Ex. 3. Match English words in the left column with their Russian equivalents in the right column.

ГОСУДАРСТВЕННОЕ ОБРАЗОВАТЕЛЬНОЕ УЧРЕЖДЕНИЕ ВЫСШЕГО ПРОФЕССИОНАЛЬНОГО ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ

«ТОБОЛЬСКАЯ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННАЯ СОЦИАЛЬНО-ПЕДАГОГИЧЕСКАЯ АКАДЕМИЯ ИМ. Д.И. МЕНДЕЛЕЕВА»

FAMILY LIFE

Учебное пособие для студентов

факультета иностранных языков

Тобольск

 

Печатается по решению Редакционно-

издательского совета ТГСПА им. Д.И. Менделеева

УДК 802.0

ББК 81.432.1

С 30

 

Family life = Семейная жизнь: Учебное пособие для студентов факультета иностранных языков. / Сост. Н.В. Дороднева, И.В. Сироткина. – Тобольск: ТГСПА им. Д.И. Менделеева, 2011. – 80 с. – 100 экз.

 

Данное учебное пособие предназначено для студентов I курса факультета иностранных языков очного отделения по специальности 05030365 «Иностранный язык» (английский).

Данное пособие содержит подборку материалов по теме «Family Life», а также комплекс лексико-грамматических упражнений, способствующих приобретению и развитию умений и навыков иноязычного общения. Пособие может быть использовано для аудиторной и самостоятельной работы.

 

Научный консультант: Марк Маршалл

 

Рецензенты: О.Н. Костерина, канд. фил. наук,

доцент кафедры английского языка №1 СПбГУЭиФ

Н.А. Митусова, канд. фил. наук,

доцент кафедры английского языка и перевода СПбГУЭиФ

 

ã Дороднева Наталья Витальевна,

Сироткина Ирина Владимировна, 2011

ã ТГСПА им. Д.И. Менделеева, 2011

CONTENTS

 

Unit 1. MY FAMILY.. 5

Vocabulary Practice. 5

Text: “My Family”. 7

Discussion. 9

Unit 2. DATING.. 10

Vocabulary Practice. 10

Text: “Teenage Dating in the 1950s”. 11

Text: “Dating Problems”. 12

Discussion. 13

Unit 3. GETTING MARRIED.. 15

Vocabulary Practice. 15

Text: “Forms of Marriage and Family Organization”. 18

Text: “Getting Married in the USA”. 19

Text: “Early Marriage”. 20

Discussion. 22

Writing an Essay. 24

Unit 4. FAMILY LIFE.. 25

Vocabulary Practice. 25

Text: “Family Life”. 27

Text: “My Own Rules for a Happy Marriage”. 28

Discussion. 29

Unit 5: ROLES IN THE FAMILY.. 30

Vocabulary Practice. 30

Text: “Roles in the Family”. 31

Text: “Working Mothers: What Children Say”. 32

Text: “Men Behaving Daddly”. 34

Discussion. 36

Writing an Essay. 37

Unit 6. CHILDREN IN THE FAMILY.. 38

Vocabulary Practice. 38

Text: “Only Children”. 40

Text: “The Only Child in a Family”. 41

Text: “Misunderstanding Between Teenagers and Their Parents”. 42

Discussion. 43

Writing an Essay. 44

Unit 7. DIVORCE.. 45

Vocabulary Practice. 45

Text: “A Divorce Lawyer”. 46

Text: “New Family Ties: Stepfamily”. 48

Discussion. 49

Unit 8. FAMILY TRENDS IN GREAT BRITAIN AND THE USA.. 50

Vocabulary Practice. 50

Text: “The British Family”. 51

Text: “American Family Trends”. 53

Discussion. 54

APPENDIX.. 56

TOPICAL VOCABULARY.. 73

BIBLIOGRAPHY.. 80

Unit 1. MY FAMILY

Vocabulary Practice

 

Ex. 1. Give English equivalents of the following Russian words and word combinations.

имя, отчество, фамилия, тезка, девичья фамилия, прозвище, ласкательное имя, называть по имени, назвать чьим-либо именем (в честь кого-либо), взять прежнюю фамилию, ругать, оскорблять кого-либо

 

Ex. 2. Give Russian equivalents of the following English words and word combinations.

long past forty, be well into one’s forty, just out of one’s twenties, be on the wrong (bad) side of forty, be on the right (good) side of forty, turn sixty, be of military age, be of age (under age), as old as the hills, be of a certain age, be of the same age, double one’s age/twice one’s age, (less than) a year apart, (not) look one’s age, look (much) older than, carry one’s age well, outlive somebody by (over) twenty years

 

Discussion

 

Ex. 1. Speak on the following topics.

1. Talk about your parents.

2. Tell about your grandparents.

3. Do you have many relatives? Talk about them.

4. Do you have an elder brother or sister? Describe his (her) family.

5. You have three aunts on your mother’s side. Tell about them.

6. Describe your friend’s family.

7. You like (dislike) when your distant relatives from the village come to visit. Give your reasons.

8. You are good at History. Tell about our last tsar’s family – the Romanovs.

9. You have a lot of cousins, second cousins, nephews and nieces. Describe their age.

10. What does your mother (father) do? Tell about his (her) occupation.

 

Ex. 2. Answer the following questions and give your reasons.

1. What is better to have a small family or a big family with a lot of children and other relations? Why?

2. What is an ideal family as you see it?

3. Can a person live without a family? Why?/ Why not?

4. What role does family play in people’s lives?

5. What role does your family play in your life?

Unit 2. DATING

Vocabulary Practice

 

Discussion

 

Ex. 1. Role play the following scenes with another member of your group.

