You are a newcomer. Introduce yourself to your new group.

5.3*. Tell about your friend’s biography.

5.4*. Give the Russian equivalent for the following saying. Comment it.

 

Other things may change us, but we start and end with family.

VI. Listening

6.1. Listen to the text Tell me about yourself on http://www.esl-lab.com

Do the tasks given to this text.

Unit 2. meet my Family

Blood is thicker than water.

Рис. 2

I. Warm-up activities

1.1. Pronounce the words properly and state the part of speech:

Average, to characterize, to describe, apart, appearance, cheerful, pretty, first-rate, lyceum, quick-tempered, though, surgeon, abroad, kind-hearted, style, united, device, to repair, exhibition, to agree, to quarrel, uncle, eye, aunt, librarian, each.

1.2. Match the columns:

1. average	1. описать
2. to be going to	2. что касается
3. to describe	3. собираться что-л. сделать
4. as for	4. средний
5. appearance	5.мужчина крепкого телосложения
6. dark and short hair	6. внешность
7. well-built man	7. строительная компания
8. construction company	8. темные, короткие волосы
9. civilengineer	9. проводить время
10. to spend time	10. быть строгим к кому-л.
11. to be strict with smb.	11. инженер-строитель
12. to consider smb. to be a good mixer	12. веселый
13. cheerful	13. считать кого-л. общительным человеком
14. kind-hearted	14. родственник
15. relative	15. добрый, добродушный
16. well-read	16. увлекаться чем-л.
17. to be fond of smth.	17. высокий
18. tall	18. начитанный
19. to be in good mood	19. выставка
20. exhibition	20. ремонтировать
21.to repair	21. быть в хорошем настроении
22. first-rate specialist	22. быть похожим на кого-л.
23. to look like smb.	23. первоклассный специалист
24. quick-tempered	24. вспыльчивый
25. to get along with smb.	25. быть в хорошей форме
26. skilled surgeon	26. ладить с кем-л.
27. to take care of smb.	27. квалифицированный хирург
28. united	28. заботиться о ком-л.
29. to be in good shape	29. ссориться
30. to quarrel	30. сплоченный

 

1.3. Match the words with their definitions:

1. cheerful	1. to disagree angrily
2. apart	2. being somewhat extroverted
3.to quarrel	3.to have smooth relations
4. to get along with smb.	4. in good spirits
5. to look like	5. showing skill and sensitivity in dealing with people
6. outgoing	6. separately in place, time, motion, etc.
7. retired	7. a person related by blood or marriage
8. relative	8. earlier than the present time
9. tactful	9. to bear a physical resemblance to smb.
10. former	10. to stop performing one’s work

 

II. Reading

Now I’m going to tell you about my family. As for me I have an average family. We are four: father, mother, my younger brother and myself. We live together in our flat. But also I have grandparents and many relatives who live apart from us but we see each other very often.

And now I am going to characterize and describe each member of our family. I start with my father, Andrey Pavlovich by name.

He is forty-six. As for his appearance, he is a tall and well-built man with dark eyes and hair. He is a former volleyball player and still is in good shape. He works at a big construction company as a civil engineer. He likes his job and spends much time there. As for his character, I think he is a bit strict with children, but tactful and loving. People consider him to be a good mixer and he has a lot of friends indeed. My father is a cheerful and kind-hearted man. He likes meeting friends and relatives. He is rather well-read. My dad is fond of the History of the Middle Ages. He has a lot of historical books at home. Also my dad likes travelling and fishing.

My mother, Ludmila Petrovna, is forty-three. As for her appearance, she is a pretty, young-looking woman with long dark hair and grey eyes. She is not very tall and looks young for her age. She is a kind and sociable person, she is in good mood most time. My mum is always dressed in style. She works at a hospital as a doctor. She is a first-rate specialist. Like father she is fond of travelling, they visited a lot of cities and countries together. My mother also likes music. She plays the piano well.

As for my younger brother Vlad, he is a teenager of 16. He is a tall, thin and sporty boy with grey eyes and dark short hair. Vlad looks like our mother just as I look like our father. He studies at the mathematical lyceum and does very well there. He is cheerful, outgoing and active as well as quick-tempered from time to time. But I get along with him though we sometimes have conflicts. His hobby is computer. He knows everything about modern devices and also he can repair them. Vlad is a student of 11th form and is going to study IT after leaving the school.

My grandparents are not very old. They live not far from us in a private house with a big garden in the yard. They both are retired and now spend most of their time in the garden. They are my father’s parents. My grandfather was a skilled surgeon at the hospital. My grandma worked as a librarian at the central library. She is a kind-hearted woman and takes care of all of us.

As for my mother’s parents they live abroad. Last time I saw them on last year Christmas party. They are kind and cheerful people. I love my grandparents very much.

To my mind our family is friendly and united. We spend much time together, go for a walk, visit theaters, museums and exhibitions. Also we travel a lot with our parents. In the evenings we watch TV, read books and newspapers, talk about the events of the day. Sometimes our parents do not agree with what we say and we quarrel like any other families.

