Раздел 5.2.

5.2.1.Отработайте произношение данных слов, уточнив их произношение по словарю.

5.2.2. Просмотрите данный текст и дайте ответ на вопрос:What kind of families are described in this text?

FAMILY

Vivien.My dad is quite old, he is 81. My mum is about 15 years younger. I have two brothers. Nigel, who is seven years older than me, is a computer programmer. His main interest is music, and he plays the guitar very well, and the piano. He is married to Nikki, who is an artist. She is half Swiss, and paints pictures for a living. They live in London, and have two children. My other brother Chris, is a stockbroker, and he lives with his family in Hong Kong because the firm he works for sent him out there. He met his wife Leslie in South Africa, when he was working there. Leslie doesn`t work and she brings up the children. They have got four children. So I have six nieces and nephews, which means I have got a lot of presents to buy at Christmas! I come from quite a big family. I worked it out once that I have got 25 cousins, because my dad` s dad married twice, and my mum` s mum married twice. My mum has two brothers and sisters, and she has three half-sisters. And my dad has four brothers and sisters and two stepbrothers and sisters. My parents live in the country, in the south-west of England. When I lived in England I used to go to visit them maybe every month. Now I go about twice a year. Normally I go at Christmas and some time in the summer.

In England the stereotypical family is husband and wife and 2.4 children, so they say, and a dog and a cat. We have two cats, by the way. They were my cats, but when I left to come and live in Hungary I took them to my mum. We used to have a dog, a big golden Labrador.

The English stereotypical family of husband and wife is, I suppose, changing now because there are a lot of one-parent families. A lot of people get divorced now and live on their own, and bring up their children on their own. What about my parents? Well, my mother never worked, she was a housewife, and she and my dad lived in Sri Lanka and India for much of their married life, because my dad was a businessman. He is retired now but used to import, I think it was whisky and fertilizer, from England to Sri Lanka. My mum brought up two children there. I was born a year after they moved back to England, near London, so that` s a bit different from exotic Asia. I suppose in a way we conformed to the typical stereotype of a family. My father was the breadwinner and the head of the family, and my mother was a housewife .

Nowadays in England, most women seem to want to go out to work, and even if they have children they send them to a nursery or crèche at a very early age, and go back to work to resume their careers. Also, quite often now a lot of old people live on their own, not usually with their children and their grandchildren as used to be the case.

Thomas.Nowadays, I don`t have very close contact with my family. I write occasionally to my father and mother, and I hear news from my brother. Sometimes I get a letter from my grandmother as well. Also we telephone each other. I haven` t felt close part of the family unit since my mother and father divorced. They have been divorced for about eleven years now. I` m 25, by the way, so when they divorced, I was 14, and from this age I started to get my independence, started to live my own life a little bit.. When I was younger, though, the family atmosphere was mostly very happy. I remember going away with my parents for trips in the country, in the park. We had a dog, it was for the first 12 years of my life

During my early childhood, I spent almost all of my time with my mother. She taught us things and of course cooked for us, and played for us all day, when we were at home. When she left, my relationship with my father became stronger. Things were never the same after the family broke up. We were quite an isolated family. We were rarely visited by friends of the family, but they weren` t very sociable. I spent a lot of time with my brother in my growing years. We used to play together. Sometimes we would end up with quarrelling or fighting, maybe that` s usual for young children brought up in this kind of society.

Every other week, or sometimes every week, we could go at the weekend to stay with my grandmother, who we called Nanna. My grandmother` s really lovely. She never stops making tea. Every 15 minutes of the day, she comes into the room with a big pot of tea and says: “Would you like a nice cup of tea?” Now, she` s getting a little bit older, and I think she doesn` t do as much as she did, but she is a really wonderful person.

My other grandmother, who is my grandmother on my father` s side also had a broken marriage. She divorced my grandfather before I was born, so I never saw them together. Over the last few years, I have visited her a few times, because we have something in common, which is our Christian religion.

I never met my mother` s father, he died before I was born, but I knew my father` s father when I was smaller. After he split up with his wife, he lived together with his sister, who was my great aunt. She never married or even had a boyfriend as far as I know. She was really an old spinster. They lived a very routine life. Every time we went to see them exactly the same things would happen. They would wake up, my great aunt would make the breakfast, bring it to my grandfather, my grandfather would read the paper until a certain time, when he would listen to something on the radio, etc, etc.

I have only one aunt, who is the sister of my father. We always had a very good relationship with them (my aunt, my uncle and their children), although we rarely went to see them, only once a year, maybe at Christmas to exchange presents. Whenever we went to visit them, we would be filled up with cakes and sweets, and given little presents.

Nowadays my father and mother both have new partners. My farther has a nice girlfriend, who he is planning to move into a new house with. My mother also has a boyfriend, who works away from home a lot of time, so she is alone a lot of time now, but seems to be happy. She is a lot more creative than she ever was when I was a child. Whenever I go to see her now, or whenever I hear from her, she tells me about new things that she` s learned to make, arts and crafts, and skills.

My girlfriend, Maria, has a very close and knit family. They really take care of each other, regularly visit each other, and are always calling each other to make sure they are OK. They spend a lot of time together. It` s really nice and encouraging for me to see that the family unit really can work, as in the case of their parents, who really love each other very dearly after many years of being married, and her grandparents, who are still completely in love, and both over 80. One of my dreams is to be happily married to a ripe old age like them.

5.2.3. Найдите в тексте ответы на следующие вопросы.

1. Who are Vivien`s relatives?

2. What is a stereotypical family in England?

3. What are the changes in stereotypical family in England?

4. What is the story of Thomas` family life about?

5. What is Thomas` dream?

5.2.4. На сколько логических частей можно разделить данный текст. Озаглавьте каждую часть.

5.2.5. Составьте план текста на русском языке.

5.2.6. Переведите составленный план на английский язык.

5.2.7.Напишите краткое изложение текста на английском языке.

5.2. 8. Прочитайте данный текст. Выучите его и разыграйте по ролям.

A SENTIMENTAL HUSBAND

indignation(n) – негодование

occur to smb – приходить на ум (в голову)

celebrate (v) - праздновать

It happened in Liverpool. One day Mr. Frost went to a Detective Agency and the clerk greeted him with the words:

-What can I do for you, Sir?

-I` d like to get in touch with my wife – answered Mr. Frost.

-There should be no difficulty about that – replied the clerk.

-Er…yes, but she has left me.

-Oh! I see. But when did she leave you, Sir?

-She walked out on me almost 25 years ago, 4 days after we were married.

-Oh! I see… I suppose you` d like to divorce her now?

-Not at all – answered Mr. Frost with indignation – you see in a few days` time it is our silver wedding anniversary and it just occurred to me she might like to have a drink with me to celebrate the occasion.