Exercises

Ex. 1. Complete the chart.

daughter ?	son сын
stepmother мачеха	? отчим
spinster ?	bachelor холостяк
niece племянница	nephew ?
bride ?	groom/fiance ?
to marry ?	разводиться ?
? ?	father отец
? тетя	uncle ?
girlfriend ?	boyfriend молодой человек
single ?	? одинокий/ая
12. bridesmaid ?	best man ?

Ex. 2. Arrange the words into pairs:

wife, son, half-sister, stepfather, bachelor, nephew, boyfriend, groom, best man, bride, married, child, sister, foster-parent, mother, girlfriend, niece, daughter, single, spinster, bridesmaid, divorce, stepson, half-brother, brother, marry, husband, foster-child, parent.

Ex. 3. Give definitions of the following words. Look them up in the English-English dictionary.

to be a res­ponsible adult, a nationwide survey, affection, appreciation, to be committed to one another, to leave behind a community, to delay marriage, a great concern about the family, to get a divorce, a love match.

Ex. 4. Complete the sentences with the words from the list:

machine; turned; turkey; new; former; after

THE PERFECT WIFE

In ______ (1) a man succeeded in divorcing his wife _____ (2) a six-year court battle. He_____ (3) to a computer service for a _____ (4) partner only to find that the _____ (5) selected his ______(6) wife.

Ex. 5. a) Read the text using a dictionary if necessary. Fill in the gaps with the words from the list:

Nor; in contrast to this; because; as; that; and; when; just as.

For most people weddings are a magical time _____ (1) even the least superstitious will watch for portents of fu­ture happiness. The choice of date is important. May is traditionally unlucky for weddings, _____(2) in ancient Rome this was a month for remembering the dead, and an ill-omened time for lovers._____(3) there exists the Christian belief that you shouldn't marry in Lent. The tradition that the bride's parents should pay for the wedding dates from two or three centuries ago, when wealthy families would pay an eligible bachelor to take an unmarried daughter off their hands in exchange for a large dowry.

Every bride regards her wedding dress _____(4)the most hallowed garment she will ever possess. At most formal weddings brides still get married in virginal white, many other colours are considered unlucky. A bride will ensure _____(5) her wedding outfit includes «something old, something new; something borrowed, something blue». «Old» maintains her link with the past; «new» symbolizes the future; «borrowed» gives her a link with the present; _____(6) «blue» symbolizes her purity.

Even a modern bride will observe the taboos about wear­ing her dress before the ceremony. The groom mustn't see her in it until she enters the church. _____(7) must she wear the complete outfit before the wedding day. Certainly the veil shouldn't be tried on at the same time as the dress; many brides put it on for the first time as they leave for the church.

The most important item is the wedding cake, whose richness symbolizes fertility, _____(8) it has done since Roman times. Today the first slice is cut by the bride to en­sure a fruitful marriage, though once the cake was literal­ly broken over the bride's head; guests then scrambled for fragments, which would bring good luck.

(From «BBC English»)

Notes:

Portent – предзнаменование

Ill-omened — злополучный

Lent — Великий Пост

To date from – датироваться

Eligible - подходящий, приемлемый

In exchange for - в обмен на

Dowry - приданое

Hallowed garment - почитаемое/чтимое одеяние

To ensure that - следить за тем, чтобы...

Complete outfit - полный наряд/убор

Veil - вуаль try on - примерять

To leave for - отправляться в...

Fertility - плодородие

Though once... - хотя когда-то...

To scramble for — бороться /драться за...

b) Answer the questions.

1. What superstitions are mentioned in the text?

2. Can you think of any reasons for being superstitious?

3. Why do you think superstitions appear in our life?

4. Do you believe in them?

5. Do you have your own superstitions that you invented yourself?

c) Formulate in short what the text is about.

d) Certainly you know about other superstitions related to the wed­ding ceremony. Write 150—200 words about them.

Ex. 5. Rewrite the sentences choosing the right word in brackets.

1. Years ago it was important to have (small/happy/ large) families.

2. The best Victorian mother was the mother who had (most/the most/mostly) children.

3. It was important to have (mostly/many/much) chil­dren.

4. If you were (poor/rich/hard up) you needed sons to inherit your land, houses, and money.

5. If you were (well-to-do/poor/well-off) you needed sons to help you with your work.

6. Not (even/the only/only) children were important.

7. (Anyone/someone/everyone) in the family was im­portant.

8. The large families gave people a (feeling/conscious­ness/sense) of stability.

9. Now things are (the same/similar/different).

10. Young people (live/lead/leave) the place where they lived with their parents and take their own families with them.

11. Their own family becomes more and more impor­tant as they forget their other (relations/relatives/fam­ilies).

12. In (the British/Britain/British) families are get­ting smaller and smaller.

13. People have (less/little/fewer) children because chil­dren are expensive.

14. Who can afford (more/much/many) than three chil­dren?

15. Who can afford a large (household/residence/house) for them?

16. Many people believe that two children will be (ide­al/pleasant/decent) for an English family

.

Ex. 6.a) Read translate the text. Find the sentence which must be put in its proper place in the text. Retell the text.

Parents have to do much less for their children today than they used to do, and home has become much less of a workshop. Clothes can be bought ready-made, washing can go to the laundry, food can be bought cooked, canned or preserved, bread is baked and delivered by the baker, milk arrives on the doorstep, meals can be had at the restaur­ant, the works’ canteen, and the school dining-room.

It is unusual now for father to pursue his trade or other employment at home and his children rarely, if ever, see him at his place of work.

In textile areas it has long been customary for mothers to go out to work, but this practice has become so wide­spread that the working mother is now a not unusual fac­tor in a child's home life, the number of married women in employment having more than doubled in the last twenty-five years. Boys are therefore seldom trained to follow their father’s occupation and in many towns they have a fairly wide choice of employment and so do girls.

When mother works economic advantages accrue, but children lose something of great value if mother's employ­ment prevents her being home to greet them when they return from school.

b) Find the sentence which must be put in its proper place in the text. Retell the text.

c) Retell the text. Express your point of view on this problem.

Ex. 7. Translate from Russian into English.

1. Через 2 года я достигну совершеннолетия. На свой праздник я приглашу всех моих родственников: мою крестную, крестного, дядю, тетю, бабушку, дедушку, двоюродных и троюродных братьев и сестер, сводного брата и племянника.

2. В прошлом году младшая дочь Ивановых жила и училась в Америке. Она вышла замуж, и у нее родился ребенок. Она так счастлива.

3. Те девочки сестры? Они обе похожи друг на друга. Да они близнецы. Кем они тебе приходятся? Они мои сводные сестры.

4 Мой друг по переписке из Великобритании.- Сколько ему лет? – Он уже совершеннолетний. Он студент, хочет стать фармацевтом.

5. Мой свекор мясник, а моя свекровь- библиотекарь. Они отпраздновали серебряную свадьбу в прошлом году. Они поженились, когда им было 20 лет. Они не выглядят на свой возраст, хотя у них уже 3 взрослых внука.