A HAPPY FAMILY

Do you know these words in English?

Семья, мать, отец, сын, дочь, брат, сестра, бабушка, дедушка, тетя, дядя, племянник, племянница, двоюродный брат, двоюродная сестра, муж, жена

Look up the words in the dictionary.

Grand-: ~parent(s) /~mother, ~ father/, ~children /~son, ~daughter/

In- laws: parent(s)~/mother~, father~/, daughter~, son~, sister~, brother~

Step-: ~father, ~mother, ~ daughter, ~son, ~brother, ~sister

Relative(s): close, distant

What is “the family”? Try to explain your idea in English.

Text1. Read the text and the dialogue and do the exercises to them.

My Family

Let me introduce myself. My name is Alexander, Alec for short. My full name is Alexander Sergeyevich Orlov. Orlov is my surname, Alexander is my first name and Sergeyevich is my patronymic. I’m not yet nineteen. At the moment I am a first-year student at the University.

My parents have two more children besides me. Thus I have got an older brother and a younger sister. My sister Helen is just out of school. She is seventeen. She is a pretty girl with brown hair and soft dark- brown eyes. Her dream is to become a pianist. My brother, whose name is Michael, is eight years my senior. He is twenty-seven already. He is a builder. He is married and has a family of his own. They are four in the family. He has a wife and two children - a son and a daughter. They are twins. They are lovely little children with golden hair and dark- blue eyes. They are always full of joy and gaiety. His wife’s name is Nina. She is a surgeon by profession. They are not in St. Petersburg. They are in the Far East.

My parents are not old at all. Father is fifty, and Mother is three years his junior. My grandparents are already pensioners but they are still full of life and energy. They have a house in the country. Aunt Mary is with them.

She is a pleasant-looking woman of about forty. Uncle Nick, her husband, is a librarian. He is a clever man but a little unpractical. Aunt Mary, on the other hand, is very practical and full of common sense.

They have a son. He is my cousin. Peter is nineteen, tall, and a fine manly fellow. He is at the University and is studying to be a chemist. He is a clever, hard-working student, a first-class

footballer, and a good runner. He is strong, quiet and thoughtfull like his father.

Exercise 1.

Read and translate the text.

Exercise 2.

Answer the following questions.

1. Whose family is the text about? 2. How many are they in the family? 3. How many children have the Orlovs got? 4. Who is the elder son and where is he? 5. How old are the Orlovs’ children? 6. How many grandchildren do Alexander’s parents have? 7. How old can the twins be? 8. What colour are their eyes and hair? 9. What is Michael’s profession? 10. Have the Orlovs got a surgeon in the family? Who is it? 11. Who is the youngest child? 12. What is her name? 13. What does Helen look like? 14. Is she a pianist already? 15. How old are Alexander’s parents? 16. Has Alexander got any grandparents? 17. Are they pensioners? 18. Where have they got a house? 19. Who is living with them? 20. What can you say about aunt Mary and uncle Nick? 21. Is Peter Alec’s junior or senior? 22. What is Peter studying? 23. What kinds of sport is Peter fond of?

Exercise 3.

Retell the text; imagine that you are Alec’s father (mother, grandmother) or his sister Helen, his brother Michael, his aunt Mary, his sister-in-law Nina. Speak of the family using the material of the text.

Exercise 6.

Fill in the blanks stating the relationship among the various members of the family.

1. My father’s sister is my mother’s … . 2. My father’s parents are my … . 3. My grandparents are my mother’s and father’s … . 4. My sister and I are our parents’ … . 5. My sister and I are our grandparents’ … . 6. My father’s mother is my mother’s … 7. My father’s father is my mother’s … . 8. My mother is the … of my father’s parents. 9. My fafther is the … of my mother’s parents. 10. My mother is my father’s … and my father is my mother’s … . 11. Nina is married to Victor, so Victor’s parents are Nina’s … . 12. Mother’s second husband is my … . 13. We are good friends with my brother’s wife, my … . 14. My brother’s daughter, my … , is a pupil of the sixth form.

Exercise 7.

Give definitions of the following words.

P a t t e r n : niece – My brother’s (sister’s) daughter is my niece.

Parents, grandparents, drandmother, grandfather, mother-in-law, father-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, nephew, cousin, step-mother, step-father, step-sister, step-brother, aunt, uncle.

Exercise 8.

Complete the following sentences.

1. I’m about 20, and my brother is 22, so he is … . 2. My cousin is married, so she has … . 3. Nina is a distant relative of yours, isn’t she? – No, she is … . 4. My father is married for the second time: so his wife is my … . 5. Helen and you are both eightteen, so you are … . 6. My father’s first name is Vladimir. So Vladimirovna is … .

Exercise 9.

Insert prepositions.

1. My cousin’s name is William, Bill … short. 2. My sister is married to John, a young architect … profession. 3. Let me introduce a relative … you. 4. Your sister is just … ... school, isn’t she? 5. Is your daughter fond … music? 6. My brother has a family. They are three … the family. 7. My uncle is still full … energy though he is … 65 already. He is not yet a pensioner. 8. Jane is a young girl … … twenty with fair hair and blue eyes. She is studying Spanish … the University. 9. The Petrovs are not … Leningrad. They are … the Far East. 10. I’m fond … spending my winter vacations … the country together … my friends. 11. Is Nelly married … Bill or … Alec? 12. Can your son really be a pupil … the tenth form already? – Yes, he is … sixteen. 13. Are you a native … Minsk?