1. You meet your blind date in the train station. How do you recognize each other? What do you say to each other?

2. You want to ask someone to go to see a movie with you, but you have very little money. How do you tell the person you want to go Dutch?

3. You are the chaperone for a group of high school seniors on a trip. It’s 1:30 in the morning and you want to go to bed. They want to go out dancing in a discotheque. What do you say?

4. Your sixteen-year-old daughter wants to go to a drive-in movie with an eighteen-year-old boy who drives a car. What do you say?

5. Your son wants to borrow the car to take his girlfriend to a party. They will be taking two other couples. What do you say?

6. Your seventeen-year-old son has a 12:00 o’clock curfew. He thinks this is unreasonable, because most of his friends do not have any curfew at all. What do you say?

7. Your daughter is a freshman in college. She wants to go away with her boyfriend and some other students for a skiing weekend. There will not be a chaperone. What do you say?

Weighty problem

Boys don’t find me attractive, and I think the reason is that I’m fat. Ever since I was about seven, I’ve been on the chubby side, but it didn’t worry me until now. I’m quite intelligent and have lots of friends but not the type I’d like. What should I do?

Suzie, 15

 

Never been kissed

I’m sixteen and I have never been out with a girl. I’ve never even kissed one. My friends have had lots of girlfriends, but girls don’t seem to be interested in me. Now I tell everyone that I have a girlfriend in France, but I don’t think they believe me. What should I do?

Richard, 16

Roses are red…

I’m in love with a girl who is very attractive. A friend introduced us. She doesn’t know how I feel. I have her address and telephone number, but I don’t know what to do. Should I call her? I could send her some roses or chocolates, but I can’t decide which is better. If I send something, what should I write on the card?

Peter, 14

 

Unit 3. GETTING MARRIED

Vocabulary Practice

 

Discussion

 

Ex. 1. Answer the questions.

1. Do you think people should get to know each other well before getting married?

2. Do you believe in love at first sight?

3. Do you believe that marriages of convenience can be successful (happy)?

4. What are the reasons for getting married?

5. What is the best age for getting married?

6. Why do young people in urbanized countries postpone marriage these days?

7. Do you approve of concubinage (cohabitation)?

8. What should people take into consideration before getting married?

9. Are these good reasons for getting married?

· Two young people are very much in love.

· Two people have been close friends for years, although they don’t love each other.

· The girl is pregnant.

· The woman is rich and the man needs money.

· The man (aged 50) wants a young wife, and the woman (aged 25) wants a home and children.

· Two people are old and lonely. They are not in love but they both need company.

10. Are there special difficulties in our country for men and women to meet each other?

11. Are these important factors in a happy marriage?

· being mature

· caring about each other’s feelings

· always telling the truth

· not being always together

· having the same interests

· understanding each other.

12. Are people who marry late (over 40) more likely to be happy together than people who marry young? What difficulties might such people have? Does it make a difference to a child if his parents are young or old?

 

Writing an Essay

Unit 4. FAMILY LIFE

Vocabulary Practice

Ex. 1. Give English equivalents of the following Russian words.

свекровь, свекор, теща, тесть, зять (муж сестры), невестка (жена брата), сноха (жена сына), зять (муж дочери), вдова, вдовец, старая дева, холостяк

 

Ex. 2. Fill in the blanks stating the relationship among the various members of the family.

1. My father’s sister is my mother’s....

2. My father’s mother is my mother’s....

3. My father’s father is my mother’s....

4. My mother is the... of my father’s parents.

5. My father is the... of my mother’s parents.

6. My mother is my father’s... and my father is my mother’s....

7. Nina is married to Victor, so Victor’s parents are Nina’s....

8. We are good friends with my brother’s wife, my....

 

Ex. 3. Give words or phrases for the following definitions.

1. the man to whom a woman is married;

2. the mother of a person’s husband or wife;

3. the wife of someone’s son;

4. the wife of one’s brother or the sister of one’s husband or wife;

5. a person lacking one or usually both parents;

6. a man whose wife has died, and who has not married again;

7. to take (someone else’s child) into one’s family and to take on the full responsibilities in law of a parent;

8. an unmarried man;

9. an unmarried woman, esp. an older one;

10. a very distant relative.

 

Ex. 4. Explain the difference between pairs of words:

baby – toddler	mother – mother-in-law
sister – cousin	bride – fiancee
nick name – pet name	spouse – cohabitant
birthday – nameday	marriage – wedding
grandparents – great grandparents	to be engaged – to be married

 

By James Grover Thurber

 

Nobody, I hasten to announce, has asked me to formulate a set of rules for the perpetuation of marital bliss and the preservation of a sacred union. Maybe what we need is a brand-new set of rules. Anyway, ready or not, here they come, the result of fifty years spent in studying the nature and behaviour, mistakes and misunderstandings of the American Male and his Mate.

RULE ONE: Neither party to a sacred union should run down, disparage or badmouth the other’s former girls or beaux. The tendency to attack their character, looks, intelligence, capability and achievements is a common case of domestic discontent.

RULE TWO: A man should make an honest effort to get the names of his wife’s friends right. This is not easy. The average wife keeps in touch with at least seven old classmates. These ladies known as “the girls” are often nicknamed: Molly, Muffy, Missy, Midge, Mabby, Maddy and so on. The careless husband calls them all Mugs.

RULE THREE: A husband should not insult his wife publicly, at parties. He should insult her in the privacy of their home.

