It is important to develop strategies for dealing with difficult or unfa­miliar vocabulary in the texts you read. Strategies you might use are:

• finding the definition within the text

• looking at the context (that is, the words and sentences that come before and after the unknown word) for clues to the word's meaning

• using knowledge of a related word

Find these words in the text. Decide which strategies to use for each word, and write a brief definition next to each one.

Word Definition

significantly (par. 3) a lot

conflict (par. 3)

households (par. 4)

poverty (par. 6)

custody (par. 8)

discipline (par. 9)

2 Discuss the meanings of the words with your classmates. Compare the different strategies you used.

Task 3 language focus: writing about changes

College textbooks often include texts (like this one) about changes over a period of time Some common ways to describe changes over time are shown in the tables below:

less (and less) somewhat relatively fairly

increasingly more (and more) quite

common frequent rare unusual

	tremendous	increase
there has been a / there was a	huge	decrease	in
	significant	rise

(has) increased (has) decreased

has gone up (or down) / went up (or down) greatly significantly a little

by a small / large amount

halved

doubled

tripled

(has) almost (has) more than

1. Find examples of some of these language patterns in the text.

2. Use the language patterns to write two to three sentences about each of the graph: in the text. Do not copy sentences from the text. Compare your sentences with a partner.

The percentage of married women in the workforce almost doubled between I960 and 1998. (Figure 11)

Task 4 reading actively

When you read you should be doing more than simply taking in the words on the page. To understand a text well and to remember what you have read, you need to read actively - that is, constantly think and ask questions about what you are reading.

Re-read these paragraphs from the text, and read the questions in the thought bubbles. Discuss the answers to the questions with your classmates.

О

о

Two-career families о

о

О

о о

Where a family does consist of husband, wife, and children, it is less and less common for the wife to stay at home. Recently in the United States, there has been a tremendous increase in the number of married women who work outside the home - from 32 per­cent in 1960 to 62 percent in 1998.

The employment of married women has increased family income significantly, but research indicates that this economic gain does not necessarily bring happiness. Where husbands fully support their wives' employment by doing their share of cleaning and child care, the couples are usually happy in their marriages (Cooper et al. 1986). Where husbands expect their wives to do all the housework as well as their jobs, there is fre­quently conflict (Skinner 1980).

Choose one other part of the text to re-read, for example:

• Single-parent families

• Never-married women who are having children Stepfamilies

Discuss the following questions with your classmates:

1. Are these family groups becoming more common in your country?

2. What do you think about these changes in family groups (in the United States or your own country)?

Preparing to read

thinking about the topic

The text "Alternative Lifestyles" examines many different ways of life that can be found in the United States. Discuss the following questions with your classmates:

1. How acceptable are these ways of life in your country?

• a man and a woman living together without getting married

• a man or a woman living alone and never getting married

• a group of people living together who are not related, but who share interests and beliefs

• people marrying two or three times during their lifetime

  2. How common do you think these living arrangements are in the United States?

skimming

Skimming a text before you read it will make the text easier to under­stand. Skimming means looking quickly over a text to get an idea of what it is about and of how it is organized. You should not read every word. Instead, you should look at headings, pictures, graphs, and high­lighted words. It is also a good idea to read the introduction and the first sentence of each paragraph.

1. Give yourself one minute to skim the text "Alternative Lifestyles." Without looking back, write down the headings you saw.

2. Give yourself another minute to skim the text. Without looking back, write down some key words you remember.

Re-read the introduction to the text (par. 1) and then check (✓) the statement that best describes how the introduction relates to the text.

a It gives an example of something explained in the text.

b It links the reader's own experiences to the text.

с It asks questions that will be answered by the text.

d It tells you how the text will be organized.

Now read

Now read the text "Alternative Lifestyles." When you finish, turn to the tasks on page 13. Unit I Belonging to a Group

Q ALTERNATIVE LIFESTYLES

cohabitation

when an unmarried couple live together as if married

4

5

з

Joe and Anna are both in their mid-twenties. They met and fell in love 1 two years ago and soon after decided to live together. They have thought about getting married but have no plans to do this just yet. They think they would like to have children one day, but want to be sure they get along well as a couple before taking this big step.

Living together

Many couples in the United States today, like Joe and Anna, choose to live together without marrying. In the past, very few couples lived together without a formal wedding ceremony or marriage license. Today, cohabitation occurs in all sectors of U.S. society - college students, young working adults, middle-aged couples, and even people in their six­ties and seventies. In 1970, the number of unmarried couples living together was only slightly over half a million. By 1998, it had soared to over 4 million (U.S. Census Bureau 1999). A similar trend has occurred in many countries.

These days there is very little social disapproval of living together, and courts increasingly protect couples' rights as if they were legally married (Lewin 1982; Bumpass and Sweet 1989; Steinhauer 1995). Nev­ertheless, it is still quite rare for couples to live together permanently without marrying. For most couples, living together is a temporary arrangement that leads to marriage after two or three years.

Living together is just one example of the many alternative lifestyles found in the United States and other parts of the world today. Others include staying single, and living with a large group of other adults and their families.

Staying single

Over the last twenty years, there has been a huge increase in the num­ber of people who remain single. In 1998, about 25 percent of all U.S. households were single-person households. In other countries, similar statistics can be seen. In Australia, for example, approximately one in twelve people lives alone, and this number is expected to double over the next twenty years. Most people who live alone are young adults who postpone marriage into their late twenties, but some are in their thir­ties and forties. One reason they often give for staying single is that they have not met the right person. Others say that marriage involves too much commitment and responsibility, or that they prefer the sin­gle lifestyle.

