X. Do you remember the rest of this fairy-tale? Could you tell it up to the end?

What can you say about the characters of Cinderella; her step-mother; her father; her step-sisters?

XI. Dramatize the situations.

1. You look through the family album. Tell your friend about your relatives and answer her questions.

2. You meet your school friend whom you haven’t seen for ages. Tell each other about your changes in your family life.

3. Several days ago you were at the wedding of your best friend. Tell about it to your mother, what you liked or disliked. Answer your mum’s questions.

4. A distant cousin from the USA has come to visit his / her family in Russia. A family party has been organized to celebrate his / her visit. You are sitting next to him / her at the table. Talk to the cousin.

5. On holiday you meet an old friend whose family emigrated to Australia ten years ago.

 

XII. Speak on these points.

1. Describe your family – your nearest and dearest.

2. You have made your family tree. Describe your family clan.

3. Describe the family of your best friend.

4. Marrying a foreigner is always risky – you can never understand each other as well as you understand a person of your own country. Express your opinion.

XIII. Choose one topic and write a small composition on the following.

1. Teenage marriage.

2. Marriage contracts and romantic love.

3. Divorce and one-parent family.

4. Leadership in the family.

5. Grandparents. A blessing or a burden?

6. How to bridge the generation gap.

7. The ideal family of the future.

 

'My house', 'my Flat'

 

I. Read and translate this text into Russian.

My flat

My House.

Hi, I’m Natalie. I live in Forest Street, 47, flat N34. It's on the third floor. Our house is multi-storied and there are many porches. So people sometimes call it the "Chinese Wall" because it is very long. We have a wonderful yard with a children’s playground and a sport ground. There is even a place for our grannies to sit on the benches under the trees. In summer our yard is very green because there are a lot of trees, bushes and flowers on the flowerbeds. Sometimes somebody brings a tape-recorder and we arrange dances. Even our parents join us. Maybe it is strange, but we help our yard-keeper to clean the yard, to plant and to water flowers, to repair or to paint something. And he lets us warm in his office in winter. This winter we made a real snow fortress and an ice-hill for small children. There is only one trouble: too many cars in the yard. But this summer people are going to make a car parking at the side of the house.

My Flat.

Our house has all modern conveniences: lift, gas, electricity, central heating, telephone and a refuse chute. We have a three-room flat with a kitchen, a bathroom and a lavatory. When we enter the flat we get into a large square hall with a closet for coats and boots and something of the kind. On the left one can see a large oval mirror with two wall lamps on the sides. There is also a small chest-of-drawers with a telephone on it and a stool. At the other wall one can see an old comfortable armchair. A green-and-brown mat is on the floor of the hall. A short wide corridor leads to the bathroom, the lavatory and the kitchen.

There is nothing to say about the lavatory. The walls are tiled pale beige and there is a standard flush-toilet (стандартный унитаз). The bathroom is rather large. The walls are tiled too but pale rosy. There is a bath with a shower and taps for cold and hot water. Above the sink we have a glass shelf for cosmetics and a big mirror. Our toothpaste and toothbrushes are in a glass standing on the sink. On the opposite side we have a cupboard for bath accessories and towels. Under that cupboard we have an automatic washing machine. It is modern and very good. The hooks for towels are on the door. And on the floor we have a rubber rug.

Our kitchen is spacious. It's our Mum's pride. It's really nice. All kitchen furniture with a gas stove and oven, a huge fridge, a sink with cold and hot water is in the left side corner of the kitchen. There are also several cupboards on the walls there too. And the dinner zone is in the opposite corner. There is a large wooden table with six chairs around it. The cloth on the table, the cushions on the chairs and the curtains on a large window are of the same design. Mum made them herself. And there are a lot of houseplants. Mum is fond of them. There are several lamps in the kitchen: one is above the sink and a working table, the other one is on the wall near the table, and there is a small lustre on the ceiling in the centre of the kitchen. The floor is tiled light brown.

From the hall we can get to the rooms, the living room, my parents' bedroom and mine. My brother got married last year and now he and his wife live separately. I love them both dearly but it's so nice to have a room of my own! It's the most light and warm room in the flat. It seems to be large because there is little furniture in it and it is light. To the right side of the door there is a wardrobe. Further there is my sofa of bright colours with a lot of silk cushions and a bedside table. A table lamp is on it. And I also have a picture of my family on it. At the opposite wall there are two comfortable armchairs with a small round coffee table between them. Near the window in the corner I have a desk with my PC and a halogen lamp on it. My books and my musical centre are on the shelves. There are several watercolours of my brother on the wall above the sofa. I can't stand any carpets on the walls but they are good on the floor. I have a large one of pale yellow and brown colours. I am not so fond of flowers but there is one I like very much. It is a huge monstera. It is between the window and my desk. The flower makes a great impression on everybody coming to my room.