RULE FOUR: The wife, who keeps saying, “Isn’t that just like a man?” and a husband, who keeps saying, “Oh, well you know how women are,” are likely to grow farther and farther apart through the years.

RULE FIVE: When a husband is reading aloud, a wife should sit quietly in her chair, relaxed but attentive. If he has decided to read the Republican platform, an article on elm blight, or blow-by-blow account of a prize fight, it is not going to be easy, but she should at least pretend to be interested. She should not break in to correct her husband’s pronunciation, or to tell him one of the socks is wrong side out, swing her foot, file her fingernails, catch a mosquito. The good wife allows the mosquito to bite her when the husband is reading aloud.

RULE SIX: A husband should try to remember where things are around the house so that he doesn’t have to wait for his wife to get home before he can put his hands on what he wants. Perhaps every wife should draw for her husband a detailed map of the house, showing clearly the location of everything he might need. Trouble is, he would lay the map down, somewhere and not be able to find it until his wife got home.

RULE SEVEN: If your husband ceases to call you “Sugarfoot” or “Candy Eyes”, or “Cutie Fudge Pie” during the first year of your marriage, it is not necessarily a sign that he no longer cares or has come to take you for granted. It is probably an indication that he has recovered his normal perspective.

RULE EIGHT: Two persons living in holy matrimony must avoid slipping into the subjunctive mood. The safest place for a happily married couple is the indicative mood, and of its tenses the present is the most secure. The future is a domain of threats and worries, and the past is a wasteland of sorrows and regrets.

I can hope in conclusion, that this treatise itself will not start, in any household, a widening gap that can never be closed.

 

Ex. 1. Read and translate the text.

 

Ex. 2. Answer the questions.

1. How would you comment on all the rules formulated by J.G. Thurber?

2. What manner are these rules written in?

3. What rule would you certainly follow?

4. What rule is unacceptable to you at all?

5. What would you add to theses rules?

 

Ex. 3. Make up your own list of rules for a happy marriage.

 

Discussion

 

Ex. 1. Read the quotations given below and agree or disagree with them.

1. “A good marriage would be between a blind wife and a deaf husband.” (Montaigne)

2. “All happy families resemble one another, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” (Leo Tolstoy)

3. “An ideal wife is any woman who has an ideal husband.” (Booth Tarkington)

4. “Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, half shut after.” (Benjamin Franklin)

 

Unit 5: ROLES IN THE FAMILY

Vocabulary Practice

 

Discussion

Writing an Essay

 

Vocabulary Practice

 

Discussion

Food for thought

I live on a farm, and I have started thinking about animal rights. Now I am vegetarian. My problem is that my parents are furious. My mum doesn’t cook anything different for me, so every night all I eat is vegetables and bread and cheese. I don’t think this is fair. Why can’t she cook me something tasty?

Michelle, 17

 

To dye, or not to dye?

My parents went away on holiday recently, so I decided to dye my hair. I’m blonde and I dyed my hair black. Now it looks awful and I don’t know what to do. A couple of days ago my parents came home, and when my mum saw my hair, she went completely mad. Now as a punishment, she says I can’t dye it back. What should I do?

Lucy, 16

 

Not fair

I get ₤ 1.50 a week pocket money, but most of my friends get much more. When I ask my Mum and Dad for more, they say I can have more if I help in the house, but I don’t see why I should. Mum’s home all day, and it’s her job to look after the house, not mine. What do you think?

Sharon, 14

 

Problems with lessons

I’m very worried because the lessons at school are too difficult for me. I don’t understand them, but the others in the class know what the teachers are talking about. Who should I talk to? We have exams soon, and I know I’m going to fail them. My parents will be furious, because they think I’m OK.

Simon, 13

Ex. 3. Do you consider the problems mentioned in the letters to be similar in our country? Think of the possible problems between parents and children in our country and write a letter containing one of them.

 

Writing an Essay

Unit 7. DIVORCE

Vocabulary Practice

 

Discussion

 

Vocabulary Practice

 

Discussion

Ex. 1. Below are a few extracts from Understanding Britain by K. Hewitt concerning the British families and other relationships (see A). Compare the data with that given in other materials that tell us about the same aspects of people's life in the USA (see B).

A

1. Women in Britain have been giving birth later and later. But the biological clock ticks away leaving these women less and less time to have their family. Doctors can now treat for many physical and mental defects which appear more often in babies born to older parents.

2. Young men, for possibly the first time in history, at a disadvantage. More boy babies are born who now survive the weaknesses to which they used to succumb. So more boys are chasing fewer girls, and are suddenly proving very enthusiastic about marriage and long-term relationships while the girls hesitate. This is a reversal of traditional attitudes.

3. More than one in three marriages in Britain is now expected to end in divorce. Something has clearly been happening to the idea of marriage. Many children experience the divorce of their parents before they themselves grow up. And so the higher the divorce rate, the more unhappiness, instability and gloomy prospects for the future relationships of our young citizens.

4. More and more stable couples are choosing not to get married. The popularity of the institution of “living together” as a sexual couple is very great indeed. Such unmarried couples are also having their children, unmarried, but both taking responsibility for the child who is born, just as in marriage.

Now about a third of marriages end in divorce, and we can be fairly sure that at least the same proportion of serious couple “split up”.

5. There is a strong tendency for divorced and separated individuals to find another partner and settle down to another marriage or similar relationship. Single mothers exist – but not usually for very long.

Whatever the reasons, enthusiasm for marriage or a long-term relationship remains very high. It seems that the British are a romantic race. And if you ask the British what their “ideal” of life is, whether or not they themselves have achieved it, the “ideal” that comes top always is “a loving and kind marriage between equals”.

