Vocabulary

To be born - родиться

To go to school – учиться в школе

To leave school – закончить школу

To graduate from – закончить (учебное заведение)

To help - помогать

To be married – быть замужем / женатым

To get married – выйти замуж / жениться

To go in for sport – заниматься спортом

A nursery school – детский сад

A husband - муж

A brother - брат

A sister - сестра

A grandfather - дедушка

A grandmother - бабушка

A grandson - внук

A granddaughter - внучка

A grandchild – внук / внучка

A nephew - племянник

A niece – племянница

Exercise 1. Match the beginning and the end of the sentence.

1. I am very interested in learning English because … .

2. My father often finds some spare time … .

3. In the evenings, when all the members of our family get together after work and study, … .

4. He is a mathematician by education … .

a) … to spend it in the swimming-pool with my brother and me, playing tennis in summer and skating in winter.

b) … we like to watch TV, read books and newspapers, talk and discuss all our problems.

c) … and a manager by profession.

d) … I think that the knowledge of foreign languages helps in everyday life and career.

Exercise 2. Are the statements true or false?

1. Ulyanovsk is the most beautiful town situated on the Volga.

2. My family is not very large, just a typical family of 5.

3. I take after my mother in character and look like my father.

4. My father is a mathematician by education and a manager by profession.

5. My mother is fond of listening to music and watching soap operas.

Exercise 3. Complete the sentences from the text.

1. I am tall and slim and have … .

2. … live in Samara too.

3. She is very good at … .

4. I must say that all of us are not alike … .

5. We share … .

Exercise 4. Fill in the gap.

1. My name is Anastasia or Nastya … my friends.

2. I was born … the 2^nd … October 1994

3. First of all let me … my appearance.

4. Certainly I have a lot of interests … … sport, dancing and computer.

5. I also love to listen … modern music.

Exercise 5. Tell your group mates about your family.

Text b familiy life in britain

The condition of the British family is a frequent topic throughout Britain today. A typical British family used to consist of mother, father and two children. But in recent years there have been many changes in family life. Some of them have been caused by new laws, others are the result of social changes. For instance, as the law made it easier to get a divorce, the number of divorces has increased. In fact one marriage in every three ends in divorce, which gives rise to a lot of one-parent families. Society is now more tolerant of unmarried people, unmarried couples and single parents than it used to be some years ago. The majority of divorced people marry again and sometimes take responsibility for second family.

Close relatives and members of a family group – grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins – keep in touch, but they see less of each other than they used to. This is because people often move away from their home town to work, and so the family becomes scattered. The traditional season for the family reunion is Christmas when relatives travel many miles in order to spend it together.

In general, each generation is eager to become independent of parents in establishing its own family unit, and this fact can bring about social as well as geographical differences within the larger family group.

Another change in family life style to be mentioned has been caused by the fact that people are living longer nowadays, and many old people live alone following the death of their partners. There are about 10 million old-age pensioners in Britain, of whom about 8 % cannot live entirely independently. Nowadays more than half of all old people are looked after at home. Many others live in Old People’s Homes, which may be private or state owned.

Relationships within the family undergo certain changes. Parents treat their children more as equals than they used to, and children have more freedom to make their own decisions. The father is more involved in the process of bringing up children, mainly because the mother goes out to work. Due to increased leisure facilities and more money modern life provides wider opportunities for the individual to take part in activities outside the home. Although the family holiday, which is usually taken in August, and often abroad, is still an important part of family life. Many children have holiday away from home, often with school or college friends or other organized groups.