My family and myself

Let me introduce myself to you. My name is Kate. I am 18. And I live in Kirov. I was born on the third of October 1991 in a family of a teacher and a doctor.

My family is not very large. There are only four of us: my mother, my father, my brother and me.

I’d like to begin with my mother. She is a teacher at school. My mum is very pretty and looks young for her age. She is always smart and elegant. She always has a lot of work to do both at school and about the house. The most striking feature about her is that she is a wonderful listener. And this trait of hers makes people confide in her. What is more, she is always ready to help or to give some good advice. No wonder she is well-respected by her colleagues and highly spoken of for her proficiency at work. And for me she is the best mother one can imagine.

The next one to speak about is my father. He is a middle-aged man, tall and rather handsome. He is few years older than my mother but he looks young, strong and full of energy. He is not an easy person to deal with. He likes having things his own way. What is good about him is that whatever he does he does it properly. He demands the same on our part. My father is a well-read, educated person, whom we can always turn to in case of necessity. And you are sure to be given either some help or a good piece of advice. My father is a doctor and he works in the hospital. He works very hard in his hospital and really puts all his energy in his work.

As I have already mentioned, I am not an only child. I have a brother, he is four years older than me. I am happy to have an elder brother who is my best friend on the one hand and on the other – a person who is much older than myself, so I can always turn to him with my troubles and for a piece of advice.

I should say we have practically no prob­lems with understanding each other in our family. We see our parents as our friends and so do they. They are easy to get on with and we may always come to them first if we have any serious problem to be solved. Surely, we have some arguments sometimes, and from time to time we cannot come to agreement. But I think it is natural. It would be rather odd if everybody in the family always agreed with each other, shared all interests, were satisfied with ev­erything and never quarrelled.

We share some interests with our parents and have practically the same tastes in books. But it takes our parents quite a while to get used to new pop music we listen to and to some ultra-modern clothes my brother and I sometimes put on. But they never forbid us to have our own way, they give us freedom. It doesn't mean that we can do every stupid thing and they only leave it unnoticed. But, on the other hand, we can take some decisions on our own. Surely, before taking the final decision we should consult our parents. In case they disagree with anything we want or decide they try to ex­plain us why this or that is impossible.

I’m sure that my parents and my brother will always love me and support me. So will I. Their love helps me and protects me in our difficult life.

And now I’d like to say some more words about myself. I’m a first year student at Vyatka State University of Humanities at the faculty of Management. I like communicating with people and everybody says that I am easy to get on with. Besides reading and spending time with my friends, I like travelling, especially by car. I'm also interested in sport. I'm a member of a tennis club, which I attend twice a week. So you see I am quite a busy person and this makes my life more interesting. What I dislike is quarrelling with people. I cannot stand rude unbalanced people who loose their temper very easily; those who do not keep their promises; those who are not punctual.

1. What’s the name of the girl who is speaking about her family?

2. When was she born?

3. How many people are there in her family?

4. What is her mother?

5. How does her mother look like?

6. What is the most striking feature about her mother?

7. How does her father look like?

8. What is her father?

9. Is her father an easy person to deal with?

10. How does Kate characterize her father?

11. Is Kate an only child?

12. Is her brother older or younger than she?

13. Why is she happy to have an elder brother?

14. Do Kate’s family have problems with understanding each other?

15. Are her parents easy to get on with?

16. Do they always come to agreement when they have arguments?

17. Do Kate’s parents forbid her and her brother to have their own way?

18. What do Kate’s parents do in case they disagree with their children?

19. What does Kate like?

20. What does Kate dislike?