6. How does the non-homosexual majority of the British public feel about homosexuals? The majority seem to have complicated and ambivalent feelings; opinion polls on this question always demonstrate how confused most people are. Some popular papers make the lives of well-known homosexuals a misery. On the other hand there are many young radical people and many homosexuals themselves who say that “sexual preference is a matter of choice. No distinctions should be made.”

B

1. In a traditional American family the father goes out and works and the mother stays home and rears the children. But most families in the USA do not fit this image. The most common type of family now is one in which both parents work outside the home.

2. Many single adult Americans nowadays are waiting longer to get married. Women become more interested in getting married and starting a family as they enter their thirties. Today’s brides and grooms enter marriage in more skeptical frames of mind than before.

3. In the 1970s many couples living together without being married. For about ten years, the number of unmarried couples living together grew rapidly. At that time there was an increase in divorces.

4. Nowadays people who get married at later ages have fewer divorces. In the mid-1980s, more traditional marriage and family practices became once again widely accepted. Today, married couples are the fastest growing type of household in the United States. The number of marriages is rising. The number of babies has also been climbing steadily for the past ten years. Many experts see these trends as a sign that Americans are returning to the values of marriage and family. Still there is an increase in the number of families that are headed by only one person.

5. Many couples today want to be childless. The average household contains between two or three people. So families in the United States are getting smaller.

 

APPENDIX

 

Unit 1

Тести, Девери, Золовки...

 

Try to find the English equivalents of these words in the dictionary. Isn’t it a hard task?

The Russian language is really great and powerful. English is not so rich and affluent, especially with the names of family members.

We know of no accepted term in English for a relationship between the respective parents of a married couple. For example, what word is used to refer to somebody’s son’s mother-in-law. Shakespeare did once use brother-in-law in this way (in A Winter’s Tale, Act IV, scene 4), but the context is humorous and it was not a standard way of using the term.

A person who marries acquires a set of relations by marriage, but all such ‘in-law’ relationships relate directly to the couple, and no relationships between their wider families are recognized in the language. The phrase -in-law originally meant ‘according to canon (Church) law’, so that, for example, marriage between brother-in-law and sister-in-law is prohibited as if the two people were brother and sister. It was formerly used also for relatives now designated by step-, who also come within the prohibited ‘degrees of affinity’ for marriage. A person’s children’s parents-in-law do not in fact fall within the prohibited degrees (a woman may legally marry her son’s wife’s father), and so they are not strictly ‘in-law’ relations. This also accounts for the non-existence of terms such as nephew-in-law, since technically a woman may marry, say, the ex-husband of her niece.

It is usually necessary to refer to ‘my son’s parents-in-law’ or ‘my daughter-in-law’s parents’, or simply to use their names (though I have heard the term ‘co-in-laws’). Words for relations acquired through a second marriage of one’s parents are less rare, though few people bother to talk about half-uncles or step-aunts.

A more difficult task is to find a recognized term for a person that one lives with and is committed to without actually being married. There are of course several in use, but no one term that everyone feels comfortable with. Boy- or girl-friend are ambiguous and do not suit a committed middle-aged couple. Common law husband or wife is sometimes used; although it sounds very formal, and some people feel that it implies that in some way they have neglected to marry, rather than making a conscious decision not to. Live-in lover seems to place the lover on a par with a domestic servant who lives in, and in any case ‘lover’ suggests an adulterous and possibly ephemeral relationship. The Scots bidie-in and the American POSSLQ (person of opposite sex sharing living quarters) and significant other have not been adopted elsewhere. Partner is probably the most generally accepted term, and is defined in the Concise Oxford Dictionary as ‘either member of a married couple, or of an unmarried couple living together’; but some people consider it too formal and businesslike for such an intimate relationship.

Why not just say ‘the man (or woman) I live with’? Although it could imply that you simply shared accommodation with them, most people would understand it. Like ‘partner’, it suggests an equal and mutually beneficial relationship, and it is even shorter than some of the alternatives.

There may well be languages in which such words exist, just as there are some languages which distinguish between aunts as ‘mother’s older sister’, and ‘mother’s younger sister’, or ‘father’s older sister’, or ‘father’s younger sister’. Some languages may also have different words for ‘half-brothers sharing the same father’ and ‘half-brothers sharing the same mother’, but there are no such complexities in any well-known European language.

In the Modern English language it is difficult even to find a word one can use to refer to his (numerous) nieces and nephews collectively. As in former times cousin was used much more loosely than it is now to refer to a range of relatives outside the immediate family, including nieces and nephews. Relatives of an older generation were called uncle or aunt, as they are today, but their children and grandchildren, and one’s brother’s or sister’s children, could all be called cousins. This meaning died out in about the 18^th century, and although the current restricted usage is unambiguous, it does leave us without a collective term for nieces and nephews.

Language is a product of the nation and of social development. Traditions of a nation also affect the development of national customs. The Russian language is so rich in different words denoting family members and even very distantly connected ones, probably because we are used to living collectively. Even a cousin several times removed seems very close to us a few minutes after meeting, just because we feel a small amount of our own blood in him. And we can not leave that person without giving him a name like Englishmen do, using one term cousin to denote all the distant relations. That word can be decorated with other definers, saying ‘a forty-second cousin’, ‘a faraway cousin’, ‘a shirtail cousin’. But it is always the same word.

I do not know why it happens – may be because its a lazy nation, not wishing to remember some extra words in their speech. Probably the reason is found in the un-revealed mystery of the Russian Spirit, which usually considers a more tender and milder attitude to its people in comparison with Germanic and Romanic coldness.

