Text 2 The American Family

Most American families consist of a mother, a father, and three or four children living at home. This familiar structure is known as the “nuclear family”. It is unusual for members of the family other than the husband, wife, and children to live together. Occasionally an aging grandparent may live with the family, but it is considered undesirable. Visiting between parents and their married children and between married sisters and brothers is frequent when they live close to each other. If they live in different communities, they keep in touch by writing letters and by telephone.

In American family the husband and the wife usually make important decisions together. When the children are old enough, they participate as well. Children are often allowed to do what they wish without strict parent control. The father seldom expects his children to obey him without question, and children are encouraged to be independent at an early age. Young people break away from their parental families in their late teens or early twenties.

This pattern of independence often results in serious problems for the aging parents of a nuclear family. The job-retirement age is 65. The children have left home, married, and set up their own households. Elderly couples feel useless and lonely with neither an occupation nor a close family group. Many communities and church groups sponsor centers for “senior citizens”. At these centers older men and women can make friends and participate in a variety of planned activities, including games, trips, lectures, and discussion groups. These programs may help some old people, but they do not provide the complete solution to the problem of old age.

Ex.1 Answer the questions:

1. Do you think it’s easier to be a father or a mother?

2. Do you think you could put an aging parent into an old-age house?

3. Do you think grown-up children and parents should live together?

4. What problems face single-parent families?

5. What are the main reasons for the conflicts between different generations?

6. Did you or any of your family have to be away from each other for any length of time? Did you miss each other?

Text 3 My Aunt Emily

Of all my relatives, I like my Aunt Emily the best. She’s my mother’s youngest sister. She has never married, and she lives alone in a small village near Bath. She’s in her late fifties, but she’s still quite young in spirit. She has a kind face, and when you meet her, the first thing you noticed is her lovely, warm smile. Her face is a little wrinkled now, but I think she is still rather attractive. She is a sort of person you can always go to if you have a problem.

She likes reading and gardening, and she goes for long walks with her dog, Buster. She’s a very active person. Either she’s making something, or mending something, or doing something to help others. She does the shopping for some of the old people in the village. She’s extremely generous, but not very tolerant with people who don’t agree with her. I hope that I am a happy and contented as she is when I’m her age.

Ex. 1 Write a similar description of a member of your family in about 200 words.

Include the following:

your opinion of the person

physical description

his/her character, habits, likes and dislikes.

Text 4 The Family

The family is the most basic and ancient institutions, and it remains the fundamental social unit in every society.

There are many different views on family life. Some people could not do without the support and love of their families. Others say it is the source of most our problems.

Sociologists divide families into two general types: the nuclear family and the extended family, which may include three or more generationsliving together.

There are people who say that the family unit is in crisis, that traditional family life is the thing of the past, and the family is in decline. The number of one-parent families increases; the current divorce rate is high; there is a lack of discipline within the family. Some politicians blame social problems, such as drug taking and juvenile crime.

There is no definition of a “normal” family. Broadly speaking, the family is a group of people related by blood or law, living together or associating with one another for a common purpose. That purpose is usually to provide shelter and food, and to bring up children. Now there are a number of types of family that exist in a society at any one time.

What characteristics are common to all family forms?

First, the family consists of a group of people who are in some way related to one another. Second, its members live together for long periods. Third, the adults in the group assume responsibility for the children. And forth, the members of the family form an economic unit – often for producing and for consuming goods and services. We may say, then, that the family is a relatively permanent group of people related by ancestry, marriage, or adoption, who live together, form an economic unit, and take care of their young.