There are two important sociological reasons for the increase in sin- glehood. First, the social pressure to get married has declined. Second, the opportunity for singles to have a good life has expanded. This is especially true for women. As educational and employment opportuni­ties for women increase, marriage is no longer the only path to economic security, emotional support, social respectability, and meaningful work.

Communal living

Sometimes a group of people who are not related, but who share sim­ilar ideals and interests, decide to live together as one unit or commu­nity. In these types of communities, sometimes called communes, the members share their possessions and their skills in order to be inde­pendent of mainstream society. Many, for example, grow all their own food and educate their children in their own small schools. It is diffi­cult to estimate how many communes exist in the United States or other countries around the world, but the Fellowship for Intentional Communities estimates there are thousands. More than 600 of these are registered members of their organization. While these vary in type and size, all are based on a principle of cooperation among members.

Members of a commune cook together.

The concept of communal living is now being applied to some city housing projects. In cohousing, buildings are designed so that resi­dents can really live as part of a community while keeping their own personal space. In one project in Sacramento, California, residents have their own private areas but share a garden, a dining room, a children's playroom, a laundry, and lounge. They take turns cooking three com­mon meals a week, and in many ways behave like one big family - sharing their possessions and helping each other out when needed (Harrison 1999).

Monogamy, polygamy, and serial monogamy

There are two major types of marriages: monogamy and polygamy. In monogamy, one wife and one husband have an exclusive sexual relationship. In polygamy, a person has more than one spouse, (usually the husband has more than one wife). Monogamy is the only legal type of marriage in the United States and most other nations. Polygamy is still legal in some parts of the world, especially Africa and the Middle East, although it is declining in both regions.

communes

where a group of people who share similar ideals, beliefs, and interests live together as one community

cohousing

housing projects where buildings are designed to encourage social contact while preserving private space

Some people have only one husband or wife at a time, but marry, divorce, and remarry a number of times. This is sometimes called serial monogamy. The famous actress, Elizabeth Taylor, who has had seven husbands, is an example of a serial monogamist.

Elizabeth Taylor is seen here with her 7th husband.

After you read

Task 1 reading boxed texts

Many academic textbooks include boxed texts. Their purpose varies. They can do the following:

• give an interesting example of an idea in the main text

• describe a research study

• give some detailed statistics

• give a definition or definitions

• ask you to apply ideas to your own life

Whatever the purpose, these boxed texts usually contain high-interest material that will add to your understanding of the main text.

1. Read the boxed section at the end of this text again.

2. Discuss its purpose with a small group. Does it match one of the purposes mentioned above?

Task 2 building vocabulary: using knowledge of related words

One way to figure out the meaning of an unknown word is to look for its relationship with other words in the same word family. Even if you cannot figure out the exact meaning, your understanding can be enough to allow you to read on. For example, in paragraph 2 of the text, you can get an idea of the meaning of the word sector by recog­nizing that it is related to the word section.

1. Look at the phrases from the text below. Write down at least one other word you know that is related to the underlined word.

in order to be independent depend

formal wedding ceremony

there are two important sociological reasons share similar ideals of mainstream society is sometimes called serial monogamy

2. Try to figure out the meanings of the underlined words. Use your dictionary to check your answers.

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2

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Task 3 note taking

When you take notes, it is important not to write down everything. You should only write down the main points and important details or exam­ples. You should also try to abbreviate (shorten) words (for example, incr = increase).

1 Look at these notes taken from the subsection "Living together."

Living together

• great incr in last 20 years

• all sectors of soc

• 1970, 1/2 m

• 1994, 4 m

• reasons for incr - soc approval & protect'n of couples rights as if married

Complete these notes taken from the subsection "Staying single." Staying single

• huge incr in last 20 yrs

• 1998, lived alone - of ail households

• most

• reasons given -

• 2 sociological reasons - 1) , 2) opps for singles to have

good life incr'd esp for women

3 Use the note-taking models in steps 1 and 2 above to write your own notes for the subsection "Communal living."

Task 4 test taking: preparing for a short-answer quiz

One of the best ways to prepare for a short-answer quiz is to make up some questions that you think you will be asked. Short-answer quizzes usually include three types of questions.

• Type 1: questions about the data (that is, the information and ideas in the text) - who, what, when, where, and how questions.

• Type 2: questions that ask you to look more closely at the data - to find relationships between different parts of the data, to compare and contrast, to analyze, and so on.

• Type 3: questions that ask you to think critically about what you have read - to evaluate or assess the data, and to justify your answer.

  1. Work with a partner. Answer the following questions about the "Living together" subsection of the text:

     1. What is the meaning of cohabitation?

     2. Why are more people living together these days without marrying?

     3. Do you think that marriage will soon be a thing of the past? Why or why not?

  2. With your partner, read each question again and decide if it is Type 1, 2, or 3.

  3. You and your partner each write two or three questions about the rest of the text (any type).

  4. Exchange your questions with your partner, and answ^rer each others questions orally.

  5. In step 1 you were asked if you think that marriage will soon be a thing of the past. Discuss your opinion with the class, using evidence from the text and from your own experience to justify your answer.

  6. Discuss your opinions on any other Type 3 questions that your classmates wrote in step 3.

Preparing to read

predicting

Trying to predict what information will be in a text before you read is a good habit. It can motivate you to read the text and help you start thinking about some of the language that you might find there. You can often predict the general content of a text by looking at its title

and headings.

The title of the text on the next page is "How We Learn to Behave," and the headings

are:

Rewards and punishments Modeling

Differences across cultures

Without looking at the text, discuss with a partner the type of information you expect to find there. Then, skim the text to check your predictions.

personalizing the topic

Thinking about your personal connection to a topic can help you take in new information about the topic. You should do this while you are reading as well as before you read.

Before reading the text "How We Learn to Behave," discuss with a small group what you would do if you were the parent in each of the situations below.