***
A. Is your family large?
B. No, it isn’t. We are only 3 in the family. (There are 3 of us in the family).
A. How old are your parents?
B. My mother is 40. My father is 43.
A. Do they still work?
B. Yes, they do.
***
A. Are you married?
B. Yes, I am.
A. Would you tell me about your family? How many children do you have?
B. I have two children, a son and a daughter.
A. How lucky you are!
***
A. Are you married?
B. No, I’m not. I’m single.
A. Do you live with your parents?
B. No, I don’t. They live in Rostov.
***
A. Hi! My name is Tom Smith. I’m from Atlanta, Georgia. What’s your name?
B. I’m Pedro.
A. And where are you from, Pedro?
B. I’m from Madrid, Spain.
A. Oh, really? Nice to meet you.
B. Nice to meet you too.
B) Reproduce the short dialogues in similar situations.
Make up short situations based on the model.
Model: It’s Robert Brown. He’s 26. He’s a journalist. He’s American. He comes from New York.
| Name | Age | Job | Nationality | Residence |
| Mary Smith Tom Stuart Jerry Brown Robert Grey Clair Jones Andrew Smith | architect secretary doctor mechanic actress lawyer | English Irish Canadian Australian American Scottish | London Dublin Ottawa Sydney New York Edinburgh |
Work in pairs.
One student makes a sketch of his (her) family tree trying to remember all his (her) relatives, the other asks questions and draws the family tree. Then they compare the sketches.
Speak about your own family. The following questions will help you.
1. How large is your family?
2. Are your family early risers? Why? What about you?
3. Are you the eldest of the family?
4. Do you have any special duties?
5. Who do you most take after, your mother or your father?
6. Who are you like in character?
7. Who do you look like?
8. Who is the head of your family?
9. Do you think that older and younger generations should live together?
Text 2. Family problems
ACTIVE VOCABULARY TO REMEMBER
| to honour dead misunderstanding adulthood adolescence values generation gap generation gap drug juvenile delinquent to be convinced rescue to dial way out | – почитать, уважать, чтить – однообразный, безжизненный, неживой, мертвый – неправильное понимание, размолвка, ссора, разногласие – зрелость, взрослость; состояние зрелости организма – подростковый возраст, юность – достоинства, ценности – поколение – разрыв, глубокое расхождение (во взглядах и т. п.); недостаток – конфликт поколений, проблема отцов и детей – наркотик – малолетний преступник – быть убежденным, уверенным – спасение – набирать номер, звонить – выход из положения |
"Honour your mother and father and you will live long and be well, if not, you will die" – says the Bible. Some families are happy, some are dead. It seems to me the reason is misunderstanding of each other in the family.
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One more thing, teenagers can take on most of the rights and responsibilities of adulthood. Before this occurs, however, they go through the period of adolescence and most of them experience conflicts at that time. They change rapidly both physically and emotionally and they search self-identity as they grow up and become more independent.
Sometimes teenagers develop interests and values different from those of their parents. That sets a conflict between two generations, which leads to a gap in mutual understanding. Traditional disagreements are: the time to come home at night, doing work about the house and the friends to spend time with.
I'd like to point out, that teens face a number of problems: drinking alcohol or using drugs. Moreover, some children run away from their homes. Most of them return after a few days or weeks, but some turn to crime and become juvenile delinquents.
I'm convinced that sometimes parents do not care about their children. It is exactly at that age when young people need a piece of advice or help. Different TV programmes and magazines for the young come to their rescue. In case of need you can also dial a special telephone number, the so-called 'telephone of trust'.
But it's not the way out. Parents should help their children and find the right approach to them so as to make everything clear. Being able to view the problems more rationally, they should try to do their best to resolve them. We need to learn to talk our problems over in our family. If we are able to do it, everything will be all right.
Practice:
1. Answer the following questions:
1. What does the Bible say about parents? 2. What is the reason of unhappy family? 3. When do teenagers experience conflicts? 4. What sets a conflict between two generations? 5. What problems do teens face? 6. What do teenagers especially need at that age? 7. How should parents help their children? 8. What other means come to their rescue? 9. What do we need not to have problems in the family?