Dialogue № 2

- Hello, Betty! It’s nice to see you! What are you doing here in the park?

- I’ve taken my little daughter out for a walk.

- Oh, you look so much alike!

- Do we? I’m flattered. You see, she means the world to me. And how is your mother? Is she on pension?

- Yes, she is. Well, basically she helps my sister. Mary doesn’t work at present, as the children take up all her time now. But she is going to resume her work. She says she is tired of going shopping, doing the cooking and keeping house. And mother will look after the children and take care of them.

- I see. That’s wonderful! My best regards to her, Betty. Sorry, I must be going.

- It’s OK. Bye!

Dialogue № 3

- Mary is on bad terms with her husband, you know.

- Oh, yes. I’m afraid their marriage is on the rocks.

- As a matter of fact they have split up and are separated now. Mary says she started to take pleasure in being alone.

- Incredible! It was a love match, wasn’t it?

- It was, it was… But later David began to pick fights with Mary. And what is more – he cheated on her!

- Yes, it absolutely destroyed her. She is just a nervous wreck now, the poor little soul!

- I should think so! Mary is still in love with David.

- My God! One more broken home…

- And … broken heart!

Writing

Dictation № 1

Dear Professor and Mrs. Lang, I don’t know whether this letter will come as a surprise to you, for I think you must have seen during the happy time I spent in your home last Christmas, how very fond I was of Frieda. We worked together every day and now I have realized that the friendship and affection that I have always had for her had turned to love. I hardly dared to hope that Frieda felt the same way towards me, but last night I told her of my love and asked her to marry me, and to my great joy she said YES. She and I have known each other long enough to be quite sure that we love each other and want, more than anything else in the world, to be married. It would make us both very happy to know that our engagement would have your approval and blessing, and so I am writing to ask for your consent.

I realize that there is very little that I can offer Frieda materially. I have only a small private income on which to live until I qualify as a doctor, but Frieda is quite confident that under her careful management we can have a comfortable little home on it. For my part, I will devote my life ensuring that she will be as happy as all my love can make her.

My best wishes to you both.

Yours sincerely,

Robert Brown.

Dictation № 2

My wife has brown hair, dark eyes, and a gentle nature. Because of her gentle nature I sometimes think that she spoils the children. She doesn’t refuse them anything. They always get around her. Tina and I have been married for ten years. Our marriage is happy. Our son Carl, who is six, goes to a good private school; and our daughter, who is four, is going to school next year. Tina is cheerful and adaptable. She gets up at 7 and turns the radio on. After she is dressed, she wakes up the children and cooks breakfast. All day long Tina is busy with her housework, cooking, shopping and the demands of the children. Late afternoon Tina takes our children to the playground and sits with them until it is time to take them home. Mr. Trencher, our neighbour, makes it a regular thing to come there and talk with my wife. To Tina it seems strange. “He sighs and stares at me,” – she says. I know what my wife looks like in the playground. She wears an old coat, overshoes and a scarf is tied under her chin. The picture of a well-dressed doctor losing his heart to Tina is hard to take seriously, but he sends her roses for birthday and makes me angry. Tina thinks he is crazy and is sorry for him.

Communication Activity

1. Discussion points I

1. How do you account for the fact that according to statistics the number of broken homes is increasing?

2. What is the main cause of the breakdown of many marriages?

3. What do you think makes for a happy marriage?

4. What is “Love” in your opinion?

5. Do you believe in “Love at first sight”?

6. What are the ways to prevent a divorce?

7. Can people with different views on life live together?

8. How do people celebrate weddings in Russia? Have you ever been to a wedding ceremony? Share your impressions with the groupmates.

9. What makes children happy in a family?

10. Are there any differences between modern families and families, for example 20 years ago?

11. Why do many modern women want to be financially independent?

12. What family problems exist nowadays?

13. Is it difficult to rear children?

14. How can parents help their child to express his / her individuality?

15. What family TV programmes and magazines do you know?

2. Agree of disagree with the following:

1. Marriages are made in heaven.

2. To love is to care about somebody more than about yourself.

3. Children will suffer if parents are indifferent to each other, so in that case it’s better for parents to part.

4. Financial problems ruin marriages.

5. A marriage of convenience is not reliable.

6. To be on good terms with a child doesn’t mean being permissive.

7. The husband should be more intelligent than his wife.

8. Money often keeps people together.

9. The best wife is a housewife.

10. Marriage should be compulsory for everybody.

Use:

For agreement:

I couldn’t agree more…

That’s just what I was thinking …

You know, that’s exactly what I think …

I agree entirely …

That’s a good point …

For disagreement:

Yes, it’s quite true, but …

I’m not sure I quite agree …

Perhaps, but don’t you think that …

Well, you have a point there, but …

I see what you mean, but …

For more categorical and informal disagreement:

I can’t agree with you there.

You can’t be serious!

Don’t be so silly!

Be sensible!

Oh, come off it!

3. Work in groups of 2-3. Make up a list of positive and negative sides of family life.

4. Discussion Points II. Family life. Children.

Active Vocabulary

1. Paraphrase or give a synonym:

dependent on his parents too much affection working mothers confined to the house to bring up children unmarried mothers to stop having children

peace and calm birth control (U) a housewife the relationship between parents and children to spoil a child an only child

2. Match the columns:

1. Uncomplaining (appr.) 2. Independent 3. Easy-going 4. Depressed 5. Nervous 6. Hysterical 7. Gentle 8. Selfish 9. Tranquil 10. Worn out (half-left)

A. Caring only about yourself B. Feeling very unhappy C. Willing to accept a difficult situation without complaining D. Not easily upset, annoyed E. Very tired because you’ve been working hard F. Confident and able to do things in your own way G. Pleasantly calm, quiet H. Kind and not at all violent I. Behaving in a wild, uncontrollable way J. Often becoming worried, easily upset

1. Probably nothing affects a child’s character so much as the home he grows up in. In what different ways is a child affected when …

- he grows up in a large family?

- his mother goes out to work?

- he is an only child?

- his parents are separated?

- his parents are always nervous and bad-tempered?

2. Does it make any difference to a person’s character whether he grows up in a big family or a small one (or as an only child)?

3. Do you agree with the statements about big families …?

• a big family teaches a child to look after himself;

• it teaches him to look after other people;

• it makes him selfish;

• no one can have peace and quiet (U) in a big family;

• no one can ever be alone and everyone needs to be alone sometimes;

• a big family makes the parents depressed and confined to home;

• a big family gives the parents a full, happy life.

4. Can the parents of only one or two children be closer to them, love them more? If this is true, is it always a good thing?

5. Is it likely that most people have large families only because they don’t know how to stop having babies? In some countries birth control is taught at school. Should this be done everywhere? Should parents instruct their children about sex problems? At what age should they begin giving them information?

6. What help is given in this country by the state or by the town to …

1. people who have very big families?

2. unmarried mothers?

Do these people get enough help?

7. What are special problems of these parents?

1. young parents with their first child;

2. parents of teenage children;

3. widows, widowers

8. What causes conflict between parents and children in families that you know? Could this conflict be avoided?

9. Modern men and women: family roles.

10. Modern approaches towards child rearing.

11. Family values in the modern world.

12. Advertise a good TV programme (on Family Life).

Listening Practice