4. Write out all words and word combinations related to family. Add them to your topical vocabulary. Study the examples.
family gathering = a meeting / celebration of family members: "There's a small family gathering next week."
family resemblance = where members of the family look / act similar: "You can see a distinct family resemblance between the father and the son."
to start a family = to start having children: "They want to wait a couple of years before starting a family."
to run in the family = a characteristic that is common among family members: "Baldness runs in his family."
to bring up / raise a family = to have and look after children: "It's difficult to raise a family on one income."
a family car = a car big enough to transport a family: "The Volvo Estate is a popular family car."
family-size = large quantity item: "We need to buy family-size packets of biscuits!"
family-friendly = a policy that favours families: "This hotel is family-friendly."
family doctor = a doctor who looks after general medical needs: "There are a number of good family doctors in this area."
family man = a man who prefers to spend his time with his family: "John is a family man."
family values = traditional ideas about what a family should be: "Some political parties often emphasise family values and the importance of marriage."
family name = surname: "What's your family name?"
( From http://www.english-at-home.com/vocabulary/talking-about-your-family/
Grammar spot
Phrasal verbs. Consult the dictionary. Look up the as many word combinations as you can with the verb ‘ to get’.
Make up 10 sentences. Exchange with you groupmates.
Talking about the past. Go to http://www.grammar-quizzes.com/pastsum.html. Study the mind map. Make up sentences.
4. Put the verbs in brackets into the appropriate verb form.
Nicholas Romanov 1)_______(be born) on 19 May 1868 to Tsar Alexander III and his wife, Danish princess Marie Fedorovna. He 2)_______(be) the eldest of six children and 3)_______(become) Tsar Nicholas II in 1894 when his father 4)________(die) at the age of 49 of kidney failure.
Nicholas, who 5)________(be)s a gentle man, 6)__________ (be trained) trained to be the Tsar and 7)__________(be unprepared) for the role. At the time of his father's death, he 8)________(be engaged) to German Alix of Hesse, the granddaughter of English Queen Victoria I. They 9)_________(be married) on 26 November 1894.
They 10)______(have) five children together; Olga (1895), Tatiana (1897), Maria (1899) and Anastasia (1901). A much-longed for male heir 11)________(be born) on 12 August 1904 and they named him Alexis.
In August 1914, Russia 12)__________(go) to war against Germany and Austria, which _________(to boost) the Tsar's popularity at first. Nicholas often 13)_________(travel) to the Eastern Front to improve morale among the troops but the family's popularity 14)_______(fade) following heavy casualties in the war.
The Tsarina 15)__________(be put in charge) of domestic affairs and dismissed plenty of ministers for which Rasputin 16)_________be blamed. On 2 March, 1917, Tsar Nicholas II, head of the Russian Romanov dynasty, 17)__________(be forced) to abdicate after 23 years. The vast country 18)_____(be) in revolution. The Imperial Family 19)________(be exiled) to Siberia, and a year later, _______(move) to Ekaterinburg in the Ural Mountains.
By the summer of 1918, the Tsar, his wife, four daughters and son 20)_________(vanish). Finally, in October 1994, DNA testing put an end to speculation as to the fate of the Tsar and his family. In 1995, their remains 21)_________(be laid) to rest.
Rumours 22)_______ (abandon) that Anastasia managed to escape.
5. Study the theory about nouns in Grammar Guide. Learn more http://www.grammar-quizzes.com/nounsum.html. How can nouns be distinguished from other parts of speech? Find nouns in the text. Classify them.
Speaking and writing
Discuss the following.
1. The All Nations English Dictionary gives the following definition of the family: “family – any group of people related by blood or marriage, especially parents and their children”. Use the text and your own ideas to extend this definition. Try to view the notion ‘family’ from different points of view.