Text b. Family life

Ex. 1. Read the text.

Most young people eventually get married, buy or rent a house or a flat of their own and start a family. However, a great many changes are taking place in this pattern of behaviour.

In Britain, as in many other Western European countries more and more men and women are living to­gether without being married. In the mid 1990s more than a quarter of new brides had lived with their husbands be­fore marriage, compared with 8 per cent in 1980. People are also getting married later than they used to.

However, marriage is still popular even among those whose first marriage has failed. In fact, in 36 per cent of all marriages one or both partners have already been mar­ried and divorced. Britain now has the highest divorce rate in Europe and about 10 per cent of children live with only one parent.

Another trend is toward smaller households. Very few children grow up in large families and more and more adults are living alone (25 per cent in 1997). Many of the people who live alone are elderly; it is unusual to find three gen­erations living in one house as they used to do in the past. It is quite common for close relatives to live in different parts of the country and many people hardly ever meet their uncles, aunts and cousins. One reason for this is that British people move house five years on the average. They do this in order to change jobs or to buy a bigger or better house.

Ex. 2. Comprehension check. Choose the right variant.

1. The text is about

a) new tendencies in family life in the modern world

b) the divorce rate in Europe

c) reasons for people to get married

d) tendencies in family life of the British

2. Those who failed in their first marriage

a) never marry again

b) marry again quite often

c) sometimes marry again

d) always marry again

3. Relatives nowadays

a) do not see each other very often

b) try to see each other as often as possible

c) are closely connected

d) do not know each other

4. The British people often move house nowadays

a) to get closer to their families

b) because they feel bored

c) to get a better job or a bigger house

d) because it is a custom

5. Nowadays families living together are getting — they used to be

a) smaller than

b) bigger than

c) more friendly than

d) as big as

Ex. 3. Answer the ques­tions below.

1. What are the new features of family life in the mod­ern world?

2. Can you think of any reason why people get married later than they used to?

3. What can you say about modern divorces?

4. Were you surprised to learn about the divorce rate in Britain?

5. What do you think the divorce rate in our country is?

6. Speak about modern and old households. Do they differ? In what way?

7. What do you think about the life of aged people in the modern world?

8. What can you say about family connections nowa­days?

9. Why do British people often move house?

Ex. 4. Write about your family (300 words).