UNIT 4

The family lead-in

• What are the roles each family member plays?

• Do you expect members of a family to behave in a particular kind of way?

• What part do in-laws play in the life of a person?

• What difficulties does the generation gap bring? How could one avoid such conflicts?

• Choose the correct word for the gap in each sentence.

step-brothers	single	in-laws	bachelor	orphans
adoption	elderly	widow	toddler	great-grandparents

1. Richard was a ______________ until his marriage at the age of forty-two.

2. Mary changed her job in order to be closer to her ______________ parents.

3. _____________ agencies changed the rules regarding children from overseas.

4. When John’s mother remarried, he found he had three _____________.

5. The war left many children _______________.

6. When Harry married Sally he didn’t realize what an important part his new _____________ would play in his life.

7. All the family are long-lived, in fact three of my _______________ are now in their nineties.

8. Frances has two children, a ______________ of three and a baby of six months.

9. Barbara remained _______________ until the age of thirty-five.

10. At the age of twenty-five Jenny’s husband died and she was left a ______________ with two small children to bring up.

• Complete the text with a word or phrase from the list.

dependent	home	wedding	introduced	fiancé	engaged
running	close	support	work out	pregnant	give up
intention	split up	bringing up	plan	benefit	independent
career	nanny

Granddaughters often have good relationships with their grandmothers. Sandy has always been …………….. (1) to her grandmother, Nancy, who’s now in her eighties. Nancy was thrilled when Sandy got ……………….. (2) to her boyfriend Paul and the two of them talked about the differences in their attitude to marriage.

Nancy was twenty when she got married in 1935. Her ……………… (3), David, was an engineer and they had been ………………… (4) at a party given by members of David’s family. They were engaged for two years before the actual …………………. (5). Nancy was working in a dress shop when they met and she had to ………………….(6) her job when she got married. She stayed at ……………….. (7) in the house she and David rented. She had no money of her own and so she …………………(8) on her husband for necessities. Soon she was …………….. (9) , and her first child, Sandy’s mother, was born in 1937. Nancy had her second child a year later. Her life revolved around …………………. (10) the house and …………………….. (11) the two children. David was busy with his job and worked long hours to ………………………(12) the family.

Sandy doesn’t see her married life being like this. She has got a good job and has no ……………………. (13) of giving it up. She’s told her grandmother that her ………………… (14) is as important to her as being Paul’s wife. She is twenty-seven now, and she and Paul don’t …………………… (15) to have any children until she is in her thirties. Even then she intends to continue working. She will be able to pay for a …………………... (16) to look after the children. She thinks that her children will ………………….. (17) from having a mother who has her own interests and career, and who is financially …………………… (18). Looking on the dark side, if things don’t …………………. (19) in the marriage, both she and Paul agree that it’s better to …………………….. (20) than to stay together unhappily for the sake of the children.

Nancy says, ‘It was all so different in my day.’

• Answer the following questions.

1. How old is Nancy? How old is Sandy?

2. What relationship do Sandy and Nancy have?

3. Is Sandy married?

4. Do they have the same attitude to marriage?

5. When did David get engaged to Nancy? How long was he engaged to her?

6. Did Nancy go on working after she got married?

7. How old was Nancy when she gave birth to her first child?

8. Nancy and David had a house of their own, didn't they?

9. Was Nancy financially independent?

10. What did Nancy occupy her days with?

11. Did David participate in up-bringing?

12. When does she plan to have children?

13. Does she plan to devote herself to the up-bringing of her children? Why?

14. Does she support the idea of preserving a family at any cost?

15. What attitude to marriage would you support?

• Summarize the text.

• Retell the text.

• Read the text below.

ANITA RODDICK TALKS ABOUT HER FAMILY

Anita was born in a small English seaside town in a family of Italian immigrants. The hardship of the post World War II period taught her family to meet their ends by rationing and savings and Anita learnt how to survive . She graduated from the college and started her teaching career. She worked in Israel for some time and then she decided to go for a long business trip. She became acquainted with different traditions and customs in different countries while travelling. Upon her return to England, Anita met a young Scottish man, Gordon Roddick who soon became her husband and father of her children.

