Family history

"Researching family history is a true passion rather than just a hobby for man people", says Julie Mason. "It is wonderfully exciting when you learn more abo the ancestors*."

Julie began researching her family's past in order to find out her roots*. S says: "When you discover your roots, it gives you understanding who yo are." John Paul Thompson, has a different reason for wanting to research hi family's history. "After my father died I found myself with photo albums full old photographs with no labels. I wanted to find out more about the others."

Some of the things that people discover about their families can be ve surprising. When Jean Sandwell researched her family history she had a ve big shock. She found out that she had been adopted as a baby. After she h accepted this situation, Jean tried to find her real parents. "I discovered that rn mother emigrated to Australia in 1966," says Jean. "In 1982 I went to Austral' to meet her. It was a very emotional experience for both of us."

So what is the best way to start researching your family history? 'Tntervie all your family members before it is too late," says Julie Mason. "Make a bas' family tree of your close family and step by step make it bigger. Of course, it not easy to have accurate information from relatives about things that happen in the distant past. It is quite normal for different family members give differen versions of the same events. It is very important to check everything."

Public records in local libraries and in national archives* are also important t the family historian. Old newspaper reports are often kept on in local librari Sometimes, researching your family history can be lonely work. Remember th you can find a lot of help on the internet.

Of course, it is not easy to trace your family history a long way back and y must be very patient. Believe me, in the future, your children, and their childr may be very grateful to you for recording it.

2. Jean Sandwell made a shocking discovery. Read aloud the extract which says about it.

3. Why do people start tracing their family histories?

4. What recommendations does the author give to discover your roots?

№35

I. Read the article and say in 2—3 sentences what it is about.

a psychologist

психолог

How to be happy

Dr Richard Carlson is thought to be an internationally famous expert on happiness. Tens of millions of copies of his self-help guides have been sold around the world. These books try to help people deal with the many difficulties of life so that they can become happy and feel strong inside themselves.

a psychologist Dr Carlson is a qualified psychologist*, also he is naturally optimistic and has always had a deep interest in the idea of happiness. When he finished his university studies, he began giving lessons on how to be happy to small groups of people. Dr Carlson enjoyed that work but he wanted to try and help more people. He got an opportunity to do this when he began writing articles about happiness for a newspaper. He then had the idea of putting his ideas into book form.

One of the secrets of happiness, Dr Carlson believes, is to approach problems in stages, breaking the problem down into parts that can be solved bit by bit. "Problems often seem so large that you feel shocked," Richard Carlson says. "It's much better to stop a moment and see things in perspective."

Another advice is to develop a feeling of inner strength. You must consciously try to be positive about things, seeing problems as challenges. When you have a habit of being positive and optimistic, a lot of your problems either become unimportant, or else they disappear altogether.

Dr Carlson also stresses that it is very important for people to take responsibility for their own happiness. When you realize this, it can give you a sense of power. Instead of blaming others we should learn how we ourselves can change to improve the situation. As a result your personal relations will improve and you will feel happier.

Dr Carlson also recommends people to develop a sense of presence. What he means is that we should always be focused on whatever it is that we are doing at any particular time. If you are successful at doing this, others will respect you.

Millions of people have benefited from Dr Carlson's common sense approach to happiness. He manages to make complex issues easier to deal with.

2. Dr Carlson is considered an international expert on happiness. Read aloud the extract which says about it.

2. Why did Dr Carlson start writing books?

3. What advice for being happy does Dr Carlson give?

№36

1.Read the article and say in 2—3 sentences what it is about.

a thief

вор

to be sentenced

быть приговоренным к тюремному заключению

to cancel

отменять