Topic 11
I think almost every married couple sometimes faces problems and
misunderstanding. In such cases it can be a good idea to speak about your
difficulties with the third person. Marriage Guidance Council is an
organization, which provides this opportunity. Recently I've listened to a
story about Barbara and Malcolm who decided to turn to a counselor.
Barbara and Malcolm were married for 15 years and had 2 children. But
during the couple of years they weren't very happy and were arguing all the
time. So Barbara's sister advised them to visit a counselor. During the third
visit Barbara told that her husband resented her job and expected her to do
all the housework even though she came home half an hour before him. She
was annoyed with the fact that she had to remind Malcolm to pick up his
clothes. She also told that sometimes he invited his friends without telling
her and he didn't think that she had a long and difficult day and wanted a
rest.
As for Malcolm, he was ashamed of speaking about his problems, but
Barbara persuaded him to go to the counselor. He told that he encouraged
his wife to go back to work, on the contrary, because he understood that she
needed an interest. He also told that he tried to help Barbara about the house
and did homework with the children, but Barbara didn't think it was enough
and she didn't want to listen to his opinions at all. He thought that the
problem was that they just were too tired to talk which each other after
work.
In my opinion, Malcolm was right. I think their family just needed a good
rest and maybe then they could understand each other and solve their
problems. Their arguments didn't sound serious enough to divorce, after all.
And I hope that Marriage Guidance Council can really help such couples to
become a happy family again.
Topic 12
As far as I know a lot of foreign students decide to reside with families
during their stay in Britain. And usually such students should follow the
house rules. First of all they must pay the rent and keep their rooms tidy.
And, of course, there are a lot of things which lodgers aren't allowed to do.
Usually they can't keep pets in the house, they aren't allowed to have any
noisy parties, and sometimes lodgers even can't have guests after 10 o'clock
or smoke in the house.
But I think that at the same time renting a flat or a room can be better than
sharing it with other people in a hostel, for instance. You don't have to put
up with other people's bad habits and if you want to sleep or study in
silence nobody will disturb you. But on the other hand students who live
away from their homes can feel alone without some company.
So in my opinion there are a lot of advantages and disadvantages of sharing
a flat or renting it, that's why everyone chooses the most suitable kind of
living for himself. But whatever you choose you must follow certain house
rules.