Read the article and tick the topics above if they are mentioned

You are going to read an article about the changing state of the family. Look at the following statements and discuss which of these things are happening in your country and why.

Divorce

Say what points in the ABC below you consider most important and why.

The ABC’s of Happiness

A spire to reach your potential. B elieve in yourself. C reate a good life. D ream about what you might become. E xercise frequently. F orgive honest mistakes. G lorify the creative spirit. H umor yourself and others. I magine great things. J oyfully liven each day. K indly help others. L ove one another. M editate daily. N urture the environment. O rganize for harmonious action. P raise performance well done. Q uestion most things. R egulate your own behaviour. S mile often. T hink rationally. U nderstand yourself. V alue life. W ork for the common good. X -ray and carefully examine problems. Y earn to improve. Z estfully pursue happiness.

by R. Vallet

1) Discuss the questions in pairs or small groups:

What experience do you have of divorce? Your own? Your parents? Other family members? Friends?

Can divorce ever really be amicable?

Research shows that the children of divorced parents are more likely to get divorced themselves. Why do you think this is the case?

How easy do you think it should be to get a divorce? Which of these are you in favour of?

a. Divorce on demand – whenever one party wants it.

b. Wait for a year to see if the couple can get back together again.

c. Compulsory counseling for six months before a decision is taken.

What do you think are suitable reasons for getting divorced? Consider these:

He’s been unfaithful to me.

Life is so boring.

She doesn’t sleep with me any more.

We just have nothing in common.

We’ve just grown apart.

He hits me.

I want my freedom back.

I just married the wrong person. It’s as simple as that!

What is the divorce rate in your country?

a. Fifty percent or higher.

b. Less than 50 percent.

c. I'm not sure, but I think it's low

d. I'm not sure, but I think it's high.

What do you think is the main reason people get divorced?

a. They fall in love with other people

b. They disagree about money

c. They have problems with their children

d. They get married too young

More young people are moving awayfrom home and leaving their family roots.

Marriage is becoming less important to many young people.

Families are spending less time together.

The divorce rate is rising.

More parents arebringing their children up alone without a partner.

More women are having careers rather than starting families.

The average family is getting smaller as the birthrate falls.

A Quiet Revolution?

As divorce rates rise and fewer couples bother with marriage, we ask if the traditional nuclear family is becoming a thing of the past.

While you are reading this article, somewhere in the United States two couples will get married and another will get divorced. One in three American children now live with only parent, and the United States is not alone in this: in Canada and France the divorce rate has doubled in the last twenty-five years and in Hungary and Greece it has increased by 50 per cent. Even in Japan, where the traditional family is still strong, divorce went up by 15 per cent between 1980 and 1995.

What is more, the nature of the family is changing. In Sweden and Denmark, around half of all babies are now born to unmarried parents, and in the United Kingdom and France more than a third. Even in Ireland, traditionally the most Catholic country in Europe, the rate of births outside marriage is 20 per cent.

Families are also getting smaller. The average Turkish family had seven members in 1970; today it has only five. And in Spain and Italy, where families were always traditionally large, the birthrate was the lowest in the developed world in 1995. This fall in the birthrate is due in part to the fact that, as more women have careers, they are waiting longer and longer to start a family. The age at which the average woman has her first baby is now 28 in Western Europe, and it is getting later.

So the nuclear family is clearly changing, but is it in danger of disappearing completely?

The truth is that it is still too early to tell. In some countries these patterns are actually reversing. In the United States, Scandinavia and the United Kingdom, the birthrate is rising once more; and in Denmark, for example, marriage is becoming more popular again. In the United States, the divorce rate in fact fell by 10 per cent between 1980 and 1990, and it is continuing to fall.

Perhaps a new revolution is beginning?

by Sarah Cunningham and Peter Moor

4) Read the article again. Which one of the following statements is not true according to the information in the main text?

A Although there is not very much divorce in Japan, there is more than before.

B Although Ireland is strongly catholic, quite a lot of Irish people are now having children without getting married.

C Although families in Spain and Italy were often big in the past, these days they are becoming smaller.

D Although a lot of people in France have children without getting married, marriage is becoming more popular there again now.

E Although there are a lot of divorces in the United States, there are not as many as there were fifteen or twenty years ago.

Дата добавления: 2014-12-29