The bedroom of my parents is quite usual I think. They have no wardrobe there. They separated a part of the room and made there a dressing room. There are shelves for linen and clothes, hangs for suits, dresses and coats, a full-length mirror with a lamp over it and a chair. The walls are covered with pale yellow wallpaper with florist pattern. In the room one can see a double bed with two bedside tables and two lamps with pale-yellow lampshades. The curtains on the window and the bedspread are of the same golden colour. In the corner near the window is a three- panelled mirror with a chest-of-drawers. Mum keeps her perfumes and cosmetics and jewelry there. On both sides of the bed on the floor they have two long thick beige-and-green carpets. Daddy's alarm clock is on his bedside table and I sometimes have a strong wish to break it down. I have never seen before an alarm clock with such a dreadful voice. 

Our living room is cosy. We have no standard wall unit. Daddy has put a bookcase so that he has almost a separate study. There he has a massive writing table with an armchair of brown leather. On the table he has a PC, a lamp, a writing set and a lot of other things. Over the writing desk he hung a bookshelf for dictionaries, books on economics and management. The bookcase is full of collections of works of Russian classics, some foreign writers and books on cookery, plants, history and Mum's favourite love stories. The Dad's study with the bookcase is opposite the window and the balcony. On the right side of the door there is an upholstered sofa of light brown colour and a sideboard. Near the sofa we have a standard lamp with a silk white lampshade. At the opposite wall one can see two armchairs with a low coffee table between them. The upholstery of the furniture is of rich brown (сочного коричневого) colour, a bit dark I think. But the walls are very light – pale green, so it is not boring. Our new colour TV set is in the corner. In the middle of the room on the floor we have a huge carpet of sandy colour. We have no dinner table in the room. We have a folding table that is usually in the closet. But several chairs are in the room in different places. At the window there is a stand with my Mum's favourite violets (фиалки) on it. On the ceiling one can see a very nice old lustre.

I like my flat very much. I can invite my friends to my place and my parents are glad to see them too. Sometimes I simply don't want to go anywhere. It's so nice to sit in your own room and listen to music and dream about something.

A) Answer the questions.

A). 1. Is the house big or small? 2. Why do people call it the “Chinese wall”? 3. Is the yard comfortable and cozy? 4. What is there? 5. How do people spend time in the yard? 6. What trouble do the inhabitants of the house have? 7. Would you like to have such a yard at your house?

B). 1. Are there all modern conveniences in the house or not? What are they? 2. How many rooms are there in the flat? 3. What can you say about the hall? 4. Is there any special with the lavatory? 5. Can you say that the bathroom is comfortable and large? What is there?

C). 1. Is the kitchen spacious or tiny? 2. Whose pride is it? Why? 3. What is there in the left side corner of the kitchen? 4. Where is the dinner zone? 5. What did Mum make for the kitchen herself? 6. Why are there several lamps in the kitchen?

D) 1. Why is Natalie glad speaking about her room? 2. Is it light and warm or not? 3. Why does it seem to be large? 4. What is there in her room? 5. Does she like carpets or not? 6. Are there any pictures on the walls? 7. What does she tell about house plants?

E) 1. What is there instead of the wardrobe in the parent’s bedroom? 2. What kinds of mirrors are there? 3. Can one see a double bed or a three-quarter bed? 4. Do the parents have a carpet on the floor of their bedroom? 5. What irritates Natalie in the parent’s room most of all?

F). 1. Do they have a standard wall unit in their living room? 2. In what way did the father make a study for himself? 3. What is there? 4. What literature does the family have in the bookcase? 5. What is there on the right side of the door? 6. What can one see opposite the sofa and the sideboard? 7. What colours dominate in the room? 8. What do they have instead of the dining table? 9. Are there any house plants in the living room? 10. Why does Natalie like her flat so much?

 

B) Tell us:

a) about the house itself and the yard;

b) about the hall, the bathroom and the lavatory;

c) about the kitchen;

d) about the room of Natalie;

e) about the parent’s bedroom;

f) about the living room.