Jigsaw reading

Exercise 1. Before reading, make sure you understand the meaning of the

Exercise 2. Split into 3 groups and read text A, or C each.

Which of the phrases describes the subject of the teбt вou’ve read best?

a)relationships between children in a family;

b)ЭСО НТППОЫОЧМО ЛОЭаООЧ ШЧХв МСТХНЫОЧ КЧН “ЧШЧ-on ХТОЬ”;

c)a dreadful fate of an only child.

Exercise 3. After вou’ve read decide аhether the statements after “вour” text are true or false.

Text A

AN ONLY CHILD

I was one of six children. I have two younger brothers and three elder sisters. My father was not a wealthy man and we lived in a three-bedroomed house, so conditions at home were always quite cramped and there was little privacy. Yet I consider that I was extremely fortunate. The house was on the outskirts of a small town. Meadows, woods and even a friendly stream lay within walking distance of our home. My mother and father were far too busy to occupy themselves with my affairs, so the greater part of my upbringing was left to my sisters. If I am now a comparatively calm and placid person, able to cope tolerably well with those problems that life presents us with, it is, I firmly believe, due to the fact that I was allowed to grow up without too much fuss being made of me.

The most dreadful fate that I can imagine would be that of growing up as an only child. All mothers and fathers experiment on their unfortunate firstborn. They read the latest baby books, they attend clinics and courses of lectures. They listen to the advice of maiden aunts.

They debate the exact moment to present him or her with solid food. What they find extremely difficult to do is to allow their child to grow up at his own pace, to make his own mistakes and quietly learn from them.

As soon as the second baby is on the way, the first escapes from this period of close attention. He begins to get away with things. He discovers that even if he does eat sandwiches with dirty hands, or unripe apples that have fallen from the tree, he may not be sick in the night. He acquires a sense of proportion regarding his own importance.

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But what happens to an only child? Never, or at least not until it is far too late to do anything about it, does he or she escape from the minute examination of his every action. It is a miracle if he does not grow up a nervous person constantly worrying about his health, a wholly self-centered being, who shivers at the sight of his own reflection in the mirror.

True or false?

a)The author was taken great care of.

b)HО аКЬ ПШЫЭЮЧКЭО ЛОМКЮЬО СТЬ ЫОХКЭТЯОЬ НТНЧ’Э ЦКФО ЦЮМС ПЮЬЬ ШП СТЦ.

c)According to the author the firstborn is not rarely unhappy because he is less loved.

d)An only child often grows a wholly self-centered being.

e)AЧ ШЧХв МСТХН СКЫНХв ОЬМКpОЬ ПЫШЦ СТЬ pКЫОЧЭЬ’ КЭЭОЧЭТШЧ КЧН ЭСКЭ’Ь аСв ТЬЧ’Э КЛХО ЭШ МШpО аТЭС pЫШЛХОЦЬ.

f)Getting away with things is a way to learn yourself and the world around you.

g)The author is a calm and placid person because his parents provided him with perfect living conditions and learning facilities.

Text B

BOND OF BROTHERLY HATE

Jealousy between brothers and sisters is very often unavoidable, especially when a new baby is born into the family.

Mary, fifteen months old, would brush her newborn brother’s head so hard that she almost drew blood. Three-year-old Bobby sang nursery rhymes and gave four-month-old Eliza’s cradle such a hard push that she fell out on several occasions.

Sibling rivalry can often be caused by one child feeling, rightly or wrongly, that the parents prefer the other child or children in the family to them. An eight- year-old girl started having asthma attacks because she felt her mother was devoting more time and attention to her two younger sisters, aged five and seven.

A teenage boy of religious parents dropped out and adopted a “hippie” lifestyle because he believed his parents preferred his younger sister.

According to research, the arrival of a new baby causes most trouble in families where the mother is particularly close to an elder daughter. But where the child has a close relationship with the father, there is usually far less conflict after the new birth. Temperament, too, is important. Children who are irritable or difficult react most strongly to the birth of a sibling.

Not surprisingly it is often when mothers are attending to the new baby that siblings play up. Rosie Summers recalls: “Literally, no sooner had I started to feed the baby than Lisa, then two, would announce that she wanted a drink or would go into another room and start dropping things. It was extremely irritating.” What families forget is that not only is sibling rivalry normal, it can also have a positive side. It is important to remember Freud’s view that if you cannot

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hate you cannot love. In most families, sibling rivalry and sibling affection are two sides of the same coin. A mother of two boys aged sixteen and ten has this experience: “My kids will be at each other’s throats, complaining to me about what the other has done or has got. Yet if someone is unpleasant to one, or if either hurts himself, nobody could be more caring or concerned than the other.”

True or false?

a)When a new baby is born into a family, the firstborn often does harm to his younger brother or sister, on purpose or not.

b)Children are sometimes right felling that the parents prefer the other

child or children to them.

c)CСТХНЫОЧ НШЧ’Э ЮЬЮКХХв ОбpШЬО (ЬСШа) ЭСОТЫ ЬЮППОЫТЧРЬ аСОЧ ЭСОв ПООХ jealous towards their younger brothers or sisters.

d)A close relationship with one of the parents often influences the firstЛШЫЧ’Ь КЭЭТЭЮНО ЭШ ЭСО ЧОа ЛКЛв.

e)Sibling rivalry is quite normal.

f)CСТХНЫОЧ МКЧ ЛО ЯОЫв МКЫТЧР КЧН МШЧМОЫЧОН КЛШЮЭ ЭСОТЫ ЛЫШЭСОЫЬ’ ШЫ ЬТs-

ЭОЫЬ’ pЫШЛХОЦЬ, ТЧ ЬpТЭО ШП ЭСО ЫТЯКХЫв ЛОЭаООЧ ЭСОЦ.