By Svetlana Zaskoka

 

Unit 2

Computer Dating Bureau

 

If you join a computer dating service, you will have to fill out this kind of form.

Computer Dating Information Form   Please fill in the questions below: 1. Age ____________ 4. Sex ______________ 2. Height __________ 5. Hair colour ________ 3. Weight __________ 6. Languages ________ Qualities 7. The qualities I would like in a date are: (check if appropriate) beauty humоur generosity sexiness intelligence seriousness kindness energy honesty success mystery sympathy 8. I feel most comfortable with people who are: athletic articulate peaceful successful intellectual protective exciting fun-loving romantic artistic ambitious religious 9. The occupations I am most interested in are: medical fine arts engineering social work legal business science religion education sports home economics other 10. My favorite activities are: movies dancing politics partying Т.V. music religious cooking sports reading talking painting 11. People think that I am: shy pessimistic gullible talented strong brave attractive successful reliable intellectual amusing optimistic tough tactful argumentative a loner 12. I prefer to date someone who is: my age slightly younger much younger slightly older much older   Mail this form, with $5.00 and a self-addressed return envelope, to COMPUTER CUPID. 2 Lovers Lane. Happytown, California. We will send you the names and addresses of three perfect dates!

 

Unit 3

How Did Weddings Start?

 

Marriage, as a custom, goes back to the very earliest history of man. It has passed through three stages. The first was marriage by capture. Primitive man simply stole the woman he wanted for his wife.

Then came marriage by contract or purchase. A bride was bought by a man. Finally came the marriage based on mutual love. But even today we still have traces of the first two stages. “Giving the bride away” is a relic of the time when the bride was really sold. The “best man” at weddings today probably goes back to the strong-armed warrior who helped primitive man carry off his captured bride. And the honeymoon itself symbolises the period during which the bridegroom was forced to hide his captured bride until her kinsmen grew tired of searching for her!

Today we have “weddings” without realising that this very word goes back to one of the early stages of marriage. Among the Anglo-Saxons the “wed” was the money, horses, or cattle which the groom gave as security and as a pledge to prove his purchase of the bride from her father.

Of course, when it comes to wedding customs, most of them can be traced back to ancient meanings which have long been forgotten. For example, the “something blue” which brides wear is borrowed from ancient Israel. In those times brides were told to wear a ribbon of blue on the borders of their garments because blue was the colour of purity, love, and fidelity.

When we ask, Who giveth this woman to this man? we are going back to the times when a bride was actually purchased. It is believed that the custom of having bridesmaids goes back to Roman times when there had to be ten witnesses at the solemn marriage ceremony.

Why do we tie shoes on the back of newly weds’ cars? It is believed that this goes back to the custom of exchanging or giving away of shoes to indicate that authority had been exchanged. So the shoe suggests that now the husband rather than the father has authority over the bride.

 

Wedding Superstitions

 

For most people, weddings are a magical time when even the least superstitious will watch for portents of future happiness. As a result, the wedding preparations, ceremony and feast have all become loaded with ritual practices to ward off evil and bless the marriage with fortune and fertility.

The choice of date is important. May is traditionally unlucky for weddings, because in ancient Rome, this was a month for remembering the dead, and an ill-omened time for lovers. In contrast to this, there exists the Christian belief that you shouldn’t marry in Lent. Defying augury, many modern couples marry between Easter and late May, a practice much encouraged by tax rebates. The tradition that the bride’s parents should pay for the wedding dates from two or three centuries ago, when wealthy families would pay an eligible bachelor to take an unmarried daughter off their hands in exchange for a large dowry.

Every bride regards her wedding dress as the most hallowed garment she will ever possess. At most formal weddings, brides still get married in virginal white – many other colours are considered unlucky. Green, for example, is the fairies’ colour and the wearer may fall into the power of the little people. Yellow, purple, orange and red are also to be avoided, though blue is safe. The bride’s veil is of great importance; it once had the double function of protecting the bride from the evil eye, and at the same time served to keep her in seclusion, in case her psychic powers at this time bewitched people. A bride will also ensure that her wedding outfit includes “something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue”. “Old” maintains her link with the past; “new” symbolizes the future; “borrowed” gives her a link with the present; and “blue” symbolizes her purity.

Even a modern bride will observe the taboos about wearing her dress before the ceremony. The groom mustn’t see her in it until she enters the church. Nor must she wear the complete outfit before the wedding day. Certainly the veil shouldn’t be tried on at the same time as the dress; many brides put it on for the first time as they leave for the church. Some brides even believe that the sewing of the dress shouldn’t be finished until the day itself, and leave a few stitches to be completed on the wedding morning. It’s a lucky omen if the bride should see a chimney sweep on her way to church. Sometimes a sweep is paid to attend the ceremony and kiss the bride – a relic of the old idea that soot and ashes are symbols of fertility. After the ceremony, the couple are showered with confetti – to bless the marriage with fertility.

One old custom which hasn’t entirely died out was for the bride and sometimes the groom to negotiate some obstacle as they left the church – guests would impede them with ropes of flowers, for example, or with sticks that had to be jumped over. Sometimes a stone was used over which the bride had to jump or be lifted. The belief was that she left all her bad moods behind her, and that the jump symbolizes her leap into a new life. After negotiating these hazards, the bride is faced with the wedding feast. The most important stems is the wedding cake, whose richness symbolizes fertility, just as it has done since Roman times. Today, the first slice is cut by the bride to ensure a fruitful marriage, though once the cake was literally broken over the bride’s head; guests then scrambled for fragments, which would bring fortune.

