UNIT 2 I. Text. My family

Hi, again. As you already know, my name is Andrey. Now I'd like to tell you about my family. On the whole, our family is large. There are three generations there. They are my great-grandmother, my grandparents and my parents. My father has a brother - he's my uncle, my mother has two sisters - my aunts; they have their children - my cousins. Besides, there are many in-laws in the family. I don't have any nephews or nieces, but I have a brother.

I don't see all my relatives very often - mostly on some special occasions. The last happy event was my cousin's wedding the previous year, it gathered all our family.

But speaking about a family we usually mean our blood relations, i.e. moth­er, father, sisters or brothers. My parents are rather young. My father is 39, my mother is 37. My mother's name is Tatyana Petrovna. She's an accountant in a big trading company. She has to work hard and must be very attentive, so she comes home very tired and I do my best to help her. I'm proud of my mother and love her very much. She's smart and good-looking. My father's name is Aleksey Ivanovitch. He is an engineer. He's clever, industrious, but a bit absent-minded sometimes. He has a perfect sense of humour. He has his own way in everything, and I respect him for that. My grandmother Lydia Stepanovna (my mother's mother) also lives with us. She's in her late sixties, but she's quite young in spirit. She likes reading and gardening. She's a very active person. She's either mending something or making something or doing something to entertain herself.

There's no one we call the head of the family, but my granny's advice and opinion are very important in any decision we take.

I have a brother called Dima. We are very much the same in character and appearance, only he is four years my junior. But in spite of the age difference we're very close. We have common interests - we both like sport, reading and computer, but I should say he is too inconsistent and rarely does his best. In other words, he is not bad, when he makes an effort. He is very energetic. It takes him half an hour to do his homework and then he rushes out to play foot­ball because he is crazy about it. There is one more member of the family. Our dog is the most important person in our house. Rex is a sheep-dog. He is very

gallant and devoted to his masters. He does not like to stay alone when we are out, but whenever we return he meets us with such a joy and energy that make our spirits bright.

I don't think that our family is an ideal one, but it is a very stable, ordinary family. We are very close; often take care of one another when someone has a problem. We support each other, we are helpful when we have some difficulties, and though sometimes we have some rows, we always try to find a compro­mise.

Active vocabulary

1. generation - поколение

2. relative = relation - родственник

close (near) relative - близкий родственник distant relative - дальний родственник blood relative - кровный родственник

3. in-law - родня со стороны жены или мужа
mother-in-law - теща, свекровь
father-in-law - тесть, свекор
daughter-in-law - невестка, сноха
son-in-law - зять

sister-in-law - невестка, золовка brother-in-law - зять, шурин

4. accountant = book-keeper - бухгалтер

5. industrious = hard-working -трудолюбивый

6. absent-minded - рассеянный

7. be in one's early (last, late) sixties, etc. - быть слегка за 60, (между 60 и 70, под 70)

8. wedding - свадьба

9. be 5 (6, 7) years smb's junior (senior) - быть на 5 (6, 7) лет младше (старше) кого-либо

10. have rows = to quarrel - ссориться

11. be a pensioner = be retired - быть на пенсии

12. an only child - единственный ребенок

13. twins - близнецы

14. orphan -сирота

15. step-mother- мачеха step-father - отчим

16. half sister (brother) - сводная сестра (брат)

17. foster parents - приемные родители

18. adopted children - приемные дети

19. be married (to smb.) - быть женатым (замужем) (за кем-то)

20. get married - выходить замуж (жениться)

21. divorce smb. - развестись с кем-то be divorced - быть в разводе

22. be single - быть неженатым (незамужем)

23. bachelor - холостяк

24. widow - вдова

25. widower- вдовец

26. take after smb. = be like smb. = resemble smb.- быть похожим на кого-то (пойти в кого-то)

27. housewife = homemaker (Am.E.) -домохозяйка

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