Read the following texts

Read the definition and the two articles and look for the answers to your questions.

Last contest sign break split up break down work

Complete the text below with the correct form of these words and discuss it.

In the USA couples sometimes (1)___________ a contract before they get married called a “prenuptial agreement”, which puts in writing what will happen to their money and possessions if the marriage (2)___________. It doesn’t surprise me that some of these marriages don’t (3)___________ long. Before it has even started, the happy couple are already planning what to do when the marriage doesn’t (4)___________. And, of course, a prenuptial agreement only works if both partners are reasonable. But what happens if one person doesn’t want to (5)_______ and (6)_________ the divorce? Or what happens if someone tries to (7)_________ the contract? Well, what it really means is lots of work – and money – for the lawyers!

Do you think prenuptial agreements are a good idea? Would you have one?

Serial monogamy is defined as a common sexual relationship pattern in contemporary Western cultures. A person may be said to be practicing serial monogamy if that person only has one sexual partner at any one time, but has had more than one sexual partner in their lifetime. Partners can be married or unmarried, but they have never more than one at a time.

—from Wikipedia, an Internet encyclopedia (www.wikipedia.com)

Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?

Serial monogamists say, "Maybe"

All the statistics say that Americans are voting no on marriage. Only 56 percent of: all adults in the United States are married, compared with 75 percent 30 years ago. The proportion of traditional American households—married couple with children—has dropped to 26 percent, from 45 percent in the early 1970s. In addition, a 1999 Rutgers University study reported that only 38 percent of Americans who are on their first marriages describe themselves as happy in that state.

It's not that men and woman aren't interested in each other anymore. Its simply that more and more couples are choosing to live together rather than marry. Cohabitation used to be what people did before they got married. "Now", says Pamela Smock, a sociologist at the University of Michigan, "many couples are choosing never to marry, and, increasingly, cohabitation is seen as a substitute for marriage rather than a prelude to it." Surveys show that about 55 percent of couples who live together eventually get married. Another 40 percent end their relationship within five years.

This pattern is redefining families. Robin Baker, a British researcher on human sexual behavior, agrees. He sees a pattern of shorter relationships and greater mobility from partner to partner. He believes that technology will play a greater role in relationships. According to Baker, techniques such as in-vitro fertilization will make "coupling" unnecessary. (In-vitro is Latin for "in glass;" this is a procedure in which an egg and a sperm are combined in a test tube.) In the future, he thinks single-parent families will be normal. Is he distressed about this possibility? On the contrary, he's enthusiastic. According to him, "Single parenthood will become the best system for raising children in the 21st century."

Thirty years ago, anthropologist Margaret Mead predicted that serial marriage would become the pattern of the future. She got the "serial" part right, but the "marriage" part seems to be on its way out.

by Marilyn Gardner. Reproduced with permission from the Christian Science Monitor, March 2000 (www.csmonitor.com) © The Christian Science Monitor. All Rights Reserved.

Polygamist Goes to Jail; Judge Ignores Pleas of His Wives and Children

Salt Lake City—A polygamist has been sentenced to five years in prison. Utah judge Guy Burningham sentenced Thomas Green to serve five concurrent terms for four counts of bigamy and one of failing to pay child support. Green, who has argued that his Mormon background permits polygamy, could have received up to 25 years.

The husband of five and father of twenty-five lives with his family in a remote desert compound near the Utah- Nevada border. He has told interviewers that polygamy is a 150-ycar-oId tradition of Mormon culture, and he will not give it up even if it means going to prison.

The Mormon Church itself gave up polygamy in the 1890s. Those who practice it arc thrown out of the church. However, some small groups still stand by the practice. There are now thought to be about 30,000 polygamists in the western half of the United States.

