C. Read the text and find out how many people Callum, Meera, Веn and Trudy share a house with
Modern families
What is a "traditional" family nowadays? With more and more couples choosing not to get married, and with the number of divorces and second marriages increasing, the idea of the "traditional family" (two married parents, an average of two children, grandparents living nearby) is rapidly disappearing in some countries.
Here are some stories of people around the world telling about their families.
I'm Callum, and I live with my parents in Cambridge, in the east of England. We moved here when I was five because of Dad's job, but my mum comes from the north of England, and Dad comes from Scotland I've got a grandma in Edinburgh and a granddad in Yorkshire. And I've got two cousins who live near London, because that's where Dad's sister and her husband live. We see my cousins about three times a year, and we go up to Edinburgh every New Year, but I can't remember when I last saw my granddad in Yorkshire. He always sends me presents, though!
Mу name's Meera, and I live in Wolverhampton, near Birmingham, in England. I live with my parents, my brother and my sister. My grandmother lives next door. My mum was born here in Britain, but my grandmother moved here from India in the 1960s when my dad was a little boy. My dad has two sisters - Auntie Sunita and Auntie Rani. Auntie Sunita lives in the same street as us, and Auntie Rani lives in Birmingham, which is only 15 miles away. They're both married, and I've got five cousins. We see them almost every week. Someone is always visiting our house, or we go to Birmingham to see them. And two years ago we all went to India to see our family there.
I`m Ben, from Portland, Oregon, and my family is a bit complicated! I've got a sister called Ella, but three years ago my parents got divorced and now both of them are re-married. We live with my mom, Julie, and my stepfather, Bob. Bob's got a daughter called Daisy, but she doesn't live with us, she lives with her mom. My father's name is Pete. He and his second wife have just had a baby boy, Charles, so I've got a new half-brother!
May name's Trudy and I've got a sister called Beth. Our mum and dad are divorced,so we live with just our mum in the suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. Our dad has an apartment in the centre of town, and we spend every other weekend there. After school every day we go to our grandma's house and have a meal there, because our mum doesn't finish work until six o'clock. She collects us at half past six, except on Wednesday evenings when we go swimming with our dad.
D. Underline the correct alternatives to complete the sentences.
1) Callum's aunt and uncle/grandparents live near London.
2) Callum often/sometimes sees his cousins.
3) Meera's aunts both live near/far away.
4) Meera often/rarely sees her cousins.
5) Daisy is Ben's half-sister/stepsister.
6) Julie is Pete's ex-wife/stepmother.
7) Trudy’s mum and dad live in different places/together.
8) Trudy never sees her dad/sees her dad regularly.
E. Translate sentences into English using underlined words from the text.
1) Они были такой красивой парой, очень жаль, что они развелись.
2) Так как мой друг живет по соседству, мы часто ходим в гости друг к другу.
3) Я навещаю бабушку трижды в неделю, потому что она живет всего лишь в 100 километрах от Казани.
4) В пригороде Уфы открылся новый центр семейного досуга, куда мы ходим каждые выходные.
5) После развода мой сводный брат остался жить с отчимом.
6) В нашей группе в среднем по одному ребенку в семье.
7) Вторая жена моего отца переехала в Питcбург, откуда она родом.
8) После учебы мы ходим домой вместе, поскольку живем на одной улице.
SPEAKING
A. Read the statistics about families in the USA and the UK. How do you think the same statistics would be different in Russia?
B. What’s your opinion of the current situation with the family life in our country? Is it different from the situation twenty years ago? If yes, what are the possible reasons for that? And how could it be changed?
| Families | in the USA | in the UK | in Russia |
| Marriages that end in divorce | 50% | 33% | |
| Families with only parent | 25% | 25% | |
| Children who live in a single-parent home at some time | 50% | 33% | |
| Children whose parents aren’t married | 33% | 40% | |
| Single parents who are men | 10% | 10% |
GRAMMAR: PRESENT TENSES
| Present Simple | |
| Formation | V1, V-s/-es(for 3d person Singular) He reads newspapers every day. They always walk a dog in the morning. |
| Question form | do/does Does he read newspapers every day? Do they walk a dog in the morning? |
| Negative form | do + not (don’t)/does + not (doesn’t) He doesn’t read newspapers every day. They don’t walk a dog in the morning. |
| Usage | routine, habits, universal truth, facts |
| Signal words | always, often, rarely, never, usually, every day, sometimes |
| Present Progressive | |
| Formation | be (am, are, is) + Ving My nephew is sleeping now. Twin-brothers are playing football in the yard. |
| Question form | be (am, are, is) + subject +Ving Is my nephew sleeping now? Are twin-brothers playing football in the yard? |
| Negative form | be (am, are, is) + not + Ving My nephew isn’t sleeping now. Twin-brothers aren’t playing football in the yard |
| Usage | action going on at the moment of speaking, temporary event or situation, future arrangements describing a state which is changing |
| Signal words | now, at the moment, currently, at this period, Look! Listen! |
| Present Perfect | |
| Formation | have/has + V3 I have just called my sister-in-law. She has dyed her hair red. |
| Question form | have/has + subject+V3 Have I just called my sister-in-law? Has she dyed her hair red? |
| Negative form | have/has + not + V3 I haven’t just called my sister-in-law. She hasn’t dyed her hair red. |
| Usage | action started in the past and continues into the present, recent events with visible result, past events without specific time |
| Signal words | just, yet, still, already, never, ever, so far, up to now, recently, since, for |
A. Find the examples of Present tenses in the text “Modern families”.
B. Open the brackets paying attention to the usage of Present Simple (negative/question/affirmative forms).
1) My niece never (to eat) snacks.
2) They (to be) ex-spouses.
3) His uncle always (to invite) us to drink tea in his garden.
4) My aunt (to have) two children but I (to be) an only child in the family (not to have) anyone to play with.
5) My colleagues (to enjoy) playing tricks on me.
6) Her ex-husband (to have) another family?
7) He (not to play) with us, he (to prefer) dealing with his flowers.
8) Secretaries of Indigo, plc always (to call) the partners of the company at 10 a.m.?
9) It is said that widows always (to wear) black clothes.
10) Belgian chocolates (to taste) marvelous?