BROTHERS AND SISTERS

WHEN YOU MEET

EXERCISE 1.

a) Read the two extracts below about first meetings with someone and underline the words and phrases that indicate:

i) the speaker's first impression;

ii) the factors which were most significant in shaping each relationship. What relationship is being described?

b) Look at the following list of ways people meet. Did any of your relationships begin in any of these ways? Which? Discuss your initial impression of each person and the resulting relationship.

• at school/work • while travelling

• using telephone chat lines • after joining a club or organization

• by placing or responding to ads • through mutual friends

• on blind dates • through the Internet

EXERCISE 2.

a) The following is a list of factors which may play a role in choosing a husband or wife. Tick the four which are most important to you, and the two which are least important and explain why.

parental approval
compatibility
similar background

social status

financial status

common goals

age

intelligence
looks

b) Using the prompts and useful expressions in pairs, discuss the factors that influence a person's choice of partner, the reasons why people get married, and the positive and negative aspects of marriage.

DIVORCE

1)In Britain one marriage in every three now ends in divorce. How can you explain this situation? Is it because of the young age when people get married? Are there any other reasons? If they are, what are these reasons? What is it necessary to escape divorce? Give your opinion.
2) Read this Letter to the problem page of a magazine. Write an answer, giving advice.

Start your answer like this:

"There are two obvious things you can do: stay with your husband, or leave him. If you
stay with him..."

FAMILY MEMBERS

1)Discuss or write the answers to these questions.

1 In what ways do you take after members of your family, in appearance and
character?

2 How close are you to the various members of your family?

3 What sort of presents do you normally receive from your relatives?

4 Do most people you know get on with their in-laws?

5 What is the system of adopting and fostering in your country?

6 I wouldn't like to be have been an only child. Do you agree?

2)In Britain members of a family used to get together on Christmas and other occasions. What do you think about it? Is it a good tradition? Do members of a British family often spend time together? On what occasions? Do you always like to be with your parents?

CHILDREN

BROTHERS AND SISTERS

sibling - a brother or sister

Before you read

Did you use to fight with your brothers and sisters when you were young? How do you get on with them now?

How do older brothers and sisters sometimes react to a new-born baby?

If an older child hurts the new baby, should she or he be punished?

2 Read and answer:

1) Which of the sentences best summarizes the ideas in the text?

a) Sibling rivalry is usually caused by the parents.

b) Sibling rivalry is very common and it isn't always negative.

c) The anecdotes show that there are ways of avoiding sibling rivalry.

2) What two examples are given of young children showing aggressive behaviour towards a new-born baby?

3) What examples are given of children's behaviour when they think that their parents
prefer their brother or sister to them?

4) According to research, which of the following can cause sibling rivalry?

- a close mother/daughter relationship

- a close father/daughter relationship

- a naturally temperamental child

- an overweight child

Bond of brotherly hate

Mary, fifteen months old, would brush her newborn brother's head with her hairbrush so hard that she almost drew blood. Three-year-old Bobby sang nursery rhymes and gave four-month-old Eliza's cradle such a hard push that she fell out on several occasions.

Sibling rivalry can often be caused by one child feeling, rightly or wrongly, that the parents prefer the other child or children in the family to them. An eight-year-old girl
started having asthma attacks because she felt her mother was devoting more time and attention to her two younger sisters, aged five and seven.

Date: 2015-12-24; view: 1493