Text b. British and American families

British and American families are usually small. In fact the populations of both Britain and the USA have stopped growing. The typical family has a father, mother and two children.

Grandparents come to visit, but do not usually live with their children. Most people get married between the ages of 20 and 23 but many marriages end in divorce. This means that both countries have a large number of "single parent families", one father or mother looking after their children alone.

The typical British family has a car, a colour TV set, a washing machine, and a cat or dog as well. They start the day at about 7 o'clock, have breakfast at 8 and are off to work by 8.30.

More and more women now go out to work as well as men. The children have lunch at school at about 12.30, and come home at 4 in the afternoon. Their parents are usually home by 6 o'clock, and the family eats together at 6.30 or 7.

In the evenings, father may go to the pub for a drink, or stay at home and watch TV with the others. Children go to bed early, at about 8 o'clock, two or three hours before their parents.

The typical American family has more money than a British family. Many have two or three cars, large modern kitchens and more electrical goods. They eat more meat and spend more on clothes. But their daily programme is nearly the same. Like British children, American children eat lunch at school, come home mid-afternoon, and go to bed earlier than their parents.

Lesson 2. Hobbies. Pre-reading

Task 1. Answer the following questions.

• What is a hobby?

• Why is it important for people to have a hobby?

• What kind of hobbies do you know?

Task 2. Ask your partner about his/her hobby and tell him/her about yours. Be ready to describe your partner’s hobby to your group-mates.

Task 3. Read and translate the text given below.

Hobbies

Hobbies differ like tastes. If you have chosen a hobby according to your character and taste you are lucky because your life becomes more interesting.

Hobbies are divided into four large classes: doing things, making things, collecting things and learning things.

The most popular of all hobby groups is doing things. It includes a wide variety of activities, everything from gardening to travelling and from chess to volleyball.

Gardening is one of the oldest of man’s hobbies. It is a well-known fact that the English are very fond of gardening and growing flowers, especially roses.

Both grown-ups and children are fond of playing different computer games. This is a relatively new hobby but it will be more and more popular.

Making things includes drawing, painting, making sculpture, designing costumes, handicrafts. Some hobbyists paint, some – write music or play musical instruments.

Almost everyone collects something at some period in his life: stamps, coins, matchboxes, books, records, postcards, toys, watches. Some collections have no real value. Others become so large and so valuable that they are held in museums and galleries. Many world-famous collections started in a small way with one or two items. People with a good deal of money often collect paintings, rare books and other art objects. Often such private collections are given to museums, libraries, and public galleries so that others might take pleasure in seeing them.

No matter what kind of hobby a person has, he always has the opportunity of learning from it. By reading about the things he is interested in, he is adding to what he knows. Learning things can be the most exciting aspect of a hobby. So, it is important to have a hobby: just try one and you will like it.