Text C

ONLY CHILDREN

Is an “only child” special in some way? If children have no brothers and sisters, do they develop differently? Are they likely to be more intelligent? Or less confident? Or shier? Or more selfish? Or are they just the same as children from large families?

Statistics often show that only children are “achievers” – people who become very successful in their careers. But firstborn children in general (not just only children) tend to be “achievers”.

In the 1920s and 1930s the child experts used to say, “Being an only child is a disease in itself”. In fact, of course, it’s impossible to support this. Only children naturally have a very different experience in childhood. They are always the centre of attention. No younger brother or sister arrives to challenge this, and to share his or her childhood with them.

One modern-day child expert believes they may be more dependent. They may be less willing to share things. They may have more difficulty getting used to school. But the phrase “an only child” does not necessarily mean “a lonely child”.

The professor of Child Care at Sheffield Hospital, Ronald Illingworth, says: “There is one great advantage for an only child. He or she receives all the love parents have to offer. A loved child usually grows up into a loving adult”.

So the general opinion of the experts is: Only children are not very different from “non-onlies” in either emotions or intelligence.

The journalist Angela Lewis interviewed several famous and successful people who were only children. Among them Noel Edmonds (a BBC radio disc

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jockey and TV presenter), Sally Oppenheim (a Conservative MP), and Chris Bonnington (the Everest climber).

Sally Oppenheim: “My parents didn’t spoil me. In fact, they were stricter than many parents. As a child I used to talk to my dog for hours. (I think pets are very important to only children). Mostly I was bored. This has made me work hard in my career. I like to be busy. I married young – as an only child, I think I needed a close relationship with another adult. Even now I still don’t like being an only child. I have a horror of being alone”.

Noel Edmonds: “I was shy at school. I didn’t make many friends. I wasn’t used to being with other children. In the school holidays I used to play on my own. But I had a very good relationship with my parents. I don’t remember feeling lonely as a child, but I used to invent my own dream world. And I decided very early that I was going to be successful”.

Chris Bonnington: “I was shy. At times I was very unhappy especially when I was sent to a boarding school at five. I didn’t make close friends until I was about thirteen. I became very good at being by myself. I had no one to rely

on, and no one to ask for advice. That made me independent, and I’ve always

ЬШХЯОН Цв pЫШЛХОЦЬ ЦвЬОХП. Mв аТПО КЧН I СКЯО ЭаШ ЬШЧЬ. АО НТНЧ’Э аКЧЭ КЧ only child, because I felt I had missed a lot of things.”

True or false?

a)OЧХв МСТХНЫОЧ КЫО КЬ ШПЭОЧ “КМСТОЯОЫЬ” КЬ ПТЫЬЭЛШЫЧЬ ТЧ РОЧОЫКХ.

b)Only children are often morО ТЧЭОХХТРОЧЭ ЭСКЧ “ЧШЧ-ШЧХТОЬ”.

c)OЧХв МСТХНЫОЧ КЫО ТЧ РОЧОЫКХ ЯОЫв НТППОЫОЧЭ ПЫШЦ “ЧШЧ-ШЧХТОЬ” ТЧ ЭСОТЫ

emotions (as experts say).

d) Only children are different from children in large families, because they have a very different experience in childhood.

e)TСО pСЫКЬО “КЧ ШЧХв МСТХН” ЧОЯОЫ ЦОКЧЬ “К ХШЧОХв МСТХН”.

f)AЧ ШЧХв МСТХН’Ь ЫОХКЭТШЧЬСТp аТЭС СТЬ pКЫОЧЭЬ ТЬ КХаКвЬ аКЫЦ КЧН МХШЬО,

Exercise 4. In your groups try to answer the questions. You may not be able to answer all the questions.

1)Who brings up children in large families?

2)Do loving parents often experiment on their firstborn? What do they do?

3)What is an only child (or a firstborn) often not allowed to do?

4)АСОЧ МКЧ К МСТХН’Ь ХТПО МСКЧРО?

5)When is jealousy between siblings especially unavoidable?

6)Why are children jealous of their brothers or sisters?

7)What positive sides does sibling rivalry have? Who substantiated this point of view?

8)Why can a child grow up a nervous wholly self-centred being but not a calm person, able to cope with numerous problems?

9)What can an only child receive in the family?

10)What does an only child often lack in childhood?

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11)What can help an only child avoid loneliness?

12)АСКЭ ЭЫКТЭЬ ШП МСКЫКМЭОЫ ЦКв ШЧХв МСТХНЫОЧ ХКМФ ТЧ ЬШЦО ОбpОЫЭЬ’ ШpТn-

ion? What can develop in an only child as years pass?

13)IЧ аСКЭ аКв ТЬ КЧ ШЧХв МСТХН’Ь ОбpОЫТОЧМО ТЧ МСТХНСШШН Нifferent from ЭСКЭ ШП К “ЧШЧ-onlв’Ь”?

14)In what cases is there less conflict between the siblings after the arrival of the new baby?

15) How can a child acquire a sense of proportion and his own importance?

Exercise 5. Find partners from the other groups. Compare your answers and swap information. List the advantages and disadvantages of being an only child and growing up with several brothers and sisters.

Exercise 6. Return to your original groups and discuss the following points. Use the words in the box above (ЬОО № 1).

a)An only child: spoilt or unhappy?

b)Having and being a brother or a sister is great!

Exercise 7. Write an essay on the following topic:

“АСОЧ I СКЯО К ПКЦТХв ШП Цв ШаЧ, I’Ц РШТЧР ЭШ СКЯО ... МСТХНЫОЧ.”

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