II. Family matters

Focus Vocabulary

parents – родители spouses – супруги grandparents – бабушка и дедушка to rear children – воспитывать детей single-parent family – семья с одним родителем stepmother – мачеха stepfather – отчим single – одинокий

to marry smb/to get married to smb – жениться на ком то couple – семейная пара to adopt – усыновлять foster child – приемный ребенок marriage – брак divorce – развод to remarry – жениться снова

The American Family

Belonging to a family is one bond almost everyone in the world shares, but family patterns vary from country to country. In some countries, for example, the grandparents are the family leaders. In other countries, many families live and work together as one on community farms. What are the families in the United States are?

The United States has many different types of families. Most American families are traditional ones. A traditional family is one in which both parents, also called spouses, are living and rearing their children together. There are also families headed by one parent or single-parent families. Apart from traditional and single-parent families there are also families with one stepparent. A stepmother or a stepfather is a person who joins a family by marrying a mother or a father.

Some families look even less like the typical traditional family. They may consist of a couple of one race who have adopted children of another race, or from another country. In many states single people may also adopt children or take foster children whose parents can not take care of them.

Families are very important to Americans and they show great concern about the family as an institution. But despite this fact about half of all marriages end in divorce when a wife and a husband legally end their marriage. These numbers are very high as they are in many industrialized countries. Though couples in the U.S. may still be getting divorced at fairly high rate, this doesn’t mean that they do not believe in marriage. It simply means that they are giving up being married to a particular individual. As a result most people remarry after getting a divorce. The number of divorces grew steadily in the U.S. for many years. Now, however, this number is decreasing. Unlike their parents, many single adult Americans today are waiting longer to get married. Some women and men are delaying marriage and family because they want to get education and start their career.

Families serve many functions. They provide a setting in which children can be born and reared. Families help to educate their members. Parents teach their children not only values – what they think is important but also different daily skills necessary for normal life as well as customs and traditions. Some families provide each member with a place to earn money. In the US, however, most people earn money outside home. The most important job for the family is to give emotional support and security.

It can hardly be denied that families give us sense of belonging, tradition, strength and purpose. And as one American expert, studying families says, “The things we need most deeply in our lives – love, communication, respect and good relationships – have their beginnings in the family.”

1. Say which of the statements are true. Correct the false ones.

1. Family patters are common in all the countries of the world.

2. The most typical type of family in the US is a traditional one.

3. Single-parent families are families only with father at the head.

4. A stepparent is a person who joins the family by marring either a mother or a father.

5. Single people can easily adopt children in the United States.

6. Half of all marriages in the U.S. end in divorce nowadays.

7. Unlike their parents, many single adult Americans today are getting married after finishing school.

8. Families serve many functions, such as: giving money and food to children.

9. The most important job for the family is to give emotional support.

10) Our families show us who we are.

2. Put each of the following words into the gaps.

bride reception consent toast propose accepted

civil bridegroom engaged wedding honeymoon ceremony

One evening, although he was very nervous, Joe decided__________to his girlfriend, Linda. She_________his proposal, they became____________and he gave her a ring. After a year they had saved enough money to get married (they where both over 18 so they didn’t need there parents______________). Some people have a religious__________with a priest, but Joe and Linda decided on a__________ceremony in a registory office. On the day of the__________Linda, the____________, was very calm. But Joe, the____________was very nervous. Afterwards, at the____________, the speeches were made and the guests drank a_____________to the happy couple, who finally left for a__________in Spain.

3. Make an outline of the text consisting of 5-8 sentences and retell the text according to it.