 

Traditional Weddings

 

In Britain people get married either in church or in a registry office. In the US people often get married in a house, a garden, a park, a hotel, or in a wedding chapel as well as in church. Most people, when they think of a wedding, think of people getting married in church and the many customs that go with this type of wedding, called a white wedding. Even people who are not religious often want to have a traditional white wedding in a church.

 

Before the ceremony

 

The bridegroom is not supposed to see the bride on the day of the wedding until they meet in church and this is considered to be bad luck. The bridegroom arrives at the church first and waits inside, near the altar with the best man. The families of the bride and bridegroom, and the wedding guests, sit in rows in the church.

Just before the wedding ceremony begins, the bride arrives at the church in a car with her father. The car is usually an expensive car, such as a Rolls Royce or a limousine, hired for the occasion and decorated with ribbons.

 

The ceremony

 

It is the custom for the bride’s father to ‘give her away’ (=officially to give her to the bridegroom). The bride and her father walk slowly up the aisle (= central passage) of the church, with the bridesmaids. People sometimes talk about ‘walking up the aisle’ when they mean ‘getting married’. When the bride and bridegroom are together at the altar the priest or minister begins the wedding service. The words that are said during the wedding service are very well known to most people. During the service the bridegroom gives the bride a wedding ring and says ‘With this ring I thee wed’ (‘With this ring I marry you’). Sometimes the bride also gives a ring to the bridegroom in turn: “Will you have this man/woman to be your wedded husband/wife?” The bride and bridegroom each say ‘I will’. At the end of the ceremony, the priest or minister says: ‘I pronounce you man and wife’ which means that they are officially married. The bride and bridegroom then sign the register (= a special book which is the official record of their marriage).

 

After the ceremony

 

Outside the church, the friends of the bride and bridegroom throw confetti (=small pieces of coloured paper or rice) over them. Photographs are usually taken of the bride and bridegroom and their families and friends.

 

The reception

 

After the photographs everyone usually goes to a hotel for the wedding reception, which is a special meal (wedding breakfast) and party to celebrate the wedding. During the meal bride and bridegroom cut the wedding cake and give it to their guests. At the end of the meal there are speeches, usually made by the bride’s father, the bridegroom and the best man. It is traditional for the best man to make a speech in which he talks about funny and embarrassing things that happened to the bridegroom in the past.

Before the reception ends the bride and bridegroom usually drive away to another hotel to spend their wedding night before beginning their honeymoon (=a holiday taken by people who have just got married). The car the couple drive away in has usually been decorated by their friends. There is often a sign saying ‘just married’ and sometimes tin cans are tied to the back of the car. Before she leaves, the bride throws her bouquet to her friends to catch. According to custom, the woman who catches it will be the next one to get married.

 

Unit 4

Marriage Contract

Contributed by Nikita Melnikov and Natalia Larina

 

Rights and duties

1. Nikita Melnikov (husband)and Natalia Larina (wife) will respect rights and legal interests of one another, both in marriage and after divorce.

2. Nikita Melnikov (husband)and Natalia Larina (wife) will maintain good relations in the family.

3. Nikita Melnikov (husband)and Natalia Larina (wife) will raise the children together and take an active part in their children’s life.

4. Nikita Melnikov (husband)and Natalia Larina (wife) will share important decision making.

5. Nikita Melnikov (husband)and Natalia Larina (wife) will share housework equally.

6. Nikita Melnikov (husband)and Natalia Larina (wife) will not be unfaithful to each other.

 

Financial trust

1. Nikita Melnikov (husband)and Natalia Larina (wife) will work and contribute 75% of their wages to the monthly household budget.

2. If one of the spouses doesn’t work, other will provide the financial for the family.

3. Natalia Larina (wife) can work short week if she keeps the house and raises children.

4. Goods which cost more than 5000 rubles will be bought in presence of both spouses Nikita Melnikov (husband)and Natalia Larina (wife).

 

Property trust

1. All the property Nikita Melnikov (husband)and Natalia Larina (wife) will have after the marriage will be common.

2. All the property Nikita Melnikov (husband)and Natalia Larina (wife) had got before the marriage will be personal (private).

3. Nikita Melnikov (husband)and Natalia Larina (wife) will care of the common property.

Final regulations

1. This contract will come into power on the day of wedding.

2. This contract is a notary’s certification.

3. The spouses can change or break this agreement at any moment.

4. This contract is made in triplicate: two copies are for the spouses, the third one is for the notary.

 

October 10, 2007

I comply with the terms of the contract Nikita Melnikov

(the signature of the husband)

I comply with the terms of the contract Natalia Larina

(the signature of the wife)

Certified by the notary Alexander Ivanov

(the signature of the notary)

Unit 5

Unit 6

Test

Is it hard to find a common language with your parents? Are your relations clouded with irritation and despair? You do not obviously know what to do, do you? Replying to the test given below will help you to overcome family disagreements and as a result improve your relations with parents.

