the legal end of a marriage. Until the 1960s,

28

divorce was quite uncommon. However, between 1962 and 1981, the

29

number of divorces each year tripled. With less emphasis on tra-

30

dition, on religion, and on the economic dependence of women on

31

men (due to the increase of women who work), Americans seem less

32

likely to remain in a marriage that has problems. They are not forced

33

by economic, social, or religious pressure to stay married. Partly as

34

a reaction to the high divorce rate, many Americans live together

35

without being married. They feel that it is a good idea to know each

36

other well before they become legally tied. This is particularly com-

37

mon in the more liberal areas of the country—the East and West

38

Coasts and the large cities of the North.

39

Since the 1960s, both the number of single-parent families and

40

the number of mothers who work outside the home have doubled.

41

Obviously, children have greater responsibilities in these nontra-

42

ditional families. However, bringing up children to be independent

43

has always been a part of the American culture. At an early age

44

American children learn to do things on their own. They learn to

45

take care of themselves by cleaning their rooms, helping with the

46

dishes and the laundry, and spending time away from their parents,

47

either in daycare, with a babysitter, or alone. Older children often

48

do work for other people such as babysitting or cutting the grass.

49

Most teenagers try to find summer or after-school jobs so that they

50

can have their own spending money. While in college young people

51

usually work part time and during summer vacations in a variety of

52

jobs ranging from construction work to waiting on tablrs in res-

53

taurants.

54

In the past, most young people moved away from home when

55

they finished high school, either to go to college or to get a job and

56

live with friends. Now, however, the cost of living is so high that

57

many people under 25 are moving back in with their parents. Young

58

people are getting married later now than they used to: the average

59

age for a woman to get married is now about 24 and, for a man, 26.

60

Nowadays, newly married couples often postpone having children

61

while they are establishing careers. Once they have children, they

62

face difficult decisions about whether the mother should continue

63

working and, if so, who should care for the children.

64

A First Look

93

a. similar

b. strange

с

different

8. In paragraph 3, the author mentions

things that used to make divorce dif­

ficult.

a. three

b. four

с

seven

9. Fifty years ago, children

a. had greater

b. were probably

с

were not very

responsibilities

independent also

independent

10. When people get married now, they probably_______

a. have more children

b. live with his

с

wait to have

parents

children

1.

People come and go here all the time. It is really a very

community.

a. misleading

b. transient

с

dependent

2. I never have coffee

sugar.

a. unless

b. in spite of

с

without

3. Business letters are usually very

&-. private

b. impersonal

с

pressured

4. A large salary generally gives people financial

a. security

b. statistics

с

assistance

5.

I like that class because the teacher

grammar rules and I need to under­

stand grammar more clearly.

a. interacts

b. postpones

с

emphasizes

6.

I don't know them very well. We are just

friends.

a. personal

b. casual

с

temporary

7.

This magazine is over a year old. The news in it isn't

a. tripled

b. current

с

casual

8.

A

is something I do without thinking. I am accustomed to it.

a. tradition

b. habit

с

reaction

9.

They did not associate with each other. They had little

a. dependence

b. personality

с

interaction

10.

There was an emergency so we had to

our meeting.

a. postpone

b. establish

с

bring up

Paragraph 1: Introduction

Fifty years ago, people lived in (1)

towns. Peo­

ple (2)

their neighbors

well.

Some reasons why divorce

is

more common: less emphasis on

(6)

______________________

,

(7) __________________________, and

(8)

dependence of women on men.

Paragraph 5

Young people are moving back home with

their parents because

(11)

They are getting married (12)

They have to

make difficult decisions about having (13)

and

whether or not the (14)

should work.

Look Again

99