A) Would you like to have a small or a big family? Why?
b) At what age, in your opinion, should you start thinking about marriage?
MODERN FAMILIES IN BRITAIN
The family in Britain is changing. In the past, people got married and stayed married. Divorce was very difficult, expensive and took a long time. Today, people's views on marriage are changing. Many couples, mostly in their twenties or thirties, live together without getting married. Only about 60% of these couples will eventually get married.
By the year 2020, it is estimated that there will be more single people than married people. Fifty years ago this would have been socially unacceptable in Britain.
In the past, people married before they had children, but now about 40% of children in Britain are born to unmarried parents. In 2000, around a quarter of unmarried people between the ages of 16 and 59 were cohabiting in Great Britain. Unmarried couples are also starting families without first being married. Before 1960 this was very unusual, but in 2001 around 23 per cent of births in the UK were to cohabiting couples.
People are generally getting married at a later age now and many women do not want to have children immediately. They prefer to concentrate on their jobs and put off having a baby until late thirties.
The number of single-parent families is increasing. This is mainly due to more marriages ending in divorce, but some women are also choosing to have children as lone parents without being married.
On average 2.4 people live as a family in one home in Britain. A lot of young people leave home between the ages of 18 and 25 when they go to university, get a job or get married. They often share a flat or house with some friends.
Old people don't normally live in the same house as their children and grandchildren. They usually live in their own house or flat, or in an old people's home.
& 4. Read the text about household chores in Britain and think about the following questions:
A) What are the different roles men and women play in housework in your family?
B) What do men usually do? And women?
C) How often do people hire housekeepers to do housework?
HOUSEHOLD CHORES
The average British family spends 56 hours, or over two days, every week doing household chores. Families with kids have the greatest load, carrying out an average of 73 hours of household tasks per week; that’s over 65% of waking hours spent on domestic jobs.
According to a survey, most hated chore in British households is ironing, but perhaps surprisingly, as a nation they prefer vacuuming to gardening. And 74% of the women think they alone do most of the household tasks but only 48% of their male partners agreed.
Doing housework is just a part of life that most people don't enjoy, but they realise it has to be done. Some people hire home cleaning services; the rest just do it themselves.
^ 4a. Expressing likes and dislikes. Make up a short conversation using the prompts, then act it out with your partner. Begin with:
A: What do you like or dislike about your daily housework?
| B: As for me, If you ask me, | I | really | hate like don’t mind | V-ing. | And you? |
| I think that it is much more fun when you | have someone to do it with. | ||
| V0 | to | hot dance your favourite | music. |
| Word bank: cook, iron, do laundry, clean up the kitchen / the bathroom, make my bed, vacuum the floors |
8 5. Listen to the conversation between the father and his son, then answer the questions:
1. What does the boy want to do at the beginning of the conversation?
A. go and play outside
B. watch TV
C. play video games
2. What is one thing the boy is NOT assigned to do around the house?
A. clean the garage
B. vacuum the floors
C. wash the walls
3. What does the boy have to do in his bedroom?
A. put away his books
B. make his bed
C. pick up his dirty clothes
4. What is the father going to do while the boy is doing his chores?
A. wash the car
B. paint the house
C. work in the yard
5. Where will the father and son go after the housework is done?
A. to a movie
B. out to eat
C. to a ball game
@ 6. Write 10-12 sentences about carrying out housework. The following questions may help you:
Who does the housework in your family?
Are children assigned chores around the house?
Do you think children should do housework in order to get allowance?
$ 7. Find in the unit given in bold English equivalents for the following Russian words and phrases.
Деньги на карманные расходы; давать задание или поручение, средний; (супружеская) пара; развод, дорогой (о стоимости); нанимать; сразу же, увеличиваться; одинокий, самый низкий – самый высокий; осознавать; относительно, распределять (об обязанностях); неприемлемый, пылесосить; время бодрствования.
Unit 2. FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT AND LEISURE TIME