Russian Family: What is it Like?
Lead in
Ø The number of nuclear families is reducing both in Britain and in the USA. Is the situation different in Russia? What kind of difficulties are young families likely to have? Think of your and your friends’ families; share the information with your group mates.
Reading
I. In pairs, read the following statements and try to guess if they are true (T) or false (F). Then, read the text quickly to check if you have guessed right.
| T | F | |
| 1) Many of the Russians know the history of their families. | ||
| 2) More than a half of every 100 marriages end in divorce. | ||
| 3) Many divorcees do not want to remarry. | ||
| 4) A housing shortage is a problem of young families. |
II. Now read the text in detail. Answer all the questions above. What is your family like?
Russian Family: What Is It Like?
So what is it like, the family tradition? Whose descendants are we? What are the stories your granny used to tell? What can family albums, letters and diaries reveal? What is your grandfather’s name? What is the name of your great-grandfather? Many of the Russians are not able to answer these simple questions. The family tradition is lost for them. And it is one of the reasons why most people have no sense of family honor and pride.
A group of people who have the same name and sit together in front of the TV set is not yet a family. Here are some family statistics in Russia. Over 80 per cent of women and about 70 per cent of men marry by the age of 25.
At present, more than 40 out of every 100 marriages end in divorce. Every year about one million families break up. About 50 per cent of divorced do not want to remarry. Men remarry more often than women. Over 50 per cent of divorced men remarry within the period of ten years, while only 25 per cent of such women do so. Many young families have material difficulties. As a result, young couples often have to rely on the assistance of their parents.
The housing shortage is another problem of many young families. Most young people don’t wish to live together with their parents after they get married but half of them have to do this. As a result, these young people have no necessary experience in family life. They don’t know how to run household, how to manage the family budget, how to bring up children.
In its various forms the human family has been in existence for as long as man himself. The family tradition has preserved the picture of a Madonna with a child in her arms. Can this beauty save the world? Shall we have this tradition in future, or lose it, as we lost so many other beautiful things?
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Vocabulary practice
I. Give the English equivalents to the following words and phrases.
Потомок; раскрывать; почтение и гордость, заканчиваться разводом, распадаться, полагаться на помощь родителей, нехватка жилья, вести семейный бюджет; дневник; прадедушка; разведенный; существование; воспитывать детей; в настоящее время; необходимый жизненный опыт; воспитывать детей.
Grammar Spot
Revise the material about pronouns.
| Personal pronouns | Personal pronouns | Possessive adjectives | Possessive pronouns | Reflexive pronouns |
| Before verbs as subjects | After verbs as objects | Followed by nouns | Not followed by nouns | |
| I | me | my | mine | myself |
| you | you | your | yours | yourself |
| he/she/it | him/her/it | his/her/its | his/her/- | himself/herself/itself |
| we | us | our | ours | ourselves |
| you | you | your | yours | yourselves |
| they | them | their | theirs | themselves |
Look at the chart above. Complete the story using the correct pronouns.
Jack is married to Alice. ____is his wife and he is _____ husband. _____ have a daughter and son. _____ son's name is Henry and the daughter's name is Lisa. _____ live next to Alice's parents, Harry and Marjorie. Harry is Alice's father and Marjorie is _____ mother. Harry is Jack's father-in-law and Marjorie is _______ mother-in-law. Henry is Harry's grandson and Lisa is Marjorie's granddaughter. Alice has a sister and a brother. _______ sister's name is Mary and ______ brother's name is Frank. Frank has two children, David and Sherrie. Sherrie is Alice's niece and David is Alice's nephew. Alice is ______ aunt and Jack is ______ uncle.
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