Task 4. Read the text. Complete the sentences after the text.

Family problems

Every family has family problems. Whenever you have a group of people who spend hours with each other there are going to be problems. Personalities clash and power struggles happen as parents and children learn how to cope with each other.

A family can be compared to a tapestry made of people of different ages, different personalities, different likes and dislikes. This diversity produces major family problems.

The generation gap occurs when family members do not understand each other well because of the interests typical for different ages (e.g. favourite music styles, clothes, etc.). Generation gap is a cause of many quarrels, arguments and misunderstandings, very often family members are annoyed and ill-treated.

Verbal infections cause conversations to escalate into an argument. Arguments in their turn cause miscommunication and may be the root of the family problems.

Overprotection or overparenting is a typical feature of responsible parents. They pay extremely close attention to their child’s experiences and problems. This phenomenon is also known as ‘ helicopter parents ’, who are connected with their children with the ‘longest umbilical cord’ — the cell phone. Such parents interfere into their children’s problems and attempt to move out all the obstacles from the ways of their children. Very often, instead of establishing a close bond between parents and children, overparenting can break the relationship down because of growing mutual misunderstanding.

Dysfunctional families are the families where family members have serious problems with each other. Parents neglect their children, give no support and the children feel lonely at home. That may cause children’s loneliness and psychological problems.

In general, no family member is immune to family problems. If you want to have a happy family, it’s necessary to take a responsibility for your family rather than blaming others for it. As we all know, it takes at least two people to cause a problem and at least two to resolve the problem. It’s OK to feel angry in certain situations, but learn to vent your anger in a constructive way. No matter what the cause of the problem is or who is to blame, you need to learn to forgive and to move forward in your life.

 

1 The families have problems because________.

2 A family may be compared to ____________________

3 The generation gap is________.

4 Verbal infections cause ________________

5 ‘ Helicopter parents’ are________.

6 Overparenting can __________________

7 In dysfunctional families________.

8 Children’s loneliness and psychological problems can be caused by _______________________

9 When people vent their anger in a constructive way they________.

10 When people resolve the problems they________.

Friends and Acquaintances

Task 1. How do you prefer to spend your life? Express your ideas about being alone or having friends using the table and the ‘Key Language’.

	Pros	Cons
Being Alone	Pursue your own interests; not to be caught up in other people’s problems; learn to enjoy your own company; less restrictions (able to do what you like).	Become bored and restless; cannot interact with others; loss of self-esteem; feel isolated; become anti-social.
Surrounded by Friends	Share the thoughts/problems/feelings with others; receive help and support in difficult times; always have a busy social life; cheer you up when you feel unhappy.	Expectations of others can be demanding at times; receive unwanted criticism; hard to find time to do personal things; upsetting when a person lets you down/betrays your trust.
Dating Somebody	Have only eyes for somebody, fall head over heels in love with; to be inseparable; to be a well-matched couple.	Relationship may have its ups and downs (bumpy relationship); love may turn sour (become bad); people can break down/split because of genuine misunderstanding.

Key Language

Firstly…/First of all… Secondly…/In addition…

Then there is…/The fact is that…/Another thing that… Also…/Finally…

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