Before you read

1. Discuss the following questions.

1. What types of families do you know?

2. What is the average family in your place?

3. Is it good or bad to have a big/small family?

4. Is it difficult to be an only child?

5. Is it possible to be lonely in a family?

6. What does the term “a happy family” mean?

7. Is it an advantage to have young parents?

2. Look at these pictures. Work in pairs and explain what these terms mean and what the difference between these families is.

1. An extended family 2. A nuclear family

3 . A family having many children 4. A single-parent family

3. Read the sentences below. Decide which sentence goes with each photo. More than one answer is possible.

1. All the members of my family have close relations. We live together.

2. The only child is the centre of attention.

1. We are many. We share our parent's attention.

2. In a big family you have much love and support.

3. We enjoy doing many things together.

4. We love to celebrate holidays together. We have a lot of great parties.

5. There are only two of us. We do everything together.

6. I have my own room. I have a lot of privacy.

7. When I have a problem I can always find a person to discuss it frankly.

8. Sometimes I feel lonely. I wish I had a brother/sister.

9. Sometimes I feel a lack of one parent badly.

10. The advantage of having a big family is that you always have a baby-sitter in the house.

11. I'm a twin. It's an advantage. We are very close.

12. The problem of being the eldest child in the family is that you should take care of the younger ones.

13. I have young parents. It's an advantage.

p) Mother/father is my best friend.

4. What do you think the advantages and disadvantages of each type of family are? Use the following: I think ..., It can be ..., I don't think ... .

5. Read the text quickly and tell your partner what it is about. Families

Twenty years ago, the typical extended family was “wide”. It usually consisted of two or three generations, with many children in each “nuclear family”. People had lots of aunts and uncles but often didn't know their grandparents. However, according to a new study by the British research group Mintel, the family is changing shape. The family groups of the future will be “long and thin”, with three or four small generations. Here are some of their predictions:

1. Most children will know their great-grandparents (and even great-great-grandparents) because people are living longer.

2. Very few children will have brothers or sisters, and it will be common to be an only child. As a result, future generations will not have many cousins either.

3. Many children will grow up isolated from other children and young adults. This will make them more selfish and introverted.

4. More couples will divorce and re-marry, some more than once. They may have children with their new partners, so many children will have a stepmother or stepfather and half-brothers or sisters.

5. There will be many “boomerang children”. These are children who leave home to get married, but then divorce and return to live with their parents.

6. There will be more single-parent families.

7. Because houses are now so expensive, different generations may decide to live together, so parents, grandparents, and adult children may co-own their houses, and many couples will have to live with their in-laws.