 

1. My parents’ friends:

a) irritate me. I don’t like them; 5

b) I like some of them but I am indifferent to others; 3

c) sometimes it’s interesting to associate with them; 2

d) they are quite respectable people; 1

e) I appreciate and trust them. 0

 

2. When I get into an unpleasant situation:

a) I conceal it from my parents; 4

b) I will get nothing but nagging from my parents; 5

c) my parents will help me but then they will reproach me

for it for all the time; 3

d) they will grow nervous and scold me but will help me

to get out of it; 2

e) they will always give me good advice and support me

in any situation. 0

 

3. If I have a conflict with my teachers in my parents’ opinion:

a) it’s always my fault; 4

b) it’s always my teachers’ fault; 4

c) it’s a problem that we must solve together. 1

 

4. If I have a friend and my parents don’t like him:

a) they ignore him; 4

b) they are amiable with him but say nasty things behind his back; 3

c) they are aggressive with him; 3

d) they don’t disguise their feelings but allow me to make

a choice by myself. 1

 

5. I want my future family to be:

a) quite the opposite to my parents’ family; 3

b) similar to my parents’ family; 1

c) slightly similar to my parents’ family; 1

d) I have not thought about it yet. 1

 

6. About my personal tastes and preferences:

a) my parents know nothing; 3

b) know only those things that I permit them to know; 3

c) know the things which it’s impossible to hide; 3

d) know practically everything and they share some of them

with me. 1

 

7. My leisure time:

a) I never spend it with my parents; 4

b) I spend it with my parents because they want it but I hate it; 3

c) I willingly spend free time with my parents, if I am not busy. 1

 

8. I quarrel with my parents:

a) practically every day; 4

b) once a week; 3

c) once a month or less. 1

 

9. My quarrels with my parents end:

a) with mutual enmity; 4

b) when one of us yields to another; 3

c) with a quiet talk. 1

 

10. If I need some money but I don’t want to tell my parents for what:

a) I’ll never ask them for it; 4

b) I’ll invent a more or less plausible version; 4

c) I’ll tell them the truth, only in case they give me the money; 2

d) they trust me and will give me the money without any questions. 0

 

11. If my parents have problems:

a) most likely I won’t hear about it from them; 4

b) I’ll help, if they ask me; 3

c) I’ll put my work off and help them if it is in my power; 1

d) we’ll solve them together. 0

 

12. When my friends have problems, my parents:

a) are the last to be informed; 4

b) will say that it is none of their business; 4

c) will be ready to help them but with some conditions; 1

d) will help in any case. 0

 

13. At family celebrations with my parents:

a) I behave as if I were in prison; 4

b) I sit for half an hour out of respect and try to slip away; 3

c) I behave differently. It depends on who our guests are; 2

d) I have fun with others. 1

 

14. When my mother’s or father’s Birthday comes:

a) I don’t worry – we never give presents to each other; 4

b) I always find it difficult to choose a good present and

end up giving a souvenir; 3

c) I’ll buy something useful for them or for the house; 2

d) I always know which present my parents are eager to receive. 0

 

15. If I have problems of an intimate character:

a) I’ll never tell my parents about it; 4

b) it is a closed theme for our family; 4

c) it is easier for me to appeal to other adults than to my parents; 2

d) it’s possible to discuss some details with my parents. 1

 

16. If my mother buys a fashionable expensive thing for herself:

a) I think that such things are more necessary for me; 4

b) I’m quite indifferent; 2

c) I’m happy for her. 0

 

17. In regard to my image and looks:

a) I can do whatever I like since my parents are indifferent to it; 4

b) I often hear sneers and critical remarks; 3

c) Sometimes my parents give me good advice; 1

d) They often say: “You look fabulous!” 0

 

 

The Result

 

50-72 points: The atmosphere in your family is practically always aggressive. Don’t forget that the relationship with parents is your responsibility too. You ought to take the first step as you are younger and stronger.

 

25-49 points: It won’t do you any good to quarrel with your parents, you will have to make up in the end. As soon as you take into consideration that your parents have feelings, wishes and needs, they will recognize you as their equal.

 

15-24 points: Sometimes misunderstanding, irritation and despair darken the relationships with your parents. There are no ideal families you know but practically all people try to improve their relations with family members by seeking different ways. It’s worth discussing and solving problems together.

 

Under 15 points: If you have answered the questions honestly, you can conclude that your relationship with your parents is rather happy. But sometimes such an idyll can hide your weakness, dependence on parents and disinclination to become an independent person.

By Kovalenko Daria

Unit 7

Divorce in Great Britain

 

In the past, families tended to stay together. They felt it was their duty to do this and that marriage was for life. Divorce was not socially acceptable. It was a commonly held view that a bad marriage was better than no marriage at all.

In Britain, as in many industrialized societies, there has been a steady rise in the numbers of divorces. The Second World War disrupted a lot of marriages, due to enforced separation and hasty marriages which were later regretted. Immediately after the war there were a record number of divorces and the proportion of marriages involving a divorced partner grew from 2% in 1940 to 32% in 1985.

Legal changes this century have made it much easier to get a divorce. The most dramatic change resulted from the 1971 divorce law. The law stated that there needed to be only one reason for a divorce petition – the “irretrievable breakdown of marriage”. This was a much wider category than the previous ones of cruelty, insanity, desertion or adultery.

The change in the law had an immediate effect. In 1972 there were over 119,000 divorces in England and Wales and the rate has continued to rise. The total number in 1990 was over 153,000, around 2% higher than in 1989. Proposed laws may make divorce even easier.

Couples can now afford the legal side of getting and surviving a divorce more easily than at any time in the past. However, for many families it is still an economic disaster as well as being emotionally difficult.

Another possible reason behind the rise in the divorce rate is the changing attitude to marriage itself. The traditional Christian approach to marriage has been against divorce. As the Church becomes less influential in the UK, the view of marriage as a union for life has weakened. The result is that the break-up of a marriage is seen as less of a normal crisis and more as a matter of personal happiness.

Perhaps the people most affected by a divorce are the children. According to current forecasts, about 20% of children in Britain will experience family breakdown by the age of 16. There has been growing concern for such children, who are usually between the ages of five and ten. Recent laws indicated that first consideration should be given to the welfare of the children when making financial arrangements after a divorce.