Anita Roddick opened her first Body Shop in Brighton in 1976, in six months she opened another one. Thanks to the idea of franchising the network of shops grew rapidly and expanded internationally. The worldwide popularity came in 1984. According to Anita, success is something more than just a good idea. It is crucial that the idea came at the right time. The Body Shop was established at the time when the Europe began «greening». In this respect the style of the Body Shop anticipated the European fashion and spurred its rapid growth. The Body Shop became a leader in different business spheres. It spoke for social changes and environmental protection. Anita Roddick campaigned in favor of human rights, animal and environmental protection besides her engagement into business and philanthropy. She also campaigned to raise women’s self-esteem and she challenged the stereotypes of beauty perpetuated by the cosmetic industry.

The Body Shop International PLC is a value-driven, high quality skin and hair care retailer operating in 48 countries with over 1,600 outlets spanning 12 time zones. The company is famous for creating a niche market sector for naturally-inspired skin and hair care.

Dame Anita Roddick died of a brain hemorrhage (кровоизлияние в мозг) on September 10th, at the age of 64.

http://www.owl.ru/eng/womplus/2000/bodyshop.htm

My mother, Gilda Perella, came to Britain from a village in Italy when she was fifteen to be a nanny. She still lives in the terraced house in Littlehampton, Sussex, where I was born in 1942. it is called Atina after her village and has bright red window frames. It was always understood that when she reached England, she would marry a boy from her home village called Donny.

My mother made us, my two sisters, my brother and me, understand that love and work are the only important things in life. She also made me feel special, which gave me great confidence. She loved my sisters, but they were no trouble to her, whereas I was maddening but entertaining. As a teenager, she allowed me extraordinary freedom. But because she trusted me, I developed a strong sense of responsibility.

The greatest thing she gave me was my work ethic. After my father died, she ran our café and we had to help. I don’t remember playtimes from my childhood; it was always summer and we were always working. Sometimes we would complain about never getting to the beach, and then she would rush us down there for an hour – she was always one for the big gesture. Then it was back to work.

Not that she is perfect: my mother has the greatest capacity to embarrass of anyone I’ve ever met. When she came to collect me from college while I was training to be a teacher, I’d ask her to arrive after everyone had left, because she was so dreadful. She does have the most appalling taste; she’d win any bad taste award going. The presents she buys are legendary in our family. She only once bought me something nice – a copper frying pan – I was so excited I rang to thank her immediately. She said: ‘What do you mean? It’s a clock.’ And I turned it over, and it was. A clock. Hideous.

I taught for a bit, then went off traveling for a couple of years. I got back to find my mother too excited to listen to my stories. She couldn’t wait to tell me about this man who came to the nightclub she was running then. His name was Gordon Roddick. The minute I set eyes on him, I knew this was the man I wanted to be the father of my children. He says when he saw me he knew instantly that I was his fate. I think I just felt an immense relief.

• Find a word or phrase in the text which, in context, is similar in meaning to:

1. someone who looks after other people’s children

2. the village where a person grows up

3. a strong belief in yourself

4. irritating

5. belief in the value of work

6. very ugly

• Answer the questions to the text.

1. Who is Anita Roddick?

2. How old was Anita's mother when she came to Britain? How can we comment on that fact? How does that fact characterise her personality?

3. What were Gilda's principles of up-bringing?

4. How does Anita think she developed a sense of responsibility?

5. What does Anita admire her mother most for?

6. Did children have time for games, the past time?

7. What negative aspect does Anita point out to?

8. How did Anita get acquainted with her future husband?

9. What kind of relationship do Anita and her mother have?

• Choose the best answer, A, B, C or D according to the information in the text:

1. When Gilda Perella came to Britain she

1. was already married.

2. was hoping to find a husband.

3. was in love with someone in her village in Italy.

4. was planning to marry Donny.

2. How does Anita think she developed a sense of responsibility?

1. She was given a job to do.

2. She had to look after her sisters and brothers.

3. She was free to do what she wanted.

4. She wanted to copy her mother.

3. Anita admires her mother most for

1. her hard work.

2. her romantic spirit.

3. her loyalty to the family.

4. her ability to be alone.

4. One negative aspect about Anita’s mother, according to the text is that:

1. She interferes in her children’s lives.

2. She deliberately tries to embarrass her children.

3. She never relaxes.

4. She does things that shame her children in public.

5. When Anita met her future husband she

1. was looking for a partner for her travels.

2. was in a nightclub.

3. was planning another trip.

4. knew her mother’s feelings were correct.