Unit 4 Family
Warm Up
Script / Answers 1. The majority of single mothers suffers from more financial hardship and social deprivation than couples do. Single mothers are almost 70 per cent more likely to die prematurely than those who are living with a partner. 2. Women in the 21st century are highly educated, have tremendous earning potential and were brought up to believe that sexual equality was their right. The new conservative housewife has given up her high-status job to stay at home with the children.
3. A stark class divide is opening between career women and mothers who give up work to become housewives. Modem education and equal access to the workplace provide career moms increasing \capital\or status. On the contrary, stay-at-home mothers rapidly lose their social status. Middle-class women are becoming more and more \
4. Some people claim the constant emphasis on equal economic achievement for men and women is feeding the divorce rate and destroying family life. In addition, many mothers choose to stay at home to ensure that they, rather than an outsider, play the main role in bringing up their children. 5. While reforms in equal-opportunity legislation over the past 30 years have improved women's life chances, all the gains can be lost at the point when they have children if they are unable to afford nurseries or nannies. 6. Divorce doesn't necessarily make adults happy. But toughing it out（尽管有困难而熬过；忍受：） in an unhappy marriage until it turns around just right. A new study says, divorce didn't reduce symptoms of depression or raise self-esteem. Staying married did not tend to trap unhappy spouses in violent relationships.
7. Crucial to any family's success is an investment of time, energy, spirit and heart, an investment otherwise known as commitment. The family comes first. Family members are dedicated to promoting each other's welfare and happiness -- and they expect the family to endure.
Oral Preview Script /Answers
American values are valued in the home. Many homes are run like a democracy. Each family member can have a say. A sense of equality often exists in American homes. Husbands and wives often share household chores. Families in America, like those in every culture, face many problems, Social pressures are breaking apart more and more American homes. Over half of US marriages now end in divorce. Women are beginning to rise steadily to the top in the workplace all over the developed world, but in the US they are forging ahead.
Listening Task I First Listening Answers
1. Many homes are run like a democracy. 2. Social pressures are breaking apart more and more American homes. 3. Many organizations are working hard to strengthen families.
Second Listening Answers
1. Each family member can have a say./ A sense of equality often exists in American homes.
2. Over half of US marriages now end in divorce.
3. Many women are quitting their jobs to stay home with their children./ Families are going on vacations and outings together./Husbands and wives are making a concentrated effort to keep their marriages solid.
Third Listening
Script
The traditional American family is a \family\核心家庭. A nuclear family refers to a husband and wife and their children. The average American family today has two or three children. In some cultures, people live close to their extended family. Several generations may even live
together. In America, only in a few cases does more than one household live under one roof.
American values are valued in the home. Many homes are run like a democracy. Each family member can have a say. A sense of equality often exists in American homes. Husbands and wives often share household chores. Often parents give children freedom to make their own
decisions. Preschoolers choose what clothes to wear or which toys to buy. Young adults generally make their own choices about what career to pursue and whom to marry.
Families in America, like those in every culture, face many problems. Social pressures are breaking apart more and more American homes. Over half of US marriages now end in divorce. More than one in four American children are growing up m single-parent homes. As a result, many people believe the American family is in trouble.
Even so, there is still reason for hope. Many organizations are working hard to strengthen families. Americans almost unanimously believe that the family is one of the most important parts of life. They realize that problems in family life in recent years have brought serious consequences. As a result, more and more people are making their family a priority. Many women are quitting their jobs to stay home with their children. Families are going on vacations and outings together. Husbands and wives are making a concentrated effort to keep their marriages solid.
The United Nations has declared 1994 the \just in America, but all over the world, people recognize the importance of a strong family bond:
Listening Task 2 First listening Answer
Ambitious women are increasingly looking for househusbands and leave men at the kitchen sink.
Second Listening/ Answers There is a growing acceptance of men as househusbands. Male white-collar workers were excessive in the last three years.
Script
Women are beginning to rise steadily to the top in the workplace all over the developed world, but in the US they are forging ahead. New figures show that in almost a third of American households with a working wife, the woman brings home more money than her husband. They are gaining more college degrees and Masters of Business Administration qualifications than men and now occupy half the country's high-paying, executive administrative and managerial occupations, compared with 34 per cent 20 years ago.
The trend is caused by two main factors, experts say-- a growing acceptance of men as househusbands and mass redundancy of male white-collar workers from the technology, finance and media industries in the last three years.
The University of Maryland has produced a report that shows women to be the family's bread-earner-in-chief in 11 per cent of all US marriages. And where both spouses work, she now brings in 60 per cent or more of the family income in 30.4 per cent of the households. An economist at the University of Wisconsin said that ambitious women are increasingly looking for househusbands and leave men at the kitchen sink.
Real World Listening Answers
They can't agree on that. Daisy thinks it is rewarding for a woman to have her own career or something else to do outside. Mrs. White thinks \is a wise choice in today's competitive world. Get the Main Ideas Answers
Statements Support Mrs. White:
There is an increasing need for one parent to hold down the fort and take care of the kids./Young women put their personal happiness before a big salary or high-powered career./And for a mother, watching her children grow up is the greatest pleasure ever in the world. Statements support Daisy:
Many women are highly educated and they have tremendous earning potential./Dropping out of the workforce means a reduction in work experience and
the loss of a promotion./ She will completely lose her identity.
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