Man about the House

Some paragraphs have been removed from the article. Add them from the paragraphs given in the box (A-H). There is one paragraph you do not need to use.

You will hear a radio programme in which a couple discuss their unusual relationship. For questions 1-9, write either Alec, Penny, Both or Neither.

Those Lazy Husbands

Men are lazy in the home, according to an official survey published today.

They have about six hours a week more free time than wives, but play very little part in cooking, cleaning, washing, and ironing, according to the Social Trends Survey by the Central Statistical Office.

Nearly three quarters of married women claimed to do all or most of the housework, and among married men the proportion who admitted that their wives did all or most of the housework was only slightly lower.

The survey showed that washing and ironing was the least popular task among men, with only one percent performing this duty, compared with 89 percent of women, and 10 percent sharing equally.

Only 5 percent of men prepare the evening meal, 3 percent carry out household cleaning duties, 5 percent household shopping, and 17 percent wash the evening dishes.

But when household gadgets break down repairs are carried out by 82 percent of husbands.

The survey says that, despite our economic problems, the majority of Britons are substantially better off than a decade ago. We’re healthier, too – eating healthier foods and smoking less.

The average Briton, not surprisingly, is more widely traveled than a decade ago. More people are going abroad for holidays, with Spain the favourite destination.

So here is the way the statistics see us….

from “Time”. We the People

LISTENING COMPREHENSION

Which partner:

1 earns an income?

2 decided he/she wanted to change their way of life?

3 always worked regular office hours?

4 appears to be very people-oriented?

5 suggested their current way of life?

6 is satisfied with their current way of life?

7 did not entirely trust their chilminder?

8 is dissatisfied with their financial arrangements?

9 is hurt by the reactions of friends or colleagues to their situation?

1) You will read an article about stay-at-home dads. Before you read, discuss the following:

What do you think about the idea of men taking care of the housework and the children while women are the main breadwinners? What advantages/ disadvantages can you think of?

2) The following words/phrases appear in the article. In what context do you think they will occur? ( a living, powerful husband, childcare, two incomes)

3) Scan the article and find information about Maddie and Paul Hamill, Mollie Allen and Tom Kiehfuss.

Stay-at-home Dads happily married to successful career women? It’s becoming more and more of reality. Helen Ashford reports.

When Maddie and Paul Hamill took a family holiday to the grand canyon recently, a helicopter pilot giving them a tour asked Paul what he did for a living. His reply of “ I’m a domestic engineer, I stay at home with kids,” was met with dead silence.

1)

However, while the “trophy wife” label tends to be derogative – it is used to describe young attractive women who are viewed as mere window dressing for their powerful husbands – the term ‘trophy husband” is used to denote praise. A professional woman described her ‘trophy husband’ as a man who was great with childcare and domestic duties – literally, as a real ‘prize”. And as women continue their climb up the corporate ladder, these stay-at-home “wonder dads” are becoming more and more common.

2)

Maddie Hamill makes up part of this statistic. She and her husband, Paul, had lived in London, England for ten years before moving five years ago to Atlanta, Georgia in the US where Maddie took a job as a vice president of worldwide strategic planning for Coca-Cola.

3)

“We couldn’t find anybody we really felt was qualified, so while Paul waited for his work permit he stayed with the kids and was doing a great job,” Maddie says. “All of a sudden we realized we could afford it, whereas in London we needed two incomes. We never intended for Paul not to work, but this became the best way to do things”. Paul, who had been working as a production manager for a drug company, was very happy to stay home with his 10-year-old twins. According to Paul, it offered a nice change and seemed to be the best option for the family.

4)

His wife says she is very happy with the arrangement, but she doesn’t think it would work for every couple. ‘There are problems sometimes, like when maybe you’d like the house a bit cleaner, but you can’t complain, because he’s there doing it, and you’re not.”

5)

Mollie had worked during all of her pregnancies, and they had had a nanny and a babysitter initially. But when the couple moved to San Francisco from Chicago, and Tom took a job with a general contractor, he realized it wasn’t cost-effective since he was only making about $50 more than what they were paying the nanny each week.

6)

“It’s not always perfect, though, interjects Mollie. She says there are moments when she feels a little bit of jealousy. “When you see your children calling for daddy when they are hurt, something twists inside of you. It is challenging, there are pangs I have as a mum.

7)

In addition, Tom says he sometimes misses the adult communication that takes place in the workplace. He has tried to strike up conversations with stay-at-home moms, but some of them simply don’t feel comfortable talking to him. “I just want to compare notes really, exchange recipes with them!” he jokes. “Joking apart, though, I’d have to say it’s a great situation. I love my job and I have a great wife and three great kids”.

A Researchers have found that the pressures of staying at home to look after children significantly increase a man’s risk of heart disease and early death. The findings come from a study into the links between work-related stress and coronary heart disease and ill health.

B Mollie Allen and Tom Kiehfuss, who live in san Francisco, have a similar set up. Mollie works as a media consultant and television producer, while her husband, formerly an actor and carpenter, is a stay-at-home dad to their three daughters.

C “The guy just didn’t know how to respond”, Maddie Hamill told Good Morning America. Just as Fortune labeled the ‘trophy wife”, in the late 80s, the magazine has coined a new phrase to describe stay-at-home fathers who support workplace mums: “trophy husbands”.

D Upon arriving, they learned that the childcare system was different from what they were used to. Whereas in London there are registered nannies that attend college to learn the profession, the couple felt that in the United States, the job was more often considered to be fill-in work instead of a career. The Hamill’s didn’t think much of this attitude towards childcare.

E Although there are really no hard numbers on the growing trend, when Fortune tried to do the story five years ago, they abandoned it, because it was so hard to find examples. Now, of the 187 participants in Fortune’s recent survey of successful working women. 30 percent had house-husbands.

F He says he doesn’t feel trapped into staying home, nor does he feel emasculated by his role. The father of two states that, for the most part, people seem reasonably accepting of him. “I have fun with the other mothers”, Paul comments. He enjoys being with the kids, but staying home and tending to the housework has not been as leisurely as he hoped. ‘It’s definitely a full-time job”, he adds.

G Tom too, admits it’s not all roses. He says that as a child who grew up with a dad who was a ‘company man” and a mum who put dinner on the table every night, he had to de-condition himself to adjust to his role. At first, he had tried seeking out other men doing the same thing, but wasn’t successful.

H “The trade-off wasn’t right for me”, he says. “Emotionally, I just felt like I needed to be home with my children. I love my work but I love my girls more.” Tom has always done the cooking – though his wife does the dishes. “It was a natural fit,” says Tom, “And we realized we wanted to take the kids to school ourselves, and not let someone else do it”.

Дата добавления: 2014-12-29