Before judge Guy Burningham decided on the sentence, Greens children sent letters pleading with him not to punish their father. From the letters it was clear that far from feeling badly treated by him, the children adored their father. "Please don't put our father in prison,'' wrote 10-year-old Lorin Green. One of Greens wives, Linda, told the judge that her husband’s imprisonment would hurt the children. "Tom’s children are very close to him," she wrote. "I believe they would suffer emotionally and mentally if he were taken away."

In addition to Greens family, a family doctor, school officials, and a scout leader all wrote letters of support to judge Burningham.

Adapted from "US polygamist gets five years." BBC News Online, with permission. Copyright © 2001 BBC.

3) Give English equivalents to the following. Use them in the appropriate context: двоеженство, полигамия, человек, практикующий полигамию, моногамия, практиковать серийную моногамию, голосовать против брака, сожительство, замена/ подмена, прелюдия, переосмысливать/ переоценивать, шаблон/ принцип, экстракорпоральное оплодотворение, огорченный, наоборот/ напротив, мольба/ просьба, отсидеть срок (в тюрьме), сопутствующий, параллельный, пункт обвинительного акта (юр.), алименты на ребенка, происхождение/ воспитание, разрешать, отдаленный, поселение, бросать/ прекращать, выбрасывать, придерживаться/ оставаться верным, приговор, наказывать, заключение в тюрьму.

4) Explain the meaning of the words and expressions: cohabitation, bigamy, serial monogamy, child support, to serve concurrent terms, to throw out, background.

5) Find other forms of these words in the readings: tradition, increase, sex, possible, polygamy, prison.

6) Answer and discuss the following questions:

How is living together different today than it was 30 years ago?

Why does Robin Baker think that single parenthood will be normal in the twenty-first century?

Where does Tom Green live?

How many years will he spend in prison?

What is the maximum sentence he could have received?

What was his defense?

Does the Mormon Church still allow polygamy?

Who wrote to the judge in Green's defense?

Compare the relationships described in Reading 1 with Thomas Green's situation in Reading 2. How are they similar? How are they different?

Are children better raised in single-parent families, traditional two-parent families, or in polygamous families? Why?

What is your opinion of Robin Baker's predictions?

Do you agree with the judge's decision in the Thomas Green case? Why or why not?

7) Translate into English: 1). В наше время многие мужчины и женщины практикуют серийную моногамию. Одной из причин психологи считают неумение и нежелание людей строить длительные отношения. 2).Майкл был крайне огорчен, когда судья обязала его ежемесячно платить алименты на ребенка в размере 25 % от зарплаты. 3). Наши предки считали, что в браке по договоренности нет ничего плохого. Напротив, он способствовал сплочению семьи, особенно когда дела начинали идти плохо, так как партнеры изначально не имели никаких иллюзий относительно друг друга.4).Пользуясь брачными сервисами, которые подбирают супруга за границей, мужчины в таком браке ищут послушную домохозяйку и сексуального партнера, а женщины стремятся улучшить свое материальное положение. 5).Некоторые мормоны, особенно живущие в отдаленных поселениях, до сих пор придерживаются полигамии, несмотря на то, что церковь и закон этого не разрешают. Нарушителей отлучают от церкви, и им грозит реальный тюремный срок.6).>Ты когда-нибудь пользовался услугой заказа товаров по почте? > Я пару раз заказывала одежду по каталогам, но оба раза не попала с размером. 7). > Ваш муж обращался с вами плохо? > Нет, что вы! Наоборот, у нас прекрасные отношения. Мы преданы друг другу на протяжении 27 лет.8). Нынешняя молодежь голосует за совместное проживание без обязательств; институт брака переосмысливается и трещит по швам.9).Женщины из экономически неблагополучных регионов пользуются услугами брачных агентств и профессиональных свах, чтобы найти мужа за границей. Как правило, это девушки и женщины из Восточной Европы и России.10). В обществе обострились расистские и гомофобные настроения. Это связано с усилением роли церкви в политике и нагнетанием общего страха и психоза.

Дата добавления: 2014-12-29