Vocabulary

a school leaver – выпускница

to look like - быть похожим

short straight hair - короткие прямые волосы

the same blue eyes - такие же голубые глаза

a snub nose - курносый нос

three - roomed flat - трёхкомнатная квартира

electric cooker - электрическая плита

rubbish chute - мусоропровод

to share duties - делить обязанности

to drop in - забежать

todust the furniture - вытирать пыль с мебели

Тексты по теме. Family Life in Britain

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. For example, since the law made it easier to get a divorce, the number of divorces has increased. That's why 24% of British children live with only one parent, usually their mother.

The contemporary British child doesn't have a lot of companionship from brothers and sisters, because the average family has only one or two children. Most British children live with their parents at least until they finish school at the age of 17 or 18. Then many go away to college, leaving some parents sad and lonely in their empty nest and others enjoying their release from parental responsibilities.

But many adults stay with their parents during their college years or return home after graduation. Today's parents cannot even be sure that their married children have moved out forever. After a divorce they may return to the parental home temporarily or even on a long-term basis.

Older people take pride in their independence, enjoy their freedom and don't want to be a burden to their children. The telephone, the car and the airplane keep them in close contact even when they live in different parts of the country.

Members of family — 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 home town to work and so the family becomes scattered. Christmas is the traditional season for reunions.

Although the family group is smaller nowadays than it used to be, relatives often travel many miles in order to spend the holiday together. Family parties may be all the more joyous when they bring together relatives who haven't seen each other for a while.

Questions:

1. Why do a lot of British children live with only one parent?

2. What can you tell about the contemporary British child?

3. Are there many adults staying at their parents' place?

4. Older people take pride in their independence, don't they?

5. What is the traditional season for reunions?

Vocabulary:

divorce — развод

to increase — увеличиваться

contemporary — современный

responsibility — ответственность

temporarily — временно

Family problems

"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.

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.

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?