INTRODUCTORY READING AND TALK. Have you ever met a woman who never touched abroom or a floor-cloth in her life?

Have you ever met a woman who never touched abroom or a floor-cloth in her life? Nearly all women but a queen have to put up with the daily routine doing all sortsofdomestic work. But different women approach the problem differently.

The so-called lady-type women can afford to have alive-in helpwho can do the housework. She is usually anold hand at doing the cleaning andwashing, beating carpets andpolishing the furniture.She is like a magician who entertains you bysweeping the floor in a flash or in no timemaking an apple-pie with one hand. Few are those so lucky as to have such a resident magician to make them free and happy.

Efficient housewives cando anything about the house. Tidying upis not a problem for such women. An experienced housewife will not spend her afternoonironingorstarching collars; shegets every­thing done quickly and effortlessly. Shekeeps all the rooms clean and neat, dusting the furniture, scrubbing the floor, washing up andput­ting everything in its place. She is likely to do athorough cleaningevery fortnight. Sheremoves stains, does the mending, knits and sews. What man doesn't dream of having such ahandy and thrifty wife?

The third type of woman findsdoing the everyday household chores rather a boring business. You can often hear her say that she hates doing the dishes andvacuuming. So you may find ahuge pile of washing in the bathroom andthe sink is probably piled high with plates. A room in a messanda thick layer of dust everywhere will al­ways tell you what sort of womanruns the house. What could save a flat from this kind oflazy-bones? Probably a good husband.

Finally, there are housewives who do not belong to any group. They like things in the house to look as nice as one can make them. But they never do it themselves. They'd rathersave time and effortand they do not feel likepeeling tons ofpotatoes or bleaching, and rinsing the linen. It is simply not worth doing. They persuade their husbands to buylabour-saving devices — a dish-washer, a vacuum-cleaner, a food processor or... a robot-housewife. Another way for them to avoidlabour-and-time-consuming house chores is to send the washing to thelaundry, to cook dinner every other day, or at least make their husbands and childrenhelp them in the home.

In the end, there exist hundreds of ways to look after the house. You are free to choose one of them. What kind of housewife would you like to be?

1. Four types of a housewife have been described in the text above. The first three types have been given names — the lady-type, the lazy-bones type, the efficient housewife. What would you call the fourth type?

2. Which of the types is preferable, to your mind? Why?

3. Name the activities which you see in the pictures below.

► Pattern: The lady is working about the house.

4. Say how you share domestic chores in your family. Who does the major part of the household work? Which of you is good at helping your mother?

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