FAMILY RELATIONS

Cold? Britain Is Actually Getting Hotter

Most Britons could be forgiven for thinking a new Ice Age is upon us. Small comfort, then, as we struggle through snowdrifts and cope with burst pipes, that the present cold is a sign the British climate is generally getting milder.

Ironically, most scientists now believe the short sharp shock of severe cold that has struck Europe for three winters running is an indicator that the world is growing warmer. The burning of fossil fuels is building up a blanket of carbon dioxide in the atmospere, creating a "greenhouse" effect.

Britain and Europe have certainly experienced weather this cold before. In the 17th century, the Thames froze solid so of­ten that it became a regular winter sports attraction. The weather then was so severe that it is sometimes referred to as the Little Ice Age. Even in the early 19th century, Britain's cli­mate was still colder than it is today. We still have a cherished picture of Charles Dickens's Christmases — although, in fact, snow at Christmas has been a rarity in southern England for 150 years.

Studies of temperature trends around the world show that it has been warming up since the middle of the 19th century. Most experts agree that this is a result of human activities. By burning coal and oil, we are putting carbon dioxide into the air. This acts like a blanket round the earth, trapping heat that would otherwise escape into space. As long as we keep burning fossil fuel, the trend is likely to continue. So why have we had such severe cold spells in Europe recently? According to re­searchers at the University of East Anglia, it is all part of the same process. When the climate of the globe changes, it doesn't do so evenly. Britain and Western Europe are just un­lucky in being in the path of a particularly significant wind shift.

By comparing the weather in different seasons, during the warmest and coldest years of the 20th century, the researchers have built up a picture of what is going on. Their key new dis­covery is that although spring, summer and autumn are all warmer, severe cold spells in winter are most likely over the whole of central Europe. So then, short cold spells mean it's generally getting warmer — but the bad news is it could get TOO warm. If the predictions come true — and the present changes are exactly in line with computer forecasts — within the next 40 or 100 years we shall see a change in climate as dra­matic as the shift which ended the last Ice Age.

Note:

A summary is the expression of the essence of some piece of writing in a condensed form. The main ideas of the piece should be presented clearly, concisely and precisely. The length of a summary makes up approximately one third of the length of the original source. Writing a summary includes seven stages:

1) reading the original text to grasp the main idea;

2) re-reading the passage to check up your understanding;

3) selecting the essential points;

4) linking the points in a logical order;

5) writing a rough copy of a new concise text;

6) comparing the summary with the original passage to see whether all essentials are included;

7) writing a fair copy of a summary.

In writing a summary only the information taken from the passage should be used. A summary does not contain repeti­tions, illustrative details, figures of speech, wordy phrases con­sisting of meaningless words. A good summary shows one's ability to understand and to present ideas.

FAMILY RELATIONS

LESSON 10

(2 hours)

LEVEL 1

Task 1. Read these words paying attention to their pronunciation and find Russian equivalents. Group them according to their part of speech.

hen party

stag party

ancestor

descendant

ex-wife/husband

wedlock

propose

childless

remarry

wedding anniversary

work out smb’s problems

abuse

show affection and appreciation

cherish

routine

share

bridal veil

garter

split up

Task 2. Before reading the text make sure that you understand the meaning of these words and expressions.

To bring up children / to raise children

Adoption

To reside

To split up

Prevalent

Permissive

Strict

On the other hand

Ownership

Inheritance

Types of Family

The family is a group of people related by blood or law, living together or being united with one another for a common purpose. That purpose is usually to provide shelter and food, and to bring up children. There is another definition of the word “family”. It is "two or more persons related by birth, marriage, or adoption, who reside together." Thus, a family can be two or more adult siblings living together, a parent and child or children, two adults who are related by marriage but have no children, or adults who adopt a child.

The nature of family keeps changing: there are a number of types of family that exist in a society at any time.

There used to be mainly two types of families: the extended and the nuclear. The extended family most often included mother, father, children, and some other relatives, such as grandparents, living in the same house or nearby. Then as job patterns changed and the economy progressed from agricultural to industrial, people were forced to move to different parts of the country for job opportunities. These moves split up the extended family. The nuclear family became more prevalent; it consisted of only the parents and the children.

In the Far, Middle and Near East and in parts of Africa, South America and Europe, the first thing most Western people notice is the respect everyone has for the old. Older men and women live with their married children and are important members of the family. They look after the children, help with the cooking, give advice and often rule family life. Living in an extended family has advantages for everyone. A small child, for example, knows many people from the very beginning, not just his mother and father. When his mother goes out, it doesn't matter. He'll stay with someone who loves him — an aunt or sister or grandmother. For a young mother and father there are also advantages. They can go out to work and grandmother will look after the house and the children.

This is, especially important in farming communities, where both men and women work in the fields.

And the older woman, for example, has something important to do. She sees her children and grandchildren grow up. She is needed and loved. The nuclear family is the product of the West. The typical family consists of mother, father and two children. If the mother goes out to work, she must leave them with a stranger — someone who looks after them as a job, for money. If there is a divorce or separation the child's life will change completely.

Of course, there can be problems when people of three generations live in the same house. Grandparents are often more permissive than parents, and they let children do what they want. But most parents feel that it is better to be strict; they feel that children should follow rules. Parents think that grandparents who don't make children mind (=obey) will spoil them. Then the children won't obey anyone as they are growing up.

But having grandparents at home can also be fun. For example, everyone enjoys the stories the older people tell and the interesting things that they can teach the other family members. Having elderly people at home can be a wonderful experience.

On the other hand, too many elderly people live alone — in special flats or homes. They hardly ever see their children and grandchildren. They have nothing important to do. They are often poor and lonely. In winter many old people die of cold or from falls in the house — because there is no one to look after them. Nobody cares.

Besides these two types of traditional groupings, the word "family" is being extended to include a variety of other living arrangements. Today there is an increase in single-parent homes: a father or mother living with one or more children.

Blended families occur when previously married men and women marry again and combine the children from former marriages into a new family.

Some couples make up their mind not to have any children at all, so there is an increase in two-person childless families. There are also more people who live alone: single, widowed, divorced.

The matrifocal (ориентированный на мать (о семье)) family consists of a mother and her children. This kind of family commonly develops where women have the resources to bring up their children by themselves, or where men have more mobility than women.

The conjugal family consists of one or more mothers and their children, and/or one or more fathers. This kind of family occurs commonly where a division of labor requires the participation of both men and women, and where families have relatively high mobility. The nuclear family is a subtype of the conjugal family.

The consanguineal family comes in various forms, but the most common subtype consists of a mother and her children, and other people — usually the family of the mother. This kind of family commonly evolves where mothers do not have the resources to raise their children on their own, fathers are not often present, and especially where property changes ownership through inheritance.

Date: 2014-12-28; view: 1293