Task 7. Fill in the table.

FAMILY RELATIONS

LESSON 10

LEVEL 1

Task 1. Read these words paying attention to their pronunciation and find Russian equivalents. Group them according to their part of speech.

hen party

stag party

ancestor

descendant

ex-wife/husband

wedlock

propose

childless

remarry

wedding anniversary

work out smb’s problems

abuse

show affection and appreciation

cherish

routine

share

bridal veil

garter

split up

LEVEL 2

Task 2. Choose any 5 words from the previous exercise and give their definitions.

Task 3. Listen to the Track 1 and make up 5 sentences about your relatives by analogy.

LEVEL 3

Task 4. Listen to the Track 2 and be ready TO TELL THIS STORY using reported speech.

Do you have any special traditions of celebrating birthdays in your family?

How do you usually prefer to spend time together?

Task 5. What types of families do you know?

Task 6. Before reading the text make sure that you understand the meaning of these words and expressions.

To bring up children / to raise children

Adoption

To reside

To split up

Prevalent

Permissive

Strict

On the other hand

Ownership

Inheritance

Types of Family

The family is a group of people related by blood or law, living together or being united with one another for a common purpose. That purpose is usually to provide shelter and food, and to bring up children. There is another definition of the word “family”. It is "two or more persons related by birth, marriage, or adoption, who reside together." Thus, a family can be two or more adult siblings living together, a parent and child or children, two adults who are related by marriage but have no children, or adults who adopt a child.

The nature of family keeps changing: there are a number of types of family that exist in a society at any time.

There used to be mainly two types of families: the extended and the nuclear. The extended family most often included mother, father, children, and some other relatives, such as grandparents, living in the same house or nearby. Then as job patterns changed and the economy progressed from agricultural to industrial, people were forced to move to different parts of the country for job opportunities. These moves split up the extended family. The nuclear family became more prevalent; it consisted of only the parents and the children.

In the Far, Middle and Near East and in parts of Africa, South America and Europe, the first thing most Western people notice is the respect everyone has for the old. Older men and women live with their married children and are important members of the family. They look after the children, help with the cooking, give advice and often rule family life. Living in an extended family has advantages for everyone. A small child, for example, knows many people from the very beginning, not just his mother and father. When his mother goes out, it doesn't matter. He'll stay with someone who loves him — an aunt or sister or grandmother. For a young mother and father there are also advantages. They can go out to work and grandmother will look after the house and the children.

This is, especially important in farming communities, where both men and women work in the fields.

And the older woman, for example, has something important to do. She sees her children and grandchildren grow up. She is needed and loved. The nuclear family is the product of the West. The typical family consists of mother, father and two children. If the mother goes out to work, she must leave them with a stranger — someone who looks after them as a job, for money. If there is a divorce or separation the child's life will change completely.

Of course, there can be problems when people of three generations live in the same house. Grandparents are often more permissive than parents, and they let children do what they want. But most parents feel that it is better to be strict; they feel that children should follow rules. Parents think that grandparents who don't make children mind (=obey) will spoil them. Then the children won't obey anyone as they are growing up.

But having grandparents at home can also be fun. For example, everyone enjoys the stories the older people tell and the interesting things that they can teach the other family members. Having elderly people at home can be a wonderful experience.

On the other hand, too many elderly people live alone — in special flats or homes. They hardly ever see their children and grandchildren. They have nothing important to do. They are often poor and lonely. In winter many old people die of cold or from falls in the house — because there is no one to look after them. Nobody cares.

Besides these two types of traditional groupings, the word "family" is being extended to include a variety of other living arrangements. Today there is an increase in single-parent homes: a father or mother living with one or more children.

Blended families occur when previously married men and women marry again and combine the children from former marriages into a new family.

Some couples make up their mind not to have any children at all, so there is an increase in two-person childless families. There are also more people who live alone: single, widowed, divorced.

The matrifocal (ориентированный на мать (о семье)) family consists of a mother and her children. This kind of family commonly develops where women have the resources to bring up their children by themselves, or where men have more mobility than women.

The conjugal family consists of one or more mothers and their children, and/or one or more fathers. This kind of family occurs commonly where a division of labor requires the participation of both men and women, and where families have relatively high mobility. The nuclear family is a subtype of the conjugal family.

The consanguineal family comes in various forms, but the most common subtype consists of a mother and her children, and other people — usually the family of the mother. This kind of family commonly evolves where mothers do not have the resources to raise their children on their own, fathers are not often present, and especially where property changes ownership through inheritance.

Task 7. Fill in the table.