If marriage is going through a troubled time, the partners may ask for help from the voluntary counsellors of an organization which is called “Relate” (formerly the Marriage Guidance Council).

 

 

TOPICAL VOCABULARY

 

Name

1. name (first name; christian name) – имя

2. patronimic, middle name – отчество

3. surname (second name; family name; last name) – фамилия

4. namesake – тезка

5. maiden name – девичье имя (фамилия)

6. nickname – прозвище, (v) давать прозвище

7. pet name – ласкательное имя

8. for short – уменьшительное имя, для краткости

9. call (v) – называть

10. call by first name – называть по имени

11. call smb after – назвать чьим-либо именем (в честь кого-либо)

12. change one’s name back – взять прежнюю фамилию

13. call smb names – ругать, оскорблять кого-либо

 

 

Age

1. be born – родиться

2. birth certificate – свидетельство о рождении

3. be born in the same generation – принадлежать к одному поколению

4. generation gap – конфликт поколений, проблема отцов и детей

5. birthday – день рождения

tenth/twentieth birthday – десятилетие/двадцатилетие

6. nameday – именины

7. be sixteen years old – шестнадцать лет

be a sixteen-year-old boy – ему 16 лет/шестнадцатилетний юноша

8. be a man of sixty – шестидесятилетний мужчина

9. be seventy years of age – в возрасте семидесяти лет

10. nearly sixteen – почти 16 лет

11. about twenty – около двадцати

12. under sixteen – менее шестнадцати, еще нет и 16

13. over twenty – более двадцати

14. twenty odd – двадцать с лишним

15. in one’s middle twenties (mid-thirties) – примерно двадцать пять (35)

16. long past forty – далеко за сорок

17. be well into one’s forty – далеко за сорок

18. just out of one’s twenties – только что минуло тридцать

19. be on the wrong (bad) side of forty – более сорока/за сорок

be on the right (good) side of forty – менее сорока/до сорока

20. be hard on thirty – под тридцать

21. in one’s early forties – чуть более сорока/за сорок

in one’s late forties – почти пятьдесят/около пятидесяти

22. be twenty seven on one’s next birthday – будет двадцать семь в следующем году

23. is nearing (approaching) 50 – приближается ("идет") к пятидесяти

24. turn sixty – перевалило за шестьдесят

25. back in one’s second childhood – впасть в детство

26. teenager – подросток

27. be of military age (be of the call-up age) – быть призывного возраста

28. be of age (under age) – (не) достичь совершеннолетия

29. age (fast/slow) – быстро/медленно стареть

30. middle aged (elderly) person – пожилой человек

31. an elderly lady/man – пожилая женщина/мужчина

32. as old as the hills – старый-престарый; старый как мир

33. be of certain age – не первой молодости

34. be of the same age – быть одного возраста

35. more than ten years older than – на десять лет старше, чем

36. five years older/younger than;

five years one’s senior / junior – на пять лет старше/младше, чем

37. no older than – не старше, чем

38. double one’s age/twice one’s age – в два раза старше

39. (less than) a year apart – с разницей в год (менее года)

40. look one’s age – выглядеть не старше своих лет

(not) look one’s age – выглядеть моложе (старше) своих лет

look (much) older than – выглядеть (гораздо) старше, чем

41. carry one’s age well – хорошо выглядеть для своего возраста

42. live to a great age – дожить до глубокой старости

43. die – умереть

die of an illness – умереть от какой-либо болезни

die for one’s country – умереть за родину

die in childbirth – умереть во время родов

die in infancy – умереть в раннем детстве

44. outlive somebody by (over) twenty years – (более) чем на двадцать лет пережить кого-либо

 

 

Origin, Nationality

1. have roots at (be/come from) – быть родом из

2. I belong here – я родом из этих мест

3. birthplace – место рождения

4. be by origin – быть по происхождению

5. countryman (woman) – соотечественник (-ца)

6. native tongue – родной язык

 

Language

1. be good at languages – хорошо владеть иностранными языками

2. have a good command of the language (be quite at home with the language) – хорошо владеть иностранным языком

3. speak a language well (fluently, fairly well, abominably) – говорить на языке хорошо (бегло, довольно хорошо, отвратительно)

4. speak poor English (German) – плохо говорить на английском (немецком) языке

5. speak broken English – говорить на ломаном языке

6. speak with a strong accent – говорить с сильным акцентом

7. be bilingual – быть билингвом (владеть двумя языками как "родным")

 

Members of the Family

1. parents – родители

parenthood – отцовство (материнство)

2. mother (coll. mum) – мать

stepmother – мачеха

3. father (coll. dad, daddy) – отец

stepfather – отчим

4. fosterfather (fostermother) – приемный отец (мать)

5. Godfather (Godmother) – крестный отец (мать)

6. son, daughter – сын, дочь

stepson (daughter) – приемный сын (дочь), пасынок, падчерица

senior (junior) son (daughter) – старший (младший) сын (дочь)

a grown up son (daughter) – взрослый сын (дочь)

7. son (daughter) by one’s first marriage – сын (дочь) от первого брака

8. have a son (daughter) by former (present) marriage – иметь сына (дочь) от предыдущего (настоящего) брака

9. Godson (Goddaughter) – крестник (-ца)

10. foster child – приемный ребенок

11. brother, sister – брат, сестра

stepbrother (sister) – сводный брат (сестра)

half brother (sister) – сводный брат (сестра)

elder brother (sister) – старший брат (сестра)

younger brother (sister) – младший брат (сестра)

12. sibling – брат, сестра

13. t