I also have relatives: uncles, aunts, cousins. We are always glad to see each other.

III. Comprehension check

3.1. Answer the questions:

1. How many persons does narrator’s family consist of?

2. Is he the only child in the family?

3. Has he a younger brother?

4. How old is he?

5. What are the parents’ names?

6. How old are the parents?

7. Where do the parents work?

8. Does narrator get along with his brother?

9. Do you try to avoid conflicts with your parents? How?

10. What is an ideal family for you?

3.2. Find:

- antonyms to the following words:

to like, to finish, bad, light, few, old, to love, to hate, to agree, tactful, young, tall, to disagree, short, to dislike, happy, good, to start, dark, many, tactless, to quarrel, cheerful, sad, unhappy, to get along with.

- synonyms to the following words:

much, look like, big, to attend, wood, to visit, forest, to speak, to talk,to be fond of,toargue, to get along with, large, to be on good terms with, woman, a lot of, take after, lady, merry, cheerful, to quarrel, to be interested in.

3.3. Decide whether these statements are true, false or information is not available:

1. The narrator’s family consists of five persons.

2. The narrator’s grandparents live in the village.

3. The narrator’s farther works at a big construction company.

4. The father is fond of reading historical books.

5. The narrator’s mother works as a surgeon.

6. The parents visited a lot of cities and countries together.

7. The mother likes classical music.

8. The narrator’s brother studies at the mathematical lyceum.

9. The narrator’s brother is going to study at the Bauman State Technical University after leaving the school.

10. The family spends much time together.

 

IV. Grammar in Focus

4.1. Translate the sentences. Pay attention to the verbs in the Simple Active. Give the negative and question forms:

1. They have a big family.

2. His friend will be at the library tomorrow.

3. Her father was a programmer six years ago.

4. His parents are policemen.

5. Their dad works at a big construction company.

6. His brothers studied at the Moscow State University two years ago.

7. He spent a lot of time at the computer center last week.

8. These students will move to a new hostel next semester.

9. Her mum plays the piano every day.

10. Yesterday all our group went to the fitness centre.

11. His brother seldom watches TV.

12. The grandfather lost the key in the evening.

4.2. Put the verb in brackets into the Present, Past Simple or Future Simple Active. Make up all types of questions to the sentences if possible:

 

1. His brother always (go) to work by car.

2. They (not spend) much time together last month.

3. Their children usually (travel) a lot with the parents.

4. Who (study) at the mathematical lyceum?

5. His cousin (to be) a civil engineer in five years.

6. Kate (meet) her school friends at the exhibition last week.

7. It (rain) in the country yesterday?

8.His elder brother (to be) a skilled surgeon at the hospital.

9. What films you (prefer) to see?

10. Alex (not look) like his father. He (look) like his mother.

V. Speaking

5.1. Complete the short dialogues:

- How many persons does your family consist of?

- We are ….

 

- Have you got a dad?

-Yes, I ….

 

- What’s your dad’s name?

- His name is….

- How old is your dad?

- ….

 

- What about his appearance?

- ….

 

- Where does your father work?

- ….

 

- What are his hobbies?

- ….

 

- What is your mum’s job?

- ….

 

- What about her hobby?

- ….

 

- Do you have a sister or a brother?

- ….

 

- Does he study at the university?

- ….

 

- What about his character?

- ….

 

- Do you get along with your brother?

- ….

 

- Have you got grandparents?

- ….

- Say some words about them, please!

- My grandpa ….

- My grandma ….

- What do you think, is your family friendly?

- To my mind ….

5.2. Make up your own dialogues using the models from the
task 4.1. These phrases and words may be helpful for you:

a) phrases:

Our family is large (small, not very large). We are the family of seven (two, three, four, five, six): my mother, my father, my aunt, my uncle, my sister, my niece and nephew.

My mother’s name is …. She is … years old. She is …. My father's name is.... He is... years old. He is a worker/driver.

My brother and sister are students (pupils). Their names are.... They are older (younger) than me.

He works as a journalist / web-designer.

She works in television/ publishing/ PR (public relations)/ sales/ IT.

They work with computers /children with disabilities.

My mother stays at home and looks after the children.

b) appearance:

tall, strong, brown eyes, blue-eyed, dark (haired) man (woman),
curly-haired, red-haired, short, well-shaped, athletic, full-bodied, to
look fit.

c) personal qualities:

nice, clever, a man/woman of strong character, patient, sociable, responsible, merry, serious, naughty, kind, careful, pretty (woman), handsome (a man), curious, nice, shy, energetic.

d) professions:

teacher, doctor, engineer, nurse, administrator, shop assistant, hair dresser, housewife, officer, pensioner, policeman, manager, programmer, builder, electrician, driver, worker, businessman, lawyer, bank worker, secretary, accountant, architect, cook, economist, unemployed.